David tells a funny story about having mice. Here is the link to the newsletter he mentioned. Excerpt from the show: The hurdle that some people have is taking the next step. They reached out for help, issues have been identified, a plan of action to better the circumstances has been presented, but we sometimes worry about what comes next.I’ll tell you, it took hours to get the garage in order and the better part of a day. But the results are worthwhile. Moving on from an old advisor who isn’t helping you get to the next stage of life is in my mind a lot easier than cleaning out a garage!Here’s the other thing; just because someone helped you get to one spot, that doesn’t necessarily mean they’re the right person to get you to the next spot. Investing and financial planning when we’re within five years of retirement is a lot different than when we have ten or twenty years before we are going to retire.Investment advisory services offered through CreativeOne Wealth, LLC. Clients Excel, LLC and CreativeOne Wealth are not affiliated companies. Licensed Insurance Professionals. Investing involves risk, including potential loss of principal. Any references to protection or lifetime income generally refer to fixed insurance products, never securities or investments. Insurance guarantees are backed by the financial strength and claims paying abilities of the insuring carrier. Annuity withdrawals are subject to ordinary income taxes and potentially a 10% IRS penalty before age 59-1/2. Roth distributions are tax free after age 59-1/2 and the account has been open for at least 5 years. This video is intended for informational purposes only. It is not intended to be used as the sole basis for financial decisions, nor should it be construed as advice designed to meet particular needs of an individual’s situation. Clients Excel is not permitted to offer and no statement made during this show shall constitute tax or legal advice. Our firm is not affiliated with or endorsed by any governmental agency. The information and opinions contained herein provided by third parties have been obtained from sources believed to be reliable, but accuracy and completeness cannot be guaranteed by Clients Excel. The use of logos and/or trademarks of hosting sites are the property of their respective owners and are not an endorsement by those owners of our firm or our program.

It's easy when we face something we’re not familiar with to shy away from it or move on to a topic we’re more comfortable with. Recently I saw on social media a way to understand our national debt better. This was written on May 20th:·      “A million seconds ago was May 8th.·      A billion seconds ago was 1993.·      A trillion seconds ago was 30,000 B.C.·      The US national debt is now rising by $1 Trillion every 100 days.”The Guardian recently published a Harris poll. According to the government we’re not in a recession and yet 56% of people polled believe we are currently in a recession, and 72% believe inflation is going. What I think this indicates is the growing disparity between those doing okay and those economically suffering. After all, nearly 40% of Americans don’t participate in the growth of the stock market by owning equities.According to government stats inflation is going down and we’re not in a recession. At the start of this week the S&P 500 is 11.85% this year. It’s easy even if we are doing okay financially to not feel good about the economy. We’re reaping the consequences of over 20 years of government ineptitude such as not having a balanced budget since 2001.The author of the post linked to a 60 Minutes interview with Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell. He’s the guy who leads the board that sets interest rates amongst other duties. In the interview Powell said, “The U.S. is on an unsustainable fiscal path. The U.S. federal government is on an unsustainable fiscal path. And that just means that the debt is growing faster than the economy. We’re effectively borrowing from our future generations. It’s time for us to get back to putting a priority on fiscal sustainability. And sooner is better than later.”Investment advisory services offered through CreativeOne Wealth, LLC. Clients Excel, LLC and CreativeOne Wealth are not affiliated companies. Licensed Insurance Professionals. Investing involves risk, including potential loss of principal. Any references to protection or lifetime income generally refer to fixed insurance products, never securities or investments. Insurance guarantees are backed by the financial strength and claims paying abilities of the insuring carrier. Annuity withdrawals are subject to ordinary income taxes and potentially a 10% IRS penalty before age 59-1/2. Roth distributions are tax free after age 59-1/2 and the account has been open for at least 5 years. This video is intended for informational purposes only. It is not intended to be used as the sole basis for financial decisions, nor should it be construed as advice designed to meet particular needs of an individual’s situation. Clients Excel is not permitted to offer and no statement made during this show shall constitute tax or legal advice. Our firm is not affiliated with or endorsed by any governmental agency. The information and opinions contained herein provided by third parties have been obtained from sources believed to be reliable, but accuracy and completeness cannot be guaranteed by Clients Excel. The use of logos and/or trademarks of hosting sites are the property of their respective owners and are not an endorsement by those owners of our firm or our program.

You’ve probably heard by now that Silicon Valley Bank failed last Friday. It appears the bank rapidly took deposits over the last few years, and they needed somewhere to place their funds. And here begins the problem. The bank put money in Treasury bonds and mortgage-backed securities. When interest rates go up, bonds lose value.A few depositors figured this out and began withdrawing their large deposits in the bank. Eventually the bank was unable to meet the demand of withdrawals. Which is a bank’s worst nightmare!If you’ve been following this saga, you may be reading about fears of “contagion,” which is a fancy way of saying when one bank fails there is risk that other banks may fail due to fear of similar circumstances.Just last week, head of the Fed Jerome Powell indicated that interest rates will continue to rise in his comments to Congress. The government had appeared to think inflation was coming down, and interest rate increases might slow down. But after the economy added more jobs than expected this year, Powell began indicating that the rates are likely to continue rising. It will be interesting to see if the government pauses raising rates when they meet later this month or if the Fed will continue its plan to raise rates.What should you do? If you have a well-thought-out plan of action, you should probably do nothing.Nick Murray, an advisor and prolific author on the market, wrote, “Wealth is not determined by investment performance, but by investor behavior.”The goal with financial planning is doing the planning so that you don’t have to be reactionary when difficult times happen in the market. People with no plan have to play defense all the time, but we know the only way to win is by playing offense.You can be positioned to play offense by staying invested in difficult periods if you have a plan. Time and time again I have people tell me that if only they had not sold and had stayed invested, they’d be so much better off. Selling in difficult markets is what we do when we don’t have a plan. If you don't have a financial plan now is the time to develop it.Investment advisory services offered only by duly registered individuals through AE Wealth Management, LLC (AEWM). AEWM and Clients Excel, LLC are not affiliated companies. Investing involves risk, including potential loss of principal. Any references to protection, safety, or lifetime income, generally refer to fixed insurance products, never securities or investments. Insurance guarantees are backed by the financial strength and claims paying abilities of the insuring carrier. This podcast is intended for informational purposes only. It is not intended to be used as the sole basis for financial decisions, nor should it be construed as advice designed to meet particular needs of an individual’s situation. Clients Excel is not permitted to offer and no statement made during this show shall constitute tax or legal advice. Our firm is not affiliated with or endorsed by the U.S. Government or any governmental agency. The information and opinions contained herein provided by third parties have been obtained from sources believed to be reliable, but accuracy and completeness cannot be guaranteed by Clients Excel. The use of logos and/or trademarks of podcast hosting sites are the property of their respective owners and are not an endorsement by those owners of our firm or our program.

