Hosts: Nancy Hecht, CFP®, AIF® and Aaron Bert, CFP®, AIF®
Yes indeed, it’s an Ask the Expert weekend on News 96.5 WDBO, good to have you with us for this hour. This is On the Money, brought to you by Central Florida’s largest, independent firm of certified financial planning professionals. That, being the Certified Financial Group in Altamonte Springs. With us today, we have two of the twelve certified financial planning professionals. Author of the Hecht Effect and A Man is Not a Plan, Nancy Hecht is back in the studio. Good morning, Nancy.
Good morning.
So nice to see your smiling face.
Thank you.
This Easter Weekend. Yes, we’re live in the studio this weekend. Also, your colleague, Aaron Bert, is with us. Good morning, Aaron.
Morning, Kurt.
Yes. Aaron?
Yes, sir.
Nancy, what are we taking calls about?
Well, we are here to talk about anything having to do with your personal finances, typically revolving around financial planning. Nancy and I can talk about cash flow planning, Social Security, mutual funds, life insurance, annuities, reverse mortgages, which has become a hot topic lately, stocks, bonds, real estate. Anything having to do with your pocketbook. We are here to answer your questions, and fortunately for you, there is no line. So, come on in and give us a call, and we will start the line with whoever calls first.
Alright, here’s the telephone number to call. It’s 844-220-0965, 844-220-0965. Alright, or you can text us. Here’s the texting number, 21232, 21232. And Nancy, it’s good to have you back with us because everybody who knows Nancy knows that Nancy and your colleague, Denise, have a Social Security workshop and we’ll tell you more about that coming up.
Yes.
But, one of the stories I can’t wait to get to today is the Social Security story that you’re just not going to believe.
You want me to tell it now?
Go for it.
Okay, alright. So, this is a real conversation. Nobody’s here. We all have snowbird clients, so this is a conversation with somebody from the northeast. Getting their taxes done, as many of us are doing right now, talking to their accountant, and the person said to their accountant, do you know anything about Social Security. The accountant says why, of course I do, because I’m also a financial advisor. So, I know everything about Social Security. Then the person says, well what do you know about this file and suspend and the changes going along with it. The accountant was, what? What do you mean? What is file and suspend. And I was shocked and disgusted to hear the conversation.
Not only that, but the person said that they were an expert in Social Security, and held himself as a financial advisor, but didn’t —
And that’s what shocked and disgusted me the most.
That’s ridiculous.
Yes. I mean, file and suspend, we’ve been talking about it forever. The last quarter of last year, there were sweeping changes to the Social Security system, file and suspend goes away as of the 29th of April of this year. Denise and I have been talking about it extensively at our boot camps. It’s a basic Social Security option and somebody who is holding themselves up to be a financial advisor, and of course knows everything about Social Security, and doesn’t know one of the basic filing schemes, just shocked me.
Well, let’s talk. Who would be impacted by that change in file and suspend with what’s coming up here?
Well, file and suspend is, for somebody who at full retirement age as of the beginning of this year. If, let’s say, I am — typically, husbands earn more than wives.
Typically.
Typically, so if I was — if my husband was working and was at full retirement age, and wanted to not touch his Social Security until age 70 and take advantage of the 8% a year increase, but because I’m also at full retirement age, allow me to access the spousal benefits on his, he could file for his Social Security, but suspend. Say, I don’t want to take it, which would then open the door for me to take his — the spousal benefit on his record, and maybe let mine grow a little bit more. So, that’s what’s going away as of the 29th. That’s no longer going to be an option for anybody. It was considered to be gaming the system, which really, really aggravates me because most middle America was taking advantage of this option, as opposed to the “wealthy or fortunate” Americans which it was aimed at. So, I think it stinks that the option is being suspended, but I think it stinks even more that somebody is holding themselves up to be a financial professional and doesn’t even know a basic Social Security option.
