Hello everybody and welcome to another edition of On the Money with the Certified Financial Group right here on News 96.5, WDBO. It is all part of our Ask the Experts weekend. We’ve got Joe Burt, the Oracle of Orlando, alongside Roger Johnson. Good morning gentlemen.
Good morning.
Good morning.
How are you guys today.
Doing great.
Outstanding. Enjoying —
Did you get any drizzle coming in this morning. No, I didn’t. A little cloudy, was drizzling where you were.
Yep.
Well, it’s supposed to rain a little bit today and definitely tomorrow. This morning and tomorrow morning is your chance to get your
That’s what we’re here for. Roger and I are here to answer your questions, anything that might be on your mind regarding your personal finances. As we say, we go through life trying some of this, trying some of that, wake up when we’re 55 years old and say Loretta, what are we going to do. Paycheck’s going to stop in the not too distant future. We’ve got an IRA, we’ve got a 401k, we’ve got some savings and investments, Social Security, but how is that all going to play out. That’s what Roger and I and the 11 other certified financial planning practitioners at Certified Financial Group do for our clients day in and day out for a fee. We try to figure out what you need to do now, so like I say, you don’t look back five or ten years from now and say gee, I wish I’d have known that, or gee I’m sorry I did that. Nobody told me about this because our educational system has failed us when it comes to teaching how to save and invest for our financial future. So Roger and I are here to answer those questions, stuff that they probably didn’t teach you in school, some misconceptions that you might have, something that you might have heard from your coworker, your brother-in-law, your neighbor, whoever it might be. Excuse me, get that frog out of my throat.
It’s going around, it’s the light pollen in the air. It’s just getting enough in your throat to cause that problem. Alright, well it’s here. Anyway, we’re here to answer your questions. So if you have any questions about anything regarding your personal finances as they relate to your IRA or 401k, decisions that you’re trying to make about life insurance, reverse mortgages, annuities, all that and more, we are here to take your questions. And I like to say that this is the only show in central Florida that is hosted exclusively by certified financial planning practitioners. Roger and I and 11 other CFPs at CFG, that’s what we do. So we are here to take your questions, and if you have any questions about anything on your mind and your personal finances, the good news for you is that the lines are absolutely wide open. So you could jump right to the front of the line because there is no line, and you could make the line.
Step right up.
By picking up the phone and dialing these magic numbers.
844-220-0965. That’s 844-220-0965. We are live here this morning on May 5th, Cinco de Mayo. So go ahead and give us a call, 844-220-0965. The 21232 machine is up and running as well, that is 21232, 21232. We’ve got today’s topic du jour from Mr. Roger Johnson, time-tested tactics for building wealth.
Well, before you take that first margarita today, I thought we’d touch on some of those —
Mint juleps in Kentucky.
That’s also true, the Kentucky Derby and — man, it’s a big day today.
Probably shouldn’t mix the two of them though.
Well, maybe.
One or the other.
Mint juleps early or take a break and then —
It depends how bad you want to have a hangover tomorrow.
How about a Corona on top of that. Well, there you go.
Well hey, I came across this list from Kiplinger Personal Finance. It’s a list of 70 time-tested tactics to build wealth. I said hey, that’s a great idea. I look through the list and it’s a lot of things that we’ve talked about, probably a lot of our listeners know about. But I thought I’d mention a bunch of them, a handful of them, and see if anybody has a further question on it. So, without further ado, let’s start with save early and often. Well, that’s an obvious thing to do. The 25 year-old can save $450 a month and get about a 7% return assumed, they’ll have $1M by 65.
Say that once again.
A 25 year-old has to save about $450 a month to accumulate $1M by 65. But if he waits until 35, he’ll have to — or she’s going to have to, or they are going to have to save almost, well, twice, $950 a month to —
Waiting 10 years, you have to save twice as much. That’s it, there you go. And of course create an emergency fund, we talk about that all the time, put some money aside just in case a bump in the road with your job, you’ve got say six months of savings set aside to get you through so you’re not living paycheck to paycheck. That’s one of the first things you should do besides getting some life insurance if you’re a family situation. Make the most of your employer incentive, this is free money. There you go. I mean make the matching that you get free from the company, part of that maybe $450 you need to save to get your —
Don’t leave that match on the table.
