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 oh four eighty four hundred. Now get your financial questions ready because the Haven Financial Group Radio Show starts now. Good morning, and welcome to the Haven Financial
Group Radio Show. I'm Larry Kolvig, Founder and CEO oh of the Haven Financial Group. Today we have Kyle Thomas with us. He's a member of the investment team here at Haven Financial Group. Also Investment Investment advisor and certified financial planner. Great to have Kyle here and of course Kim, great to
be with you every week. Listeners, if you want to give us a call six one two five zero four eight four zero zero, or visit us online at Havenfinancialgroup dot com, where there's all kinds of retirement tools that you can utilize, and again, give us a call with questions. Kim. Great to be with you, Kyle. It's great to have you with us again. Yeah, thank you. It's great to be back. Absolutely, I'm excited about this show today. This is really a fascinating topic as far
as I'm concerned. What we're going to discuss today is reconciling your emotions and your finances. And if you really look at the world today, Larry, you can understand why these sort of go hand and glove. The role is in flux. You know, we're in an inflationary economy. There's constant changes on the landscape, including the fact that there's an election coming up. People are somewhat nervous. Reports are sometimes politicized, so at some points we hear
that the economy is terrible, others say that it's great. So we're going to try to you know, make our way through all of this and how you can keep both your fears and your concerns and your finances in check. We'll talk about the role of financial advisors and keeping your emotions in check. We're going to talk about perception versus reality, the investment environment today, tax laws, they're going to be changing very soon, and we'll talk a little
bit about some of those changes in what you need to know. And finally, strategies for managing your finances as a couple, which Larry you say that you frequently have couples come in and you know one is a worry wart and the other wants to take all kinds of risk. It's never just you never know what's coming when a couple walks through the door. Oh yeah, that last segment will be very interesting because when you get couples and you get money
and you get discussions can get very hairy or interesting at times. But again, everybody needs to be on the same page, so we'll touch on that topic when we get there. Well, let's start with this idea, the role of financial advisors and keeping your emotions in check. Again, a confusing landscape out there, so obviously you guys as financial advisors have to sort of understand where your customers, your clients are coming from when it comes to their
emotions associated with their finances. Yeah, you know. Behavior of finance, you know, is really the study of how people react and their emotions when it comes to their money. It's focused on a variety of biases. How much control do they have, what's going on. So when we sit down with folks, it's important that we really get an understanding of who they are, what are they doing, what is their long term plan, is it sustainable, and if through the bad times and the good times, can they
stick to it. When things get jittery, when there's like now war is going on, or there's an election year and the markets are jittery, it's really important that we listen. Because people watch the news and they talk to their family and you have the water cooler mentality that my friends are doing this, and the internet has articles about anything and everything can possibly want to look
at. And again, when people see all these things and they read all these things, it puts some fear and panic and then comes the counselor in us to say, Okay, here's the plan. Here's why we came up with it to remind them there's a method behind our madness of why we're doing what we're doing. So what do you think the role of a financial advisor is when you start to talk about that human element and their finances. Yeah, so, I mean human element inside investing is a hugely, greatly researched
thing. Rationality requires a combo of people, resources, and structure, and the only thing that's worse than not having a plan is having a plan and not sticking to it, in my opinion, So we want to have a plan, and we want to make sure that we can use research to understand the psychology of clients and their biases that they have that they tend to use. So some examples of those biases are self attribution, herd behavior, or
loss of version. And so when we meet with them, we're able to understand what type of bias they might have, and we're able to understand them more and be able to talk about that to help them divert from those biases that they may have. Sure, but I would imagine Kyle, you also research is certainly important, but it becomes very personal for individuals. So there also has to just be a lot of listening that goes on when you sit
down with clients. Yeah, I would say that the best meetings are the ones where we would be talking the least and we're acting almost as a facilitator, where the clients are in and they're talking more about what they're feeling, what they're needing, and whatever it is that they want to talk about. And then that way we're able to listen more, understand what they need and come up with a plan that'll best suit them. Because everyone has a different
