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Speaker 1: Welcome to How the Money. I'm Joel and I am Matt,

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Speaker 1: and today we're asking the question can we count on

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Speaker 1: social Security? Or is it busted? Or is social Security busted?

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Speaker 1: Is it broken? Joel? I'm actually super excited that we're

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Speaker 1: gonna talk about social security this episode because I don't

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Speaker 1: know if we've ever actually talked about it over the

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Speaker 1: hundreds of definitely not in depth. Not in depth. We

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Speaker 1: may have talked about it, like, uh, maybe on like

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Speaker 1: an ask How the Money episode, how do I maximize

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Speaker 1: my Social Security benefits? Maybe we answer something like that

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Speaker 1: a year ago, that kind of thing, but we've never

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Speaker 1: dedicated an entire episode to social security, and so I'm

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Speaker 1: stoked that we really are going to do a deep

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Speaker 1: dive into this thing that so many of us are

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Speaker 1: aware of, but we're not totally sure what to do

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Speaker 1: about it and truly how it's going to affect our

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Speaker 1: lives on the road, especially with some of the recent

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Speaker 1: headlines about the projected shortfalls of social security, like, oh,

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Speaker 1: you're getting ahead of yourself now. I'm just saying people

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Speaker 1: are probably like, what's going on and how does this

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Speaker 1: affect me? We're going to cover that today before we

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Speaker 1: get to that. Man, I wanted to ask you a question,

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Speaker 1: is it frugal or cheap for me to buy used

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Speaker 1: presence for people for Christmas? And I'll give you the specifics,

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Speaker 1: but by kind of what your first? So my overall

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Speaker 1: general philosophy is it completely depends on the type of gift. Right,

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Speaker 1: Like you get a used car for a kid, that's

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Speaker 1: a that's a pretty awesome gift, right Like used cars

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Speaker 1: are that's a normal thing. But if you've got like

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Speaker 1: some secondhand shoes from like a thrift store that is

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Speaker 1: not gonna fly. Secondhand shoes or socks for that matter,

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Speaker 1: probably not the best gift. I think that would probably

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Speaker 1: be considered cheap. But what did you have specifically? Kind?

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Speaker 1: So here's here's what I've done. I someone on Facebook

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Speaker 1: yard sale recently posted a bunch of like the really

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Speaker 1: nice kids trucks, the hest trucks, remember the other yeah,

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Speaker 1: those like they're really good, and the Hess racing team

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Speaker 1: back in the day. I remember the green they had

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Speaker 1: the race cars exactly. Uh oh yeah. So my little

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Speaker 1: two year old every time he goes over to one

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Speaker 1: of our friend's house houses, they have a stash of

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Speaker 1: these trucks and he instantly like runs for that cupboard exactly,

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Speaker 1: and he will sit there and play for hours. And

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Speaker 1: so someone posted a bunch of these trucks for sale

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Speaker 1: and it wasn't cheap, but they're really really nice trucks

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Speaker 1: and they last a really long time. Um, but it

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Speaker 1: was way way, way, way less expensive. Like I'm getting

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Speaker 1: basically like twenty of these trucks for the like three

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Speaker 1: so um. Yeah, so I am buying him used cars

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Speaker 1: and these are going to then, uh, some of these

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Speaker 1: are going to be safe for Christmas, some for next

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Speaker 1: year's birthday, like just kind of keep keep adding to

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Speaker 1: the collection exactly. Over genius, Okay, alright, so yeah, in

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Speaker 1: this case, they're used. Totally cool, but the value proposition

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Speaker 1: is just way better than trying to buy new ones

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Speaker 1: or buy cheaper versions of those trucks that aren't nearly school.

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Speaker 1: Especially to uh kind of pinching off the truck hose

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Speaker 1: and only letting a few of them out maybe this

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Speaker 1: Christmas and then letting some of the other trucks come

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Speaker 1: out next year. I think that's genius because otherwise, if

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Speaker 1: you're going to give them to them all at once,

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Speaker 1: I'm like, dude, is that what you want to introduce

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Speaker 1: into your life different has trucks. In that case, I'd

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Speaker 1: be like, we'll spend the same amount of money and

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Speaker 1: just have less clutter in your life. But the ability

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Speaker 1: for him to kind of grow up with these and

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Speaker 1: for him to maybe take care of him put them

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Speaker 1: away where they're supposed to go as he gets older.

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Speaker 1: I think that's a super frugal move, dude. And when

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Speaker 1: I said buying a kids used car, I meant like

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Speaker 1: an actual Automa, Like I know you're going to talk

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Speaker 1: about actual trucks, but I mean it also depends on

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Speaker 1: your financial situation, right, because there's some individuals where it's like, hey,

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Speaker 1: that's what Christmas looks like for a lot of folks.

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Speaker 1: And so obviously you have to be aware of the

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Speaker 1: kind of financial situation that you're in, um and and

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Speaker 1: you never want to go into debt to buy new

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Speaker 1: stuff for gifts if you can't afford it. And if

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Speaker 1: that's the case, you know, giving experiences or homemade gifts.

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Speaker 1: There's so many other ways you can go use gifts.

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Speaker 1: I think is one of those things. Just be thoughtful

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Speaker 1: about the way that you're doing it. Absolutely. I mean,

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Speaker 1: I think even Kate would be down with something if

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Speaker 1: I even if I got it at a thrift store,

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Speaker 1: if it was something that she was looking for, or

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Speaker 1: if it was a vintage item or like a very

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Speaker 1: high quality item that I would never spend hundreds of

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Speaker 1: dollars on just for this shirt or you know, like

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Speaker 1: a nice jacket, that kind of thing. To people around here,

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Speaker 1: they donate all sorts of stuff to the thrift store,

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Speaker 1: like really nice stuff, and I think some of those

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Speaker 1: nicer items would definitely be received well for sure. Al Right, well,

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Speaker 1: let's keep moving on, Matt. We're drinking a beer on

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Speaker 1: today's episode, like we do pretty much every episode. This

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Speaker 1: one is called Roosevelt Coffee Stout. It's by Old and

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Speaker 1: Tangy River Brewing, and listener Scott sent this one our way.

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Speaker 1: We'll give our thoughts on this beer at the end

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Speaker 1: of the episode. But Matt, let's get on to the

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Speaker 1: subject in hand. We are talking about social security and

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Speaker 1: we're asking, like, can any of us count on this

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Speaker 1: money being there when we hit retirement age, especially, and

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Speaker 1: we have a lot of listeners in their twenties and thirties.