Do not.
And some people don’t contribute to their 401k because they think — or they don’t get a match, they say well that’s just not a good thing. You get the tax deduction —
You do —
And you get tax deferred savings.
A lot of people don’t realize that.
I think young people think that if they don’t continue to work there, they lose their money, it goes into some black hole. But this is money that they put into their account and get to keep it no matter where they’re working. They take it along with them, so don’t —
I saw something on the Internet this week that I was going to ask you guys about, that there was a so-called expert saying that you should never invest in your 401k in the 20s.
You know why, because they want to sell you a life insurance policy. That’s what it’s all about. It’s another methodology to sell you a high expensive life insurance policy that is not going to get you there. In fact I’ll talk about that in just a moment, but we’ve got a call.
Get to the callers here at 844-220-0965. That is the number to join us this morning. Again 844-220-0965. Jeannie in Tavares is up first, good morning Jeannie.
Good morning Jeannie, thanks for calling, how can we help you.
Good morning. My husband and I are both 68. At 66 he began drawing his Social Security, about 2,400 a month, and I’m waiting until 70, and mine will be about the same or maybe more. We were told that there’s a maximum family amount of 4,400, 4,500 that you can — that a family of two people can receive. So I’m wondering if there is an incentive to wait until I’m 70. Is there a maximum family amount.
I think what you might be looking at is the amount at full retirement age, but then you get the deferred credit that you’re working on your behalf an extra 8% per year. That’s what they’re — I’m sure that they’re talking about there. So in your case, I don’t think we have an issue.
So if both of us are drawing, there’s not a maximum family amount —
Well, there is based on — yes, there is a maximum that you can get, but it’s greater than that number, because that number is calculated I believe — and I could be wrong here, but I believe it’s based on your full retirement age, which in your case was 66, and then if you defer, then you get an extra 8% per year plus the cost of living on top of that. So don’t be distracted.
Okay, thank you.
Thanks for calling.
Alright Jeannie, thank you so much. If you want Jeannie’s line it’s 844-220-0965. That’s 844-220-0965. Let’s go to John in Orlando, John good morning.
Hey, good morning.
How could we help you.
Invest in her future and build a little credit.
Is the idea that you want her to have these funds some point in time, I’m sure.
Yes, probably for college.
Your best bet would be maybe to start either a college plan and save for her. That way you are the trustee of that account, she’s the beneficiary of that account, and then that money can be used for college, it grows tax-free until she’s ready to use it for retirement. That’s one approach. The other approach if you want to basically hand her the money at some point or the assets at some point is you would create a Uniform Transfer to Minors Act account in your name, but she is the recipient of it when she reaches age 18. That’s another approach to get some money invested, get her name on something that she starts seeing the statements. And the big thing here I would also add is the education along the way that you would want to also get her educated about investing and saving and the growth of equities and that kind of thing, and the bumps along the road. So this would be a great way for her to see her statement, be a really — it would be owned by you, but it would transfer to her at her maturity age.
If you want to —
Go ahead —
Well, not necessarily. You’re not really going to build credit as a minor. You don’t have the ability to make those decisions to build good credit. As soon as she can, start getting maybe a store credit card and buying some things, and then paying it right off. Then starts to build credit at that age, but I wouldn’t put that as a major strategy right now. She’ll come out of childhood with no credit, but ready to — and the good news is she would not have bad credit either. So she’s going to have a clean slate, then she could start building that credit file.
What you can do is when she turns 18 she can apply for a credit card, you might have to cosign on it, but keeping the credit card in control, make regular payments, and that’s how you begin to build credit.
Awesome. Gentlemen, thank you very much for all this information.
Thanks for the call.
Alright John, just like that John. Got a lot of great questions so far to kick us off this morning.
We do.
If you want to join the conversation, it’s 844-220-0965. 844-220-0965. Let’s keep rolling and talk to Bonner in Maitland. Bonner good morning, you’re here on On the Money.
Bonner, good morning.
Good morning.
How can we help you.
My question is I’m currently working for a private utility company, but I have 20 years in the State Retirement System and I had them do a matrix. So at age 59 I receive $1,800. If I wait until I’m 62 it would go up to $2,100. But since I’m currently working, would it be beneficial for be to just go ahead and get it at 59 and invest it — redeposit into a 401, or wait until I’m 62. I’m trying to look to obviously increase that monthly amount by the time I do decide to retire.
