0:00:00 - Speaker 1
Discussions in this show should not be construed as specific recommendations or investment advice. Always consult with your investment professional before making important investment decisions. Security is offered through registered representatives of Cambridge Investment Research Inc. A broker-dealer member, finra, sipc Advisory Services through Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. A registered investment advisor. Cambridge and Greenway Wealth Advisory are not affiliated.

0:00:20 - Speaker 2
It's time to dive into some insider secrets of investing and retirement planning To make your retirement as smart and as elegant as possible. This is Money Chic with Sherry Rash. Hey everybody, welcome in to another edition of Money Chic, women and Retirement with Sherry Rash From Greenway Wealth Advisory. It is well right before Thanksgiving when we're dropping this. We're taping it a couple of days ahead of time, sherry, but we're going to be putting this out the week of Thanksgiving, so let me go ahead and be the first to say happy Thanksgiving.

0:00:53 - Speaker 3
Thank you, happy Thanksgiving.

0:00:54 - Speaker 2
Yeah, so I'm getting to do it like a week early, but you'll hear it a day early.

0:00:59 - Speaker 3
So there you go.

0:01:01 - Speaker 2
Any big plans hanging out? What's going on?

0:01:03 - Speaker 3
Having dinner at our house. We will be introducing Thanksgiving to our Colombian nanny.

0:01:11 - Speaker 1
Isabella.

0:01:13 - Speaker 3
She arrived about a month ago and she is really looking forward to her first American holiday.

0:01:20 - Speaker 2
Very cool. Now I'm a traditionalist with my Thanksgiving, growing up in the 70s and whatnot. I like my Thanksgiving. I've got very good about eating things like cauliflower mashed potatoes. They're really good. Actually I didn't think I would like those, but when it comes to Thanksgiving I need my traditional mashed potatoes. You know you got to splurge a little bit. So like white meat, dark meat. Do you have a preference? What's your? Any kind of traditions there?

0:01:46 - Speaker 3
White meat, definitely Green bean. Casserole would be Campbell's cream of mushroom soup with the fried onions on top.

0:01:54 - Speaker 2
Okay, yeah.

0:01:55 - Speaker 3
Stuffing, of course, mashed potatoes, Like you said. Yeah, all of that good stuff. I'm getting hungry now.

0:02:01 - Speaker 2
Yeah, it's funny because you know people say white meat or dark meat. It's like, I don't care, it's turkey, I like it. But of course then it's always about the turkey sandwiches later, so I have a turkey sandwich fiend a little later on. I try to keep my carbs down when I can, but, man, thanksgiving is not good for that.

0:02:22 - Speaker 3
No, no, you cannot have that rule in Thanksgiving for the few days after.

0:02:25 - Speaker 2
That's right, that's right. So this episode we're going to talk about not turkey and not food we got to move on, I suppose but opportunities for retirement, right. So for late bloomers, there's a lot of people. And I wanted to ask you this, sherry when people come in to see you, maybe for the first time, it's consultation or just getting to know you or trying to you know kind of feel you out or whatever.

Often people think that they're behind and many times they're not. They just. It's kind of a general feeling we tend to have. And I've been saying that 50 is like the unofficial kickoff to retirement thought process. Like, just like Memorial Day is the unofficial kickoff to summer it's not actually summer, but we kind of all assume that it is. As soon as I turned 50, I started thinking about this a lot more, and everybody I know once they turn 50, they start thinking about retirement more. So we tend to automatically put ourselves in this bucket and say, well, we're behind. I just know I'm behind, I didn't save enough. So let's talk today about some areas and some ways to do that and if there's anything I miss, feel free to chime in with some stuff. I got a list of a couple of things. But do you see that with people when they come in? Do they feel like they're behind, kind of automatically?

0:03:26 - Speaker 3
Yes, definitely. And retirement is this hairy, scary monster that many people feel like it is because there's so many more, because there's so many question marks how much money do I need? What am I going to live off of? How much do I need to live off of? When should I take Social Security? Do I not have enough save? There's so many questions and you know one meeting does not solve all the questions or give answers, and it definitely happens over time.

But as those questions no longer become questions but instead statements, I want to retire. At this age I'm going to take Social Security based off of Sherry's evaluation. At X-Age you can see the weight coming off of their shoulders and feeling more confident and comfortable entering retirement. But it's really because I think once you said, when you turn 50, it's in the horizon, right it? Doesn't seem so far away, but many people don't even know what to do, don't even know where to start. They're saving, they have these paycheck deferrals, but is it enough?