Yeah, I think anyone who hasn’t started Social Security yet and is going to be 66 by the end of next month really ought to look and see if it makes sense for them to file and suspend, because the door is open for another month, but after this month, it’s going to be slammed and you will never be able to do this again. So, if you are going to be 66 by the end of next month and have not filed for Social Security, it’s worth looking to see if that makes sense for you.
Telephone number 844-220-0965 if you’d like to speak with Nancy or Aaron. This is Kurt in Windemere. Good morning, Kurt.
Hi, Kurt.
Good morning.
Hey, Kurt.
Hi. I had a question about life insurance.
Okay.
Yeah, I’m 51. My wife is 45. And when we got married a long time ago, I took out a 25 year term or whatever. That’s getting ready to go away in a couple years. We’ve got two children, one is 17, one is 13. How much life insurance should I — more policies — another policy to extend it out further?
Okay, you can look at another 20, 25, or 30-year term policy. I like to look at covering all of your debts, plus funeral expenses, which average in this state about $10,000 if you’re doing burial. Plus, one year’s worth of income. That’s the minimum that I like to look at —
Okay.
— for somebody who still has kids at home.
One other question, Kurt, is does your wife work? Does your spouse work?
She does.
She does work.
She does.
Okay.
So, the kids will be out of the house in the next, let’s say, 10 years, and our mortgage is $300,000. There’s no other debt, so I was just wondering how much and for how long.
Well, if you look at a 30-year policy, that will certainly take you to 80, well beyond probably your working years. And, if you’re doing a term policy, then you can terminate it at any time. But again, I would look at, you know, the 300,000 for the mortgage.
Yup.
Plus another 10 or 15 for burial expenses. Look at potential, what you might want to cover for children if there’s going to be, you know, weddings or whatever you want to do for education that has not been taken care of thus far.
Right.
Plus, one year’s worth of earnings.
Gotcha. Okay.
That’s my minimum.
Okay, so probably as far out as — do I need to do it to 80?
Well, I mean I would look at a 25-year term. The longer term you go, then the less expensive the premiums are. Like I said, if you only want to keep it for maybe 22 years, then you write the insurance company and say I no longer would like this policy. I’m going to terminate it.
Gotcha. Okay.
When you’re done with it, you don’t want to just let it lapse. You want it to actually formally terminate the policy.
Yeah, you just need to look at 10, look at 20, look at 30, look at how much it costs to step up to each of those different term periods. Then see if you can afford to do it. Because right now it’s obviously going to be cheaper than if you try and get it 10 years from now.
Exactly.
Yeah, a 10-year term, I think is too short, because then the youngest child is only going to be 23. Could potentially still be in college.
Exactly, alright, hey, thank you guys very much.
Sure, thank you.
Bye, Kurt.
Alright, here’s the number if you’d like to join us. It’s 844-220-0965. It’s quarter after 9:00, 9:15, Dave Wall is in the News Center and he’ll be back with us in about five minutes. He’ll tell us more about this weekend’s expected storms and rain. Where are they, and when is the next one coming through. Also, an arrest warrant has been issued in Brussels for one of those terrorists involved in the bombings earlier in the week. That’s coming up in five minutes from the WDVO News Center. But, here is somebody in Melbourne who shares the name of my favorite nectar, Stella. Good morning.
Good morning.
Hey, Stella.
Good morning.
Hi, how are you?
Good.
Doing great, thanks for the call.
What’s your question?
I have spoken to you previously regarding another subject.
Okay.
But, um, and actually it’s the same subject. I had an annuity in my IRA, and I have been getting, since I’m 70 and a half, a distribution from it.
Alright.
Well, yesterday, I received a letter from them saying that my certificate has matured and the benefits are due to be provided to you. The amount is — rounds to be 17,000. Now, I had a different annuity, and — but that was in a qualified IRA. Are they are allowed to call this in? I mean, they have given me other options to put it in another annuity —
Uh-huh. Of course.
— but, I didn’t feel that they were able to do it on a qualified.
