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 Haven Financial Group 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. Yeah, we do every week. We got folks standing by to talk with you off the air. So when you hear something that piques your interest or raises a question on the show today, please feel free to give that number a call. Six one two four four one two four four
one. Good morning. I am Bill Seller along with Haven Financial Groups Founder and CEO Larry Calvick. How are you, my friend Hey? Doing well? Bill? Doing well? Springing summer They're here finally, yes, finally, a little warmth in the air. We were just talking off air. That meant that the lovely missus Larry got to do some flower planning and stuff. Yeah, flower planting and spring clean up and all that good stuff which
we get to do here in Minnesota in the springtime. There you go, man, just spruce things up a little bit, make it, make it a little more colorful. So that's right, all right, all right, well, good stuff, good stuff. Listen. We got a lot to get to today, things like tax strategies that could save you a whole bunch of money, the latest estimates on the Social Security cola for next year and
the three of it is one. We'll talk about that. Also, getting back on your financial feet after the pandemic, and that's some good news that kind of came down last week as well. We'll talk about that. And I thought this was interesting, you and I we'd love to talk about food. I mean, well, we'll talk about food or any chance we get. And authorities in New Jersey are trying to figure out who left huge mounds of pasta in the woods a little place called the township of Old Bridge.
Hundreds and literally hundreds of pounds of noodle just kind of appear at a local walking trail in one of the local parks. I mean, spaghetti zd elbow macaroni, all kinds, all uncooked. You know, nobody's seen Tony sopranos. As the show went off the air, I wonder if that's I just like to start to show with things that make you just flabbergasted, and that's one of them. So well, you're pretty consistent at that. It's a great job. Well, good man, you know, if nothing else,
I'm consistent, that's a good thing. So so I did mention a little bit of good news. Right Apparently the pandemic is over, yay. The public health emergency for the coronavirus ended. World Health Organization declared that it's not the serious thing that it was. But you know, a lot of families, Larrey, you're still fighting their way back from related financial setbacks during the pandemic, especially concerning for people getting close to retirement or folks in retirement.
And look, I know that you work with people and you try to put up as many things as you can to you know, in the plan that you build for people to deal with things like that. But this was something that none of us really expected. So are there ways to rebuild and still retire with confidence? Do you think? Well? As you and I talk about weekly inflation still high, you know, people's pocketbooks are still hurting, you know, thank goodness, the pandemic is over, so to speak.
But the reality is, you know, that was a long three plus years and you know people felt it. Maybe that people felt, you know, to develop some you know, some things that they don't like as far as their financial plan. Maybe they got off their budget off course. You know, it's really time to go back to the fundamentals and make sure that you have a plan number one, number two that you monitor, monitor and adjust
it as life happens. You know, manage those expenses. You know, get back to contributing to your four oh one k if you got away from it or if you reduced it due to disposable income problems. You know, if you're not taking advantage of a four oh one k employer sponsored match, you're really missing an opportunity. And you know, really go back to the discipline. You know, there's a comedy dominator of folks that we've sat with over the years on a weekly basis, what have they done, how have
they accomplished it? And the comedy nominator is discipline, watching expenses, not over extending themselves. Really getting back to the basics and fundamentals, because we all like to do great things and do stuff, and you know all of that cost money. But living within our means, you know, managing the debt, man credit card debt is out of control. Interest rates are rising.