Like a lot of people, I’ve always had a job where I work with people, and it’s always fascinated me to try to figure out why people think the way they do. People are unique, but their themes are similar.In my role as a financial planner, I primarily assist Baby Boomers who are navigating how to retire. Or that’s often when we were first acquainted. In our initial meeting I always ask, “How are you feeling about the stock market?” You’d be surprised at the responses, but one theme repeats.I ask this question when the stock market is doing well, and when it’s struggling like it has been recently. Naturally, the answers vary, but in our current prolonged downturn I’ve been getting an interesting response.People have frequently said something along the lines of, “The market is down, but I believe in the market. It’ll come back, and we’ll (America) get it figured out.” I don’t disagree but think with me about the importance of our order of returns. Steve and Bill are brothers. Bill has a few years on Steve. Bill retired in 2000, and Steve retired in 2010. They both entered retirement with $500,000 saved. They both began withdrawing $30,000 to supplement their incomes.From 2010 to 2019 the worst market return came in 2018, but it wasn’t even a 6.5% decline. Most will recall that 2000 to 2009 was a wildly different situation. The market had four negative years with the worst of which being a drop of 38%.Who do you think came out better? Clearly, Steve had more favorable circumstances. Steve, retiring in 2010 had over $874,000 in 2019 while taking the $30,000 away each year. Bill on the other hand was left with less than $97,000.Managing risk in retirement is as important as managing our portfolio for returns. We call it going from an accumulation phase to an income and distribution phase. When we’re younger and have a longer time horizon we should work to accumulate, but when we’re five years out from retirement or in retirement we should be in an income and distribution phase. The later goal being figuring out how to make our funds last as long as possible.So, this begs the question. What is your strategy for managing your risk in retirement? If you don’t have one, we’d be happy to talk with you to share how we help our clients manage their downside exposure.Do you have a question? Would you like to learn more? EmailConnect@ClientsExcel.com or call 864.641.7955. Investment advisory services offered only by duly registered individuals through AE Wealth Management, LLC (AEWM). AEWM and Clients Excel, LLC are not affiliated companies. Investing involves risk, including potential loss of principal. Any references to protection, safety, or lifetime income, generally refer to fixed insurance products, never securities or investments. Insurance guarantees are backed by the financial strength and claims paying abilities of the insuring carrier. This podcast is intended for informational purposes only. It is not intended to be used as the sole basis for financial decisions, nor should it be construed as advice designed to meet particular needs of an individual’s situation. Clients Excel is not permitted to offer and no statement made during this show shall constitute tax or legal advice. Our firm is not affiliated with or endorsed by the U.S. Government or any governmental agency. The information and opinions contained herein provided by third parties have been obtained from sources believed to be reliable, but accuracy and completeness cannot be guaranteed by Clients Excel. The use of logos and/or trademarks of podcast hosting sites are the property of their respective owners and are not an endorsement by those owners of our firm or our program.

With inflation at 40-year highs some seniors feel this year’s big cost of living increase in Social Security is falling short. Yahoo Finance had an article last week that said, “According to a new survey by the Senior Citizens League, 54% of older Americans think the 8.7% increase in the Social Security cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) this year won't keep up with inflation.”What’s troubling is that the government’s rapid interest rate increases over the last year have done little to slow inflation. The latest government reports reveal inflation is remaining elevated at 6.4%. The government has stated they are resolved to bring inflation levels down to the 2% range, which means we have a long way to go at our current rate. It’s a juggling act. The economy has continued to grow despite the rate increases which is a problem for the government. The Federal Reserve is attempting to not break the economy, and get inflation lowered. Interestingly, for the first time in recent memory the government is on the other side of the table from investors like you and me. Generally, the government is trying to keep the economy going and the stock market growing. AARP reports, “Nearly half (48 percent) of households headed by someone 55 and older lack some form of retirement savings, according to the latest estimates by the U.S. Government Accountability Office.”So, the government is now on the side of the table of folks with little to no savings. What I mean by this is the government is trying to lower the cost of things for those most impacted by price increases: those with little savings. We’ve got a front row seat to see how this plays out.What should you do? Listen in to find out...Do you have a question? Would you like to learn more? EmailConnect@ClientsExcel.com or call 864.641.7955. Investment advisory services offered only by duly registered individuals through AE Wealth Management, LLC (AEWM). AEWM and Clients Excel, LLC are not affiliated companies. Investing involves risk, including potential loss of principal. Any references to protection, safety, or lifetime income, generally refer to fixed insurance products, never securities or investments. Insurance guarantees are backed by the financial strength and claims paying abilities of the insuring carrier. This podcast is intended for informational purposes only. It is not intended to be used as the sole basis for financial decisions, nor should it be construed as advice designed to meet particular needs of an individual’s situation. Clients Excel is not permitted to offer and no statement made during this show shall constitute tax or legal advice. Our firm is not affiliated with or endorsed by the U.S. Government or any governmental agency. The information and opinions contained herein provided by third parties have been obtained from sources believed to be reliable, but accuracy and completeness cannot be guaranteed by Clients Excel. The use of logos and/or trademarks of podcast hosting sites are the property of their respective owners and are not an endorsement by those owners of our firm or our program.