Well, I mean, it’s — whether or not the annuity is qualified as an IRA as yours is, or if it’s a non-qualified annuity, if the contract has matured and is being terminated, that has nothing to do with how the account is titled. What you can do, Stella, is roll it over into another IRA or transfer it into another IRA. You could do it in, you know, a bank, in a brokerage house if you have a financial advisor in Melbourne that you’re working with, then they can handle it for you. I am not a fan of IRAs being wrapped in annuities. It’s double tax deferral, there’s generally extra expenses with the annuities, and it’s not my preferred way to do an IRA.
Right. Up to this point I had been doing very well with annuities.
Okay.
And, I mean, like the last one I had I was getting until the call date of 3.5, and that’s what I spoke to you about previously. You said that’s great, just don’t do anything with that until you have to, you know —
Stella, one of the —
So, I did take that.
Okay.
And, in the beginning of the year I was given a lump sum of a great amount.
Mm-hmm.
That amount was in the early 20s, low 20s I should say. So, that I’m prepared for. You know, I had 10% taken out for taxes and I know that’s going to be there coming in that year, but I mean, I have — they give options of several. I can receive $165 a month for the next 120 months, alright. And all of it will be subject to income tax.
Right.
As, I hadn’t paid taxes.
Right.
Or, I can take the lump sum and then there was another one. They do give me the printout sheet what it would be. Even do a 20-year period. They’ve given me guaranteed values, and non-guaranteed values.
Right, right.
Now, if I decided to do that, would I — would my beneficiaries end up with the balance?
I don’t know without looking at the contract. That’s the thing about the annuities. They’re not all cut and dried, and every different contract has a different feature, benefit, and restriction. You need to sit down with somebody who is not attached to this annuity company, or is not wanting to sell you something.
Mm-hmm.
Somebody that, for a fee for their time, will just explain to you in plain English exactly what has been proposed to you and what your other options may be. There’s a lot of qualified, independent, certified financial planners in Melbourne, and I suggest that you try and find one.
I was going to say, that sounds like a certified financial planning professional.
Yeah.
Yeah, there are so many different options with annuities, you really need to have someone sit down and see what they’re offering you, and just look at your general situation to see what’s appropriate for you. It’s not a one size fits all kind of thing.
Alright, I’m up against the clock here. We’ve got to get to the News Center with Dave Wall for today’s big three, and we’ll be back with more of Aaron Burnt and Nancy Hect from the Certified Financial Group and we’ll take more of your calls. We’ve got Anne on the line. She’s going to ask you about a withdrawal from a brokerage firm, and we’re going to take some more of your calls. We’re also going to talk about five ways to go broke in retirement.
Okay.
There’s only five ways?
No, there’s more, but that’s all I’m going to discuss today.
Here’s the number. 844-220-0965, and yes, you can text us at 21232.
It’s Ask the Expert Weekend on News 96.5 WDVO, and this is On The Money brought to you by the Certified Financial Group. Playing a little Elton John here and Billy Joel today because you at the Certified Financial Group, Nancy and Aaron, are sponsoring the next concert.
The Springs Concert, definitely an older Elton John that you were just playing. Later, I should say.
Yeah, but they’re sponsoring the concert. They’re bringing in an Elton John band.
We’re bringing in a tribute band for, actually, Elton John and Billy Joel. We’re going to do the music of both artists. It’s may 7th at the Springs neighborhood of 434 Private <?> Springs Road. It’s going to be the tribute band backed up by the whole Philharmonic Orchestra.
Ooo!
The Orlando Philharmonic.
So, cool. It adds such an unbelievable dimension to contemporary music. And, it’s across the water so the stage is in the middle of the spring. If you’ve never been there, it’s basically sitting in the middle of the spring and the music just carries across the water beautifully. It’s a fun night. It’s just a really good time.
I need to find out more about tickets.