I just had a few people point out this past week they weren't able to pay their credit card off and they were shocked by how much interest they got charged just in one month. So you know, be was smart with your money. And I get back to the fundamentals that you might have gotten away from because of the pandemic situation in life, because of what do we
say, life's calendar doesn't always cooperate with our calendar. Absolutely. One of my favorite favorite lines in a country song from years ago was if you want to hear God laugh, tell them your plans right good? And it's funny. You were talking about inflation and the rising cost of everything. Just before we went on the air. I was telling you that we had a family get together last weekend, and I ran to the store real quick to pick up a few things for it. And now my grandson, five years old
loves cheese its loves him. Oh yeah, he could just live on cheese its right. Do you know how much a box of regular cheese its is right now? Four dollars, four dollars for a box of that's the big box. No, it's it's it's not even the family size, it's the regular, just the regular box of puffy cheesy crackers four dollars. Larry, Well, that is what made it things so difficult is because costs are so high. You know, people have tapped their savings and their reserves and I
see that as a real problem. We do, We really see it because people haven't had to use it. So if there's any way possible to pad those and buffer the savings accounts, the emergency fund. Many people have heard Dave Ramsey talk about emergency fund, you know, six months of cash on hand. You know, there's some fundamentals and benchmarks we use as retirement advisors, you know, good liquidity protected moneies, stock market investments and developing the
right balance for your situation. Don't care about the Jones is just your situation is what matters. And of course, with the inflation situation, the Fed, you know, announced another interest rate hike earlier this month, which of course really didn't surprise anyone. And here's FED Chairman Jerome Powell talking about that inflation has moderated somewhat since the middle of last year. Nonetheless, inflation pressures continue to run high, and the process of getting inflation back down to two
percent has a long way to go. So, you know, with that said, people are asking, what does that mean another bump? Right that. The Fed's official statement also said that more rate increases may be appropriate, which, of course, as government talked for Yeah, maybe maybe not. I mean, you know, we'll do whatever we feel like. So what do you think, Larry, do you think they're done or do you think they still have to continue to do this for a little longer this year?
Well to be determined. You know, the tenth consecutive increase, the tenth that's a lot. You know. The job growth just came out for April. It exceeded expectations, created two hundred and fifty three thousand jobs, even as the US economy is starting to slow down. So that's very unusual. So they're going to be monitoring really closely. They get back together June thirteenth and fourteenth. You know, they're in a very h The Feds are in
a very careful stance. If you will to you know, try to there's a lot of complications, a lot of challenges. You know, the central banks are confronting and they're trying to handle an inflation cooled economy without getting into a deep free exist. We will and you know, officials do not want unemployment to soar by more than is necessary. And that's a fine line, you know, as it wrestles with price increases and to keep those under control.
You know, we're at four point two inflation right now, is what I understand. The goal is too. You know, we got a waste to go. I think if they monitor it and there's needs to be another increase or two, they won't hesitate to do it. But will that drive us into a deeper recession or as some would say, a recession at all? You know, that's the big question mark. Yeah, And of course
we've talked about it before too. The worst part of all of this for a lot of folks is that, you know, because of the inflation and because cheeses are four dollars a box and the cost of food has gone up, I mean just basic food right right, a lot of folks are having to turn to credit cards and that's a that's a very slippery slope to get involved with again, when when a lot of folks, including myself, had had cleared their credit cards, which we always try to do, but sometimes
you just have to go there to exist. And that's a that's gonna become a tough situation just eight ten months down the road. Yeah, and another thing to keep an eye on at the same time as all this is going on, you know, the problems in the banking sector could certainly slow down lending and you know, increase the odds of a recession and of you know, we have this pending debt limits eling showdown. Where does that go?
That could wreak some havock and certain things that go on as too is you know, will they ever get together and or will they push the can down the road like they usually do when it comes to this debt ceiling. So a lot of factors, a lot of variables. All folks can do is the best they can manage their own affairs, monitor adjust, have that plan, and we're closely with somebody that has their best interests in mind. And again, give us a call, We're going to answer the call. We're
not a call center. Our job is to answer questions as it relates to specifically all areas of retirement, not just wealth management, but in all the areas of the puzzle pieces that you and I talk about on a weekly basis. Yeah, there's so much involved here that I don't understand. And if you're in the same boat that I am, this is why you want to call Larry and his team at Haven Financial Group. The number again is six one two four four one two four four one six one two four four one
twenty four forty one. He offers a compliment retirement readiness review and it is exactly what I'm saying it is, right. It's complimentary. You go in, you sit down with the team at Haven Financial Group, they look over your retirement plan, or if you don't have one, that can maybe help you draw one up as well. And if you do have one, they can find out if there's any holes in it or or things that you can be doing better to make sure that during your retirement years you will be able
to live the way you want to live. And that's what that complimentary retirement readiness review is all about. And getting one to me just seems like a no brainer, right, What does it hurt to have a second set of eyes on probably the most important money that you have in your life? And that's the money you're going to live on when you're no longer actually physically receiving a paycheck. So again the number is six one two four four one twenty
four forty one. That's how you get in touch with the good folks at Haven Financial Group or of course online at Haven Financial Group dot com. You're gonna take a quick break still to come on the show. The rate set for I bonds if you're taking a big vacation this year while join the crowd amongst all the money that nobody has to spend that still seems to be the thing to do, and why charitable donations could be your new best friend.
