Comprehensive Financial Plan

Yeah. Welcome to Finishing Well, brought to you by CardinalGuide.com with certified financial planner Hans Scheil, best-selling author and financial planner, helping families finish well for over 40 years. On Finishing Well, we'll examine both biblical and practical knowledge to assist families in finishing well, including discussions on managing Social Security, Medicare, IRAs, long-term care, life insurance, investments, and taxes.

Now, let's get started with Finishing Well.

Well, welcome to Finishing Well with Certified Financial Planner Hans Scheil, and today we got a great show for you. It's a comprehensive Financial plan. And I love that idea of comprehensive. And so, you know, John 10:10, it sounds very comprehensive, doesn't it? You know, Jesus laid out a very, very comprehensive plan, both his plan and the enemy's plans, because it starts out that way.

It says, the thief comes not to excuse me, the thief does not come except to steal and to kill and destroy. I have come, that's Jesus, I have come that they may have life and that they may have it more abundantly. And so that description shares with you that certainly the enemy does have A you know, comprehensive plan. And it Always involves those three items: stealing, and killing and destroying. But Jesus is.

Plan when you begin to think of what all life includes, what a comprehensive plan life is, right? Because with life, you get health, and you get that health spiritually, physically, emotionally, all those things. And you also get wealth and you get love and you get joy and you get peace. And you think of all the things that are connected just within those ideas, but they're all very connected. In other words, if you don't have health, it's pretty hard to have joy.

Or what if you don't have love, right? If you've got love, but you have all the wealth in the world, there's not going to be a lot of peace. In other words, it's a comprehensive plan because. He's the wonderful counselor, okay? And because he brings life and he brings it abundantly, and like that.

All these things are very much connected to each other. financially as well And it's kind of cool that that Hans put together these seven worries that we talk about every week and how they really affect one another and the reason why a comprehensive plan is really a great way to finish well. Hans? Yeah. So We made this video and we do these from time to time.

where we're really addressing all seven worries.

Social Security. Medicare, long-term care. Your retirement savings, 401k, IRA, and things unique to them. And your retirement income and investment. Estate planning.

And taxes. And so, those are the seven things. And they're one of the few things that I think are really. unique about Cardinal and the business that we started several years ago. That Makes us unique.

Most everything else, we've learned from somebody else, or we've learned from the industry, or we learned from experience. you could get a lot of this stuff elsewhere, but it's only here you're really going to get The seven worries and the way we address things, and how they started. Here's ice. started out in 2010. Where I opened this business, and I said, okay, so I want to deliver financial planning.

To the Prospective clients, you. Yeah. for people that are turning 65. I mean, it's just because I've been in the Medicare business. My whole life.

Yeah, I really went in business myself. to expand way beyond Medicare. And take care of really everything financially. Um Four people. turning 65, entering retirement in their 60s and 70s.

And so I just laid out. What are the things we need to address in this financial plan? And what's First.

Social Security. Everybody in the country. get Social Security. and it's at different levels. And they're at different places, but that's the basis.

So that's the first subject.

so on and so forth. People at 65 get Medicare. and they need advice about it. Um and so on and so forth. Uh these were laid out as the steps in a financial plan.

And what I realized real quick as I began doing these financial plans, writing financial plans. offering financial plans for people. is we'd make a decision in one area. Yeah. it kicks off and it, like for instance, Social Security.

is if I sit there and tell you, you know, I explained to you a claiming strategy and the timing of that. And so you're 64 years old, and you're thinking about taking Social Security. right when you retire, you know, in the next little while. And then I'm going to teach you. that you could get a whole lot more Social Security.

by waiting until you're later, until you're seventy, maybe. I'm not necessarily recommending it at this point, but you've come into me for a plan. You told me what you think you're going to do. And then I'm looking at alternatives. Yeah.

The natural question is, what am I going to live off?

Well, I'm delaying this Social Security for six years. I mean, I was counting on that for a check.

Well. How much do you have in other savings?

Now all of a sudden we've just jumped over to another area. Could we? pull from that. for the next six years. And then get this higher Social Security check.

