That's The Bottom LIne 03/01/25

Asset Girth Associates. We have been servicing our clients in tech in Louisiana for several decades now, and including representing our clients who may be having difficulty with the IRS, often being able to negotiate a tax settlement or occasionally help people to even end up owning nothing at all, giving you a financial fresh start in your relationship with the federal government. We've got a jam pack show lined up for you today. First, we'll go over some of

the headlines of the week. We've got a new budget through the House, and now the spotlight shifts to the Senate as the two chambers work on reconciliation. Two new gubernatorial candidates announce in major red states.

the United States and its allies. Also, in our solutions segment, we'll review from last week how your personal risk tolerance can impact your choice of investments and when a principal protection plan might be right for you, including the tax implications of those types of plans.

Highlighting the budget packaged the twenty seventeen tax cuts featured the first Turk Trump term can be extended and along with the new incentives and worth about four point five trillion dollars, provided that Congress is able to cut two trillion from the spending over the next decade, the federal debt ceiling would in turn also be raised by four trillion dollars. Border security will receive two hundred billion of funding as the Trump administration doubles down on one of

its top campaign priorities. A lot of the spending cuts depend on the work of Elon Musk and Doge, as the Republican leadership has prioritized efficiency over the outright slashing of programs. Critics of the administration claim that it's nearly impossible to avoid cuts to entitlement programs such as particularly

Medicaid for Republicans to provide these incentives to the taxpayer. However, Republican leadership maintains that they can avoid cuts to Medicare and Medicaid by simply focusing on waste and abuse, a prospect that looks more and more promising as more mismanagement of federal dollars services daily.

Fox News Channel. His campaign caught a tailwind initially, but enthusiasm leveled off due to a in part at least to a perception of arrogance on his part. Ramswami finished fourth into Iowa caucuses last year, then dropped out to endorse Trump. He was clearly making a play to become Trump's running mate, but Jadie Vance got the nod instead. So can Rama saw me make the transition from the outsider I'm not a politician role to more of a statesman managerial pasana.

his game to the next level. He'll be in prime positioned as a sitting governor of major state, from where he could launch a second presidential bid in the future, possibly in twenty thirty two or twenty thirty six. Byron Donald's, a long time congressional ally in campaign surrogate of Donald Trump, also received the president's endorsement for the top job in Tallahassee.

Donald's is a self described quote Trump supporting, gun owning, liberty loving, pro life, politically incorrect black man, and is wildly popular within the MAGA movement. However, it remains to be seen how much com petition he could face in next year's primary. Rumors circulate that Florda's first lady, Casey DeSantis, may also be considering a bid for her husband's seat.

Ron DeSantis, who you will of course, Recall ran for president last year and at one point was even a near even money for being a favorite against Trump and the primaries. The sitting governor is largely credited for the massive ship right word in the Sunshine States politics, and it's already considered one of the most effective governors in

recent history. Voters rewarded him with a twenty point win in his reelection bid in twenty twenty two, even flipping Miami Dade County to the Republican Party in what appears to be a new realignment. Now, the buzz behind Casey DeSantis is that she may be even more of a political gift to talent than her husband Ron. She used to be a local news anchor in Jacksonville, so she's excellent on TV and very photogenic. She's also rumored to have been heavily and involved in the implementation of a

lot of her husband's policies and strategy sessions. To this point, Miss Desantas has denied any interest in running for office, but one does suspect that she could be professing a wee bit too much. A potential donalds versus Best Santus primary for Forida governor could be end up being a missy affair. Two high valor candidates in a slugfest may well strengthen the party, or it could actually fracture the dominant coalition.

a deal to end the Russia Ukraine War? Or is this too far gone? We'll be right back following these messages. I'm Jeff Lewis, and you're listening to That's the bottom Line on news talk radio AM five sixty KLVII and iHeartRadio. You can reach our offices at eight six six seven two eight thirty six ninety seven. Reach us if your local to Beaumont at four zero nine eight four zero sixty nine hundred.

hundred er visit Savemretirement dot comm do it today. Taxes are everything. Let's make them work for you. Are you thinking about starting your Social Security benefits early? Before you decide, let's talk about the big picture. Claiming benefits before your full retirement age, whether it's sixty six, sixty seven, or somewhere in between, can reduce your monthly income by up to thirty percent. That could mean thousands of dollars less every year, and once you start, there's no going back.