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Speaker 1: Is the system busted or is there going to be

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Speaker 1: something there for me? And we just kind of want

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Speaker 1: to give people an overall picture of what's happening right now. Um,

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Speaker 1: and then kind of how you can think about the

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Speaker 1: role that social security should play in your retirement and

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Speaker 1: mat It makes me think, like climate change, it feels

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Speaker 1: like one of those things that we as individuals can

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Speaker 1: have very little impact on. We hear the stories about it,

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Speaker 1: we hear new studies come out, and it's hard not

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Speaker 1: to get just kind of like depressed or or or

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Speaker 1: just assume that there's nothing new. Isn't an individual can

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Speaker 1: do on that level to make a difference, Right, Well,

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Speaker 1: I mean I think a lot of times too, maybe

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Speaker 1: up until recently, it's always seemed like this thing that's

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Speaker 1: just really way off in the distance, right, Like guess

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Speaker 1: basically not something that we're ever truly going to get to. Uh,

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Speaker 1: definitely not something we should worry about in our younger years.

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Speaker 1: But in this case, we have seen some of the

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Speaker 1: impacts of climate change in our lives, yeah, for sure.

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Speaker 1: And so then we begin to ask ourselves questions about

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Speaker 1: how we can respond. Can writing bikes more or eating

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Speaker 1: less meat? Like those are two things that people quickly

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Speaker 1: point to as ways that's you as an individual can

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Speaker 1: combat climate change, but how is that really affecting things

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Speaker 1: on a global level? Is that going to prevent the

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Speaker 1: next disastrous hurricane? Right? Um? You know that one act alone,

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Speaker 1: it can seem doesn't really do all that much, and

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Speaker 1: that is true. But the aggregation of a lot of folks,

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Speaker 1: of all of us taking small actions, um, and taking

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Speaker 1: consistent action, it does go a long way. It makes

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Speaker 1: a real difference. And I think the social security system

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Speaker 1: can feel a lot like that, right. It feels like

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Speaker 1: something that we have no control over. We see the

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Speaker 1: headlines and we're like, wait, is there actually gonna be

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Speaker 1: any money left for me once I reach retirement age?

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Speaker 1: Or is this system going to be exhausted? And and

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Speaker 1: I will have paid into this thing and you've gotten

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Speaker 1: nothing in return. I think with that recent news about

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Speaker 1: the Social Security Trust Fund shortfalls happening even sooner than expected, um,

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Speaker 1: it can feel like younger folks are unlikely to see much,

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Speaker 1: if anything, um. And some people have like written it

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Speaker 1: off all together. But yeah, you know, you and I, Matt,

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Speaker 1: we don't think that's the case. And we will try

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Speaker 1: to give an accurate picture of what's happening with scal

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Speaker 1: security and how much stock you should put in it

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Speaker 1: for your future in this episode. That's right. Yeah, So

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Speaker 1: let's talk first about why that shortfall is happening. You

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Speaker 1: mentioned that there have been a lot of stories on

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Speaker 1: social security recently, and so as you know, our listeners

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Speaker 1: likely know social Security tax. It's withheld from every paycheck

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Speaker 1: that you receive. Uh. And when millions of folks lost

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Speaker 1: their jobs early in the pandemic last year, far fewer

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Speaker 1: folks they were paying into the Social Security system. And

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Speaker 1: so when there's fewer workers paying in the than previously assumed,

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Speaker 1: and that money was still being paid out to the

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Speaker 1: current retirees, that's what leads to a shortfall. And so

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Speaker 1: the Social Security Trustees released their annual report at the

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Speaker 1: end of last month, and they warned that social security

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Speaker 1: reserves we're going to run out of money one year

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Speaker 1: earlier than expected. So that's going to happen now in

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Speaker 1: three is the forecast. We'll dive more into the details

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Speaker 1: later on, but generally speaking, that's what's going on here, uh.

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Speaker 1: And that's a part of why we wanted to tackle

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Speaker 1: this topic of social security, especially since it's not one

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Speaker 1: that we've covered yet here on the show. In depth. Uh,

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Speaker 1: And so for our listeners, like, the question we want

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Speaker 1: to answer is, you know, is this something that we

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Speaker 1: should be worried about? You know, given that new report,

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Speaker 1: can we count all social Security still being there by

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Speaker 1: the time we are looking to retire. That's what we're

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Speaker 1: gonna talk about today. So let's go ahead and dive in. Yeah. Well,

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Speaker 1: first man, I think we do need to get to

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Speaker 1: the history of social Security, why it was created, when

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Speaker 1: it was created, and kind of the purpose behind it,

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Speaker 1: because I think sometimes even just kind of the perception

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Speaker 1: about what social security should be for individuals has morphed

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Speaker 1: over time, and we kind of expect it to be

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Speaker 1: this and I'll be all retirement account for everyone that

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Speaker 1: provides for most of their needs. But that wasn't the

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Speaker 1: goal early on when social Security was created. It wasn't

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Speaker 1: intended to fund a person's retirement completely. And in fact,

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Speaker 1: the average American didn't live long enough to reach retirement age.

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Speaker 1: Lifespans have dramatically lengthened over the past hundred years. We

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Speaker 1: went from an average lifespan of fifty three to an

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Speaker 1: average of seventy eight years old over one hundred years. Yeah,

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Speaker 1: that's it's I mean, it's hard to have them significant, right.

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Speaker 1: It really is the the original intent of the program.

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Speaker 1: It wasn't to make sure that you were able to

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Speaker 1: continue to live life like you had when you were working.

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Speaker 1: It was more akin to an insurance policy, making sure

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Speaker 1: that you weren't destitute if you did end up living

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Speaker 1: an abnormally long life. And I think this context is

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Speaker 1: important so we can have a proper view of what

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Speaker 1: the social security system is meant to do. It was

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Speaker 1: never meant to allow us to retire in style for

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Speaker 1: we like thirty years at the beach, uh in order

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Speaker 1: to you know, live a swell life for decades on

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Speaker 1: end um. It really really was meant to provide for

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Speaker 1: you for a few years if you did outlive the

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Speaker 1: median age. And I just think that's helpful contexts, you know,

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Speaker 1: as we get into talking about social security in this episode, Yeah,

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Speaker 1: if they you mentioned if you were to ever have

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Speaker 1: lived in the normally long life, and so when the

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Speaker 1: life expectancy is fifty three, I guess if you live

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Speaker 1: to be like fifty eight, Like it's like, well I've

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Speaker 1: got an old time where over here. But let's keep

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Speaker 1: talking about the history, you know, Like they're there truly

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Speaker 1: were a lot of changes happening rapidly in the early

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Speaker 1: nineteen hundreds that were impacting the way that we viewed retirements, employments,

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Speaker 1: and government involvement in both of those as well, and

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Speaker 1: so like. At that time, the prevailing thought was that

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Speaker 1: retirement was similar to kind of like a three legged stool.