Actually, you can go to our website, financialgroup.com, and we have our banners right on the front of the page, and it says that we’re the sponsors, click here for more information about the concert. I know tickets are almost sold out, so if you were thinking about getting tickets and you haven’t gotten them already, you want to get on the ball there.
Right.
Go to our website, financialgroup.com, to get more information.
This is Anne. Good morning, Anne in Orlando.
Hi, Anne.
Good morning, Nancy.
Good morning.
I have a two-part question. My husband and I are both retired and we’re both over 60, so there’s no penalty. When we start withdrawing money from our brokerage and retirement accounts, what — we don’t — it’s a pretty big account, so we wouldn’t have to sell shares. Can we just take the dividends or do we take just dividends out, or capital gains, or we just want to draw out a little bit each year.
Okay, so you’re over 60, but you’re not at 70 and a half, correct?
No, no.
Okay, so you could actually pull out whatever you want to pull out. If you’re doing this to supplement your lifestyle and the dividends and the capital gains are enough for you to get the income that you want, then that’s fine.
So, you would take capital gains? Because when I talked to my brokerage, she said you sure you want to take capital gains? And then I’m kind of like, well, I’m not sure. Let me find out.
Well, when I have clients that want or need to take cash from their retirement accounts, what I look at is what is their cost basis, what is the net dollars invested, plus reinvestments versus the current market value. I’ll scrape off gains. I mean, that’s just what I like to do. Sometimes, depending on what’s going on, if there’s something that’s turned into real dog in there, then I’ll sell off a loser. I have many clients that are in your age bracket that want income from their retirement accounts, and so we have all the dividends being paid in cash. I regularly, monthly, quarterly, sweep what’s in the cash account and just transfer it to their checking account. There is no right or wrong, Anne, you have to do what’s going to be comfortable for you.
Okay.
Anne, let me add one thing off that if I can. It really depends on how much cash you need to supplement your lifestyle. What do you really need in order to pay your bills every month, to pay your mortgage?
I think the dividends would cover it.
Then, that’s what you go for.
<Inaudible> because you don’t want to take more from your accounts than you have to.
Yeah, the second question is, they’re very large accounts so should we draw down the retirement account first and leave the joint accounts?
Well, I’m not a fan of paying taxes when you don’t have to. However, it is a method to reduce what is going to be required for you to pull out when you do his <Lost Signal>
Oh, can you wait until the guys do this one?
That will be cool.
Especially backed up by the orchestra, that’s going to be phenomenal. Just phenomenal.
Yeah, can you hear the violins there, and the flutes? <Inaudible> they’re magical.
Alright, so where do we go again for more information about this concert in the spring?
They can go to our website, which is financialgroup.com. We have a Banner right on the front page for the springs concert and they can click on it for more information.
And we can bring our own adult beverages?
Oh, yeah.
Yeah, Yeah.
And our blankets, and our picnic baskets?
Yup.
People bring chandeliers.
Really?
Yeah, they have a contest for who has the best — I don’t even know.
Set-up, I guess.
Are we allowed to bring like lawn chairs?
It’s a big tailgate.
Yeah, yes.
Out on the lawn, under the trees, under the stars.
The music of Billy Joel and Elton John.
It’ll be a night.
Okay, so before the break we were speaking with Anne and sadly she was unable to hang on, but I would have asked her is when was the last time she had a full financial plan done. When looking at how to take distributions, one thing that’s important aside from the cash flow is the taxability and the future impact that it could have on their Social Security. So, Anne, please contact your certified financial planner. If you don’t have one, please feel free to contact us and have a full, independent financial plan done for you.
What’s the contact number for the Certified Financial Group?
Our office number is 407-869-9800, but the best way really is to go to our website, financialgroup.com, and check off — you can make an appointment right through there, get our contact information, e-mail any of the planners that you’re interested in speaking with, or just go to our general Contact Us page. But, if you want to call 407-869-9800.