All coming up right here on Haven Financial Group Radio on TWITNA Cities News Talk eleven thirty and one oh three point five. Song coming up over New York City stew bus driver in a track fade chair steps invest a little time to be sure your investments are working for you. Reach out to the Haven Financial Group now for your compliment or e 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. It's something none predictable but in the end right at the time. Welcome back to the Haven Financial Group Radio Show a lot with Haven Financial Groups Founder and CEO Larry Calvig. I am Bill Seller and yeah that song is.
I wonder how many times I was getting put into kids graduation videos at this time of year, right right, because that is it's it's that time of year right now. Graduations are everywhere. Now do you have anybody graduating this year? Larry, I know you've got kids in school everywhere where. Our oldest daughter, Paris, graduated from her four year in December, so we're proud of her. And she's going to be going off to medical school.
And our youngest actually is a junior at Prior Lake, so she's got one year left. And of course the other the twins he here and Schinnell, are going to be juniors at their colleges. So none graduating this year, although Paris, I guess that technic we would have been last year, but she's a she's a student of this year's grade. Okay, all right, yea, if anybody going here in May or not for graduations, but not this year, but we'll have open house for graduation next year. Yep,
there you go. Yeah. I brought it up because I was reading a story about Princeton. The senior student that was chosen to give the salutatory address decided he's going to do it in Latin. As you can imagine, not a whole lot of folks there who understand Latin. So everybody's being handed a special copy of the speech, complete with instructions on when to laugh. So yeah, well you know those Princeton guys, watch out for them. So
listen. We've talked about I bonds on the show before, and those rates I understand reset twice a year, the first of May and the first of November. Now back on the first of May, the yield dropped to four point three percent, and that is quite a fall from the high. I mean it was actually historic II earlier last year, right nine point six two percent I think was the nine correct. How do you feel about those?
And do people will ever ask you about those or those things that you'd rather not have them get into if there's other options, No, we encourage people to look at all the options. And understand these options. You know I bonds are because they're going down. That shows good signs of inflation slowly dampering,
which is good. But there's restrictions on I bonds. You know, you can only buy up to ten thousand dollars annually per individual, And what people don't know is technically you can actually get another five thousand if you're getting a tax refund, so up to fifteen. Most don't know that you have to own them for five years to get the full interest that's due, and you have to wait for at least one year, and then if you get money out early, you're going to forfeit three months of interest. So always
understand no matter what you're looking at, you know the restrictions. Is this liquid? Is it not liquid? What's the expectation? Is there a term to something, whether it be three years or five years or ten years, and that doesn't necessarily mean a bad thing, but you don't want you don't want the surprises. Is it tied to inflation? Is their risk involved? Is their unforeseen fees? That's part of this account that you're not aware of.
You know, I can say that recently the Charles Swab money market was at four point six to eight percent. You know, we have some short term fixed accounts or they're called multi year guaranteed accounts, you know, three to five years getting close to right around five percent. So what I would encourage folks is to always look at all options, understand how they work. Can you access the money because you don't want all your money restricted. You
got to have the liquidity. Here's what I help people understand is there's benchmarks for liquidity and retirement. You know, we like to see X amount of dollars and most people don't have enough liquid moneys, easy access to cash, that type of thing, and you know, even the money you have in the savings account right now, some of these bigger banks have been very slow
to raise their interest rates. And I'd had a couple of conversations a couple with Lakefield from Lakeville this week and another couple actually from Waterville who drive an hour each way, and they were getting nothing on their savings account. Some of the banks are slow to respond. You should be looking at three to
four percent on these savings account or high yield accounts. Don't limit yourself to just what you know, but explore all options and have an awareness and understanding, and keep in mind most retired Americans do not have enough liquidity, and you should have it. There's always something that goes wrong and you need those moneys. And of course we're not talking about, you know, stuffing your mattress with all the money that you have, but well I've heard those stories
too. We're putting in the backyard and please don't forget where you buried in the backyard. Yeah, yeah, yeah, sadly for me, I wouldn't need that any mason jars. But yeah, and it's I know that the I bond business has been really good since the pandemic. Right there, I think I read where it said sales had topped forty billions since November of twenty twenty one. But when the rates get back down to where they are now in general, is it not as great an idea because of how long you
have to wait to get the money back. Yeah, when the inflation goes back down to the goal of two percent and hopefully we get there, that I bonds are not They're not that attractive whatsoever. Now can you do them? Of course, when folks came to us and said do you do I bonds? You know we don't you go to Treasury Direct and purchase those I bonds. That's where you get them from. And we encourage folks, Yeah,