When we age into the time we can claim Social Security the temptation is strong to get the money as soon as we can. In fact, most people claim as soon as they can at 62. I get it. I love having extra money in my pocket, but it’s important to understand that we may be giving up quite a bit of money.The Wall Street Journal had an article last Sunday about this topic. It said, “A recent study, funded by the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, finds that retirees often give up tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of dollars by taking Social Security benefits too early.” The article states that researchers found that 90% of people would benefit from waiting to claim until 70, and this would increase discretionary income spending by 10% or $182,370. Did you ever think that claiming early could be that costly?If you’ve already claimed, you’re not alone. Only 10% of people will wait until age 70. I’ve found that most people get little to no help with making Social Security decisions. The rules surrounding how to claim are daunting too. It’s been estimated that there are 81 age combinations and 567 sets of calculations to determine how and when to claim your Social Security. It’s not exactly easy to figure out. In our office we use software to analyze the best claiming strategies. The computer program will show you how you can get the most out of your benefits over your lifetime. Unfortunately, you won’t get this help at the Social Security office. Sadly, the government is not equipped to give you advice on how to claim a benefit that you’ve paid into since you began working. Also, what I find is that most people who come into our office to talk about their Social Security have a financial advisor, and yet that advisor has never given them an objective plan for how to claim their benefits. You have to scratch your head and wonder why. After all, the difference in how we can claim Social Security can be the difference of over a hundred thousand dollars. Making the wrong decision may cost you. If you’d like to get a Social Security report that illustrates how to get the most out of Social Security, please let us know. We can schedule a 15-minute call to get a few details to run the report. We’d be happy to provide this complimentary resource. You can reach us at 864.641.7955.Investment advisory services offered only by duly registered individuals through AE Wealth Management, LLC (AEWM). AEWM and Clients Excel, LLC are not affiliated companies. Investing involves risk, including potential loss of principal. Any references to protection, safety, or lifetime income, generally refer to fixed insurance products, never securities or investments. Insurance guarantees are backed by the financial strength and claims paying abilities of the insuring carrier. This podcast is intended for informational purposes only. It is not intended to be used as the sole basis for financial decisions, nor should it be construed as advice designed to meet particular needs of an individual’s situation. Clients Excel is not permitted to offer and no statement made during this show shall constitute tax or legal advice. Our firm is not affiliated with or endorsed by the U.S. Government or any governmental agency. The information and opinions contained herein provided by third parties have been obtained from sources believed to be reliable, but accuracy and completeness cannot be guaranteed by Clients Excel. The use of logos and/or trademarks of podcast hosting sites are the property of their respective owners and are not an endorsement by those owners of our firm or our program.

Did you ever read Sherlock Holmes? In the 1894 story entitled “The Adventure of Silver Blaze” Holmes noticed something odd when he was attempting to solve the mystery.Holmes said, “the curious incident of the dog in the night-time” and the detail that the dog did not bark or make a commotion during the commission of the crime. Holmes concluded that the suspect must be someone the dog knew because the dog didn’t stir. If someone is breaking into a house and a dog resides there, you’d expect the dog to bark and growl.The decline in the market this year has been analogized in some ways. Often, when the market experiences a downturn, there  are lots of sudden uproar about the hit people are feeling. Just think back to the year 2020 when the pandemic started in the spring. On several trading days the market triggers paused trading because the market was selling off so quickly.This year is different in the sense that we are familiar with who’s causing the market decline. You may have already figured out where I’m going. The government is leading us into a recession, but we’re not seeing the uproar that often coincides with market downturn. And I think it may be because we’re familiar with the culprit.While the economy has slowed as evidenced by us technically being in a recession, it has not slowed enough to cool inflation. This means the pressure is on the Federal Reserve to do more, but they are limited in their ability to have an impact.What this means for people in the market: First, we should not have money in the market we will need in the next ten years. However, we need our money productively allocated to maintain our lifestyle in retirement. You have options for your income money in retirement.Second, if our market volatility is causing you turmoil consider using a hedge called a buffered ETF. This has resonated with some of our clients this year. You can be buffered against the first 15% of losses in the S&P 500. In exchange for the buffer, we are capped at earning around 15% of what the S&P 500 produces over the next twelve months.This allows you to not have to attempt to time the market (nobody can), but allows some peace of mind that if the market drops further, you have a buffer in place. If you’d like to learn more about this strategy or others, please call our office at 864.641.7955.Investment advisory services offered only by duly registered individuals through AE Wealth Management, LLC (AEWM). AEWM and Clients Excel, LLC are not affiliated companies. Investing involves risk, including potential loss of principal. Any references to protection, safety, or lifetime income, generally refer to fixed insurance products, never securities or investments. Insurance guarantees are backed by the financial strength and claims paying abilities of the insuring carrier. This podcast is intended for informational purposes only. It is not intended to be used as the sole basis for financial decisions, nor should it be construed as advice designed to meet particular needs of an individual’s situation. Clients Excel is not permitted to offer and no statement made during this show shall constitute tax or legal advice. Our firm is not affiliated with or endorsed by the U.S. Government or any governmental agency. The information and opinions contained herein provided by third parties have been obtained from sources believed to be reliable, but accuracy and completeness cannot be guaranteed by Clients Excel. The use of logos and/or trademarks of podcast hosting sites are the property of their respective owners and are not an endorsement by those owners of our firm or our program.

The media and the government have gotten creative with answering whether we are in a recession or not in order to make our economic situation better than reality. The traditional definition of a recession is being redefined. Historically, the definition of a recession has been two negative quarters of growth in the gross domestic production. In the first quarter of this year the GDP declined -1.16% and at the end of June the second quarter reading was -0.90%. We are by definition in a recession.According to Tom Siomades , the chief investment officer of AE Wealth Management, the average recession has lasted on average six to twelve months since World War II. He states in recent commentary that we should be mindful of the possibility of another six months of negative economic growth.Remember, we want three types of funds: Liquid, protected, and growth. Check out last week’s newsletter for a description of the three types of money.We have become increasingly spoiled by the market popping back up after recent downturns like it did in 2020. This pop effect is due in large part to the government intervening in the markets to stabilize them. Now the government is on the other side of the table from investors.Simodaes stated, “We are not seeming impetus for the market to come back up.” Why? Because if the government lowers interest rates or uses quantitative easing to create more new money, inflation runs away.If you’ve lost money in the first half the year, brace yourself for the possibility of more losses. This may not be a bad thing if you’re properly allocated and have a plan in place. If you’re winging it right now though, you have reason to be concerned.The government’s hands are tied with how much they can help the economy bounce back this time. This is a problem for folks who have gotten used to the market bouncing back and taking off for more growth. This may not happen this go around. It may take longer for the economy to right itself.Adding lighter fluid to the issue is the Federal Reserve has not stated what it’ll do at its September meeting. They could give forward guidance as to where rates may go but they are not, which is driving market sentiment down. Investment advisory services offered only by duly registered individuals through AE Wealth Management, LLC (AEWM). AEWM and Clients Excel, LLC are not affiliated companies. Investing involves risk, including potential loss of principal. Any references to protection, safety, or lifetime income, generally refer to fixed insurance products, never securities or investments. Insurance guarantees are backed by the financial strength and claims paying abilities of the insuring carrier. This podcast is intended for informational purposes only. It is not intended to be used as the sole basis for financial decisions, nor should it be construed as advice designed to meet particular needs of an individual’s situation. Clients Excel is not permitted to offer and no statement made during this show shall constitute tax or legal advice. Our firm is not affiliated with or endorsed by the U.S. Government or any governmental agency. The information and opinions contained herein provided by third parties have been obtained from sources believed to be reliable, but accuracy and completeness cannot be guaranteed by Clients Excel. The use of logos and/or trademarks of podcast hosting sites are the property of their respective owners and are not an endorsement by those owners of our firm or our program.