Okay, let’s see. We’ve got Rick in Sanford, but first up, let’s talk to Paul in Deltona. Good morning, Paul.
Hi, Paul.
Good morning, thanks for taking my call.
Sure.
Thanks for holding on, Paul.
I’ve got a question on early withdrawal on a 401k.
Okay.
I had a change in jobs. I’m not able to contribute to my old 401k, so I just have an old 401k that’s just sitting there. It’s earning, basically, interest I guess, for the past three years. So, my question is with all these new kind of bills that have been put upon me that are mandatory because I have a mortgage, I was thinking about taking an early withdrawal and paying off the mortgage so I can eliminate some of these things. Because mainly, it’s flood insurance, and it seems like it just gets higher and higher, and I don’t know how much it’s going to be before it’s like, hey, I can’t afford to stay in my house.
Okay, how much are you looking at potentially withdrawing, first of all?
Um, well, if I have to withdraw it, I have to withdraw all, but I know I can roll it over into my IRA.
Right, right. And that’s what I would suggest. If you’re looking at potentially tapping into these dollars, and that’s going to be the best source for you, you’re going to want to roll it over into an IRA. Then you can withdraw what you want and not have an automatic 20% withholding for taxes.
Even the money that I take out, I won’t?
Well no, the money that you withdraw will be taxed, but it will be taxed at your tax bracket, not an automatic 20%. Your own effective tax bracket may be less than 20%, or it’s more.
How old are you, Paul?
I’m 50. 51 this year, actually.
Right, so anything that you withdraw from there, you’re going to have to pay a 10% penalty on top of because you’re under 59 and a half. So, from a taxing standpoint, this could — it could really cost you a lot in taxes.
Yeah, it sounds like a really expensive way to just — yeah. And that’s — financially, you know, how much are you withdrawing out because — are you still working?
Yes, yes.
So, you’re working and then you’re going to pull the money out on top of that, so that’s going to be added to your income, plus a 10% penalty. I mean, you could be upwards of 25% to 40% in taxes just to pay off your mortgage so that you don’t have to pay your flood insurance premiums that keep going — it seems —
Yeah, I was thinking of it long-term, but it doesn’t seem like it’s feasible, right?
No, no, it’s a very expensive way to get rid of this.
Yeah, that doesn’t — to me that doesn’t make sense, yeah.
Well, that’s just something I’ve been thinking about for a couple years. My family members I’ve been talking to, they say yes, this and that, so, from a professional aspect, you’ve kind of made me at ease now.
Good, good. I will tell you, Paul, I’m not a fan of leaving money where you no longer are, so regardless of withdrawal, you might want to roll over that 401k into an IRA.
Exactly, that’s something I’ve been thinking about. But this is something I’ve been wanting to find out. I was just getting clarity before I started on this because I know it’s a one-time deal on withdrawing. So, I’ll just go ahead and just go with the plan, and just withdraw it, and put it in my IRA. That way I can work with it and move it around, and stuff like that.
Yeah, that sounds like a plan, Paul.
I appreciate it.
Okay.
Thank you for the call.
Thank you for calling.
You can join us as well. The number is 844-220-0965. Nancy Hect, author of The Hect Effect, is in the studio, along with Aaron Burnt. Here’s the number again, 844-220-0965. Let’s talk to Nick in Winter Park. Is that right? No, it’s Sanford.
Sanford.
It’s Nick in Sanford. Alright, Nick.
Hi, Nick.
Good morning.
Hey, Nick.
Hi, how you doing?
Great, thanks for your call.
Just one question. I’m just turning 66, so I’ve been into this window for the file and suspend, and I’m still a little bit <Inaudible> to that and I found out that — I’m thinking that maybe the restricted application is a better course for me. My situation is my wife’s just over 70. She’s <Inaudible> taking Social Security from 62, so she gets about a little over $900 a month. I, according to my statement, at full retirement I’m going to be getting 2,600. Now, as planned, I’m going to work until 70 and I’m in good health, and I’m working now, so I looked into this and the numbers — as I understood it, based on what I calculated, it looks like the restricted application was the better way for me to go.