0:04:30 - Speaker 2
Yeah, no exactly, and I think you know right or wrong, good or bad or whatever, our government does some interesting things, but there are some places where they actually give us a few places we can catch up a little bit. So, like I said, I got a list of a few things. If I miss something, feel free to chime in with things that you see as well. But let's start, since I mentioned the 50, with catch up contributions. Once you do turn 50, they do give you these little extra bumps in the amounts you can sock away.

0:04:56 - Speaker 3
Correct. Once you turn 50, you can put an extra $1,000 into your IRA or Roth IRA each year. So anyone can contribute $6,000 into the Roth IRA or traditional IRA. But once you turn 50, that number becomes 7,000 as the maximum contribution. So they give you a little bit of help there, and then also into your 401k. You can contribute an extra $6,500 into your 401k. So that's a great opportunity to save more while also reducing your taxable income. But don't feel like you're limited to just saving for retirement into an IRA. An extra $1,000 is great, but we're going to need to have to have more saved into retirement. So save also into an after tax account. Having the after tax account that you're saving into gives you additional opportunities to also save. So you're not just limited to saving for retirement into an IRA or into your 401k. You can use after tax money in retirement as well, and in fact I often recommend that to clients because you're diversifying your taxation in retirement as well.

0:06:13 - Speaker 2
Yeah, that's a good point. There's other things we can do. If you're thinking about these traditionals, that's kind of where I was going with the government gives us that stuff. And to your point, yeah, it doesn't sound like a lot, but you can also think about it this way An extra $6,500 into the 401k, as you mentioned, an extra $1,000 in the IRA, if you had both of those, that's $7,500 for the course of a year. Well, if you're 50 times 15, if you want to go to 65, that's not chicken fee either. So you can definitely put a good chunk away. And to Sherry's point, you can do some after tax accounts. You can do some other things. It doesn't have to just be those two, but that's kind of the kickoff idea where we can kind of gain ground if we're a late bloomer, so to speak.

Another place, sherry, and again I'm going to use 50 as the benchmark for this Typically 50-ish right. The kids, hopefully, are off the payroll. Mine, it's fantastic. Mine's 24 now and I'm 50. And she's actually paying not only her cell phone bill but ours right, Wow yeah she's like hey let me do this for you guys.

And we were like okay, so kids, come out the payroll. That's a great place to really see some dollars.

0:07:23 - Speaker 3
Absolutely so. Whether it's college, tuition, payments are stopping or, like you said, the cell phone, the car insurance, health insurance, that's a lot of expenses that could be potentially coming off of your plate once you're turning 50-ish. So, instead of spending that money, redirect it and pay your future self with those savings that you're having so definitely. And also, it might be a good idea to remind your children if they are out of the house. Hey, you're still on the car insurance, but let's not be anymore.

0:07:59 - Speaker 2
Let's do something about that Exactly. I mean, it could really add up, yeah, and now you could put that money into those catch-up contributions that we just mentioned or the accounts that you just mentioned. Right, you can now look at putting that money in different accounts for your future self and, honestly, your kids might look if you're one of those ones that are still kind of catering them a little bit too much. I'm not going to say it's right or wrong, it just is what it is, but they actually would probably be happier. They won't be happy immediately, like if you say, hey, you got to pay your own insurance, right, just like you're talking about. But they're going to be happier when they're a little bit older and you now don't have to lean on them for help because you sacrificed your own retirement.

0:08:39 - Speaker 3
Very good point. Very good point. My almost 11-year-old has been hassling me almost every other day for a cell phone.

0:08:48 - Speaker 1
And.

0:08:48 - Speaker 3
I did not have a cell phone when I was 11 years old, as probably most people are listening also did not have a cell phone, but unfortunately it's the reality of today and I'm that bill. I'm just multiplying that in my head over the decade, plus that I'm going to be paying her cell phone bill for my Holy mackerel. That's. That's a lot of money for this little electronic that. Oh yeah, I'm a necessity.

0:09:13 - Speaker 2
Yeah, throw me under the bus there. They didn't have him when I was 11. So, yeah, but yeah, it's again. It's a great way if you feel like you're behind and again, a lot of times people aren't so you really need to come in and do a Strategy session and find out, because often people are pretty surprised or like, wow, I really thought I was, you know, further in the hole than this. So it's definitely worth having those conversations. But if you know you're behind or you just think you are, then we're gonna continue on with some tips to hopefully give you places to think About gaining that ground. Disappearing debt That'll be my third one, sherry. So again, just like the kids coming off the payroll, you might also be offloading some expenses. My wife and I, we just paid off the boat, so you know we're early 50 here, so it's off. And I think she just paid off her vehicle. Now you probably have to get another one at some point, but you get the idea right. You're starting to reduce these things down right.