Wall Street has done a great job of marketing us. So much so that they have convinced us that we should sell our Amazon stock to pay our cable bill. Warren Buffett once said, “If you aren’t willing to own a stock for ten years, don’t even think about owning it for ten minutes.” We take his advice to heart. We can’t be invested in the market for ten years if we are using that same bucket of money to create income. So, what do we do?This brings us to our last point which is our “income bucket.” The worst year for the stock market in the last hundred years was a loss of over 43%. That’s an impactful loss for the portfolio. We can’t control what the markets are doing so we separate out our income bucket from our growth bucket.The liquid bucket and income bucket are designed to meet our lifestyle needs in retirement. We use the income bucket to cover all of our income needs for ten years. We want this money to be some place that’s protected. No, we don’t want it buried in the backyard losing purchasing power.We want it to have some growth. Historically, we could use several asset classes to find something that provides interest or dividends. We’re looking for something that will earn four to six percent on average. This enables us to leave our growth bucket alone for ten years like Buffett suggests and capture the returns of the market.  Does this philosophy resonate with you? Our approach enables us to tell our clients, like I tell Amelia about school, that we don’t have to be nervous about market volatility. When the difficult times come in the market hopefully you’ll remember the team at Clients Excel set your portfolio up with ten years of income. This gives the market time to recover from any potential losses it may face. We do this because our goal is for it to enable you to be worry free in retirement. Don’t fall into the trap of being completely in equities or pulled out of the market completely. If we’re all in equities, we are suffering this year. And if we are trying to time the market by selling and buying back in at the right time we’ll likely be disappointed.  Investment advisory services offered only by duly registered individuals through AE Wealth Management, LLC (AEWM). AEWM and Clients Excel, LLC are not affiliated companies. Investing involves risk, including potential loss of principal. Any references to protection, safety, or lifetime income, generally refer to fixed insurance products, never securities or investments. Insurance guarantees are backed by the financial strength and claims paying abilities of the insuring carrier. This podcast is intended for informational purposes only. It is not intended to be used as the sole basis for financial decisions, nor should it be construed as advice designed to meet particular needs of an individual’s situation. Clients Excel is not permitted to offer and no statement made during this show shall constitute tax or legal advice. Our firm is not affiliated with or endorsed by the U.S. Government or any governmental agency. The information and opinions contained herein provided by third parties have been obtained from sources believed to be reliable, but accuracy and completeness cannot be guaranteed by Clients Excel. The use of logos and/or trademarks of podcast hosting sites are the property of their respective owners and are not an endorsement by those owners of our firm or our program.

We sometimes  become quite loyal to the companies we are invested in. It may be a company we worked for or it may be an investment we inherited from our parents. Oftentimes, people in this scenario have a high concentration of their portfolio in one stock or one industry sector.The problem with this type of investing is that sometimes companies or sectors falter and this could leave us overexposed and feeling distraught.  Just as if Thriller or Boogie Woogy were to break, Amelia would be disappointed. We don’t want to be overly allocated in one sector in the event that the investment underperforms.If we’re invested in stocks, it makes sense to have numerous companies, but often a lower cost way that requires less rebalancing is to use index funds.An example of an index is the S&P 500. The index was created in 1957 and it was designed to represent 500 large US companies. Today there are many different types of indexes to allocate to. We can use index funds to allocate to bonds, commodities, real estate, technology, emerging markets, international markets and the list goes on. With index funds we are diversified amongst the companies inside of the index and this prevents us from being over exposed to one company. Also what this does is it allows us to be diversified, thereby not being disappointed if a company underperforms.   When the market turns down as it has this year, it's a great time to evaluate how your portfolio has performed under stress and assess whether you need to rebalance to get your holdings in line with your priorities. Perhaps an index fund may be appropriate for you. If you need assistance with rebalancing and accessing whether your allocations are in line with your goals and objectives please call our office at 864.641.7955.Investment advisory services offered only by duly registered individuals through AE Wealth Management, LLC (AEWM). AEWM and Clients Excel, LLC are not affiliated companies. Investing involves risk, including potential loss of principal. Any references to protection, safety, or lifetime income, generally refer to fixed insurance products, never securities or investments. Insurance guarantees are backed by the financial strength and claims paying abilities of the insuring carrier. This podcast is intended for informational purposes only. It is not intended to be used as the sole basis for financial decisions, nor should it be construed as advice designed to meet particular needs of an individual’s situation. Clients Excel is not permitted to offer and no statement made during this show shall constitute tax or legal advice. Our firm is not affiliated with or endorsed by the U.S. Government or any governmental agency. The information and opinions contained herein provided by third parties have been obtained from sources believed to be reliable, but accuracy and completeness cannot be guaranteed by Clients Excel. The use of logos and/or trademarks of podcast hosting sites are the property of their respective owners and are not an endorsement by those owners of our firm or our program.