Yes.
What do you think?
Yeah, yeah, you should — when did you turn 66, Nick?
Next week. You turn — yeah, as soon as you turn — actually, you could do it now. You should definitely do the restricted application for spousal benefit. You’re going to get half of what your wife would have gotten had she waited until full retirement age. So, she’s getting 900, she would have gotten probably 1,200 or 1,300. You’ll get half of that. So, you’ll end up with $600 or $700 possibly per month, which will allow your own benefit to grow at 8% per year until you’re 70.
Yeah, and she continues to get her $900, is that correct?
It has absolutely no impact on her benefit whatsoever, so yeah, you should definitely do that. If you don’t do it, you’re giving up free money, which is hard to believe.
Okay.
I just had a client come in that we helped file for Social Security. They were both 66 and didn’t realize about the restricted application. We had them come into their office and we actually can help them — we actually helped them file online. Walked them through the process, it took about 20 minutes to do it and they are now getting an over $1,000 a month check because they talked to us.
Have you gone on ssa.gov?
No, I haven’t.
Okay, if you go on ssa.gov, then you’ll see all the current information for — under your record. And, if you want to file the restricted application, you can do it right through that website, as opposed to having to make an appointment and going to the Social Security office.
That sounds terrific. Thanks for the free money advice.
They’ll ask you five or six questions and you set up a login and a password, and then you go.
That’s great.
Nick, I will say if you’re not comfortable doing it on your own, you can call our office. We’ll charge you a small fee to walk you through. Going through the website, it will take, probably like I said, 30 minutes with you there with us. Since your wife’s already filed, we would only need you to come in and we will help you file for Social Security in our office if you’re interested.
Perfect, thank you very much.
You’re very welcome. Thank you for the call.
Alright, with so much at stake and when you involve Social Security and middle income couples making in retirement, these big decisions, you know, Nancy Hect and your colleague, Denise Kovach, you put on these Countdown to — No, these Social Security —
No, no, no, Social Security Boot Camp, and the next one is the 14th of April at our offices from 11:30 to 1:00. We just had one the 17th of March, and we were booked solid, so if you have any thoughts of making reservations, go to our website, financialgroup.com. There’s a tab for workshops. Hit that. It will get you to Social Security Boot Camp and you can make the reservation. We’ll serve a light lunch. A lot of good, very current information, April 14th from 11:30 to 1:00.
How do couples wade through this minefield on their own?
Very difficult.
It’s tough.
Yeah, it is.
It’s tough.
And Nancy, Denise and you have to keep up with these ever changing rules and regulations from Social Security. It’s unbelievable. It gets so confusing. It really does. I mean, even for us, all of us who are up to date on what the rules and the regs are, you can ask the same question five different ways and then everybody’s head is spinning.
I’ll tell you, these changes that they imposed last year with the changes to the restricted application, and file and suspend, there are people — they still — there’s a lot of confusion still.
Nancy told us — if you weren’t with us earlier, Nancy told us a horror story about a — what was it, a CPA?
Yes.
Who did not know about file and suspend and the changes that are coming.
He didn’t know about file and suspend, and he didn’t know about the changes that are coming.
And he said, of course, I know because I’m a financial advisor. So, I mean, he’s done an excellent job accounting for this person, but he needs to stick to his expertise.
Okay, we’re going to go to Dave Wall in the News Center in a couple of minutes and he’s going to give us some of the big stories, including, he’s keeping an eye on the rain this weekend. I’m looking at the interactive radar and — the WDVO interactive — isn’t this cool — WDVO interactive radar showing me light rain moving into Leesburg and <Inaudible> Park, and into the Grand Islands area. But, stay tuned in a few minutes — a couple of minutes now, Dave Wall will have more on the storm situation. Let’s talk to David in Sanford. Good morning, David.