What you’re talking about is taking that money now, the payment that you would get, and begin to invest it outside of your retirement account, outside of the pension.
Correct, yes, because I know what it would be if I wait for three more years, I know what it would be. But if I take it now and at the rate that I’m going to get it and invest it, would it be beneficial to go ahead and do it — go that route versus wait until I’m 62.
Our general attitude about this is what you want to do is have the most guaranteed money you can going into your retirement years. That applies to your pension as well as your Social Security. Now, without crunching the numbers in detail, I can’t speak specifically for that, but my gut tells me you want to hang on there and get that pension. Because your pensions are rewarded for the longer you work, the higher the pension benefit goes. In the early years it doesn’t make a lot of sense, but the older you get, the more sense it makes to hang on to that pension and lock down that guarantee.
Also, by taking it early, if you do take it early you’re locking in that smaller number, but all those dollars are coming to you as ordinary income, plus your regular pay. Basically now you’re paying twice as much in taxes because you’re making twice as much, practically. So you’re going to lose a lot of that investable income if you take that early because you’re in a higher tax bracket while you’re still working. So
Our advice would be to put it off —
But crunch the numbers —
And get that higher pension.
We could always crunch the numbers for you and make sure.
My concern, Bonner, I can — you didn’t say it, but are you expecting to retire at 62.
That was the plan, yes.
Okay, here’s what I —
Sure, I hear you. Listen my friend, here’s what concerns me, and Roger and I have been through this I can’t tell you how many times of clients that retire early and wake up 10 years into retirement and say my gosh, I should have worked another four or five years because it made all the difference in the world. When you’re retiring at 62, assuming you’re in reasonably good health, I’ve got to worry about 25 plus years of retirement for you. At 62 it’s easy to figure out how much income you’ll have with your pension and some other stuff you might have coming in, your Social Security at 62. If you take your Social Security at 62, you’re going to take a 25% reduction right off the top of what you’re entitled to. That’s going to last throughout your lifetime. I caution you, what you need to do before you retire is meet with a certified financial planning professional, have him or her draw up a plan for you and show you the impact of that decision. Because once you make that decision you can’t go back, generally. I don’t want you starting down the road — as I like to say, it’s like traveling through the desert, and you think you have enough gas in the tank and you get halfway through the desert and find out the gauge is on empty, and you’ve got to try to find a gas station somewhere. You can’t do that when you’re 75 years old, you know what I mean.
Can’t go back to work at that age, but you can work from 62 to 66.
Chances are you’re making more money now than you were five years ago.
Yes I am.
You don’t want to walk away from that. You’re like a professional athlete, you’re in your prime.
I understand the lure of retirement. I understand that loud and clear. But I also understand that what we don’t want you doing is eating catfood tacos at 75.
Oh yeah, that’s not good.
Alright.
Okay.
Alright Bonner, thanks for the call.
Appreciate it Bonner, thank you so much. Yeah, catfood tacos, not good, no, not at all.
Doesn’t have a very good taste.
I don’t know, the can makes it look appetizing, but I don’t think so.
Well, cats like it.
844-220-0965 is the number to jump in on the conversation today. We are planning tomorrow today
Yes I did. I think we may have missed something there with our first caller. We were talking about this at the break, and Aaron Burt happened to text me, said you’ve got to get on the ball here, Dad.
The woman that called about — she was deferring her Social Security and were going to wait to age 70, her husband was already receiving Social Security. She inquired about the maximum. She needs to file for what’s called the spousal benefit. She’s leaving free money on the table. She could be getting half of her husband’s benefit at the moment, and then when she turns 70 claim on her own, because she was eligible to do that. She needs to go to Social Security first thing Monday to make sure — she may get some back money on that as well. So I appreciate Aaron keeping me on the ball. We’re sorry we missed that one, but we are human.
But we do clean up our messes.
That’s what we need to do.
Dang those kids and always being right. Text question today to 21232, that is 21232. My son turned 18 and is currently working, should he open a brokerage or a Roth IRA.
Well you’d open up a Roth with a brokerage account, and the benefits of a Roth at his age, Roger.