In my twenties I loved riding and racing bicycles! Most of my races were on a closed circuit that was less than a mile long. The race would go around the closed loop for anywhere from 45 minutes or an hour.This kind of racing gets fast! My strategy was to stay in the front third of the group of racers and then in the last lap sprint to the finish. During that hour leading up to the finish it’s a fight to survive and not crash. Every race was an adrenaline rush, but a few of them stand out as extra memorable. The races I won are enjoyable to reminisce about, but that’s only half of the picture. Unfortunately, the ones I crashed in tend to be stamped in my mind due to the physical pain they induced.Many of these races were in downtown settings as they naturally had turns and were easy to create a circuit. My friend Phillip and I had driven to downtown Roanoke, Virginia, for a race one summer. I was hanging in the top third of the racers. Everything seemed to be going my way until I made a turn to the right and my pedal scraped the ground. This sent me to the ground with a big thud. Normally, if you can get to the wheel change area, you can get back in the race when something like this happens. Fortunately, I wasn’t injured and was able to get back in the race. I ended up  placing eighth in the sprint finish. Some people in the market have had it going their way until this year, but the market has made a turn. Some savers have been beaten up a little, but they may be okay if they have enough time to recover their losses. At this point they may feel like they can stay in it and live to see another day. But if they’re taking income off their positions they may be really hurting in this down market.Later in the year Phillip and I traveled to downtown Salisbury, North Carolina, for a race. It was close to where I grew up so my parents came out to watch. They were standing just beyond the finish line. This race course was like a figure eight where on both ends of the course we navigated a small city block and then there was a wide-open stretch in between each square to race back and forth to. This allowed the race to generate a swift pace because it was essentially a sprint to each corner.I had just upgraded to a more advanced level of competition and this race was fast! I found myself not meeting my goal of staying in the top third of the riders.  A few laps into the race I was on the outside of the road to the right. We were turning left. Investment advisory services offered only by duly registered individuals through AE Wealth Management, LLC (AEWM). AEWM and Clients Excel, LLC are not affiliated companies. Investing involves risk, including potential loss of principal. Any references to protection, safety, or lifetime income, generally refer to fixed insurance products, never securities or investments. Insurance guarantees are backed by the financial strength and claims paying abilities of the insuring carrier. This podcast is intended for informational purposes only. It is not intended to be used as the sole basis for financial decisions, nor should it be construed as advice designed to meet particular needs of an individual’s situation. Clients Excel is not permitted to offer and no statement made during this show shall constitute tax or legal advice. Our firm is not affiliated with or endorsed by the U.S. Government or any governmental agency. The information and opinions contained herein provided by third parties have been obtained from sources believed to be reliable, but accuracy and completeness cannot be guaranteed by Clients Excel. The use of logos and/or trademarks of podcast hosting sites are the property of their respective owners and are not an endorsement by those owners of our firm or our program.

It was recently revealed that the stock market had its worst first half of the year since 1970 and several analysts are indicating the market still has further to drop. The article linked here states equities “Face a triple whammy of sticky inflation, recession risks, and the threat to corporate profits sinking consumer confidence.”   We don’t have to believe the adage that nobody could have seen this problem coming. Congressman Thomas Massise astutely warned in March of 2020 that “The popular bill to spend $2 trillion dollars and shut down our economy was ‘the biggest mistake in history.’ That bill and subsequent bills that spent another $4 trillion are the reasons we now have shortages and inflation.”This should be common sense for the Federal Reserve, but Janet Yellen, a former Fed chair, stated she was wrong and didn’t see this coming. When the government pulls back its money printing and raises rates it becomes easy to anticipate what will happen. The most recent example to point to is in 2018 the government raised rates, and the market went down over six percent.In our July 2021 podcast, I warned of the coming inflationary problem we are experiencing and fortunately were able to help many prepare for what is transpiring this year. The worst thing we can do when faced with uncertainty is to do nothing. We don’t want to be the deer caught in the oncoming car’s headlights. Like the deer, we need to move and we need to do it quickly. When we hear people stating they did not see what is happening coming, I recommend being done with their advice like Amelia was done with Burglar Bill!Are you positioned the best you can be if things get more dicey in the economy? Let’s find out. Call our office at 864.641.7955 to schedule an appointment. Investment advisory services offered only by duly registered individuals through AE Wealth Management, LLC (AEWM). AEWM and Clients Excel, LLC are not affiliated companies. Investing involves risk, including potential loss of principal. Any references to protection, safety, or lifetime income, generally refer to fixed insurance products, never securities or investments. Insurance guarantees are backed by the financial strength and claims paying abilities of the insuring carrier. This podcast is intended for informational purposes only. It is not intended to be used as the sole basis for financial decisions, nor should it be construed as advice designed to meet particular needs of an individual’s situation. Clients Excel is not permitted to offer and no statement made during this show shall constitute tax or legal advice. Our firm is not affiliated with or endorsed by the U.S. Government or any governmental agency. The information and opinions contained herein provided by third parties have been obtained from sources believed to be reliable, but accuracy and completeness cannot be guaranteed by Clients Excel. The use of logos and/or trademarks of podcast hosting sites are the property of their respective owners and are not an endorsement by those owners of our firm or our program.