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Speaker 1: Pensions they were at the heart of this. Basically, employees

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Speaker 1: were guaranteed a percentage of their paycheck if they stayed

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Speaker 1: with the company for you know, a number of years,

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Speaker 1: for decades, even personal savings that was another leg of

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Speaker 1: that retirement stool, and then social security that was that

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Speaker 1: third leg. Uh, and it has been an important leg,

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Speaker 1: you know, to to ensure that retirees, especially once who

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Speaker 1: were able to save very little, or who who didn't

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Speaker 1: work for employers that offered pensions and made sure that

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Speaker 1: they had at least something to live on once they

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Speaker 1: finished working. Yeah, so social security has been just this

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Speaker 1: really important part of our country social safety now. But

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Speaker 1: the traditional approach to retirement, Matt, that you just mentioned,

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Speaker 1: that three legged stool approach, it's just not really relevant

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Speaker 1: for most people today. We don't live in under system

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Speaker 1: in which people can expect you know, forms of income

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Speaker 1: from all three of those sources. Pensions obviously, especially pensions

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Speaker 1: becoming more rare, right, um, it's maybe as rare as

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Speaker 1: like um, like a toilet paper sighting last March or

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Speaker 1: something like that, as rare as a an affordable to

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Speaker 1: one starter home today's housing marketing, exactly exactly. You know,

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Speaker 1: we might have a few listeners who work in the government,

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Speaker 1: who work as teachers, and they still have access to

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Speaker 1: a pension. More power to you, right, Pensions are really

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Speaker 1: really helpful when it comes to planning for your own retirement.

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Speaker 1: It provides a whole lot more certainty. But of course

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Speaker 1: that's becoming rarer. That that makes that social security money

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Speaker 1: even more important for a whole lot of workers today.

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Speaker 1: And we would say at the same time, it heightens

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Speaker 1: the need for you to say for your own retirement

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Speaker 1: more effectively, to begin sooner, and to say more maybe

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Speaker 1: than you previously thought, because the dynamics have shift quite

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Speaker 1: a bit, and you just can't expect that anybody else

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Speaker 1: is really going to take care of you in retirement,

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Speaker 1: even though we do believe social security will stick around

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Speaker 1: in some form or fashion. That's right, Maybe there's a

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Speaker 1: fourth leg to that stool as well. We we talked

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Speaker 1: about savings, pensions, social security, but family. I mean, think

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Speaker 1: about the number of multigenerational households that that used to exist,

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Speaker 1: as as older parents went in to live with their

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Speaker 1: kids who were grown up. And that's definitely true, right,

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Speaker 1: But it's also not something you want to play on

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Speaker 1: and just assume that your kids are gonna house you.

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Speaker 1: Expectations have changed, right, And so when the expectations are there,

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Speaker 1: or when that's something that has at least been talked

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Speaker 1: about them, that's totally fine. But I would say that

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Speaker 1: that's not typical today. It's probably as typical as pensions are,

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Speaker 1: to be honest, it often does come down more to

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Speaker 1: the individual. But before we kind of keep talking about, uh,

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Speaker 1: social security, let's kind of ask the question, is retirement

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Speaker 1: even a good goal for us to have? You know,

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Speaker 1: I just mentioned how the perception started to shift in

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Speaker 1: the early nineteen hundreds. Before then, like almost everyone worked

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Speaker 1: until they died, right the the idea that you could

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Speaker 1: have years or even decades of leisure in your old

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Speaker 1: age was kind of reserved only for just a handful

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Speaker 1: of rich folks, the landed gentry, or something like that

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Speaker 1: right was reserved for like the biltmore or the people

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Speaker 1: in what was that what's that show that you used

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Speaker 1: to watch that? Oh downtown to Nabby Right, yeah, those

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Speaker 1: people you have to Yeah, the aristocracy that he's living

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Speaker 1: off the land exactly, and forget about fire right, Like

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Speaker 1: retiring in your thirties, Like, I mean, that would have

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Speaker 1: been considered a joke a hundred years ago. And so like,

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Speaker 1: we're big fans of working towards the goal of financial independence. Um.

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Speaker 1: And even though we talk about it much less frequently,

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Speaker 1: saving and investing for retirement is certainly worthwhile goal, even

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Speaker 1: though it's a it's kind of a newish concept. With

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Speaker 1: the likelihood that you will be living into your eighties

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Speaker 1: or even your nineties, there's no other option. You've got

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Speaker 1: to save for your retirement. Uh. And so that's why

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Speaker 1: we're talking about this today. It's also good point out

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Speaker 1: too that like making sure that you have enough money

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Speaker 1: saved for retirement, that shouldn't be your soul folk gus

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Speaker 1: of of what you think is going to lead to uh,

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Speaker 1: happier overall life. There are obviously lots of other factors

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Speaker 1: that you want to keep in mind as you're trying

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Speaker 1: to live a happy life. Foremost among those fulfilling social

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Speaker 1: relationships having Oh I thought you were gonna say good beer,

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Speaker 1: good beer. Is it's probably like second, it's like relationships, beer, family,

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Speaker 1: and beer. And then money. Actually, shoot, you gotta have

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Speaker 1: money in order to have decent beer. So but I'm

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Speaker 1: just pointing that out. This is how the money. So

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Speaker 1: we're we're specifically talking about how your finances can lead

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Speaker 1: to you living a happy life. But don't forget that

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Speaker 1: there are lots of other things that you need to

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Speaker 1: keep in mind as well. And we're focusing mostly on

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Speaker 1: social security today. I think you're right, Matt, to just

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Speaker 1: bring up that topic of retirement in general. It's still

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Speaker 1: a relatively new concept. Um. It wasn't something that people

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Speaker 1: in the seventeen hundreds or eighteen hundreds aspired to. It

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Speaker 1: is something that is only a few generations old, and

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Speaker 1: so um. Yeah. But but let's keep talking about social security.