take advantage of it. It's a good thing to have in your portfolio, just as part of the portfolio for balance, for balance and efficiency within the portfolio. So yeah, look at all the options. Okay, very good. Well, you know you mentioned the possibility of an economic slowdown or are we in one already? And if there is one out there, According to the CEO of Wyndham Hotels, it's not affecting people's travel plans. Jeff
Balatti says demand on their website is above the pre pandemic record. There are no signs to slow down. Nine three percent of our middle income guests are telling us that they're going to take a vacation in the next six months, and that is the highest percentage that we've seen surveyed since this pandemic began. Yeah, he was telling CNBC that some of the increase is just pent up
from last summer when the industry couldn't keep up with demand. So do you think folks are just finally now that the pandemic is officially over retired to be in lockdown and ready to get out and do things. Or if everything's so expensive and people aren't having money, how are we traveling so much? Larry, I've been trying to figure this one out. Build. Do I think
people are tired of being cooped up? I absolutely do. It was a long three plus years, and the reality is they're willing to Some of these are willing to do anything, including rack up these credit cards and spend money they don't have, and that that's going to come back to bite And I hate to say that, but it will because what did they see in this that there's credit cards is up twenty percent compared to last year. You know
what? That can't continue like that, It's just can't. And another rate hike where you're going to see your credit card interests go up again, So be careful on those credit cards. It sounds so redundant. But how does your travel fit into your retirement? You know, when we build out plans, we factor in the healthcare do you like to travel? How much is your in your annual how much do you have in your travel budget for the
year. We build all plans with these factors already involved. So as long as you're sticking to the plan and not deviating it from the numbers that you come up with. That's why it's so important to have accurate expenses. And usually when we ask somebody questions, like you know, what's your monthly expenses, they'll typically throw out a number and then we get together next time and they go, you know, we really put pen to paper and actually they're
double of what we told you last time. Well, we want accurate numbers because you know, numbers are only as accurate as what you put into the into the equations. So you know, again factoring these in, you know, big picture items. Do you need a car in five years? Um? Be careful with those credit cards, though I can't. I can't tell you enough. And periodically we'll get folks that are getting close to retirement. Just had two couples in this week, of course, and they go,
we've we've got a pheromont on our credit cards right now. They have good retirement dollars in investments, but I'm like, you're paying seventeen to twenty percent. Okay, there has to be a way to get out of this because you're just that that's just interest that's going to the credit card companies. So be careful, don't fall into that hole. Yeah, and I mean they're even higher now, these these rate hikes all the time. You know,
you're open to it. It's my high twenties, right, two plus Yeah, and you know some of them are worth it because you get things back, like you know, sky miles or travel perks or something else. But you know, pay attention to some of that stuff because if it turns out to be like a gift certificate to dairy Queen, might not be worth having a twenty eight percent debt to somebody. No. I mean, I'll admit I use cards for the points. I mean yeah, but you have to
be disciplined. I like my Delta points, I like my cost Goo dollars, and you know as much as anybody else do. But it can quickly get out of control if you're not managing it appropriately right. And you know, like I said, just make sure the rewards are worth it, right exactly when you're using them for those things. So listen, these kinds of things pop up in everyday life. Right. We have questions about our money,
we have questions about what's going to happen to our money. Well, that's what Larry and his team are there to do, and that is to answer those questions. So let me give you the phone number again. It is six one two four four one two four four one six one two four
four one twenty four forty one. That's how you get in touch with the folks that have in financial group, get that complimentary retirement reading this review to find out if you are set up to make it through your retirement years, and Larry and his team will sit down, take a look at it and let you know if you really are in a good position right I mean, is your risk versus return good for you for where you are in life right now? Are you ready for Medicare costs? Are you ready for things like
rising inflation? None of us saw this kind of rise in inflation, but still they have plans for that. So again the number is six one two four four one two four four one. Reach out to the Haven Financial Group today and get on their calendar for your complimentary retirement readiness review. After a quick break, we're going to come back talk about things like the win win of charitable donations and how you might be able to keep a big win from
becoming a big bill with the irs. That's coming up on the Haven Financial Group Radio Show here on Twin Cities Newstalk eleven thirty and one h three point five fout 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 Haven Financial Group dot com. This is the Haven Financial
Group Radio Show ruled again. Just can't wait to get all the rule again. My love is they can music with my friend. I can't wait to get all the ruled again. Welcome back to the Haven Financial Group Radio Show. I am Bill Seller along with Haven Financial Groups Founder and CEO Larry Colvig. And a lot of times I've got to ask Larry, Larry, do you know that song? But I'm pretty sure I don't have to ask her. You don't. Of course they do. Who doesn't know that one?