Here's the unintended consequence that smaller check could limit your ability to enjoy retirement, cover healthcare costs, or leave a legacy for you and your loved ones. And if you live longer than you expect, those reduced benefits might not be enough.

the migrants. In Romania, an entire presidential election was nullified over fears of Russian interference that amounted to quote a few hundred thousand dollars of digital advertising in Germany's national elections, this week, AfD finished second behind the Conservative Christian Democratic Union with twenty point eight percent of the vote, doubling

its share from the twenty one election. However, the AfD currently remains cut out of any coalition government, as the party is viewed as too radical by most other political factions within the country. European leaders have accused the Vice President of election interference, citing his speech as American attempts

to interfere in the German election. German sentiment towards America in general has taken a slight turn for the worse since the two governments have diverged someone in their views, not in the least part in how best to handle the Russian Ukraine War. Germany, who is the second largest contributor to the Ukrainian war effort behind the United States, has contrived the equivalent of five point five billion US

dollars and equipment alone. The Germans feel how they invested in a lot into the defense of Ukraine and are reticent to give up merry many concessions to the Russian government. Now, opinion in the United States about the war is far more mixed than in Western Europe. There's a lot of public supporter for the Ukraine, but Americans in general have a more realistic outlook on the outcome of the conflict

and are more interested in involving a ceasefire. The United States has reportedly spend at least sixty billion on the war effort, which is over ten times the amount the Germans have, despite our economy only being six times larger than the Germans. So that's one reason, among others, that the United States believes that we should have a larger

role in the negotiating process than the Europeans. The Trump administration views our contributions as more of a loan than a gift, which is why the administration has been so adamant in working out a rare Earth's minerals deal with the Ukraine. The Ukraine is rich in many important critical raw materials. For example, the Ukraine holds a third of Euros lithium supply, which is used in batteries. There's an abundant supply of titanium, which is essential for both industrial

and military use. Ukrainian also has large deposits of uranium, a key component in nuclear reactors or in nuclear weapons. Given that US to uranium is generally limited to Canada and Australia the sources there. The element alone makes the Ukraine a very interesting strategic partner, but the real attraction for the US lies in the rare earth mental deposits

scattered throughout Ukraine. These minerals, which largely consist that the lapanide series developments on the periodic table, are used in numerous high end consumer, medical, industrial products, ranging from electronics and hybrid vehicles to laser and magnets and alloys and petroleum refinering. Advanced economies are requiring greater numbers of these materials, and the Ukraine is sort of a one stop shop for a lot of those. The concept here is simple.

Such a deal not only gives America a way to recoup its losses, that makes Ukraine a strategic partner with reason for the United States to be invested in the Ukrainian interests.

Right now, here's where the war stands. The Russians initially invaded the Ukraine on three fronts, north from Belarus along the entire eastern border, including the distuted Dombas region, and from the south, both amphibiously via the Black Sea and from the Krmea, which was an nex ten twenty fourteen by Russia after its invasion during the Obama administry. Interesting how Russia times its worst coincide with democratic presidents, but

I digress. Today the Ukrainians have pushed back Russia completely from the north, but Russia succeeded in holding their offenses in the south up to the Deneper River and the greater part of the southeastern Ukraine, which includes their stated objective the Dombas region. There are three pockets of active combat, many fronts, you could call it still going on to this war. The majority of the fighting is centered northwest

of Dnetsk, the regional capital. Russian forces remain on the offensive and have slowly gained ground, literally only twenty five miles of the last year, and largerly through attrition. Reports indicate that Ukrainian morale here is low and desertion is becoming an additional threat beyond what the Russians pose there's virtually zero chance that the Ukraine can reclaim this region without external forces being contributed, which is a no go