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Speaker 1: Is it something you can count on or is it,

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Speaker 1: as some have called a pyramid scheme that you've been

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Speaker 1: paying into that's going to crumble potentially even in the

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Speaker 1: near future. We'll get two more on that right after this. Alright,

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Speaker 1: we're back until you know you referred to like the

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Speaker 1: pyramid scheme. I'm pretty sure I've referred to it as

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Speaker 1: a pyramid scheme before. How social Security? Oh, it's like

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Speaker 1: this mandatory pyramid scheme that we all have to pay into.

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Speaker 1: We're required to otherwise we get in trouble, you know,

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Speaker 1: with the Canada or something. I think, Yeah, what happens

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Speaker 1: if you don't? I guess that's evading taxes. But so

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Speaker 1: let's go ahead, get to the question, can you count

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Speaker 1: on Social Security being there at least in some capacity

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Speaker 1: when you reach retirement age? And we think that the

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Speaker 1: answer to that is a definitive yes. We're not worried

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Speaker 1: that three will come along and that the benefits will

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Speaker 1: be dramatically cut or that money won't be there to

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Speaker 1: pay the older Americans who have been paying into this

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Speaker 1: system for decades. But that being said, that doesn't mean

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Speaker 1: that Social Security will exist uh in its current form,

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Speaker 1: or that some hard choices aren't inevitable. We do think

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Speaker 1: that they're probably going to be some changes on the horizon,

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Speaker 1: and we'll get to those here in a second. Yeah,

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Speaker 1: And it's our assessment is not just because we're natural optimists.

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Speaker 1: Matt I don't even know. Are you naturally optimistic? I

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Speaker 1: would say you are. I would say that you are

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Speaker 1: more of an optimist. I'm definitely more of like the

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Speaker 1: realists for anyone to be more of an optimist than

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Speaker 1: I am, but I feel like, I mean, long term,

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Speaker 1: I'm like, everything will be fine, But that doesn't necessarily

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Speaker 1: mean that everything is going to on the service look good.

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Speaker 1: Like my mindset is that everything's gonna be fine because

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Speaker 1: we will adjust regardless of what comes down the pike.

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Speaker 1: You know what I'm saying, Uh, not that like, oh,

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Speaker 1: everything is gonna be you know, rainbows and butterfly do well.

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Speaker 1: And that's the thing. It's not. You know, when we're

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Speaker 1: saying that social security will exist and that will be

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Speaker 1: beneficial for you in retirement. This isn't just some wide

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Speaker 1: eyed optimism, but there are a lot of facts on

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Speaker 1: the ground to support, uh, the reality that social security

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Speaker 1: will continue to exist and what you're paying into it

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Speaker 1: you will get back at some future date. And let's

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Speaker 1: talk about politics for just a second. Usually we avoid

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Speaker 1: the subject, but when you're talking about social security, it's

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Speaker 1: a necessary part of the discussion, and before you even start,

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Speaker 1: it's worth mentioning we're not gonna like take a sigh

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Speaker 1: like say the other Like we can talk about it

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Speaker 1: from a political standpoint, but we can talk about it

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Speaker 1: a political exactly a little bit exactly. We we really

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Speaker 1: believe though, that at some point there is going to

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Speaker 1: be there must be enough political will and desire to

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Speaker 1: fix this, you know, at some point someday, like we

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Speaker 1: don't even we don't know when that's gonna be. Uh.

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Speaker 1: And you know, in politics, it turns out that politicians

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Speaker 1: like to kick the can down the road and they

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Speaker 1: like to let someone else tackle the bigger, most unpopular

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Speaker 1: problems that cost money. Uh. The question, though, I don't

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Speaker 1: think is if it's gonna happen, but when? And Yeah,

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Speaker 1: we talked to a front of the show Matt and

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Speaker 1: Top Tier money writer Ben Carlson about this a while

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Speaker 1: back on the show. They're just almost no politicians who

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Speaker 1: want to be responsible for ending a program as popular

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Speaker 1: as Social Security has been. Like, think about the grief

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Speaker 1: and the lack of votes that politician is going to

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Speaker 1: receive when they start to condemn Social Security or talk

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Speaker 1: about eliminating it or watching it phase out slowly, Right,

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Speaker 1: And it's a program that has become necessary for so

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Speaker 1: many people. So I think when you look at it

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Speaker 1: from that angle, there's basically next to no chance that

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Speaker 1: Social Security doesn't continue to remain around and that an

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Speaker 1: eventual fix for the shortfalls that we're seeing doesn't come

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Speaker 1: to fruition at some point exactly. Yeah, regardless of what

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Speaker 1: side of the aisle that you're on, very few folks

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Speaker 1: are going to just let it implode upon itself without

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Speaker 1: having making without having made some sort of change, if

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Speaker 1: they're being forced to, right and right now, we're not

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Speaker 1: really being forced to. And that's I think that's a

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Speaker 1: big reason why we're not necessarily going to see uh

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Speaker 1: see it addressed in the coming years. But I don't know.

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Speaker 1: I bet it will be addressed by and you know,

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Speaker 1: part of the reason too that we believe that Social

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Speaker 1: Security is going to be around is it comes down

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Speaker 1: to the fact that this isn't a government giveaway, right

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Speaker 1: we all pay into the system. I'm sure there's probably

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Speaker 1: a lot of how the money listeners who wish that

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Speaker 1: they could opt out of Social Security and you know,

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Speaker 1: instead fund their own retirement more heavily with that additional

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Speaker 1: chunk that you get in your paycheck. I get it.

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Speaker 1: I would probably sign up for that if I could

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Speaker 1: as well. Actually, in ministers, like if if you're in

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Speaker 1: a certain religion, you can like fill out this form,

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Speaker 1: you can be like a conscientious social security objective exactly. Yeah.

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Speaker 1: But if you were to do that, and if you

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Speaker 1: are some type of minister, make sure that you truly

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Speaker 1: are saving for retirement because there is no social Security

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Speaker 1: for you. Yeah, you better be extra money away if

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Speaker 1: you're fall into that camp. But the fact is, this

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Speaker 1: is the system that we currently have in place, and

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Speaker 1: it has worked remarkably well for a lot of years. Uh,

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Speaker 1: And so because that it's highly unlikely that it's going

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Speaker 1: to change anytime soon. But the fact that every working

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Speaker 1: American is currently funding Social Security on the rag with

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Speaker 1: every single paycheck, that means that Social Security uh isn't

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Speaker 1: about to go bankrupt quote unquote bankrupt, as you might

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Speaker 1: have heard in the headlines. Yeah, that's a term that

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Speaker 1: is thrown around, especially, has been thrown around in recent days,

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Speaker 1: and it's misleading because it's just not true in the

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Speaker 1: way most people think about the term bankrupt. They just

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Speaker 1: assume like the dis of the entire system. Yeah, well

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Speaker 1: that's the end of that, like you're a goner. But

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Speaker 1: that's not the way it is with Social Security. That

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Speaker 1: trust fund is on the ropes. Maybe to use like

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Speaker 1: a fighting analogy, and we might need like a little

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Speaker 1: break between rounds to get that pep talk and that

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Speaker 1: little water squirt or something like that. But does this work.