Right? Classic Willie Nelson singing about making music with his friends, and boy he did just that. He just celebrated his ninetieth birthday last month to night concert at the Hollywood Bowl. And check out this list of people that sang with him. George Straight, Neil Young, Stephen Stills, Snoop Dogg, Dave Matthews, Tom Jones, Cheryl Crowe, Chris Stapleton. I mean,
the list goes on and on and on. That's a list that must be nice to have that kind of folks in your speed dial, right, they don't have those in your speed down, No, no, I have none of these speed Actually, it was just just shows the influence that he's had on people. I mean, just look at the age range and the musical style range on that list, right. Wow. I mean that's that's a lot of stuff right there. He's also going to be inducted into the Rock
and Roll Hall of Fame here coming up this year as well. So and by the way, Willie, I was busy those two nights. I couldn't have made the party anyway. So that makes two of us. So you know, we all pay taxes, Larry right, we all we all pay taxes, and the question comes up, as you know, are we paying our fair share or more than our fair share? And turns out there actually might be opportunities for reducing your tax bill by way of charitable contributions and donations.
And you've talked about that before, you know, Fidelity says one approach is to establish what's called a donor advised fund. You know what is that and is that something you work with folks when they come in to see you. Well, Bill, everybody's situation is different, and you know you've heard me say many times forward thinking tax planning, especially as you get close to retirement, planning for retirement and in retirement. You know, you do tax
planning. You don't just do tax preparation. As I've said many times, tax planning throughout the courts of the year leads to tax preparation, which is really should be the exclamation point, and there really shouldn't be any surprises like I got hit with a twelve thousand dollars tax bill. I can't believe it happened. If you have a plan, those things should not happen. Maybe you have to increase your withholdings, Maybe you need to make some more IRA
contributions. That's where you know, that's this is a long conversation and it's why our investment team, our tax team, lance, our CPA, we're very involved in this. And I've read numerous articles that says, you know, the financial folks should help them their clients more with tax planning, And we've been saying it for years because if you're if you're very wealthy, that's
going to look very different in tax planning. Then maybe you're a W two and you don't have as much wealth, So, you know, holding somebody's hand individually and understanding their situation. Do we do donor advice funds? Most definitely we do. You know, most of the big platforms like Fidelity, Schwab we use donor advice funds. Now, you don't do charity just for
the sake of taxation. I mean, if you're already charitable, then this gives us a lot of opportunities to take advantage of your charities in the tax situation and use it for good, you know, thinking beyond just I put cash in the offering plate. But using cash as a donation, fine, Well what about donating long term appreciating assets like stocks and bonds? No capital gains a benefit for you, a benefit for the recipient where they can use
the full amount of the money. And so donor advice funds is usually with non qualified or post tax dollars, and then we can get into qualified charitable distributions for your IRA money. You know, I think a Barbara from Egan who donates to a variety of charities every single year. It goes directly from her IRA as a qualified charitable distribution to those nonprofit organizations. And there's a whole bunch of other things you can do to offset some income, offset alternative
minimum taxes if you're in that situation. A high W two earner is what that means. So again, talking through these things, understanding them, Why are we doing it, Why does it make sense? Why doesn't it make sense. Work with somebody that's going to put the time and the effort into helping you maximize your tax capabilities and do things that can put more money in your pocket because you worked hard for those dollars. You know, the tax
code doesn't always make sense. Understand it and make it work in your favorite to the best. Yeah, you're gonna pay taxes. Some of us pay a lot of taxes, but don't pay more to Uncle Sam. You're not, as you said many times, who's not your favorite uncle. This is a very in deep tax conversation which we could spend the whole show on. But right and we're not talking, you know, Larry's not talking about doing
things that you shouldn't do to avoid taxes. This is all above board stuff, right, But having somebody like Larry and like his team at Haven Financial Group advising you on what is allowed to help you save with taxes, why not take advantage of that, because, like you said, the tax code a is doesn't make sense and be it changes like every eight hours. And if you're just going to a tax preparer and no offense, you're just going