Well, he’s going to be able to save money and grow it tax-free. He’s not going to be able to get a deduction for it, but heck, he’s young, probably doesn’t need that tax deduction. So, the best play would be put the money in a Roth and buy the same investment that you would in a regular individual brokerage account. But the beauty of the Roth is it grows tax-free and he’s able to take money out in retirement, all the growth and principal tax-free. Also another caveat, it’s an emergency fund. The principal that you put in can always come out at age 19 if he needed it.
Doesn’t need to be an emergency, may want to buy a car.
He may want to, but don’t let him. Buy a bicycle.
We’ve got about a minute left. I’m looking at our callers here. Steve, Curtis, and Mack, hang on the line we’re going to about to get a break of the latest news, weather, and traffic. When we come back, we’ll have a nice big long segment, plenty of time to get all of your questions answered. But if you want to join them, 844-220-0965. That is 844-220-0965. Text number is 21232, just like we had our text question. And workshops that you guys provide over at the Certified Financial Group, do we have any upcoming workshops.
We do. Would you like to hear about them.
I would, in 20 seconds or less.
Okay, today we’ve got one going on, Gary’s giving one. It’s full, don’t even think about it. But the big one coming up in June 2nd, healthcare options in retirement. Get in on that while you can because that thing fills up and everybody wants to know about their healthcare options and the expenses they’re going to face when they retire.
Go to the website, financialgroup.com
It is, it’s close.
The website.
Financialgroup.com
Alright, the news is next on News 96.5. Hey welcome back, this is On the Money with the Certified Financial Group right here on News 96.5, WDBO. We are here with the Certified Financial Group, the Oracle of Orlando Joe Burt alongside Roger Johnson. Of course we’re taking your phone calls at 844-220-0965. Joe, for the audience that may have joined us during the latest news, weather and traffic, what can they call you about today.
Roger and I are here to answer any questions that might be on your way regarding your personal finances. As we go through life trying some of this, trying some of that, hope it all comes together, we find out that we may not be ready for those retirement years. As we say on Monday through Friday, the certified financial planning professionals, the 13 of is at CFG do this for a fee, but on Saturday morning we are here for free. So if you have any questions regarding your personal finances, all you have to do is pick up the phone and dial these magic numbers.
844-220-0965. 844-220-0965. Before we get back to our phone lines here, and Steve and Curtis, you guys are up next, Joe you wanted to clarify one more thing.
Bonner, hopefully you’re still listening, he was the gentleman that was working for the municipality and talked about his pension earlier and so on and so forth. He might be subject to the windfall The subject to the windfall exclusion provision, the WEF as we call it, and this is an offset that you have on Social Security. You all have the offset if you do not pay into Social Security for 30 years. That can affect you. You can Google it and that will help you make that determination to see what the windfall elimination provision is what it’s called, WEP.
Okay.
So, folks that are getting a government pension may be subject to the WEP, which means that your Social Security may be reduced depending on how long you paid into Social Security. But if you paid in for 30 years, you get no offset.
Okay.
There you go.
I have a client that worked for the post office for 20, 25, 30 years. She never paid into Social Security, she gets no Social Security.
Well that’s what happens too.
Yes, of course.
As we say, no
Yeah, exactly.
But she does get her government pension.
I like that, no
Steve.
Good morning.
Good morning.
Morning, morning.
What’s up?
I’m glad I’m on this station right now. As the gentleman said, I’ve got something that’s bothering me here. One of the biggest problem is my retirement are rolled over into Fidelity. I’ve been monitoring for the last, since January, and it seems from January to now it has been pretty much in the red. I don’t know. I see a little green now and then, but mostly red. At this point, I’m beginning to think — I’ve done a lot of research in the past. An annuity might be my best bet, because I’m 56 years old.
How old?
It seems like an annuity — 56.
56?
56. Yeah. It seems like — I’ve already lost so much money from that account, and this it’s in a target-date fund, you know, like a
Steve, let met ask you, how did you do last year?
He wasn’t in it. He just rolled it over this year.
Last year I did pretty decent.
He had it in —
I set it up, and then all of a sudden this year it’s gone to the dogs.