Is that going to work?

Well, Maybe, maybe not. But then we've made a decision in another area.

So what What happens is You can't look at all these seven worries. in isolation. We have a tendency when we're making the radio shows, when we're making the videos. Like Last week we talked about Medicare. And that was the whole show.

And we're looking at Medicare in isolation. And so that's all good. But you start making decisions, you're going to affect the other six areas. And so this week's topic is really how do all these things work together? How do they bounce off of each other?

and what kind of effect Do they create? Is that making sense? Oh, absolutely. You know, I think about somebody who In fact, I have feveral friends who, from my standpoint, made a critical mistake in taking their Social Security way too early. Again, not thinking about How their income is affected, right?

Because income is one of the seven worries. They're thinking about income from a standpoint of Social Security, but that really affected their taxes. And the next thing you know, they're giving it back anyway. And all those things really. All came together as sort of a nightmare because they just looked at one item and especially looked at it from from my standpoint, not getting good Council there.

Well, sure.

So we've got to make good decisions in Social Security. We've got to find out about your spouse. Uh are you married? And then what's your spouse's situation with Social Security? It is your spouse.

Going to get their check dependent on your check, or are they going to do it on their own earnings record? I mean, there's a whole bunch of stuff. Then we've got to look at.

Okay, once you start this Social Security check. you're going to have to pay income tax on it. Maybe. And that maybe is because Social Security all by itself is not taxed. What's taxed is the amount of your other income besides Social Security, are the other taxable income That's what drives the taxation on Social Security.

So here we are. we're in the income section again, and we're in the tax section. And so we start doing tax planning. Uh this stuff all of a sudden starts to get pretty complicated. It's like stacking bricks on top of each other and If you don't lay a good foundation, it's all going to come down.

So When We lay out these financial plans when we're done. Um It all seems to It'd be pretty simple because we've thought about all these things, but it takes us a couple of months to do one of these financial plans and several meetings with you.

So we just started on Social Security. What comes after that is Medicare. That was last week. Um you make your Medicare decisions. That that's going to be dependent again.

on your resources.

So if you If you don't have a lot of resources... you're probably going to get a Medicare Advantage plan because the premiums are going to be difficult for you. on a Medicare supplement plan. Um You probably don't have to worry if you have a low income. or a moderate income about Irma.

You know, an Irma is the Medicare tax and the Irma The Medicare tax is determined by your income in total when you're on Medicare.

So now we're bouncing over to the income section. Let's not spend too much time there. The next subject is long-term care. Yeah. You know, if we're going to address first of all, Do you do you have resources to pay the premium?

I mean, if if you don't, or you've got very limited income. Then We're probably going to direct you to a short-term care policy or a recovery care policy. which is going to have a smaller premium. And if you don't have enough premium to pay that, which some people don't. then you're probably going to rely on the government for your long-term care.

Um Conversely, If you Have some resources, then we're going to have to look at them and decide. Can we Put some of those resources toward the long-term care problem. I mean, in other words, can we take a hundred thousand or two hundred thousand? of either your IRA money or your regular money. Do you have that much?

that we can put that over there. and throw it at the long-term care problem. Yeah. Cover that. many times over so i don't want to get too deep into that Um But I even brought up, is that IRA money, is that regular money, or would you be better off buying a traditional policy which just has an annual premium?

Where's that going to come? And now we're in the IRA section. We're in the income section.

So Um Next subject. Your IRA money.

Okay, I mean the first thing we got to look at with your IRA money Do you need money out of there to live? Yeah, which most people do. Most people that have saved money in their IRA When they're retired, they got their Social Security. And then they have their IRA funds that they can draw from. PM So Then we've got to look how much do we have to draw out of that.

Yeah. Or do we need to draw And then we're going to have to pay taxes on those withdrawals. out of the IRA 401k. Um before we spend the money.

So now we're over in the tax section. And we got to kind of look at the different levels of withdrawals. Or do you have Other money that you can withdraw from. that's not taxable? Or can we do a blend of the two?