plan, not everyone has the same needs and blanket. We could say there's different structures that everyone needs. The most important skill is paying attention to physiological indicators of stress, what are their hurt points, what bothers people, and really slowing down and paying attention, not trying to rush things. And in today's world, you know, artificial intelligence has become very relevant and people are using that as tools and research and scheduling and all kinds of different things,
and that's great, but there is the human element. You know, most of our clients that we sit down with and have sit down with are about eyeballs and handshakes, about the personal relatability of who we are and what we're doing, and communication is so extremely important. So you've actually taken this exactly where I was hoping you would, Larry, because I know who you are
and I know your people person. So talk to me a little bit about maybe give me some examples of some people who have come in and what their fears have been and how you've tried to work with them to help them move forward in a positive way. Yeah, I'll give you an example Lois, who was just in this past week. She's been a client of ours now for about nine months, so relatively new. Where she was at before,
she was not getting any attention. They would hardly ever get back to her, and she'd ask retirement questions and there was just no response or lack of response. And she came out to one of our educational classes and she came in and started visiting and we started going through the process and she's really wanting to retire. And she came in and a lot of this retirement stuff can get a little bit overwhelming, you know, putting all the pieces together,
and I get sense that she was to that point. She goes, Larry, I just want to retire. And so we're going to boil it down deeper now as far as the sustainability, And I said, the more we can get together to talk taxes and talk of your investments, you're going to get more comfortable with the decision that you're about to make, which is retirement
at the end of the year. And she is a worry wart, but she goes, I already feel better knowing that we're addressing some of these situations, so attention to detail, gaining an understanding, knowing that it's normal to be nervous. I mean, how can you not be in a world that there's so many crazy things. But you can only do the best you can do, and that's come up with a plan, modify, stick to it. But that's where you're going to gain the confidence in this really volatile financial
landscape. Larry, what do you think people are the most concerned about? Boy, that's a tough one to answer because there's so many things. Inflation obviously that has been the biggest one because I've noticed the trend that people's liquid moneies, their depository accounts, their savings and checkings have been depleted. You know, a credit card debt is astronomical. So the inflation piece is probably the biggest, and those that are getting closer to retirement, are worrying more
that do I have enough to retire? Or when am I going to run out of money? And again, these money conversations, it can make people nervous. People want a safe environment. We have the ability and financial planners of the ability to steer clients towards more rational decisions that benefit their personal financial plan and investments, and just giving people the peace of mind to know that we're listing, that they can trust us and we'll walk them through the through
this process. Sure well, I ask you that question because I know there's a lot of people out there who can relate to exactly what you've just said, and I think that makes people even more comfortable to just take the first
step. And the first step, of course, is to call the Haven Financial Group and set up a free consultation with Larry or a member of his team like Kyle Thomas who's with us today, and talk to them about some of your fears in this landscape, or maybe you don't have fears, maybe you just want to talk to them about some of your concerns, or you just want to talk to them about putting together a portfolio that makes sense for you. The number is six one two five zero four eight four zero zero.
Let me give you it again. It's six one two five zero four eight four zero zero. Call that number, tell them that you heard us here on the radio and that you'd like to set up a consultation and come in and meet with the team and see if you guys are the perfect fit. Or you can go to Havenfinancialgroup dot com. There you'll learn more about some of those informational sessions you can sign up. They do fill up quickly,
but certainly Larry and the team would love to have you. So let's take this a step further, gentlemen, and now let's talk about perceptions versus reality when it comes to investing in this environment. You're listening to the Haven Financial Group Radio Show. Don't go too far. We're gathering more important insights and retirement ways Devin 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, listeners. My name is Larry Kalvig, Founder and CEO of the Haven Financial Group here with Kyle Thomas and Kim Kerrigan. Kyle's a certified financial planner an investment advisor with the Haven team
here. If you're just tuning in, you're listening to the show, and we're talking about various retirement topics that can make the difference between surviving retirement and thriving through it. So let's further this discussion cam and perception versus reality. You know the environment today, all that good stuff. Sure, well you know what's really strange And I think both of you can attest to this. You know, when you talk, it just depends on who you're talking to.