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Speaker 1: Does work as an analogy, I don't know. Given it

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Speaker 1: a shot, but it doesn't mean that it's like you know,

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Speaker 1: been kote and it's it's out for the count. Yeah. Yeah,

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Speaker 1: we're slowly seeing I mean the funds getting depleted. Honestly,

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Speaker 1: all I can picture now is like a boxer's trainer,

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Speaker 1: like over on the side, just with like a water gun,

429
00:20:34,920 --> 00:20:38,560
Speaker 1: just like squirting him like like you're you're talking about

430
00:20:38,560 --> 00:20:40,359
Speaker 1: like a sports bottle. I'm taking of the movie Rocky

431
00:20:40,520 --> 00:20:43,520
Speaker 1: and you know you wentn't squirting them with anything, but

432
00:20:43,560 --> 00:20:45,040
Speaker 1: you get a little skirt bottle and you get some

433
00:20:45,160 --> 00:20:46,840
Speaker 1: you get some steps. It would be like a sponge

434
00:20:46,920 --> 00:20:48,119
Speaker 1: or a rag. That's all I can think of right

435
00:20:48,119 --> 00:20:49,840
Speaker 1: now is Mike Tyson's Knockout, which was one of the

436
00:20:49,880 --> 00:20:51,560
Speaker 1: greatest video games all the time. It was pretty close.

437
00:20:51,720 --> 00:20:53,800
Speaker 1: But let's talk about some of the changes, Matt, and like,

438
00:20:54,080 --> 00:20:57,159
Speaker 1: you know, since almost six inten retirees actually find that

439
00:20:57,200 --> 00:21:00,920
Speaker 1: their main source of income in retirement is Social Security,

440
00:21:01,000 --> 00:21:02,800
Speaker 1: something is going to have to give. Like we said

441
00:21:02,800 --> 00:21:05,880
Speaker 1: at the beginning, this wasn't the intent of Social Security,

442
00:21:05,880 --> 00:21:07,560
Speaker 1: but that is where we have found ourselves as this

443
00:21:07,640 --> 00:21:12,000
Speaker 1: becoming essentially the main retirement program, the main source of

444
00:21:12,040 --> 00:21:15,720
Speaker 1: income for so many Americans. There was a bill that

445
00:21:15,800 --> 00:21:19,520
Speaker 1: gradually changed the retirement age from sixty five to sixty seven.

446
00:21:19,720 --> 00:21:22,840
Speaker 1: You know, we we could see something else similar happen

447
00:21:22,880 --> 00:21:25,240
Speaker 1: in the future, changing the date at which you're able

448
00:21:25,320 --> 00:21:28,040
Speaker 1: to receive your full Social Security benefit, pushing it back

449
00:21:28,080 --> 00:21:30,960
Speaker 1: just a little bit to increase the solvency. But but

450
00:21:31,040 --> 00:21:33,720
Speaker 1: we're more likely to see something I would say, like

451
00:21:33,920 --> 00:21:37,840
Speaker 1: uh fke attacks increase that slowly goes up over the decades,

452
00:21:38,160 --> 00:21:41,000
Speaker 1: something like a point one percent increase each year, so

453
00:21:41,040 --> 00:21:44,000
Speaker 1: that we basically barely feel it in any meaningful way,

454
00:21:44,040 --> 00:21:46,760
Speaker 1: but it does slowly start to make up for some

455
00:21:46,800 --> 00:21:49,000
Speaker 1: of the shortfalls that we're seeing. Um. There's also been

456
00:21:49,000 --> 00:21:51,720
Speaker 1: talking about, you know, raising the income cap for paying

457
00:21:51,760 --> 00:21:54,919
Speaker 1: payroll taxes. So right now, if you're a high income earner,

458
00:21:55,160 --> 00:21:57,520
Speaker 1: you stop paying fight attacks on any dollar that you

459
00:21:57,600 --> 00:22:01,920
Speaker 1: earn above eight dred and if they were to raise

460
00:22:01,920 --> 00:22:04,720
Speaker 1: that cap, that would be another possible tweak to provide

461
00:22:04,920 --> 00:22:07,840
Speaker 1: you know, more funds for the Social Security Trust Fund

462
00:22:08,000 --> 00:22:09,880
Speaker 1: so that you know, we don't run out of money

463
00:22:09,960 --> 00:22:12,159
Speaker 1: quite so quickly. That's right. Personally, I'm a fan of

464
00:22:12,200 --> 00:22:15,080
Speaker 1: increasing that age because we talked about earlier how life

465
00:22:15,080 --> 00:22:18,760
Speaker 1: expectancies have increased dramatically even over the past, you know,

466
00:22:18,840 --> 00:22:22,600
Speaker 1: even since like n three, we've seen the life expectancy increase.

467
00:22:22,640 --> 00:22:24,119
Speaker 1: And so I think if I were picking the solution,

468
00:22:24,119 --> 00:22:25,640
Speaker 1: that's the one I would pick as well. But it's

469
00:22:25,640 --> 00:22:29,160
Speaker 1: also a few taxes, the most unlikely one because people

470
00:22:29,160 --> 00:22:31,120
Speaker 1: don't want to be like, dang it, I've been paying

471
00:22:31,119 --> 00:22:32,320
Speaker 1: into this and now you're telling me I gonna wait

472
00:22:32,359 --> 00:22:34,159
Speaker 1: two more years, Like most people don't want to hear that. Well,

473
00:22:34,200 --> 00:22:35,960
Speaker 1: I think that it is probably the best. Yeah, well,

474
00:22:36,000 --> 00:22:38,280
Speaker 1: we see it happened gradually as well, and so that's

475
00:22:38,280 --> 00:22:41,520
Speaker 1: why I mean, most of our listeners probably aren't looking

476
00:22:41,560 --> 00:22:43,199
Speaker 1: at the charts. But it's like, okay, you have to

477
00:22:43,240 --> 00:22:46,240
Speaker 1: work until you're sixty six years old plus two months,