Good morning, I had a question about bond portfolio purchasing right now. Of course, in the low interest rate environment, how do you get a client’s head around going into a long portfolio so they can get a decent current yield, totally knowing that it’s going to drop 8%, 12%, 15% over the next 20 or 30 years because the average maturity is 20, 25 years and we’re in an environment where rates, you know, aren’t going to go down for 40 or 50 years, they’re going to go up for 40 or 50 years.
David, what I would want to know from the client is are they buying this for income? Or are they buying it for diversification. If you’re buying it for income, and exactly what you said is going to happen, when interest rates go up, the interest of the bonds go down, you almost have to ignore what’s happening to the principal of your bond portfolio. Because, you know that you’re getting the check, you’re happy with what the check is right now, and knowing that, as rates increase, that your check is going to increase. If you’re doing it for diversification, then I’d look for short or medium-term bond portfolios. I’m not a fan of buying individual bonds at all right now. There’s — everything is at a premium and it’s just not worth paying the extra for something that’s long-term. I look for mutual funds portfolios invested in bonds that have maturities of five years or less.
I will say that bonds is a very general term that’s thrown around and when most people think of bonds, they think of treasury bonds, which of course are very long-term. There are other types of bonds that are not susceptible to the interest rate, or as susceptible I should say, to rising interest rates. There are short-term corporates you can buy, bank loans, there are international bonds, there are inflation protection bonds. There’s a wide array of bonds that you can buy that you can diversify a portfolio around, still get current income, and not have so much interest rate risk.
Yeah, during the credit crisis, there were many Build America Bonds that were available. They had interest that was partially paid by the state, and partially paid by the fed, and they were around for two or three years. I bought 20 of them and now they’re done. Will there be no more Build America Bonds or anything like that, kind of combine state/federal issue again?
I have not heard anything like that mentioned at all. But hey, we’re in an election year. Who knows what next year could bring. So, I hope that helps you, David.
Okay, wow. Don’t you love live radio.
I can hear the music.
We’re live, can you hear it?
I got it.
I hear it.
We’ve got this <Inaudible>
Alright, yeah, if you don’t get the — if we don’t get to your call here, just hang on and you’ll get a private consult off the air. First up, Coco. Good morning, Coco.
Yes, good morning. Couple questions. The first one is, for a married couple, I heard that it’s good to put your husband or wife joint on all your accounts for probate purposes, but it’s not good for asset protection, so what would your recommendation there be? And the second question is, as far as financial planners, some of the big banks are opening financial planning, what are the pros and cons to that? And then, would you recommend a financial planner to know everything about estate tax planning, or should you have separate ones.
Okay, first question. I don’t see a problem with joint accounts, but if you’re going to have accounts joint tenants with right to survivorship, then you’re going to want to add a transfer on death type of designation. If you want to keep them joint for — I mean, separate for asset protection, then you can have an account in your name, transfer on death to your husband. He can have an account in his name, transfer on death to you. But, for probate purposes, you want to have somebody after the account owner transfer on death.
In the state of Florida, joint tenancy by the entirety will also add a level of asset protection for you. So, we’re not attorneys, but that’s our general experience.
Then as far as financial advisors at a bank, often times they are limited as to what they can provide. They do have products to sell. An independent certified financial planner will help you with planning, which is first and foremost the most important part of it, and then investment recommendations. If it’s somebody who is independent, they have nothing to sell. They have investments that they can provide that are going to best suit your needs and risk tolerances.
And, with that, we are just plum out of time. So, if you are on hold, standby. Aaron and Nancy will talk to you off the air out of the goodness of their hearts. Thank you. What’s the best way to get in touch with you guys?
The best way to reach us is through our website, financialgroup.com. We’ll answer questions about anything. So, if you want to send us Social Security questions or general questions like we’ve got on the air, e-mail us through the website and we will respond back to you in a timely manner.
And I hope everybody has a nice, happy holiday weekend.
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