Some people will say that they feel like things are better than what others believe they are, and so people aren't really clear about whether they perceive it that way or it's the reality. So let's start there. How do you deal with that when you're talking to folks, the economic perception versus the economic reality. Yeah, first thing is first is I just look at the end of the tunnel, and we're not looking at things on a daily basis,
right, we want to look at it as a long term perspective. So we just kind of look at history and see what that's looked like, and that gives us a perception of what we think the future might hold. Right, So the people and experts have been predicting recessions and bear markets for decades,
but most of the time those are wrong. So we call these predictions fear based tactics, and oftentimes some of those tactics are to try and sell people on certain products join historical data of why that might suit what they're trying to sell. But well, I totally understand what you're saying, and so looking at the long term, you know, again, we have these ups
and downs in the economy. This is not certainly the first one. When you sit with clients, do you talk to them actually about that historical data in hopes that that helps them to feel a little better about the finances in the world that we're living in. Yeah, that's one of the big things that we do, is we actually sit down with the clients and we talk
about what these numbers have actually looked like. For example, taking a look at the SMP five hundred over the last twenty years, that return has been about nine point five percent. If you take out the top ten days in the market over those last twenty years, your return is five point three percent, so it's almost half half the return if you took out those top ten days. So we want to make sure that we're staying invested in a long
term mindset. And then also another fun fact, ten times within one month of a top twenty worst day ever inside the SMP five hundred, a top twenty day best day has occurred. So that means within one month ten of the worst days that the SMP five hundreds ever seen, there was a top
twenty best day. So that's why we want to make sure that we're invested because historically those good days coincide with some bad days, and we don't want to make an rational decision by pulling out and making sure that we're staying long term invested because one of those top good days could come right by we you know, Larry that too. I think that as we talk about you know, consumers emotions, I mean those bad days, we forget that there are
good days along the way. I'm sure this is really important when you sit down and you chat with folks, you know, over a long haul, they have to see for retirement purposes that good days do outweigh the bad most of the time. Yeah. I mean, we're dealing with those that are planning for retirement, that are getting close to those golden ears. And you know, we know the market goes up and it goes down, and we tend to forget about those years. But in the past that it's been,
it's been tough. But we start thinking it more now that we're getting closer to ending employment and not working. But what I can tell you is certain things that we should be doing as good effective advisors and in uncertain times is we need to be proactive and responsive. When things are tough, people need a listening ear, They need somebody to lean on. We need to offer some reassuring support, keep things as positive as we possibly can, to remind
folks that we're thinking long term. We're not thinking short term. Yes, we should have good liquidity for the short term, but we need to listen. You've heard us say that listen and communication, but I always joke that we have two ears in one mouth, so we need to listen more so that communication is so important. We need to be up on the times, know what's happening. We don't necessarily need to be the experts and policy or
all of the above, but shoul we should know what's going on. Another attribute we should have as good as effective advisors is being honest and transparent. There's nothing more than important than that. I can't tell you how many times during the course of a week we'll ask people what are you paying? I have no idea, Well somebody told me this, Well that's not exactly true. And provide tailor advice. It's not just cookie cutter. It's the same
for everybody. It should be tailored advice. These are just key things that we should be doing, and not everybody's getting this attention, unfortunately, and our goal is to give that attention. Sure when we talk about perception versus reality, and we've talked about some of these things, to keep positive, to keep people informed, to have a long gaze versus a short gaze.
The fact of the matter is there are times, though, that people come in to see you and they have hit a rough spot and their reality is that they're maybe in trouble or they need a realignment of their retirement plan. So talk me through what happens. Then, well we'll get back to the basics and get to the root of the problem. See I mentioned credit cards. I just read that we US as seventeen point six y nine trillion in
credit card debt. That is astronomical, and it's really affected the working class Americans because those higher rates, higher inflation, all of those things have affected the pocketbooks. So they've resorted to either dwindling their savings accounts or putting balances on. So we're going to talk through those various things. There's still despite
the strong economic data, there is a negative sentiment within within folks. So there's a lot of cast sitting on the sidelines, kind of affecting investment patterns. So again, we talked through these things in the most effective way possible, just to give some peace of mind to know that we're listening. We hear you. But if we've planned for these rough times, we can handle
them a lot better than if you haven't planned for them whatsoever. So you know what is old saying, a failure to plan is plan to fail. We don't want anybody to fail. That's why it's important to start somewhere. These are tricky times, Larry, because I think you know, numbers look pretty good, Employment numbers look pretty good. Guess hasn't gotten completely crazy yet.