for the Western world. The second pocket of fighting is along the border north of Kharkiv, which is another stated objective, but this front has been largely stalemated. The third front is the Ukrainian counter offensive into Russia itself. Last August, the Ukrainians surprised their attackers by launching an incursion to the cursed region. While the city of Kirks is not under any real threat, it's about sixty miles away from the fighting. The Ukrainians have succeeded in taking the Russian

town Asuitza. Suitza is the exchange where all the natural gas exported from Russia to the rest of Europe flows through. So far, the Ukrainians have not been able to have not cut off that flow of natural gas, but this threat gives Ukrainians some real bargaining power at the table. The problem is that Russia would consider that as a

major strategic cret which could escalate things further. Their original objective was to possibly even surprise and take Moscow by out maneuvering their army, but the advance was s thought well short of the Kirks the capital of the city of Kirks. So now the Russians have the Ukrainians cornered, they're not really able to withdrawal and they can go no further. So the question becomes where do they go from here? Some people would call it stalemate, others might

call it checkmate. That's where the situation stands up right now. I'm Jeff Lewis again. You can reach us to Asset Growth Associates toll free at eight sixty six seven to eight thirty six ninety seven or locally at four oh nine eight four or zero sixty nine hundred. When we come back, we'll go over to thirty Little Secret that'll take in the Russia Ukraine War.

cannot outlive. Whether it's retirement or building a legacy. A deferred income plan is the smart way to make your money work harder for you. Call us today four nine eight four oh sixty nine one hundred or visit savemretirement dot com to secure your future income with confidence Act Now, Financial peace of mind is waiting for you. Guaranteed income, guaranteed peace of mind. I want to invite our listeners to find out what a risk number can do for them. Visit what is My Risk Number?

to an end. Honesty, I don't even see how that's much of a secret. I mean, look at the map. But we've been gaslight been gaslight by the political establishment, by the media, and by the frankly by the military industrial complex in our country that somehow there was another alternative once this war started. Let me be clear, I fully agree that the Russians are the aggressive party here and don't deserve to be rewarded for starting a war.

That said, there's some real politic in play here and it's not just as simple as being a war of aggression. Now talks are in earnest this week about terms of apostle ceasefire. All indications point to a deal between the US and the Ukraine on the rare earth minerals being close to done. Reportedly, President Putin is open to an agreement, but territorial concessions will be inevitable. The question is was acceptable to the West. The Ukraine will probably balk any

loss of territory regardless of the terms. But what can they be convinced to accept to make the peace. It's unclear what's really being discussed, So I'll submit a few hypothetical terms. First, the Ukraine is going to have to accept that they'll never be part of NATO. In my opinion, this was a ridiculous thing to ever suggest, and the fact that the Biden administration openly encouraged it was probably the catalyst that provoked the Russian invasion in the first place.

By comparison, considered what the United States would do if the Mexicans enter to a military alliance with China that would start a global war before a pen ever hit the paper. We all know it, So let's not pretend that the Russians don't have a similar outlook in regards to Ukraine. Moscow is literally a single tank hop three hundred miles from the Ukrainian border. The truth is there's other ways to bring Ukraine into the Western orbit besides

joining NATO, like through economic ties and rebuilding infrastructure. I'm sure there's a lot of American companies right now just drooling over the chance to rebuild Ukraine. Conflict of interest anyone, for that matter. The Russians have pretty much done the daub Forest when it comes to driving the Ukraine out of Pudin sphere of influence. I mean, there's absolutely no way the Ukraine, whatever the borders look like when this

is done, will ever consider Russia an ally again. That's why Russian is going to consider it a core strategic interest to get all the territory they can right now. There will not be another chance. And that leads me to my second point. The Ukraine is going to have to relinkish control over the Dombas region. It might me simple as allowing a new independent state to form. I

doubt this, but that would be a real feet of diplomacy. Realistically, of course, such a state would probably be just a puppet regime of Putin, but even so such a nation could exist and thrive. It would already be mostly ethnic Russian, which would assage Putin's sensibilities. Frankly, the treatment of ethnic Russians was one of the root causes of the dispute to begin with. Make no mistakes, Lensky's hands are not

innocent in all of this either. By agreeing to terms, it might be possible for the Ukraine to hold on to a decent portion of the eastern half of their nation. That won't happen if the war continues on for a couple more years. The Ukrainians will run out of men and weapons.