to a tax prepare You're not having these conversations. They're just taking your receipts and your numbers, preparing your taxes and printing it out and that's it. Okay. Much more thought goes into this over the course of the year, so you don't get to the end of the year and miss an opportunity because time expired. Okay, this is added attention, yep, absolutely, And
that's what you'll get at Haven Financial Group. Their number, by the way, it's six one two four four one two four four one six one two four four one twenty four forty one. That's how you find out. You get yourself on that calendar, go in and talk with the folks at Haven
Financial Group or find out more about them online at Haven Financial Group. Dot com, you know, speaking of charities and all that, if you ever do come into a windfall, wind up with a bunch of money in your lab for some reason, the excitement could be short lived when you realize the tax implications. Just exactly what we're talking about now. Smart asset says that
you could donate to charity, but there are other strategies as well. So Larry, I just wanted to ask you, are you familiar with these what they are and how they work? Yep, I and our team aren't familiar with these tax loss harvesting you know. I think of Chris and Joe from Lakeville last year. They sold off a whole bunch of real estate in their mid seventies, and they had a lot of income prime opportunity for their investment
accounts. For our investment team, when we had all that stock market volatility, when the market went down, we could sell by an equal type of index fund, if you will, and we could take that loss and offset all that income for a good chunk of it beneath the tax code, of course, and we use that very effectively where it can be done with a lot of market volatility. That could work better other ones, like maybe you
know tax deductions. Using tax deductions will lower your taxable income, where credits will reduce amount you owe. Now, if you're doing your own taxes, you know, turbo taxes, good software tax cut. But if you're not managing it or don't understand it, you may not know all the credits that are out there. Perhaps you come into an inheritance money, you know, is there a gift tax or is there a state tax? You know, we help people navigate through that as well. Life insurance can also lend to
some moneys being received. Most life insurance, of course, life insurance is tax free to the beneficiary. You know, can you gift money to your kids or loved ones? Sure you can up to sixteen thousand. The federal estate taxes at twelve point zero six million, the states at three millions. So the state tax for most people is not a big deal. And you know, we have one not too long ago where last year this person won
one hundred thousand dollars scratch off they withheld taxes. Guess how much they actually got out of one hundred thousand, uh sixty thousand. Yeah, it's like that, yep, yeah, And then it can take advantage take advantage of tax advantaged accounts. You know most people are but IRA money pre tax money, health savings accounts, great accounts to have. I hope you're maxing that out. And there's just a variety of different things. Maybe some people use
irrevocable trusts. We get into those explanations. We work closely with carry our state planning attorney. So it's not going to be the same for everybody. But most people just automatically assume the standard deduction and they don't look at all the different options that are out there. And it comes down to having a relationship with a tax person, coordinating these things very very well, and maximizing opportunity. My parents back in the farm have had their same same accountant for
years. Well, he knows them, he's been doing their stuff for years. You know what to do at the end of the year to minimize and reduce taxes to the best of your ability. And if you don't have anybody you're consulting in, you're not getting that attention. There you go, another reason to call the folks at Haven Financial Group six one two four four one
two four four one. We're gonna take a quick break coming back. A warning about artificial intelligence, and also unfortunately lowered expectations for the social Security cost of living adjustment next year. Nothing but good news from Bill on the way right here on the Haven Financial Group Radio show on Twin Cities News Talk eleven thirty and one h three point five. Fout, you're even and welcome back to the Haven Financial Group Radio Show along with Havens founder and CEOE Larry Collaby,
Guy Am Bill Seller and Larry. You're a water guy. You like being out on the water. They do. Thus the name Haven you got it the name of the company. It's all a nautical theme. I mean your logo is a ship's wheel for crying out loud. How would you feel about under the water. I prefer to stay above the water. You haven't seen me swim Bill? Oh okay, well you might not have to hear either. I don't know if you've heard about this, but they're building the
equivalent of a space station on the ocean floor. It's called Proteus. It's going to be a place where they can actually be underwater and study marine life. It's gonna be just off of Curos out down in the Caribbean. Yeah, and folks are going to live there long term. No, I don't know what long term is, but it's going to be kind of a place to go, just like on the space station. Along with laboratory space, they're gonna have a full scale studio to do live streams and produce videos.