Yes, we've seen a real increase maybe at the grocery store. On paper, things have looked pretty good, and yet people do have sort of a negative feeling. So have you ever seen it like this before? Have you worked through this before? Well, in O seven to nine, I remember the same things were going on. Now, how can you not you mentioned you know, it depends upon which TV station or which radio station you're actually listening to, you can get a whole different picture. But at the
end of the day, yes we've seen it. We forget about it because you know seven to nine was that it was so long ago, and let's face it, for almost fourteen years, this dock market was almost perfect, so we got technically, I think we got spoiled when the reality is the market goes up and it goes down, and there's gonna be there's a white so there's going to be calm waters. And you know what we most people in retirement want the calmer waters, not the white caps, So you know
that's what we want to prepare. For sure. Those folks who went into retirement though in nineteen and twenty, maybe even twenty one, they've been riding a rough ride. Oh they have. I remember a couple from Elico newmarket. Just a wonderful couple. He had a great job medical sales to Mayo Clinic and he retired December thirty first, and the market went completely haywire starting in January. And we had to have several meetings the team and I with
him because he's like, do I need to go back to work? Do I need to go back to work? Nope? John, Remember we talked about this, but we had more meetings because the more communication the better he felt. And you know, he rode the storm and he's doing just fine. So again, attention to detail, spending the time and being proactive and
responsive to the folks a long ways. And you have to, really, I would think, be very sensitive to people who come in because you know, the old saying is perception is reality for a lot of people, and while they may be perceiving things one way and you see the reality differently, you have to be pretty sensitive to their feelings and their concern very much.
So. We know it can be confusing to know that the economy is, you know, doing well despite inflation, interest rates, other risks, but it certainly can help your financial stability to put your perceptions aside when making financial decisions and that's why we encourage. If you're not getting the attention, if you don't know what position you're in, give us a call. Set up some time. We'll walk you through our process just like any like anybody else,
small, medium or large, complicated or not complicated. Again, it can be very very helpful and there's no cost to it, so you have nothing to lose. So you heard Larry say it. There, give us a call and let's take a look. Small, medium or large, whatever your case may be. It is your retirement and you want to make sure it's exactly what you'd anticipate at all of your working life. Six one two
five zero four eight four zero zero. That's how you reach the team at Haven Financial Group, or you can reach them on their website it's Havenfinancialgroup dot com. We've got tax laws that are changing and some that may change even further, some of that depending on the upcoming elections. Some things that are starting to sunset, and let's talk about that because, boy, Larry, those tax laws and tax situations are so important to people's retirement. Forward thinking
tax planning. It's why even more so in retirement when you turn on Social Security requirement of distributions taxes is an ongoing discussion, and again we'll tackle talk about we'll tackle these new tax laws that are going to be changing around the corner in twenty twenty six. Sounds terrific. You're listening to 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 Kolvic with Kyle Thomas talking about a variety of different tax changes. Give us a call at six one two five zero four
eighty four hundred or Havenfinancial Group dot com. Set up a time come on in just a visit with us to talk things through all the retirement puzzle pieces. To make sure you have all the pieces to the puzzle. Larry. It was a comprehensive tax reduction bill you remember it well, called Tax Cuts and Job Act. It was implemented back in twenty seventeen during the Trump administration. Well it is set to sunset, if you will, in twenty twenty
six, which is just around the corner. So let's talk about the consequences that this could have on people's financial strategies, if people have not already started to change their things or put other strategies in place. But before we get started talking about that, let's just talk about what it was. What is the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of twenty seventeen. Yeah, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act has been in place since it was passed by the Trump administration
in twenty seventeen, so it's been in tact for a while. And it gave relief to about one hundred million plus taxpayers, with the focus being middle and working class individuals. And it certainly gave some breathing room to corporations as corporate tax rates were brought down. It brought significant changes to individual income tax with the standard deduction continuing to go up. But it's why we've been talking about it, and it's why historically taxes have been very, very low.