Our idea of successful retirement planning is creating a proverbial space suit for our clients that insulates them from twitches in the financial markets that we can’t control.We create a buffer that allows our clients to know that they have a stable bucket of money available to them for income and expenses. This bucket of money is productively growing and can be drawn down over ten years.After we have our income and expenses bucket of money taken care of, we use another bucket of money to participate in the stock market. If the market has a correction like this year, our client’s have the benefit of having ten years to recover. The market has always come back, but that does not prevent short-term pain. With our first bucket we lessen the pain of market losses. When the hard times in the market happen we begin hearing pundits preach about how it’s a unique period or this has never happened before. I normally don’t give that train of thought consideration but I recently read a compelling rationale for this actually being a unique correction. Peter Mallouk is an author and CEO for a financial services firm that manages north of $210 billion. He said in a recent interview, “I think it’s a more complicated time than normal,” noting key differences between this year’s market downturn and the past four bear markets.  “‘These were four very scary bear markets but they all had one thing in common: They all had a single cause,’ Mallouk said, citing the tech bubble, 9/11, the 2008-09 financial crisis and the 2020 coronavirus pandemic.”“In the past four bear markets, the Federal Reserve ‘was on the investor’s side’ and pumping money into the system, Mallouk said. Now, given high inflation and low unemployment, ‘this is the first bear market in a long time when the Fed is on the opposite side and wants the market to cool down,’ he added.”Our goal as a company is to insulate our client as much as possible so that they can be less affected when things are haywire. If we are only using one or two financial tools for retirement planning we may be disappointed when the hard times in the market come. We strive to be holistic and comprehensive in our approach to allow our clients to have the greatest opportunity at success.   Whenever you’re ready to learn more about our process, please give us a call at 864.641.7955. We’d be happy to share with you our unique Excel in Retirement process. Investment advisory services offered only by duly registered individuals through AE Wealth Management, LLC (AEWM). AEWM and Clients Excel, LLC are not affiliated companies. Investing involves risk, including potential loss of principal. Any references to protection, safety, or lifetime income, generally refer to fixed insurance products, never securities or investments. Insurance guarantees are backed by the financial strength and claims paying abilities of the insuring carrier. This podcast is intended for informational purposes only. It is not intended to be used as the sole basis for financial decisions, nor should it be construed as advice designed to meet particular needs of an individual’s situation. Clients Excel is not permitted to offer and no statement made during this show shall constitute tax or legal advice. Our firm is not affiliated with or endorsed by the U.S. Government or any governmental agency. The information and opinions contained herein provided by third parties have been obtained from sources believed to be reliable, but accuracy and completeness cannot be guaranteed by Clients Excel. The use of logos and/or trademarks of podcast hosting sites are the property of their respective owners and are not an endorsement by those owners of our firm or our program.

When I was in college I loved riding road bicycles. One of the first full years riding, I rode about 3,500 miles. The next year I started racing. Some people didn’t have a base of previous mileage on their legs before they raced. From the muscle memory perspective,  I felt advantaged that I had done the training the prior year. I raced for two years and was able to win two races. It’s addictive. When we start physical activities, oftentimes we feel sluggish and it’s hard. But once we achieve a level of fitness our physical exertion takes less effort and becomes more enjoyable. After I quit racing and started spending more time on career aspirations, I quickly fell out of racing shape. When I got on the bike I felt sluggish and riding took more effort. I was still in relatively good physical fitness shape, but I was riding less. Naturally, it felt more burdensome.Without having the time to ride 6 or even 7 days a week I wasn’t able to be in “race shape” fitness. I found it hard to ride my bike when I wasn’t in race shape. I robbed myself of the ability to enjoy something I previously had enjoyed because I did not make a mental transition to the next stage in my life.When helping people plan for retirement, I’ve observed that some folks have issues transitioning to a retirement planning mindset. Some of our readers have been great savers and have accumulated enough money to fund their retirement but you may still be playing the game. You have not transitioned to the next life stage. Think about this: The Carolina Panthers are on the 5-yard line and up by 6 points with 30 seconds left in the game. Does Cam Newton throw a 5-yard touchdown? NO! He would kneel. The Panthers have won the game. Why would they keep playing?When we continue playing the retirement accumulation game it may cause us to take unnecessary risks. The gains of the market over the last 12 years have become addictive like my aspirations for race shape fitness was.The goal with planning for retirement is to figure out how to take income and distribution off of our accounts and how to make it sustainable. Figuring this out may allow you to have more peace of mind when deciding if now is an appropriate time to retire.  If something here has resonated with you, please forward this to a friend who may benefit. As always we would be happy to discuss your particular goals and objectives with you in a private comfortable settings. Call our office at 864.641.7955. Investment advisory services offered only by duly registered individuals through AE Wealth Management, LLC (AEWM). AEWM and Clients Excel, LLC are not affiliated companies. Investing involves risk, including potential loss of principal. Any references to protection, safety, or lifetime income, generally refer to fixed insurance products, never securities or investments. Insurance guarantees are backed by the financial strength and claims paying abilities of the insuring carrier. This podcast is intended for informational purposes only. It is not intended to be used as the sole basis for financial decisions, nor should it be construed as advice designed to meet particular needs of an individual’s situation. Clients Excel is not permitted to offer and no statement made during this show shall constitute tax or legal advice. Our firm is not affiliated with or endorsed by the U.S. Government or any governmental agency. The information and opinions contained herein provided by third parties have been obtained from sources believed to be reliable, but accuracy and completeness cannot be guaranteed by Clients Excel. The use of logos and/or trademarks of podcast hosting sites are the property of their respective owners and are not an endorsement by those owners of our firm or our program.

If you’re watching the news this week you may have seen the wild swings in the market. If one thing is certain it’s that we need to know that when we’re in the market, we may lose money. The market has been generous for over a decade due to easy money policies like ultralow interest rates and government bond buying.The market tends to be forward looking and price events before they have happened, but the government has done a lousy job forecasting the impact of inflation. Government officials thought inflation would be “transitory” last year, but late in the game they realized it was a problem. Even knowing this, the government was still buying bonds in March which increased the money supply, increasing inflation along with it. Stanley Druckenmiller, a seasoned money manager and billionaire, states that the economy has never had a soft landing when inflation has gotten above 4.5%. “It’s a historical fact,” according to him. What Druckenmiller is saying is we are heading for a recession.But, what’s stopping this recession from happening now? Well, Americans are sitting on their savings which has allowed spending to continue. Once savings are depleted however, the recession will begin in haste. This may take 3 months, 6 months, or it may begin next year.On Monday, we saw the market take a big hit, because of the higher than expected inflation numbers from the previous Friday. Advisor David Nicholas states, “The market thought inflation peaked. The Fed thought inflation peaked.” They were wrong and the market sold off. It’s further evidence that the government is gasping for answers for how to fix the inflation problem.For these reasons, when we as advisors comprehensively help folks with planning, we suggest not having 10 years-worth of income in the market. Because remember we build all-weather proof financial plans. We help our clients figure out how to generate their retirement income from a stable bucket that cannot lose value. One that can only go up in value. This allows us to stay in the market and ride out storms like we are having this year. In the long-term, this allows our clients market positions to appreciate over time because the allocations have not affected my emotional sentiment.If you are concerned about how your account is allocated and how the market may impact you, please call our office at 864.641.7955 or reply here to schedule a complimentary 15-minute call. Investment advisory services offered only by duly registered individuals through AE Wealth Management, LLC (AEWM). AEWM and Clients Excel, LLC are not affiliated companies. Investing involves risk, including potential loss of principal. Any references to protection, safety, or lifetime income, generally refer to fixed insurance products, never securities or investments. Insurance guarantees are backed by the financial strength and claims paying abilities of the insuring carrier. This podcast is intended for informational purposes only. It is not intended to be used as the sole basis for financial decisions, nor should it be construed as advice designed to meet particular needs of an individual’s situation. Clients Excel is not permitted to offer and no statement made during this show shall constitute tax or legal advice. Our firm is not affiliated with or endorsed by the U.S. Government or any governmental agency. The information and opinions contained herein provided by third parties have been obtained from sources believed to be reliable, but accuracy and completeness cannot be guaranteed by Clients Excel. The use of logos and/or trademarks of podcast hosting sites are the property of their respective owners and are not an endorsement by those owners of our firm or our program.