So, you know, I I'm not doing the show to confuse people. I'm just. giving you a little insight into our thinking. and why we're asking you so many questions about your situation on the front end. This show is brought to you by Cardinal Guide, CardinalGuide.com.

So if you go to CardinalGuide.com, you're going to see. The seven worries tabs, as we're talking about today, of each of these items that Hans is describing and how they impact each other. Beautifully, we have radio shows and videos and all sorts of resources on each of those subjects. And as you go to those, you can watch a video exactly like this. On the same ideas, got beautiful show notes and all those things on a comprehensive financial plan.

Again, that's at cardinalguide.com and it's under Which tab is it under Hans? I hadn't thought about it since it included. This will be under the Social Security tab. It'll be under Social Security, okay. Because it does include it's the first one and it includes everything.

Yeah. And so. We also want to remind you that This book is there: The Complete Cardinal Guide to Planning for and Living in Retirement, and the workbook that goes along with that. And of course, The contact Hans and Tom page. It's all there at cardinalguide.com.

So we'll be back with a whole lot more on comprehensive financial plans. Stay tuned. Investment advisory services offered through Brookstrone Capital Management LLC, abbreviated BCM. a registered investment advisor. BCM and Cardinal Advisors are independent of each other.

Insurance products and services are not offered through BCM, but are offered and sold through individually licensed and appointed agents. Cardinal Advisors is not affiliated with or endorsed by the Social Security Administration or any other government agency. Welcome back to Finishing Well with Certified Financial Planner Hans Scheil and today's show the comprehensive financial plan. And when we left our heroes, Hans, you had paused so they could think about this money that's in their IRA or other savings, what's it for?

Well, that's a question I want to ask everybody, unless they're Spending it, and they've already got a plan. I mean, some people come into us and they've already figured out: I'm going to take out $4,000 a month. Out of my IRA, and I'm going to pay a thousand to twelve hundred bucks in taxes. And I'm going to be left with 2800. And that, my Social Security, that's what we're going to live on.

Yeah. You know, so that kind of person, we're going to sit down and how sustainable is this $4,000 a month? Do you have enough money? What's a market change? But stock market goes bouncing all around.

Is that going to affect you? Or if that happens to you at 80. Are you going to run out of money? Um or is there plenty or is 4,000 not enough? I mean, maybe some people have just picked a number.

Yeah. They're not taking enough if they have a very large balance. Um So it's going to lead us to the question. is what's it for. And I don't expect people to have a good answer necessarily.

When we get to this point. But a lot of people need to be asked that question because they've just been accumulating, accumulating, investing, investing, accumulating. Yeah. looking at it and they've never really thought about it from a withdrawal. standpoint is this is your retirement fund.

You're now retired or soon to be retired.

Now we're going to quit putting money in here. is we're not working anymore and we're going to start taking money out. Unless you're one of these people that doesn't take anything till required minimum distributions. then I really want to know what's it for. And that puts people You know, in a tough places, you know, people say, Good question.

Never really thought about that, you know, and then. They'll tell me, well, it's not to pay taxes. I know they pull anything out of there, I got to pay taxes.

Okay.

So now we know what it's not for. But we're still working on and I mean, it is some people will come up, well, you know, I'm going to die and then My wife's still going to be living on. It's for her after I die.

Okay.

Well, that's a good answer.

Okay, and that's a good reason to not withdraw much. Because she's going to be now we're over in estate planning. By the way, it you know, the first spouse living on. And she's going to have problems. because Herso's security check, if it was a smaller one, stops.

And yours. is what she lives on with.

So she's going to need some extra money, but I also have bad news for you. We got the widow's penalty where she's going to be a single filer.

So if we put off withdrawals from the IRA, Chill. You absolutely have to require at the age of 73, 74, 75. And then you die at 82. PM Then You leave this all to her, and then she has to start taking more out of there than the minimum just to live. to go with her Social Security check, she's going to pay taxes at higher rates because she's a single filer.