Don’t give up the ship just yet is what I would have to advise on that. I mean, the stock market does not go straight up. We got used to it in 2017; no volatility, market went up five days out of six, everything looked hunkey dory. But that was an abnormal situation. The stock market and your target-date funds are highly invested in that, and bonds, are going to fluctuate.
Yeah.
Since January — well, January was a wonderful month for the stock market. It continued. But then it topped out about the later, 26th of January I believe, and it’s been floundering back and forth since then. That’s what you’re seeing when you look at things on a short-term basis like that. An annuity may or may not be your answer. It may be part of your overall retirement plan, but I would not, at 56, give up the ship and basically buy annuities that are basically like a glorified CD, and you’re going to get kind of a CD kind of a rate.
Well maybe. Steve?
Sir.
What led you to an annuity? You heard a commercial?
Well, I’ve been — well, besides your show, there’s other shows too, and I went looking around. At this point I’m thinking, well, they promise you this great 7% return, but the problem is I have to keep it there probably for 10 years. That’s what’s right now in my Fidelity, over 10 years now, and I’m still not seeing much of an appreciable gain whereas if I put it in an annuity I don’t lose anything, but I stand to gain — and they said it would pay me for my life — for the rest of my life in those things like that. So I’m thinking that’s a heck of a deal. That’s a heck of a deal. I don’t have to worry about losing money. The money goes for 10 years. I can retire until 92 and don’t worry about money, you know?
I know.
Yeah, it sounds like almost too good to be true, doesn’t it?
It is very good. I don’t know how true it is, but it sounds very good when you look at the —
Of course.
Right.
Of course.
When you look at everything else around you. My second question was too, because I listen to Dave Ramsey a lot. I know you probably don’t like to hear that.
No, he’s fine.
But Dave Ramsey —
No, he’s good. He’s a good guy.
Yeah, he doesn’t like annuity. But he would say something about rolling over my stuff and paying the money on that, the taxes, and put it into a Roth. But that might incur costs too, costs to go from a default IRA to a Roth IRA.
Yes.
Right, right. You’d pay taxes going over there.
Steve, Steve, Steve. Take a deep breath. Take a deep breath.
Yeah, I am.
First of all, I understand your lure to an annuity, because the insurance industry has done a wonderful job of selling annuities, promoting annuities, as the end-all-be-all to everything that everybody needs in retirement because it’s guaranteed. Number one, it’s guaranteed. You won’t lose your principal, that’s the good news.
Yeah.
The bad news is it’s like paying for a filet but you really end up with hamburger in the long run.
Really?
Yes sir. I want you to go to our website. Go to our website. Go to financialgroup.com
Financialgroup.com
Right, financialgroup.com
Okay, I’m writing it down. It’s hard because I’m traveling.
Click on learning center. Got to click on the learning center tab, and then go down to the rest of story.
Okay, learning center.
Learning center and the rest of the story. Financialgroup.com
The rest of the story.
Learning center, the rest of the story. There you will find some articles that have been written about these annuities and life insurance programs that want to do everything in the world for — Kyle was talking about this earlier. About using — cashing out your 401(k), putting your money in a 401(k) is a bad idea. The idea is they want to sell you an insurance policy. Go to our website, read the articles there, and it’ll open your eyes as to really what that industry is all about. I’m not saying it’s necessarily bad. I think they’re over-sold. We’ve had clients come into our offices almost literally in tears when they found out really what they bought is different than what they were sold.
Oh really?
It’s going to give you the other side of the annuity question. It’s going to criticize some of the assumptions that we hear when we hear a commercial. We’ll have to call it somewhat misleading when you hear — you mentioned it, a 7% guaranteed rate of return. I doubt they can do that. I really do. There’s not a product out there that we’ve seen that will guarantee a 7% rate of return and give you all your money back plus that 7% at the end of, say, 10 years.
Insurance is —
It’s not there. It’s not guaranteed, but there is a guarantee to it, because you will get your principal back, right Joe?
Yes. And in order to get some of those guarantees, you’re prohibited from taking out your money in a lump sum. You have to draw it out a certain amount over a certain number of years. And you’re really locked in. Not saying that they’re bad. Just go into it with your eyes open. So, go to our website, financialgroup.com
Okay.