The tax rates currently are and have been ten twelve, twenty two percent, twenty four, thirty two up to thirty seven. Well, those rates are going to return to what they were before, and those are significantly higher ten fifteen, twenty five, twenty eight, up to thirty five, almost up to forty. Now, remind you, the current administration just came out with a proposal to put the capital gains tax rate higher than it's ever been,
significantly higher, scary high. So it's why roth conversions have been a discussion and people have missed opportunities to really fill up those lower tax brackets. It's going to sunset in the end of twenty twenty five if the Congress fails to make any amendments, and odds are they probably won't. Anything's possible, but let's just say I lack confidence in that. So it's why it comes back to are you a tax planner or do you just get your taxes prepared.
We don't want to miss opportunities, and more so than ever in retirement, taxes are going to probably affect us and doing things and talking through things to make sure we're not missing opportunities. That's the big part of it, because we've had a window of time to take advantage and a lot of people haven't simply because nobody's had the conversation with them. So Kyle, tell me what you're saying to your clients about this potential expiration, Well, this expiration could
have a huge impact on everyone. I mean it will affect everyone because everyone is involved in paying taxes. So first thing I like to say to people is your advisor should be conducting your tax planning or they should at least be a part of it, because they know your situation better than anyone else. And a holistic approach to your investing can add significant value to your portfolio. And how this taxation could affect your actual investment portfolio is in many different ways.
There's tax loss harvesting that you can take advantage of, there's asset location, different withdrawal strategies if you're taking money from your portfolio, and there's tax efficient investments and more so, if you take a look at all these different approaches that can be incorporated into your investing, you can take advantage of what the current environment will be or what it's going to even though it's not necessarily
all that enjoyable, there are things that we can do to enhance your situation. And how soon are you suggesting that people begin this new maybe strategy or new plan. Is that immediate or are you saying let's hold tight until it expires in twenty twenty six. You can start right now. There's other strategies that, like Larry mentioned a Roth conversion, so you can get money out of a taxable account and move it over to a completely tax free account.
And there's qualified charitable distributions you can make while you're in retirement, or you have rmds that can lower your tax burden. You can maintain tax credits for health insurance by keeping your income at certain levels. So that's all things that an advisor can look at and plan for to make sure that we're keeping ourselves aligned with where we need to be and what your goal is for retirement solutions. Right now, individuals may consider upping their contributions to these pre tax plans,
the Wroth conversion discussion. For those that are not feeling the twelve percent bracket up, maybe looking at real estate investments for tax benefits. I know one of the staff members here is just looking at getting a second rental home, So there's options to look at there. Something that people don't think of is the use of a permanent life insurance policy to as a tax for savings
options. So again exploring all the options that are out there, because let's face it, Congress and the lawmakers are faced with some serious decision making as they're looking to extend these expiring changes. It's going to have a major impact on individual tax burdens, the federal revenue, economic growth, and the need for fiscal responsibility if that is even possible with the government is crucial and there needs to be some real attention to details here because you know, people could
really, really really feed feel it, especially those in retirement. So Larry, I know that between the two of you, you and Kyle, you've talked about some of the things you could do. Right now, what will people have to do when twenty twenty six rolls around, assuming that this expiration
actually well they should be thinking about before waiting till twenty twenty six. Whether you know the standard deduction, there's a whole bunch of changes that it could come into play, from child tax credits to charitable contributions, to the standard deductions, personal exemptions, mortgage interest rate deduction, and these apply differently to everybody. Having the conversation being proactive, not missing opportunities, but really starting
with the conversation that most people are not having tax conversations at all. Right, we see folks come in and they go, well, our financial person doesn't even talk about taxes. Well, I don't know how you cannot talk about something that affects your investments in your retirement. So the tax planning piece should be throughout the course of the year tax effective tax planning leads to effective tax preparation, avoiding the surprises, Oh my goodness, I owe seven thousand