478
00:22:46,400 --> 00:22:48,560
Speaker 1: you know, like like it's it's this gradual thing. And

479
00:22:48,600 --> 00:22:51,360
Speaker 1: so instead of saying, oh, we have to delay retirement

480
00:22:51,400 --> 00:22:53,320
Speaker 1: by two years, it's like, well I can, I can

481
00:22:53,359 --> 00:22:56,159
Speaker 1: go for another two months. Makes it a lot more

482
00:22:56,200 --> 00:22:59,040
Speaker 1: palatable where that to be the case. And so, like

483
00:22:59,040 --> 00:23:01,919
Speaker 1: you're saying, Angel, whether it's revenue increases or benefit cuts

484
00:23:02,200 --> 00:23:04,280
Speaker 1: were actually just a bit of both. That's probably what

485
00:23:04,320 --> 00:23:06,560
Speaker 1: we're likely to see in the coming years. Who knows

486
00:23:06,600 --> 00:23:09,080
Speaker 1: what will actually happen, but we know that no solution

487
00:23:09,280 --> 00:23:12,120
Speaker 1: is ideal. Very few folks want to see benefits reduced.

488
00:23:12,160 --> 00:23:14,200
Speaker 1: Nobody wants to be forced to pay more into the

489
00:23:14,280 --> 00:23:17,560
Speaker 1: system either. But when you look at the context of

490
00:23:17,640 --> 00:23:20,320
Speaker 1: social security, you realize that it wasn't built to be

491
00:23:20,400 --> 00:23:24,639
Speaker 1: the soul safety net for multiple non working not just years,

492
00:23:24,680 --> 00:23:27,199
Speaker 1: but decades. Uh. And that's what it's become. That's what

493
00:23:27,240 --> 00:23:29,840
Speaker 1: it's evolved into. And it's just not sustainable for us

494
00:23:29,840 --> 00:23:33,280
Speaker 1: to continue to to lean onto social security this way.

495
00:23:33,440 --> 00:23:36,200
Speaker 1: That's right, Yeah, And so we believe that social Security

496
00:23:36,240 --> 00:23:39,400
Speaker 1: it's not going anywhere. We talked about the news that's

497
00:23:39,440 --> 00:23:41,200
Speaker 1: come out of the trust Fund running out of money

498
00:23:41,280 --> 00:23:43,679
Speaker 1: in just twelve years, and it's true, right the that

499
00:23:43,720 --> 00:23:46,199
Speaker 1: trust Fund is going to run dry twelve years from

500
00:23:46,200 --> 00:23:48,160
Speaker 1: now if nothing is done. But there's just so much

501
00:23:48,160 --> 00:23:50,800
Speaker 1: more to it than that. Like, current projections show that

502
00:23:50,840 --> 00:23:53,720
Speaker 1: there will be enough money to cover three quarters of

503
00:23:53,760 --> 00:23:57,320
Speaker 1: retiree benefits through the year even if nothing was done.

504
00:23:57,600 --> 00:24:00,359
Speaker 1: That's because, like Matt said earlier on every page check,

505
00:24:00,640 --> 00:24:03,280
Speaker 1: tens of millions of Americans are actively funding the system.

506
00:24:03,480 --> 00:24:06,520
Speaker 1: You're continuing to pay into it every two weeks. So

507
00:24:06,560 --> 00:24:08,840
Speaker 1: even if nothing was done, that benefit cut would mean

508
00:24:09,200 --> 00:24:12,320
Speaker 1: less money per person, But that's a really, really long

509
00:24:12,359 --> 00:24:16,280
Speaker 1: time frame. At the fact that through like it's still

510
00:24:16,320 --> 00:24:20,840
Speaker 1: sustainable just at lower levels. Um it just that'll cover us. Yeah,

511
00:24:20,920 --> 00:24:23,639
Speaker 1: find reading that and knowing that it just made me

512
00:24:23,800 --> 00:24:26,080
Speaker 1: realize that Social Security is definitely gonna be around for

513
00:24:26,119 --> 00:24:28,280
Speaker 1: the long haul. Something is going to get done to

514
00:24:28,640 --> 00:24:31,679
Speaker 1: resolve the shortfalls that we're currently seeing. But even if

515
00:24:31,720 --> 00:24:34,560
Speaker 1: we do nothing, it's not as dire as so many

516
00:24:34,600 --> 00:24:38,040
Speaker 1: of those headlines and warnings make it sound. Exactly Basically,

517
00:24:38,119 --> 00:24:40,200
Speaker 1: only if somebody comes in and makes it worse will

518
00:24:40,240 --> 00:24:42,280
Speaker 1: we not be able to see our Social Security pay

519
00:24:42,320 --> 00:24:46,560
Speaker 1: it out before we die. And so Okay, you're probably

520
00:24:46,560 --> 00:24:48,280
Speaker 1: listening to this and you're wondering, Okay, well, how do

521
00:24:48,359 --> 00:24:51,119
Speaker 1: I know where I stand when it comes to like

522
00:24:51,160 --> 00:24:53,720
Speaker 1: my own social security. Here's what we would recommend for

523
00:24:53,760 --> 00:24:56,879
Speaker 1: you to do, especially if you're a younger listener, log

524
00:24:56,960 --> 00:25:01,040
Speaker 1: into my Social Security at s s A Gov and

525
00:25:01,119 --> 00:25:03,400
Speaker 1: you can get a really good idea of what your

526
00:25:03,440 --> 00:25:06,800
Speaker 1: current likely social Security benefits are going to be based

527
00:25:06,840 --> 00:25:09,760
Speaker 1: on your work history, based based on your taxable wages,

528
00:25:10,119 --> 00:25:12,520
Speaker 1: and you can factor in what you're likely income is

529
00:25:12,520 --> 00:25:13,840
Speaker 1: going to be as well, and you can see the

530
00:25:13,880 --> 00:25:16,840
Speaker 1: difference in what you're likely to get based on when

531
00:25:16,840 --> 00:25:19,560
Speaker 1: you opt to take those benefits. So, for instance, sixty

532
00:25:19,640 --> 00:25:22,800
Speaker 1: two versus full retirement age versus you know, pushing that

533
00:25:22,840 --> 00:25:25,320
Speaker 1: back even further to to the age of seventy. And

534
00:25:25,400 --> 00:25:26,840
Speaker 1: so as you look at those numbers, know that there's

535
00:25:26,880 --> 00:25:29,280
Speaker 1: this you know, there's still a chance that those projections

536
00:25:29,280 --> 00:25:31,560
Speaker 1: will actually be accurate for you, depending on how close

537
00:25:31,600 --> 00:25:34,800
Speaker 1: you are to retirement. But we do suggest planning on

538
00:25:34,840 --> 00:25:37,520
Speaker 1: having you know, only seventy five per cent of that

539
00:25:37,560 --> 00:25:41,800
Speaker 1: projection as retirement income instead of counting on that entire amount.