On The Podcast This WeekDoug, our new support staff member, joins David on the podcast this week. Doug and David talk about the ideal time to retire. Investment advisory services offered only by duly registered individuals through AE Wealth Management, LLC (AEWM). AEWM and Clients Excel, LLC are not affiliated companies. Investing involves risk, including potential loss of principal. Any references to protection, safety, or lifetime income, generally refer to fixed insurance products, never securities or investments. Insurance guarantees are backed by the financial strength and claims paying abilities of the insuring carrier. This podcast is intended for informational purposes only. It is not intended to be used as the sole basis for financial decisions, nor should it be construed as advice designed to meet particular needs of an individual’s situation. Clients Excel is not permitted to offer and no statement made during this show shall constitute tax or legal advice. Our firm is not affiliated with or endorsed by the U.S. Government or any governmental agency. The information and opinions contained herein provided by third parties have been obtained from sources believed to be reliable, but accuracy and completeness cannot be guaranteed by Clients Excel. The use of logos and/or trademarks of podcast hosting sites are the property of their respective owners and are not an endorsement by those owners of our firm or our program.

Our business is growing! We’ve grown each year of our existence and we are on track to continue that pattern this year. We are growth minded, client focused, and desire to continue to serve new clients. Like most businesses, we were required to innovate during the COVID pandemic and fortunately, we came out of that situation stronger than we were. We are growth minded, client focused, and desire to continue to serve new clients. Like most businesses, we were required to innovate during the COVID pandemic and fortunately, we came out of that situation stronger than we were.Taxes are on sale right now. We may have talked with you previously about how it may be a good idea to convert your tax-deferred accounts to tax-free Roth accounts. If you believe taxes will be higher in the future than they are today, then this may be a good idea. We are thirty trillion dollars in debt as a country and our unfunded obligations are fatiguing to consider. The writing seems to be on the wall that taxes will have to be much higher than they are today to continue funding our government. We’ve been able to skirt this issue in the last decade because America has been able to print more money to buy bonds and equities. But we can’t even do that now, or at least not right now. We printed too much money during the pandemic and it’s what’s causing our inflation issue. In order to tame inflation, the government is now increasing interest rates. Meaning, the government won’t be able to print more money to keep the wheels of industry turning or to make up its gap in funding. This means taxes are at an even higher likelihood of increasing than they otherwise were.Now you may be scratching your head thinking “but why are taxes on sale?” As of last Friday, the S&P 500 was down 18.14% for the year. If you have $500,000 in your 401k and it’s down 18.14% you now have $409,300. When the market is down there is less to pay taxes on to convert to tax-free. At times, we may be able to create a situation for select clients where they will receive a bonus to enable them to make up some of their losses.If you’d like to discover more about this, click here to schedule a 15-minute call with me.Investment advisory services offered only by duly registered individuals through AE Wealth Management, LLC (AEWM). AEWM and Clients Excel, LLC are not affiliated companies. Investing involves risk, including potential loss of principal. Any references to protection, safety, or lifetime income, generally refer to fixed insurance products, never securities or investments. Insurance guarantees are backed by the financial strength and claims paying abilities of the insuring carrier. This podcast is intended for informational purposes only. It is not intended to be used as the sole basis for financial decisions, nor should it be construed as advice designed to meet particular needs of an individual’s situation. Clients Excel is not permitted to offer and no statement made during this show shall constitute tax or legal advice. Our firm is not affiliated with or endorsed by the U.S. Government or any governmental agency. The information and opinions contained herein provided by third parties have been obtained from sources believed to be reliable, but accuracy and completeness cannot be guaranteed by Clients Excel. The use of logos and/or trademarks of podcast hosting sites are the property of their respective owners and are not an endorsement by those owners of our firm or our program.

While it looks all but certain that we are heading into an economic recession, it’s important to consider what positive outcomes may be possible during this time. It’s also important to understand that if we do experience a setback due to market losses, we may be able to recover more quickly if we have good investing habits in place. Part of this habit is developed at the outset with clearly defined expectations on how to or how not to react when the market declines.I recently watched a video from Craft Ventures about its raising of assets for private investors to place their money in. It mentioned that a couple iconic companies such as Google, Amazon, Airbnb, and Paypal were founded during the early 2000s Dot Com market correction. Many of us are very familiar with the success of these companies, regardless of what major obstacles have come their way. These companies are prime examples of how having the right financial habits set in place can set you up for long term success.Ultimately, what the government is intending to do with increasing interest rates is to bring down the cost for our everyday goods. This hopefully means we’ll soon be paying less for basic necessities like food and gas. The economy tends to slow down during these times which often allows us to gain new perspectives about what’s most important to us in our lives.For some, this could be physical assets. Others, like myself, hold family as the most important thing in our lives. Regardless of what this is for you, one thing is clear, we need to make sure that what we do have is cared for, protected, and secure.With a well thought out, all weather proof financial plan in place, the necessity to fret about a downturn in the economy is lessened. Planning allows us to not have to dream about what we want. It allows us to work toward our aspirations, and that’s exactly what we help our clients do each and every day. Whenever you’re ready to talk more about this, please call us at 864.641.7955.  Investment advisory services offered only by duly registered individuals through AE Wealth Management, LLC (AEWM). AEWM and Clients Excel, LLC are not affiliated companies. Investing involves risk, including potential loss of principal. Any references to protection, safety, or lifetime income, generally refer to fixed insurance products, never securities or investments. Insurance guarantees are backed by the financial strength and claims paying abilities of the insuring carrier. This podcast is intended for informational purposes only. It is not intended to be used as the sole basis for financial decisions, nor should it be construed as advice designed to meet particular needs of an individual’s situation. Clients Excel is not permitted to offer and no statement made during this show shall constitute tax or legal advice. Our firm is not affiliated with or endorsed by the U.S. Government or any governmental agency. The information and opinions contained herein provided by third parties have been obtained from sources believed to be reliable, but accuracy and completeness cannot be guaranteed by Clients Excel. The use of logos and/or trademarks of podcast hosting sites are the property of their respective owners and are not an endorsement by those owners of our firm or our program.