every year. Well why not fix the problem if it is a problem, or fix the problem before it becomes a problem. That's the best advice we can give Kyle. I know that Larry has just said that, you know a lot of people come in and they don't think that you talk to your financial planner about tax issues. But let me ask you this. Are you finding that people are even aware that this sunset of this Tax Cuts and Jobs Act is actually set to expire. I would say most people are not aware
of this that we're actually meeting with. It's a conversation that we talk about quite a bit because when we're looking at these plans that we create for people right now for these next two years, we're planning for the current tax environment. Well, that changes quite a bit when we get to twenty twenty six
and beyond. Sure, So for instance, like Larry said, we're trying to get those roth conversions to maximize that twelve percent bracket right now, because in a couple of years that's going to go up to fifteen percent, and that three percent can make a real difference. That's real money that people are
going to be losing out on and paying to the government. So it changes the dynamic of our conversations a whole ton, just because there's a whole lot of money that people aren't going to be having in their own pockets coming in the next couple of years, and they're not even aware of that. Laer. You guys do these educational seminars, and I know you do them on taxes. Is this a subject that you're going to be trying to educate people
about over the next year and a half? Yeah? Can we actually have been for the last several years knowing that this was eventually going to come down the pipe, you know, discussing we'd have a class, a dinner class called R and D taxes and we talk about all these different rules and regulations, and we touch on all the different retirement topics But what I can assure you, anybody that sits down with us, sits down with us, visits with us, works with us. We're going to have the tax discussions.
I've mentioned before. Lance Larson is our CPA in house here. He is a CPA. He is very big into the education. The biggest compliment during taxis and I heard many times was folks, wow, somebody finally explained things so we kind of understood it. Lance has his whiteboard. He's not just
a drop off pickup. He wants to explain that their tax situation to them, why they're doing what they're doing, why they maybe need some some more withholdings where they should do that, and that in itself is an educational process. And I've said before we're big into education. Education is the potential for
power. Obviously, it's what you do with it. But there's a lot of tax preparation and a lot of CPAs and advisors that are not discussing taxes, and they really really should be, especially when you're planning for retirement. Sure, folks, taxes are going to change. The laws are going to change in twenty twenty six, it seems almost inevitable, and they will those
changes will affect everyone. So if you have questions about this, you'd like to take a look at your portfolio see if you're taking the steps that need to be taken to protect yourself as best possible before twenty twenty six chat tax law changes. Then call the Haven Financial Group. They can help you walk through this, explain it to you, Educate you about what needs to be done to protect your portfolio, especially in retirement. Six one two five zero
four eight four zero zero. It's six one two five zero four eight four zero zero. Go to Havenfinancialgroup dot com, look for one of those educational seminars on taxes and sign up. Be sure you attend. This is again a subject that we'll hear a lot more about over the next year. It's also a subject that will affect each and every one of us who are taxpayers in this country. Still come in your way. Strategies for managing your finances as a couple. Yes, there's even strategies for that as a couple.
You're listening to the Haven Financial Group Radio show, don't go too far. We're gathering more important insights and retirement ways. Devin. 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 Karragan. Now back to the show. Welcome back to the
Haven Financial Group Radio Show. Thanks for listening this morning. Visit us at Havenfinancialgroup dot com give us a call at six one two five zero four eighty four hundred. I'm Larry Kolvig, founder and CEO of the Haven Financial Group, with Kim Kerrigan and Kyle Thomas, our CFP in house and part of the investment team. So managing your finances as a couple easy, difficult? Who cares? Question? Mark? I hope if you're part of a couple,
who cares is not what you immediately thought. You Know what's interesting, Larry and Kyle is that you know, if couples thought that managing finances all of their married life was difficult, I would imagine that when it gets to strategies for retirement, this is where couples can really into some bumpy roads. So first off, just share, share a little bit of your personal experiences gentlemen with couples that have come in and what you've heard from each of them.