540
00:25:41,960 --> 00:25:43,520
Speaker 1: You know, if you're listening to this, the chances of

541
00:25:43,560 --> 00:25:47,800
Speaker 1: you getting seventy of the forecasted social Security I mean

542
00:25:48,800 --> 00:25:50,560
Speaker 1: there's a very very high chance of you at least

543
00:25:50,560 --> 00:25:53,080
Speaker 1: getting seventy percent of it. Beyond that, I don't know.

544
00:25:53,160 --> 00:25:55,880
Speaker 1: I would just consider depend gravy essentially if you get

545
00:25:55,880 --> 00:25:59,840
Speaker 1: beyond that. But exactly factoring in four retirement spending needs

546
00:26:00,000 --> 00:26:02,199
Speaker 1: how many five percent of what is projected when you

547
00:26:02,240 --> 00:26:04,199
Speaker 1: log in, it's probably the best rule of thumb for

548
00:26:04,359 --> 00:26:07,280
Speaker 1: everyone to consider. It's a safe bet, especially younger listeners. Yeah,

549
00:26:07,280 --> 00:26:08,960
Speaker 1: because you don't want to you know, these are these

550
00:26:08,960 --> 00:26:11,440
Speaker 1: are eggs that you don't want to necessarily count before

551
00:26:11,440 --> 00:26:13,320
Speaker 1: they hatch. And so that's one thing that you can

552
00:26:13,359 --> 00:26:16,040
Speaker 1: do now. And we'll actually talk more about what to

553
00:26:16,080 --> 00:26:18,600
Speaker 1: do and how to think about the role of social

554
00:26:18,640 --> 00:26:20,959
Speaker 1: security when it comes to your retirement, and we'll get

555
00:26:21,000 --> 00:26:31,920
Speaker 1: to that right after this Alart, we're back. We're talking

556
00:26:31,920 --> 00:26:34,359
Speaker 1: about the most stimulating topic in the world today on

557
00:26:34,440 --> 00:26:39,320
Speaker 1: how money social security, and most folks would probably say, like,

558
00:26:39,400 --> 00:26:41,760
Speaker 1: I hope there are folks who did not skip this

559
00:26:41,880 --> 00:26:44,080
Speaker 1: episode because they're like, oh my gosh, they're talking about

560
00:26:44,119 --> 00:26:48,440
Speaker 1: social security. But social security it's exciting, Like I'm seriously

561
00:26:48,600 --> 00:26:50,760
Speaker 1: super stoke that we're talking about social security and we

562
00:26:50,800 --> 00:26:52,879
Speaker 1: you know, try to make all these money topics sound

563
00:26:53,000 --> 00:26:56,080
Speaker 1: as sexy as we possibly can because we find them interesting.

564
00:26:56,119 --> 00:26:58,080
Speaker 1: And I think you know, there is there's just a

565
00:26:58,119 --> 00:27:00,920
Speaker 1: general curiosity that you and I have about all things money,

566
00:27:01,080 --> 00:27:03,359
Speaker 1: and so hopefully that comes across to when we're sharing

567
00:27:03,359 --> 00:27:06,640
Speaker 1: about these topics. It's like something that we have, uh

568
00:27:07,040 --> 00:27:11,040
Speaker 1: found compelling enough to wrap up into podcast form to

569
00:27:11,080 --> 00:27:13,479
Speaker 1: bring to you, even if it seems on its surface

570
00:27:13,560 --> 00:27:16,560
Speaker 1: like it's a wonky, nerdy conversation right well, and and

571
00:27:16,560 --> 00:27:18,479
Speaker 1: and especially to when it seems so far off. I mean,

572
00:27:18,480 --> 00:27:20,480
Speaker 1: you're kind of talking about climate change at the beginning

573
00:27:20,520 --> 00:27:22,160
Speaker 1: of the episode, like it almost makes me think of

574
00:27:22,480 --> 00:27:25,040
Speaker 1: like losing your hair, like going bald. Like when you're younger,

575
00:27:25,160 --> 00:27:28,480
Speaker 1: you think that's that's for tomorrow. Me you think about,

576
00:27:28,480 --> 00:27:30,080
Speaker 1: like I'm not worried about losing my hair right now,

577
00:27:30,200 --> 00:27:31,840
Speaker 1: but the older you get, you're kind of like, all right,

578
00:27:31,840 --> 00:27:33,680
Speaker 1: maybe it's start, you know, it's tarting to start thinking

579
00:27:33,680 --> 00:27:35,399
Speaker 1: about like if I'm losing my hair or wearing the

580
00:27:35,400 --> 00:27:39,359
Speaker 1: ball cap more, or maybe like there's like gels or

581
00:27:39,359 --> 00:27:41,080
Speaker 1: creams that you can buy, or maybe you can like

582
00:27:41,160 --> 00:27:44,640
Speaker 1: go the all natural routes and maybe like alter your

583
00:27:44,680 --> 00:27:47,399
Speaker 1: diet or like shave it off. But so much of

584
00:27:47,440 --> 00:27:49,119
Speaker 1: it comes down to genetics, and so because of that,

585
00:27:49,119 --> 00:27:51,520
Speaker 1: there's there's so little of it that we can directly control.

586
00:27:51,760 --> 00:27:53,159
Speaker 1: But there are other things that we can do. Like

587
00:27:53,200 --> 00:27:55,679
Speaker 1: you said, you like either shave it or wear a

588
00:27:55,680 --> 00:27:58,440
Speaker 1: ball cap. But even if this isn't something that you're

589
00:27:58,440 --> 00:28:00,479
Speaker 1: directly dealing with now, I think a lot of our

590
00:28:00,480 --> 00:28:04,280
Speaker 1: listeners are probably nowhere near retirement age, we still think

591
00:28:04,280 --> 00:28:06,719
Speaker 1: that it's something good to be thinking about, to be

592
00:28:06,840 --> 00:28:09,440
Speaker 1: proactively planning towards. And that's actually what we're gonna talk

593
00:28:09,440 --> 00:28:11,920
Speaker 1: about next, no doubt. So let's talk about practical steps here.