I mean, this just goes in so many pair mutations in so many directions. I couldn't possibly get it all out on a radio show. But this is what we do with people as we're writing these plans. Maybe we don't talk as much as I'm talking now. We kind of keep this to ourselves, but these are all the questions.

We're asking ourselves And when we get all the way through, let's just move on to income.

So, you know, we gotta... We got to look at what are all your sources of income. I mean, most people it's Social Security. And do you have a pension? Does your spouse have a pension?

A lot of people don't these days, but some do. Um Then are we pulling money out of the IRA to live? How much is that? Or are you selling something, or you're selling some real estate, or you have real estate rental property? Yeah.

So we're going to look at all your sources of income, all your potential sources of income. Uh do you have savings that you've already paid taxes on that's not in an IRA. Can you or do you draw from that? Um And that's a it's it's a good source of We'll call it partially taxable income. Um So all of this is going to come together and This might even be the most important subject.

To a lot of people, is that they want to hear from us is like, how am I going to live after I retire? What what's the budget going to be and where's that money coming from? You know, if we can deliver this to them. And a little bit of security and sanity. You know, it makes people much happier.

But I always try to focus them on This is easy from 65 to 70, 70 to 75. 75 to 80. What I want to plan for is one or both of you lives up into your 80s and 90s. That's the part of the plan I want to look at. Uh and I'm gonna look at it whether you because it's That's where the problems develop if you spend too much too early, or you have bad markets, or you know, you don't want to get to a ripe old age and be running out of money.

No, no, and there are.

so many alternatives and s and that, you know, income is Definitely one of the real worries. When when you think about the seven worries, uh I'm sure that that's one That's there, and that's why you kind of start out with number one being Social Security because. There is an income that That really is the basis for a lot of things, right? Oh, it is. Yeah.

Uh y you ask any Eighty-five ninety year old. And I do, by the way. I t I talk to people that are age. I get Some of them's clients. Yeah.

Um You ask them. Like Tell me about your Social Security check. How much is it? And most of them They couldn't tell you how much money they got in the bank. They couldn't tell you a lot of things, what their monthly bills are.

Most of them can tell you that Social Security check within five bucks. And and they can tell you the day of the month it goes in the bank account.

So that's my measure of whether it's important or not. And this goes across all income levels. of people. They're very well to do, they can tell you that. Because it's the one kind of certain thing that it's just It's the same and then it gets bumped up next year.

So it's important. And that's why we start with it. Um Just moving on to estate planning. Meet.

Some folks are like, look, I don't I'm not worried about what I leave to my kids. I mean they can have what's left over. This is for me.

Well that's telling me we're going to go back to income and IRAs and all that kind of stuff. Um But a lot of times I got to check in with both spouses because the dude might be telling me that and the lady all of a sudden She wants to leave money to her. Daughter and her son and their grandkids.

So then I maybe got a. Kind of work that out. And I need to learn whether this estate planning to the next generation is a priority or not. And people are in all different places. Um You just can't imagine the number of people that don't have their documents lined up.

You know, they've they've got an old will or they got no will and they don't have powers of attorneys.

So You know, we got we could check through all that when we do a financial plan. Um So, yeah. You know, the next section is income tax. And I put that last. And it really, we've been talking about it through the whole show and every plan, but I put it last.

It's people that come in here with tax breath. and they're just very angry about taxes. To a certain extent, they annoy me. And so Now I make them wait till the very end. Check it.

The tax information, even though we've been talking about taxes all along, I mean, they're just in here, but. It's the last worry because we're going to put together a section that's going to try to lower your taxes over your whole of your retirement.

Okay, I mean that's It's important. But it's not important enough to get angry about, and it's not important enough to make it. your end-all be-all priority in retirement planning. That's what annoys me.

Okay.

And and I so I put it in its proper place.

Now What I wanted to get in before we're done is we've never really put this on the air, but we charge. a thousand dollars to most people for a comprehensive financial plan. And you know, there's a couple ways to look at that. Is that the lot? Because you can say I'm a thousand bucks is a thousand bucks.