This show isn't going to be long enough to go all through all the ones that I've had, because, let's face it, differences of opinion. Yes, for couples or individuals, emotions and finances run high. Money related issues are significant factor and divorce or separations, and we've seen it. It can cause a lot of stress, and they're very they're interrelated or intertwined. And manage your finances, you know, people have to find their sweet spot.
There's various reasons why, pros and cons of why you would combine finances, and we'll get into that a little bit. But let's face it, people have differences of opinion. But it comes back to communication, you know, if you've heard that a lot in this show today, Communication and transparency, respecting the others' opinions, taking responsibility to ultimately set the goals as a
couple. So there's a lot of good things that could come out of this, but it can be very stressful, especially those first couple of years. I remember personally, my wife Michelle and I are going on twenty eight years this August, and when we got married, I was the type that gave her a gas log book to put in her car. Saying that every time, every day she needed to put the miles in and then when she filled
up, how much did she spend? And I noticed after a week there wasn't anything in the log book and I threw that out right out the window because I knew it wasn't going to happen. So I had intentions in changing her, but again that ain't work so good. Well, let's talk about first off, when the couples come in and they sit down, what are some of the things that you talk to them about as you're putting together a
retirement portfolio. Yeah, great question. Being open and honest about finances is key to a successful marriage, and that's one of the first things that we like to address. And make sure that each person is contributing to the conversation, each voice is being heard, and then we go from that and we can listen to them talk and hear what each of them desire, because sometimes the desires for retirement look different. For each one wants to spend this amount
of money, One doesn't want to spend. One wants to live in a different state, one wants to be with the grandkids, and you know, it goes on for many different types of things, but we get an understanding of where we're all going to meet at in the middle, and then we
can put a plan together. And the plans can be different for each situation, and that's where we want to have transparency and openness to everything that goes into their plan together, and that's where we can create the best strategy for them going forward. And when you start talking about a couple, a lot of things come into play. You talked about desire certainly, but there's also a lot of financial things that come into play, for example, social security.
Maybe one has a pension, one has a four to one K insurance, those kinds of things. So how do you address those issues? Well, we're going to look at first of all, combining your money or not combining your money. There's pros and cons and if I could just mention you know, combining it can keep things relatively simple. If you're married and have a partner, everybody's on this issue, on the same page, and there's transparency, they can see the pot of money. It can also provide flexibility
knowing that you have a cushion. If one of your incomes disappears, you have another one to fall back on. Both have insight to what the money is doing in the money situation. Rather, if you have them separate, jet can become an issue and maybe the other partner doesn't know about it.
I just recently had a gentleman in that has been married for years and his wife in this case, it could go the other direction too, but in this case has ran into credit card did racked up six credit cards twice, and he's concerned that if he passes away that things could go bad again. So his estate plan, which is also another retirement topic, is going to reflect what his goals and aspirations are if he's gone. So you do combine finances as a couple, it can make you feel hammed in a little bit
because so you don't have the freedom to do what you want. But then at the same time there's the accountability that's also important. So there's pros and cons to doing it or not doing it. But at the end of the day, if you have the same goals and aspirations, don't you need to be on the same page. And if you're not knowing what the other spouse or individuals doing, how can you be on the same page. So my wife and IL I've always been commingled assets and a transparency. She'd figure it
out anyway. So what's the point of not being transparent? You made your life a little easier, didn't you. I did you know? There could be really interesting circumstances though, and I'm sure you guys see this. Maybe couples who have been married for long periods of time, but they have each of them came to the marriage with children, or each of them came to the marriage with other assets. This has to be pretty challenging when they're putting
together retirement plan. Oh, that can bring its challenges, you know, second marriages, blended families. We come back to the estate plan. How are things going to be divided? Who are your beneficiaries? So make sure that you have all those things ironed out and anything subject to any potential change.