And I don't even make room for some private citizens to live down there. So you're telling me you're not booking a room there anytime soon. No, let somebody else go first. But it is a cool concept, it really is. I thought so, and you, being a water guy, I thought i'd bring that up today. So shifting gear is just a little bit. The Social Security cola or the cost of living adjustment for twenty twenty four is likely going to be a lot lower than the one that we just had.
The Senior Citizens League says that's because of the recent drop of inflation, right, I mean, obviously there was a bigger coal of this past year because of inflation, and if it's falling, then that's going to drop as well. But there's even more concern, apparently, Larry, that there could be no cost of living adjustment at all. Has that ever happened before?
It has? Cost of living adjustment, of course, is not guaranteed two thousand and nine, two ten, and twenty fifteen, there was no increase, none at all. Now we'll see what happens in these summer months with inflation, which that will help determine in October, because every October or they announced what the cost of living adjustment is going to be for the next year.
Now we've gotten spoiled because of high inflation. Not because of high inflation, but because we've gotten two big increases as a result of inflation these last two years. And you know that's where you've seen some significant growth from your delayed credits, especially from sixty six to seventy where it grows by eight percent plus the cost of living adjustment. I mean, you're almost seeing seventeen percent in one year as far as growth, But you know that's not guaranteed every
year. You know, social security is a big retirement conversation. It's why we teach, you know, teach classes maximize Social Security and tax classes. You can find that on our website at the various locations. We'll be teaching it this coming week at Dakota County Technical College and we do that in community education here around the cities. And you know, social security. There's this fear and anxiety what they're going to do away with it? And you know
what my opinion is, they've been talking about all this for years. There's got to be changes to it. I get it, But doing away with it that would I think that would be a calamity because there's people in America, a lot of them actually, that are living on SO security only and nobody wants to do that. That's why we help people plan the SO security piece with maybe if you have a pension and then all your retirement and your retirement dollars as well as part of the big pictures. So it's why we
encourage that. But come Octoorbo, they'll announce it for the upcoming year. You know, you can take SO security at sixty two or seventy and then your full retirement age or any time in between there for anybody that comes in. Will provide a SO security roadmap report at no cost. People find it very helpful and they'll actually good better, best, what makes the most sense based upon your circumstances, and if you're a married couple, both of your
circumstances. Ultimately it's your decision, and oftentimes people take that right to the soil security off and say I want to do this. So again, it's getting educated to make educated decisions, because I've said before, you know, sixty to seventy percent of Americans turn it on at sixty two, and only like one or two percent wait till seventy. What's right for you isn't the same for everybody else. It's your situation, your life, your income needs,
all of these variables are factored into that decision. So again, take advantage of that. Yeah, and I know too that you're teaching credible classes about this. As a matter of fact, they're usually and I'm using the phrase sold out. They're free, but they're always very full or overflowing. They are. We just this past week had two Medicare classes in Rosemount, both of them almost to capacity. This upcoming week is so Security and Tax and Prior Lake. One is at capacity, the other one is close to
it. So you know, people are wanting to learn. People do have questions. They're approaching retirement. They don't know all the answers, and you know they call me Terman years, the golden years. You want to make is the best decisions possible. But doing that is gathering information first, to make an educated decision. We're big into the education. Do we help a
lot of people through education? Oh, we bothmost definitely do. We're in the business of cultivating long term relationships that people can rely on, that they know we're going to take the time and the effort and energy to feel their situation out and walk them through that proprietary process to really help them in their situation, not only today, but god willing, five years from now, ten years from now, fifteen plus twenty years whatever. That looks like,
life changes, and therefore your plan needs to change as well. Yeah, if you want to find out about those classes, by the way, they are online on the website at Haven Financial Group dot com. Tells you when they are, where they are. They're all local, so make sure you check that out. We've talked a little bit before, Larry, but I'm
sure by now everybody has heard about chat GPT. This is the AI that can write stuff for you and generally act like a kind of like an early version of the Star Trek computer that we all saw on the TV show. But this is technology that is becoming just as all technology does. A double edged sword, right. It's a cool idea, but it's already being used
for evil, as our Drew Nelson reports about scammers using chat GPT. Facebook told Reuters the chat GPT scams now are about as hot as fake cryptocurrency scams were back when bitcoin got popular. There's a sense of novelty with the new technology, and that's what makes it so easy for criminals to exploit. I got tricked into downloading a fake chat GPT app. I was looking for an official chat GPT app, but there isn't one, so I ended up with
an app that said chat GPT. The graphics looked right, but it was fake. So you might end up downloading an app like that, or an extension that works exactly like the web based chat GPT, but it may also present a fake lug and page that captures your password, or it could be an app that tracks every tap you tap. Facebook says they've encountered over a thousand malicious links disguised as chat GPT. Wow, I mean, it's imagine that fake stuff on Facebook. But no, no o kidding, Yeah,
this, I mean the chat GPT. It's a very fascinating concept and it's you know, of course, it really kind of broke open here in the last couple of months, but it's kind of scary as well. Bloomberg is reporting that Samsung has banned employees from using AI after an accidental data leak. Well, banned until Samsung develops its own of course. Probably of course, Google, Amazon, IBM, they're all working on their own chat GPT thing as well. The future is here, Larry, I mean, we're well.