0:10:06 - Speaker 3
I mean, if you want to raise a raise in your income, just get rid of some debt. So if you have less debt payments each year, that's less money you have to make Because that's less money going out of the household in the form of debt payments. So getting rid of as much consumer debt as possible so your car payments, credit cards, student loans getting rid of those is definitely a way to find more money and redirect it to Retirement savings. Another question I get a lot from Clients is well, should I just, should I just pay off my mortgage? Should I just cash out this one account I have and just pay off my mortgage? That is definitely not a Decision to just decide to do on a whim. Yeah.

I want to have a strategy around it, because there are some benefits to having a mortgage, such as writing off the interest so, and the interest rates also, they may not be that bad. So that's usually more of an emotional decision. Yeah, definitely pay off the mortgages.

0:11:08 - Speaker 2
But as we're nearing retirement, mortgages are getting paid off as well, so that's more opportunity, yeah, to save well, and I'm glad you brought up the house, because that was actually next on my list anyway, because it is another huge component of this whole thing. Now you went with the mortgage route, which is great. I'm glad you brought that up. I was thinking about the possibility now, granted this housing market of this last year has been super hot, so not necessarily the best idea to to offload it and downsize, but that could be on the radar and often that's the case for many people. Maybe you want to downsize.

For whatever the reason might be sherry, but it could be financially Again. Maybe this year is an outlier because the market's been so hot, but maybe it could be financially a way for you to Get in a better, appropriate sized home for retirement needs. You know everything on the first floor, that kind of thing, or whatever. But also, again, extra dollars right.

0:12:03 - Speaker 3
Sometimes I laugh when I talk about downsizing in retirement, because you could be downsizing the size of your home, but you may not necessarily be downsizing the cost or what your mortgage is going to be. So Many people have good intentions of downsizing when it comes to retirement, but they're not really giving themselves a financial break. I live in a very expensive part of the country, so odds are, if and when I move in retirement, the odds are likely that Housing costs will be less expensive wherever I end up. So yes, we definitely. If you plan to downsize, also make sure you're downsizing the cost of the home as well, or what?

0:12:44 - Speaker 2
That's a great point. Yeah, because if you're moving from, you know when I'm at, in the middle of nowhere, and you moved to New York City. You know, yeah, no, obviously right. So I mean you got to think about those things. But in general, sometimes people start having the downsize conversation, thinking about, as I mentioned before, like the accessibility of the house. Right, they've got a big two-story or a three-story that they raise the kids in, and now they want to go down to a single ranch or whatever, so that everything's on the ground floor, so they don't deal with stairs or whatever. So there's a chance or a possibility to look there again. Not always the case, but it is another possibility.

0:13:18 - Speaker 3
Exactly, absolutely, and the equity you have in your home could also help to put a big chunk down for your new residence. And then you don't have a mortgage at all, or it's it's very small. Yeah and it also saves you from having to make the decision if you decided to stay in your home later on when, like you said, we have two-story homes, to then have to modify your current home, which is also expensive.

0:13:45 - Speaker 2
As I say, it's all costly right now for sure. So this kind of that outlier and this weird year that we've been in, with inflation the way it is and so on and so forth, and all these shortages and you know things of that nature, but that's another podcast at the time. So we'll continue with our conversation. I really just have one more. Anyway, sherry, when we're thinking about gaining ground for retirement and stuff like that, it's also no longer the set it and forget it. Retirement of past time.

You know you may want to hang up the Actual career, but maybe you had your eye on something else, you know. And whether you don't need the money, or you're sitting down with someone like Sherry and you're doing a strategy session and you're finding out, yeah, we are a little bit behind and we're gonna do this with the catch up I'm gonna take. You know, the kids are out to pay all the little things we talked about, but then you go. A twilight career is not the worst idea, because we need something to do anyway. So maybe that's a way to add that extra money, whether it's because you need it or because you just want to do it.

0:14:40 - Speaker 3
I can't wait to see five, ten, fifteen years from now, reports and studies on how COVID affected retirement, because it's COVID now allows people to work from home virtually and Maybe those that were going to retire decided not to because they have more flexible schedule now. They're not commuting into the office it's that grind is off of their plates or they can now consult where. You know, three years ago, consulting wasn't as much of a focus for retirees and pre retirees, because working Virtually wasn't as much of a lot of travel still in that or something yeah.