So yeah, we definitely have those conversations. And what we want to point out is if you are a couple that both of you are involved when folks come in and only one of them was in my office and we're visiting, so your spouse isn't joining you, No, he or she doesn't like
to talk about money or but what happens if you're not here? So it's important to establish some sort of relationship beforehand because if you wait until life happens and that surviving spouse doesn't have anywhere to turn well with the loss of a loved one, that's not the time to be started interviewing. So for couples, we encourage both to be involved to some degree to know what's going on. So if something happens you're out and left field and you have no idea
how we're to pick up the pieces, that's very, very important. Absolutely. So you know, this brings me to another discussion about Haven Financial Group, because we have talked about all different aspects of your retirement. We've talked about taxes, we've talked about, you know, how to protect your money in these these volatile times, and now we're essentially talking about, you know, working as couples and estate planning. All of this can be done under
your one proof. Yes, it's the biggest compliment we do get and it actually was the goal nine and a half years ago when I started this company, is to have multiple personalities in a variety of these areas, from the investment planning team to the estate planning attorney, which Carrie Renner does a great job. There's no cost for a consultation with her to put the CPA Lance Larson in place. And by the way, there's no additional costs for tax
planning. That's all included. And then when you get into the Glenn Raimian and Isabella, when you get into medicare and healthcare and looking at your life insurance policies that you maybe have forgot about. We do life and shre durance reviews. Those are very you might be surprised. I think people should get those reviewed. And then long term care is a discussion nobody wants to have.
We have access to all the companies in that area. So again, all the different puzzle pieces, Yeah, they don't have to be under the same roof, but there should be coordinations between the estate plan, your financial plan, your investments, your insurance. They all go together, especially more so in retirement than ever. So again that is the biggest compliment we get.
And there is no cost to have any of these conversations. Yeah, Kyle, it seems to me that if somebody comes in and sits down with you and says, just give us a sense of a plan for retirement, and then they start saying, oh, we need that for our taxes. Oh we need to That becomes very stressful for the couple. Yes, yeah,
it can be very stressful. And that's why it's so nice to have everything under one roof where we can just go down the hall and we can grab the CPA Lance and he can come in and give his input and advice into the situation and he can help ease the conversation as well. So all these different topics have their own degree of anxiousness with them, and that's where we can come in and help alleviate some of that because we can cover all
those different topics under one place. I mean, if you could go to the doctor and you have everything taken care of in one spot, the dentist and you know, all of those different types of things you do for medical I mean I would do that. It's just not really an option. But that's what we have here. For all all those different facets in your life. You can have it done here. Yeah. Recently, Kim, we had a lady that came out to one of my classes I did quite a
few years ago and she goes, well, I'm back. You said to come back after you know whatever ten years or something. That there was something involved in her life. So she goes, I'm here and I need your help in all these different areas. And she's just such a bubbly lady. She's retired, she did a great job saving for retirement, just has a great attitude. But I asked her for vision because she she made She coined
phrase Haven Financial Group is the Mayo Clinic of financial planning. And I'm like, I have never heard that before, but can I use that phrase? She goes, well, of course you kN Larry. Haven is the Mayo Clinic of financial planning and retirement. I love it. That's perfect and it really brings all of this full circle where we started, which the subject today
was how to reconcile your emotions and your finances. And one of the great ways to do so is to be comfortable in one location where you know the people and they know you, and they know all aspects of your finances and
your retirement plan. Haven Financial can offer you that. The number is six one two five zero four eight four zero zero six one two five zero four eighty four hundred, and you call that number set up of free consultation with Larry or a member of the team, or you can go to Havenfinancialgroup dot com. This has been such an interesting week of discussion. Kyle and Larry, thank you both. Thanks Kim very much, apreciate it. Great to
be with you again. Thanks to all the listeners. Tune in every weekend eight to nine o'clock eleven thirty am on the dial where we're going to talk about retirements, all the different puzzle pieces. Give us a call at six one two five zero four eight four zero zero to reserve a retirement readiness appointments, or visit us online at Havenfinancialgroup dot com. Thanks Kim, Thanks Kyle, have a blessed 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
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