Often people attempt to guess at what will cause the next market correction, and sometimes we are taken off guard. Things like September 11th happen or the Coronavirus. Nobody saw those events coming, and they caused a major downturn in the market. These are commonly referred to as “black swan” events.This year is different. We’ve seen this recession coming. The government announced last year that the Fed would begin increasing interest rates and decreasing its balance sheet. The government bought bonds and equities and lowered rates during the pandemic to stabilize the economy. In hindsight, the government did too much of these things and it has caused inflation to reach 40-year highs. Something had to be done to decrease prices, so rate increases were prescribed by Fed policy makers.We recently saw the biggest rate increase we’ve had in 20 years and some people are left wondering, will the Fed go too far in pushing rates up? It feels like this is a controlled burn and the government is facilitating a potential recession, which is unlike anything we’ve seen in the recent past. The issue is the government doesn’t have many choices about how to deal with surging inflation. So, how do we create retirement income plans when we know things will happen along the way that we can’t control? We preface any conversation with the fact that we know we will have down years in the market, but historically, the market has always gone up over time.Next, we know in order to not be a speculator in the market, we have to have time in the market to allow for our values to increase and to be earned in the long-term. We set up two buckets.One bucket is in the market and our goal is to advise our clients to not touch this bucket and allow it to appreciate. We seek a modest return, because if we are batting for the fences, we unnecessarily increase our risk.Then we have a bucket of money that can only go up. It can’t decrease. We illustrate to grow less than it typically will and we draw income from this bucket that can’t lose value.Once this bucket is depleted, we can replenish it with our other bucket that has grown. With our approach we are diversified, we have decreased risks, and our clients don’t have to wonder if they’ll have income money.When is the right to take action on creating a retirement income plan? It’s like most things in life. When we have new knowledge and we can act it’s often appropriate to execute as soon as possible. This year it’s even more true because waiting may increase your risk of continual losses. Investment advisory services offered only by duly registered individuals through AE Wealth Management, LLC (AEWM). AEWM and Clients Excel, LLC are not affiliated companies. Investing involves risk, including potential loss of principal. Any references to protection, safety, or lifetime income, generally refer to fixed insurance products, never securities or investments. Insurance guarantees are backed by the financial strength and claims paying abilities of the insuring carrier. This podcast is intended for informational purposes only. It is not intended to be used as the sole basis for financial decisions, nor should it be construed as advice designed to meet particular needs of an individual’s situation. Clients Excel is not permitted to offer and no statement made during this show shall constitute tax or legal advice. Our firm is not affiliated with or endorsed by the U.S. Government or any governmental agency. The information and opinions contained herein provided by third parties have been obtained from sources believed to be reliable, but accuracy and completeness cannot be guaranteed by Clients Excel. The use of logos and/or trademarks of podcast hosting sites are the property of their respective owners and are not an endorsement by those owners of our firm or our program.

Shortly after the turn of the century a doctor named Gordon Lithgow in the UK coined a new term. Seeking to distinguish between the years we are healthy and functional and our actual lifespan he began using the word “healthspan.”Dr. Peter Attia defines longevity using two things. He says lifespan is how long we live and healthspan is how well we live. Within healthspan he states there are three dimensions. There is the cognitive dimension, the physical dimension or your ability to carry out activities of daily living, and the third is our emotional dimension, which he admits is harder to quantify.The thought process surrounding our healthspan is important to contemplate because we obviously want our healthspan to correspond with our lifespan. If you’d like to learn more about this concept, check out Dr. Attia’s website. He has a practice focused on longevity. I’ve found his insights helpful. Click here to go to his website.The S&P 500 is down nearly 13% this year while the technology heavy NASDAQ is down over 20% this year. Years like these typically attract investors to bonds, but with interest rates going up, bond values are down also. The S&P US Aggregate Bond Index is down 8.42% this year.I happened to be on call awhile back with a financial advisor named David Moore. He created an index that adheres to rules that the S&P 500 index was designed to follow.The S&P 500 was created in 1957. It was supposed to only have US stocks in the index and the companies were supposed to have positive earnings for the past four quarters. These things aren’t happening any longer. To further cause issues, larger companies have a larger weighting. So, if one of the large companies has a bad earnings report it may cause the whole market to experience volatility.Moore’s index is comprised of only US companies, and twice per year companies are removed from the index that have not maintained positive earnings. The companies are also equally weighed.  With Moore’s index, each of the stocks are weighted equally. The result when it comes to stocks is less volatility because one company does not have an outsized influence. Year-to-date Moore’s index is up 1.13%.  If you’d like to learn more about this, please let us know. You can reach me by calling 864.641.7955. Investment advisory services offered only by duly registered individuals through AE Wealth Management, LLC (AEWM). AEWM and Clients Excel, LLC are not affiliated companies. Investing involves risk, including potential loss of principal. Any references to protection, safety, or lifetime income, generally refer to fixed insurance products, never securities or investments. Insurance guarantees are backed by the financial strength and claims paying abilities of the insuring carrier. This podcast is intended for informational purposes only. It is not intended to be used as the sole basis for financial decisions, nor should it be construed as advice designed to meet particular needs of an individual’s situation. Clients Excel is not permitted to offer and no statement made during this show shall constitute tax or legal advice. Our firm is not affiliated with or endorsed by the U.S. Government or any governmental agency. The information and opinions contained herein provided by third parties have been obtained from sources believed to be reliable, but accuracy and completeness cannot be guaranteed by Clients Excel. The use of logos and/or trademarks of podcast hosting sites are the property of their respective owners and are not an endorsement by those owners of our firm or our program.