was another one of Russia's strategic objects. However, by connecting these regions it would require full Russian annexation of the Dombas region, and I don't think realistically that Putin will settle for anything less than that. The sad reality is that there's very little we can do about the situation on the ground unless we're willing to risk thermonuclear war,

which I am not. That means ultimately, the Ukraine is going to have to come with terms with the loss of a sizable portion of the eastern part of its country. I know that's unpopular to say, but it's true. And now I've yet to hear anyone explain to me that some alternative other than the Ukraine can win. Well, no, the Ukraine can't win. That's the whole problem that we

knew from the beginning. Funneling weapons through the Ukraine slowed down the Russian advance, limited their gains, but in the end it was just a matter of how much territory the Russians would get, not a question of who would actually win the war. It's not that the war isn't worth fighting, it's just that the outcome was pretty much predetermined. The final condition that the Western world needs to accept is that the Ukrainian President Zelenski needs to resign and

call for new elections. This past week, President Trump took a lot of heat for calling Zelensky a dictator. But in case you're wondering the background for that, here's why. Zelensky told the Vice President Vance and Secretary of State Mark Rubio during negotiations that he agreed with the mineral rights deal, the same deal that we just discussed earlier, that we believe is now close to an agreement, and also agreed with the premise that we need a vested

interest in his country which offers them more security. He said he just had to run it by his legislature. Zelensky then, without warning the US delegation first turned around and blasted the deal in the media, saying basically, he told us word to stick it. So either Zelensky was lying to the American delegation in bad faith, or he is the legislature of Ukraine, which prompted Trump to call him,

correctly in that case, a dictator. Now, no one argues with the point that President Selensky has every right to be concerned with his nation's territorial integrity. However, one of the last stumbling blocks of the peace deal is a Russian call for the Ukraine to hold elections. Selensky remains in power only because the nation is under martial law.

His presidential term expired last year. Now step Bow went back for a moment, and imagine the outcry with America was in ward twenty twenty eight, let's pray we're not and that to continue the war. President Trump then a lead office until the year twenty thirty. Now I'll sit back until the screens died out. Looking from the outside, it seems to me up to this point Selensky has been as much concerned preserving his own personal power as

he is in protecting his dying nation. Zelenski should do the right thing and announce that he will relinquish the presidency as part of a ceasefire agreement if that will help restore his nation restored to peace and save more lives of his countrymen and women. So what's the bottom line.

The world cannot risk this war escalating any further. Ukrainians won't be taking Moscow Cutin, won't be removed from an office in a coup, and the United States needs to accept the limitations of its influence in Eastern Europe.

to reduce tax liabilities and maximize your retirement income. Whether it's choosing the right accounts first, or minimizing capital gains, or tailored strategies ensure you are keeping your investments efficient and your income steady. Take control of your financial future. Let's make your money last longer and work smarter for you. Call four oh nine eight four h sixty nine hundred today or visit savemretirement dot com to schedule your free consultation.

Your investment deserves a plan as you unique as your goals, smart investments, smart tax strategies. This is Gene Valerati of Asset Growth Associates. If you've been watching recent news, a few banks have had a run where customers panic and withdraw all their money at once, causing the banks to fail.

If that isn't worrying enough. On January first, twenty twenty three, the Federal Reserve set a new low reserve crumpch for net transaction accounts to six hundred and ninety one point seven million dollars, meaning that banks with net transaction account balances up to this amount are subject to a reserve requirement ratio of zero percent. You heard me right, zero reserve requirements Forget fractional reserve banking. How about zero reserve banking?

Why would the Federal Reserve create this environment of uncertainty? If this is a concern to you, and it should be, we can show you how to protect yourself and how to locate and utilize financial institutions with very real reserves, not zero reserves. Give us a call of Asset Growth Associates one eight six six seven two eight three six nine seven. That's eight six six seven two eight three

six ninety seven. You can also reach us locally in Beaumont, Texas by dialing four oh nine eight four oh sixty nine hundred.