Yeah, yeah, exactly, exactly. So consulting now is becoming more popular. I've had a couple clients that have retired over the past year that are consulting for their Employers because they can. They can work virtually, they can have work less hours, still do something to keep busy and have you some income come in. So I definitely think that that's going to become more of a focus for retirees is having a either a twilight career or consulting, or instead just having a job, something to do in retirement to keep busy and earn a little extra cash.

0:16:04 - Speaker 2
Yeah and heck. Maybe you know you're really good at something that you really enjoy. I mean, how many people now share? You have a, an Etsy or a Shopify account or something where they they're making little cool, little knickknacks or things at home that they've done for years and they're really good at it right, so they just start selling those

0:16:20 - Speaker 1
you know, lots of yeah absolutely.

0:16:22 - Speaker 2
You know woodworking business. Or my wife started painting last year.

She's entered her first painting contest and she won first place and she's only been doing it for a year, so she was super stoked, you know. So now she's like well, I want to enter this and I want to enter that. You know so and maybe you know. And then she sold a couple of them as well at this, at this little art show. So you know, not that it was anything fantastic yet, but it could be right. She still has time. So there's lots of ways to pad those retirement accounts if you are indeed a late bloomer, if you are indeed behind, and of course the first step, really sherry, is just to find out are you right? I mean, you can sit there and speculate all day long that you're behind, but until you come in for a consultation and a review with a financial professional, somebody like sherry, you're not going to know.

0:17:06 - Speaker 3
So do that. Yeah, you need to be asked the questions that are kind of floating up in your mind but you don't have an answer for them. So I want you need to be asked them, but then, second, we need to come up with the answer. So are you behind? When do you think you're going to retire? Do you think you're going to console or Working part time part of your vision for retirement? And these are all questions that you need to consider. But until usually someone holds that mirror up and you, they ask you those questions, it all seems much more intimidating than what it really is.

0:17:38 - Speaker 2
Yeah, very much so. And again, oftentimes, folks, people, they do sit down with an advisor and they're often surprised, more times than not. I talked to advisors all across the country and more times than not, people are pleasantly surprised to find out they're in better shape than they realize not always, but more times than not. So Do yourself and your retirement a favor. Make sure you're having this conversations. Reach out to sherry at greenwaywealthadvisorycom. That's greenwaywealthadvisorycom. If you're not already working with her and, of course, if you are, or even if you're not, feel free to subscribe to the podcast.

I share it with someone who might benefit from the show as well. It's money, chic, women and retirement, and you can find it on apple, google, spotify. I, heart stitchery, will post it on the website as well Greenway wealth advisory, and that's. You can find all the links that way to. So stop by and say hey to sherry. Sherry, thanks for hanging out with me. I'm going to let you get going so you can get ready for thanksgiving, as I'm going to do, and I hope you have a great holiday thank you.

0:18:31 - Speaker 3
I have one important question before we leave sure do you put marshmallows on your sweet potatoes?

0:18:37 - Speaker 2
so I am anti sweet potato. I have, yeah, I have tried, she's tried, we've tried, my wife and I tried probably 20 different variations. I cannot find anything that makes me like sweet potatoes.

0:18:50 - Speaker 3
I even sweet potato french fries, which you think french fries work for anything, right, yeah, I can't do it. But how about no marshmallows for me?

0:18:57 - Speaker 2
no, okay, purest yeah, gotcha, I think my. So my wife makes them. Well, she made it for our daughter with, and my mom would make a smaller amount without. We had both on the table for everybody else to eat because I wasn't touching them. So but yeah, other than that, I like just about everything on. Now we're in the south, so we also do collards For thanksgiving. So do you like college? Have you done college?

0:19:21 - Speaker 3
I do. I do like college. Yes fantastic.

0:19:24 - Speaker 2
So college and he. So All right, there we go. We're making ourselves hungry again. We better get out of here. Thanks for hanging out folks on the podcast. We always appreciate your time against. Stop by sherry's website greenway wealth advisory dot com and we'll catch you next time here on money, chic women and retirement.

0:19:45 - Speaker 1
Discussions in this show should not be construed a specific recommendations or investment advice. Always consult with your investment professional before making important investment decisions. Securities offered through registered representatives of Cambridge Investment Research Inc. A broker dealer member, finra SIPC advisory services through Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. A registered investment advisor, cambridge and Greenway Wealth Advisory are not affiliated.