There’s some other articles in there too about — you know, we’ve seen these adds about these CD rates, better than what you get in the bank.
Yeah.
You know, these teaser rates, if you will, offered by non-bank entities. There’s an article in there too as well about what that’s all about. So, it’s a good resource.
Okay, so you’re just saying hang in there, to hang in there and go through this?
Well, yes. Listen, what you have to recognize is that investing is never a straight, smooth line. It never goes straight up, and people that expect that are only going to be disappointed. What you’ll have to have is diversification. What you have is a target-date fund that’s geared to be managed by itself. It’s going to go up, it’s going to go down. But, in the long run, you’ll make money as long as you stick with it and don’t cash out. If you’ve got 10 years, you’re going to be fine. You’re going to be fine.
Okay, well I appreciate the input.
Yeah, just don’t — well, that’s — listen, that’s what we do day in and day out. Unfortunately, we make these short-term emotional decisions, and that’s why most people were investors. You jump from this, jump from that, and kind of hope it all works. Your target-date fund will work for you.
Stick with it.
Okay. Alright Steve, thanks so much for the phone call. If you want Steve’s line, it’s 844-220-0965. 844-220-0965. Let’s go to Curtis on Okoee. Curtis, you’re on with that Certified Financial Group here on WDBO.
Hello Curtis.
Good morning.
Good morning. I have a variable annuity that I was talked — in an IRA that I was talked into doing around 11 years ago.
Okay.
I was told when I turned 70 years old I would have $70,000 in this account. So, I’ll be 64 next month, and it’s way off of $70,000. I only have $27,000 in here, and I can’t see it getting to $70,000 six years from now, so I don’t know what the deal is.
How much did you put in Curtis?
I’ve only gained like $4,000 in 11 years.
How much did you invest?
I invested 24,000 I think, maybe.
And it’s worth 28,000?
28, yes.
In 11 years?
In 11 years.
So how old were you?
Something is terribly wrong there.
Seven years.
Yes.
What’s it invested in? Now, in that variable annuity, you have investment options. What is it invested in within the annuity? Do you know?
No, I’m not really sure. I know it has a death benefit, and the death benefit is almost as much as the value of it.
Does it have a living benefit?
Yeah, I guess when I turn 70 I could draw X amount of dollars every month, you know but, that’s the way it works but.
Curtis, my guess is that money is in their, what we call their fixed account, or their money market account, and that’s why you haven’t had any growth in the last 11 years. In the last 11 years, that money should have at least doubled, if not tripled, depending on how it was invested. I think the investment choices that were made, either by you or by your advisor, that’s where your problem is. That’s where the —
Well, it’s by an advisor, but I just recently — about a year ago I got — they wanted for me to turn it in and get something else to get me more money or something a couple more — 3,000 or 4,000. But, I didn’t know what it was all about, and I’m just aggravated with the financial planner, so I didn’t do anything at this point.
Get a second opinion.
Yes, okay.
Curtis, give us a chance to look at it.
Okay.
We’re going to come — I’m not going to try to sell you anything.
Right.
I’m going to try to help you get in the right direction, make the right decision with what you’ve got presented when we meet, or even speak on the phone. I’ll be happy to give you
Give Roger a call on Monday morning at our office, 407-869-9800 or 1-800-EXECUTE. As for Roger. You can fax him your statement. My guess is that that money’s been sitting in a fixed account or a money market account for 11 years, which is a real travesty, because you’ve missed a great market.
I’ll be happy to help you and give you a second opinion on it Curtis.
But it’s never too late to get
Okay.
Okay, well, the thing is, over the years, I’ve tried to do some investments with different people and, supposedly friends, and I just didn’t — I get to the point where I want to even have to deal with it, you know?
Right.
That’s that situation.
Well, you’re going to have to deal with retirement, you know? You’re going to have to deal with retirement.
I know. Right, right. But then, you’re just not getting the right advice and then you just get aggravated.
I understand.
You’ve got some
Okay, okay. Well, I’ll call you guys on Monday. Maybe we can get something.
Please do. I’d be happy to help you.
Okay.
Okay.
Thank you so much for your help.
Alright.
You’re welcome.
Thanks for your radio program.
Thank you.
You’ve got it. Go ahead and give Curtis the number one more time to call me on Monday.