Um But when you see what you get And you get a lot and you get a lot of our time. Um When you look at this elsewhere, Um It's not a lot. I mean, it's just. There there's places that charge $5,000, $10,000. you know maybe do it in pieces Uh this can be a pretty expensive thing if you get it from a bank or where else.

But we've we've arrived at that number because it really requires our our clients to to put up some money, you know, to to make an investment. in creating this financial plan. An old saying that it If you think education is expensive, try ignorance. Oh right. Yeah.

Or in this case You know, if you think Hans's financial plan's expensive Yeah. Try, no plan. I mean, oh my gosh. Yeah. I can't even think of the thousands.

It would have cost me had I not gotten this from you. It's incredible.

Well, yeah, and so and some folks that have a very extensive. Um a state And they want some heavy duty estate planning. people that Well, that's probably the area that we get into the most. If people want a lot of tax planning that goes well beyond so we're going to charge them by the hour more in excess of the thousand dollars. But This basic plan, which is pretty comprehensive, is You know, it's a thousand bucks.

And then on the other side is when I have people that come to me, let's just put it this way: if The payment for the plan is a problem. Um you still come to me for the help and then We'll talk about the money. I mean, I'm not going to make a commitment on the air, but Um first of all, I'm not going to charge you anything. for an initial consultation and There's a lot of people that have come here for help. Um They they've been taken care of and it really I'm just going to leave it at that.

Well, and speaking of leaving at that, I hate we got to go to Oh, that we've run out of sh time before we ran out of show, but it's a good place to, you know, just remind you that again, I I know Hans has a servant heart, as does Tom in a huge way. You need the help. That's what that's what he he he thrives on it. Believe me. And so you're going to need to contact Hans.

And to do that, you go to cardinalguy.com. If you go to cardinalguy.com, there you're going to find the seven worries tabs. We talked about all of them today. And there you'll also find show notes, etc. Today's show the comprehensive financial plans under the social security tab.

And so it's there as well as Hans's book. Complete Cardinal Guide to Planning for and Living in Retirement. And of course, as we talk about always that contact Hans and Tom page. And I know one thing. I found out how expensive uh education isn't.

I mean, you know, if you try ignorance, it's a pretty expensive way to go.

So thanks, Hans. Great show. Yeah, and thank you. And if you're out there and You don't have the money to buy a financial plan, and you need you got some financial problems that you need help with. God bless you and just you're coming to the right place.

I'll take care of you. Thanks, Hans. The opinions expressed by Hans Scheil and guests on this show are their own and do not reflect the opinions of this radio station. All statements and opinions expressed are based upon information considered reliable, although it should not be relied upon as such. Any statements or opinions are subject to change without notice.

Investments involve risk and, unless otherwise stated, are not guaranteed. Past performance cannot be used as an indicator to determine future results. Any strategies mentioned may not be suitable for everyone. Information expressed does not take into account your specific situation or objectives and is not intended as recommendations appropriate for you. Before acting on any information mentioned, please consult with a qualified tax or investment advisor to determine if it's suitable for your specific situation.

Finishing Well is designed to provide accurate and authoritative information with regard to the subject covered. Investment advisory services offered through Brookstrone Capital Management LLC, abbreviated BCM, a registered investment advisor. BCM and Cardinal Advisory Are independent of each other. Insurance products and services are not offered through BCM, but are offered and sold through individually licensed and appointed agents. Cardinal Advisors is not affiliated with or endorsed by the Social Security Administration or any other government agency.

We hope you enjoyed Finishing Well, brought to you by CardinalGuide.com. Visit CardinalGuide.com for free downloads of this show or previous shows on topics such as Social Security, Medicare, IRAs, long-term care, life insurance, investments, and taxes, as well as Han's best-selling book, The Complete Cardinal Guide to Planning for and Living in Retirement and the Workbook. Once again, for dozens of free resources, past shows, or to get Han's book, go to CardinalGuide.com. If you have a question, comment, or suggestion for future shows, click on the Finishing Well radio show on the website and send us a word. Once again, that's CardinalGuide.com.

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