I just think we might machine and technology ourselves right out of existence. Pretty. I mean, you gotta be very careful with this stuff. I mean, obviously I'm over exaggerating, but it's scary. It's very scary. I'm not a techie. You won't find me individually on Facebook. The company is. Here's what I would say air on the air on safety, especially when it comes to this kind of stuff. You know, the senior fraud is worse every single year. We just got done talking about social security.
Make sure you monitor your soil security and SOLI security dot gov to make sure that somebody's not already collecting so security or disability on your soul security number. I've heard it way too many times. You know, we're in a very interesting world, scary world. Yeah, America is still fantastic, don't get me wrong, but is there any accountability, Who's what's the oversight? Be very very careful. Yeah, it's funny you mentioned that. I actually saw
an article where I can't remember who it was it was. It was a governor or senator from somewhere talking about the fact that this stuff is happening and coming out of so fast now that they can't keep up with regulations. You know, this technology is just rolling out so fast, something brand new every day that the government is having trouble figuring out ways to regulate it because it's happening so fast. Yeah, it's moving so fast. I don't stay up
on this stuff as much as I probably should. Yeah, we have all our software, everything and all that stuff that we need, but as far as getting out there into this tech world, it's just not a world that I'm heavily involved in. I know it's a thing in the future, but again, where's the control mechanisms? You know, I've heard some of this stuff can actually be so legit and feels so real and it's not. Yeah,
and it's that's the problem. You've got deep fake videos. You mean, look, it's already hard enough to understand or believe anybody right, I mean, to decide what's real and what isn't. And you know now that they're able to recreate stuff virtually that sounds like real people, or the video can change your face to make it look like somebody, it's it's just getting very scary. You know. I don't know if you've heard about this too as far as that goes, but you know, the little vacuums, the
robot, the rumbas, oh yeah, to bounce around your house. Include Well, this just happened, I think a couple of weeks ago. A lady picture of a lady sitting on a toilet, and it turns out the rumba took her picture and just put it out on the server and it got leaked. Unbelievable. Well, yeah, so this rumba and the rumba is taking pictures and videos and all that and got got put out there. And you know, so, I mean, even you can't trust anything anymore.
It's crazy. And ironically, the company that makes roomba is called I Robot, which was a movie about just this very thing with Will Smith about robots taking over the world. So wow, it's wow, it's crazy. Well listen, man, it's always a pleasure. When we talk. I'm gonna leave you a little technologically scared here. Okay, we're running out of time there. I could talk about it forever, but they're waving at us from
the other room that we're almost done. So again, if you've got questions about anything you heard on the show today, or just want to make sure your retirement plan is where it needs to be, get in touch with Larry and his team at Haven Financial Group. Here's the number again, six one two four four one two four four one until next weekend. Larry, make it a good one and we'll talk with you then you as well. Bill.
Thank you and thank you for listening to the Haven Financial Group radio show here on Twins City's New Stock eleven thirty and one h three point five A found. It's not unused. You want to be loaned by anyone, it's not unused. You want to have fun with anyone. But what I see in hanging about with anyone, it's not unused. You to see me that that investment advisory services offered through Guardian Wealth Strategies LLC. Even Financial Group and
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