407-869-9800, 407-869-9800, Curtis.
Financialgroup.com
So you’ve got it.
There you go.
Alrighty Curtis. Thanks so much for the call. William in Ormond Beach, please hang on the line. I looked at the clock, and unfortunately we have to get the three big things we need to know. But William, we’ll get
Today.
And welcome back. This is On The Money with the Certified Financial Group right here on News 96.5, WDBO. It is the last segment, the final chance to get your question answered here by the Oracle of Orlando, Joe Burtz, alongside Roger Johnson, all certified financial planner professionals of the Certified Financial Group. So, let’s get right back to our phone lines here. Thank you so much William for patiently holding on throughout the break William. Go ahead, you’re on with the Certified Financial Group.
Good morning William.
Morning. I appreciate it. So, I like to mess around with the volatility index.
The VIX.
I understand that the VIX 500 30-day outflow can get cut in half and that’s the T-VIX. The market’s been pretty volatile, but the T-VIX is doing nothing, and I know it’s absolutely been devastated over the last couple of years, but what’s the movement looking like?
Wow.
Roger.
Yeah, you know what Warren Buffett calls this area? Financial asset of mass destruction is the VIX and the derivatives. It’s a derivative, and specifically, about your S&P and the one you’re talking about, I don’t have information on that specific. Although, volatility means if you go by a VIX, you’re hoping that the market goes down, so that you can sell it for a profit.
Unless you short it.
So it’s — you’ve got to get in, you’ve got to get out, like you’re saying.
Playing around.
You’re kind of playing around with it. It’s not investing, but it’s a — you know, it’s a form of short-term —
It’s speculation, and that doesn’t mean that you can’t make money at it, but it is speculation, and that’s really not what we do as certified financial planners.
But, if you do buy it and hold it, you’re guaranteed to lose money, because it keeps going down, down, down. There’ll be spikes up and spikes down that you can take advantage of. We’ve had a volatile market, and that may not be as volatile as you like it. So, I don’t know that specific one. I’d be happy to look at it for you if you’d like to on Monday.
But there’s no — you’re asking us to what the future is. If I could tell you for sure, Roger and I would not be sitting here this morning. Nobody knows.
And I’d be swimming in bitcoin.
Yeah, and, you know, I understand his desire to make some money on that particular type of investment, and there’s millions of them out there that you can speculate on. But really, as certified financial planners, our objective is to help our clients get to retirement. We like to be — say, we’re singles and doubles hitters. We don’t try to hit home runs, we don’t speculate. What we want to do is get you there the safest way possible.
RBIs
Yeah, well, that’s the name of the game. Don’t strike out.
And don’t fly out.
And don’t fly out, right, exactly. So that’s what our objective is, that’s what we try to do. I appreciate the question, but it isn’t an area that we deal in.
Alright. William, thanks so much for the call. Again, that’s going to probably pretty much do it here. We’ve got about a minute and a half left to go. Joe — how about that —
Yes, hope you enjoyed it.
It was cool wasn’t it?
Yes, it was good.
The weather was great. I have a little this just in item.
Oh, okay.
If you have an HSA account, they had lowered the maximum by $50 that you could put in. Well, the IRS just came back and reversed that, so you’re okay now, back to — if you’re an individual, you can now put away, 3,450 a year. And if you are a family situation now, you can do the maximum of $6,900.
It was a $50 back and forth, but hey, $50, now you can contribute a little bit more this year.
There you go.
And if any of our listeners are going to be at the 25th anniversary celebration of the Orlando Philharmonic tonight, please come up and say hello. I will be there with my wife and look forward to meeting you and getting to know more about you and maybe answering a question or two if you’d like.
You’re not going to bring your headphones with you are you?
You know, I might. So they can identify me.
Okay, there you go.
Look for the guy with the headphones.
We’ll get him a 96.5 patch or something like that. Joe Burt.
He’s got his Oracle of Orlando bag. You can just say there we go.
Yeah, that could do it.
Alright, that’s going to do it for this week’s edition of On The Money with the Certified Financial Group right here on News 96.5, WDBO. We have been planning tomorrow, today, and we’ll do it right here next Saturday at 9:00am. We’ll see you then.
Dictation made on 5/31/2018 3:40 PM EDT.