So here at Asset Growth Associates, we have two main divisions of our wealth management practice. We have the brokerage side, which concentrates on the management of securities in your portfolio, which is suitable for people who want to have a stake in the market. We also have the principal protection side, which is best for people who want the potential for returns without the market risk. Different people have different levels

of risk tolerance. In other words, how much risk am I willing to put up with in order to achieve my financial goals. For some people, that's quite a lot. You might be super aggressive, always willing to invest in a brand new company with a good idea. For other people, their risk tolerance is pretty low. They're more worried about how much the market might lose rather than how much it might make the problem is that ordinary people like you and me, we don't always have a good feel

for how much risk we're comfortable with taking. There's no good way to describe it as there. I mean, it's a qualitative assessment anyway, not quantitative right, Or to put it another way, I can only describe how much risk I'm wild to take with words. There aren't really any numbers to describe that.

thank there's no right or wrong answer here. You could be good cruising down the road at an easy thirty five miles an hour, or you might prefer to be hauling at an eighty five down the freeway like me and I must think. The point is to find the investment vehicle of your choice, one that travels out of speed that you're comfortable with. Once you have this number, call us. We'll be able to sit down with you and go over what it means and help you discover

what investment vehicles you're comfortable driving in. Sometimes people are surprised with what their answer is. Don't worry if the result doesn't make sense to you, take it again or better yet, we can help you take it the first time if you call first. Remember the answer is never right or is simply informative. For many people, there's more than one investment people they want to drive. Sometimes I'd rather be riding in my wife's onto CRV if we're

going on a road trip. For if I just want the storage space for a trip to the grocery store. Different cars are designed for different things. That's fine too. In fact, that's generally the case, isn't it. A lot of people, for example the side they want to have some of their money and growth with a nest egg set aside to be protected no matter what happens with the economy.

really is as simple as that. These plans also vary in their duration. Some plans are as short as five years, while others can be long at ten years. That part is up to you as a rule of thumb. The longer your plan is designed for the greater the guarantee, and you will always have access to at least a size per percentage of your money, or even all of it if necessary. More good news, these plans can also defer taxation of your money, and you can fund these

plans with a wide range of sources. If you work at one of the refineries out here, for example, you probably already have set up a four A one K. You could decide to use part of that as your principle. If so, the money will still grow tax free until you take it as a distribution. Conversely, your source of funds may be from an inheritance or possibly an insurance settlement. If so, your principle won't ever be taxed, then the insurance or the interest itself wouldn't it be taxed until

you take a distribution. If you're worried about what woud happened to your money when you're gone, you can designate any number of beneficiaries that you choose. What's more, your account will avoid probate, which means while the rest of your assets may be tied in court, you can rest assured your loved ones will receive what they deserve quickly and indisputably. If you're still not sure what plan is

right for you, that's why we're here to help. You can make an appointment at our office, or if you struggle getting out of the house, simple schedule a zoom call with us. Either way, we're local people from right here in the Golden Triangle. Myself Ahulam aur University graduate that's lived in this area all forty four years in my life. Jean Valerani, Well, I won't I won't tell you how long he's lived here, but he's been helping people grow and protect their money longer than any of us.

Point being here at Asset Growth Associates, you're going to get sound financial advice from a person you can trust, not because we say so, but because we'll earn it. Just give us a call at four oh nine eight four zero sixty nine hundred or toll free at eight sixty six seven to eight thirty six ninety.

at the end of this particular tunnel. If you have a retirement account that's just been sitting around and you don't know what to do with it, well, chances are we do. This is what we do, and we do it well. If you're wanting to be actively involved in the market, particularly now that federal policies may actually begin to favor economic growth, our advisement services can help design a portfolio that suits your risk tolerance and return expectations.

If you're a little more tentative when it comes to general investing, again, there's nothing to worry about.

Growth Associates. May the Lord bless you and keep you until next week. That's the bottom line.