594
00:28:12,119 --> 00:28:13,960
Speaker 1: You know, we have been talking about what's happening with

595
00:28:14,000 --> 00:28:17,040
Speaker 1: social security in general, and you know, we believe there's

596
00:28:17,080 --> 00:28:18,560
Speaker 1: no way that you're not going to see at least

597
00:28:18,560 --> 00:28:20,919
Speaker 1: a good portion of what you've been promised in the future.

598
00:28:21,400 --> 00:28:23,720
Speaker 1: But what should you do and how should you think

599
00:28:23,760 --> 00:28:27,000
Speaker 1: about social security? Because we don't want you thinking about

600
00:28:27,000 --> 00:28:28,680
Speaker 1: it a whole lot because it's mostly out of your control.

601
00:28:28,760 --> 00:28:30,600
Speaker 1: But there are still a few things you should consider

602
00:28:30,800 --> 00:28:33,120
Speaker 1: and a few things you should do. One of the

603
00:28:33,160 --> 00:28:35,680
Speaker 1: best ways, Matt, for our listeners to ensure that they're

604
00:28:35,680 --> 00:28:39,600
Speaker 1: getting more money when it comes to their monthly check

605
00:28:39,640 --> 00:28:43,000
Speaker 1: from Social Security someday in the future, is to delay

606
00:28:43,640 --> 00:28:46,760
Speaker 1: the time in which they take Social Security. You mentioned

607
00:28:47,040 --> 00:28:49,160
Speaker 1: the different amounts that you're going to see on my

608
00:28:49,240 --> 00:28:52,640
Speaker 1: Social Security on that website, and it's crazy how much

609
00:28:52,960 --> 00:28:55,640
Speaker 1: different the amount of that monthly check is if you

610
00:28:55,680 --> 00:28:57,360
Speaker 1: take it at sixty two versus if you wait to

611
00:28:57,360 --> 00:28:59,800
Speaker 1: take it at age seventy. UM. As you reach for

612
00:29:00,040 --> 00:29:02,719
Speaker 1: roman age. The longer that you wait, the more you're

613
00:29:02,720 --> 00:29:04,440
Speaker 1: gonna the fat of the check is going to be.

614
00:29:04,600 --> 00:29:06,920
Speaker 1: And so taking Social Security at a later date. It's

615
00:29:06,960 --> 00:29:10,120
Speaker 1: not best for every single person, but it is good

616
00:29:10,160 --> 00:29:14,160
Speaker 1: advice for most people. Right. There are important factors to consider,

617
00:29:14,200 --> 00:29:17,080
Speaker 1: including how healthy you are, um, but for most folks,

618
00:29:17,360 --> 00:29:20,440
Speaker 1: it's best to wait longer in order to maximize that check.

619
00:29:20,640 --> 00:29:23,080
Speaker 1: That's one thing that everybody can do that the power

620
00:29:23,160 --> 00:29:25,600
Speaker 1: is in your hands to wait and take Social Security

621
00:29:25,840 --> 00:29:28,960
Speaker 1: until a later date. That just means a bigger paycheck

622
00:29:29,080 --> 00:29:32,680
Speaker 1: every single month for decades to come, hopefully, that's right. Yeah,

623
00:29:32,680 --> 00:29:36,120
Speaker 1: And that often means working longer, working into your later

624
00:29:36,200 --> 00:29:38,280
Speaker 1: years as well. Uh. And the great thing is that

625
00:29:38,320 --> 00:29:40,880
Speaker 1: many jobs actually can be done into your later years.

626
00:29:41,240 --> 00:29:44,160
Speaker 1: That wasn't nearly as much the case a hundred years ago,

627
00:29:44,400 --> 00:29:47,120
Speaker 1: and hopefully you can even kind of phase out of

628
00:29:47,120 --> 00:29:49,080
Speaker 1: the workforce over time. Like it doesn't have to be

629
00:29:49,640 --> 00:29:51,120
Speaker 1: all or nothing. You know, you don't have to go

630
00:29:51,160 --> 00:29:53,800
Speaker 1: from working fifty five hours a week to just kicking

631
00:29:53,880 --> 00:29:56,560
Speaker 1: back and sitting on your rocker at home, or or

632
00:29:56,800 --> 00:29:58,719
Speaker 1: being at the beach full time, or your rocker at

633
00:29:58,720 --> 00:30:00,920
Speaker 1: the local cracker barrel playing checkers, which is, you know,

634
00:30:00,920 --> 00:30:03,560
Speaker 1: another fine choice in retirement. Uh So, I mean I

635
00:30:03,560 --> 00:30:05,520
Speaker 1: wanted to mention that because plenty to work, you know,

636
00:30:05,560 --> 00:30:08,600
Speaker 1: at least some as you get closer to retirement, age

637
00:30:08,680 --> 00:30:11,479
Speaker 1: is going to help your finances, and it provides a

638
00:30:11,480 --> 00:30:14,720
Speaker 1: lot of other intangible benefits as well. Oftentimes it gives

639
00:30:14,760 --> 00:30:17,080
Speaker 1: you some of that additional purpose in your life exactly.

640
00:30:17,480 --> 00:30:20,080
Speaker 1: And I think you're right, Matt. It's so much easier

641
00:30:20,120 --> 00:30:22,080
Speaker 1: to work longer than it ever was before because we

642
00:30:22,120 --> 00:30:25,360
Speaker 1: are staying healthier into our later years too, and work

643
00:30:25,360 --> 00:30:28,640
Speaker 1: has gotten for many people less labor intensive. It's also

644
00:30:28,680 --> 00:30:31,560
Speaker 1: helpful to get creative when it comes to what work

645
00:30:31,760 --> 00:30:34,240
Speaker 1: looks like for you as you age. There was just

646
00:30:34,280 --> 00:30:36,400
Speaker 1: a story mat in the l A Times actually recently

647
00:30:36,640 --> 00:30:39,440
Speaker 1: about grand fluencers. Have you heard about this trend? I

648
00:30:39,440 --> 00:30:43,360
Speaker 1: have not, Okay, so it's fascinating. Becoming a social media

649
00:30:43,400 --> 00:30:47,400
Speaker 1: influencer apparently isn't just for the incredibly young anymore, but

650
00:30:47,440 --> 00:30:49,000
Speaker 1: it's also for folks who are in their seventies and

651
00:30:49,000 --> 00:30:51,600
Speaker 1: eighties and they're starting to make some side hustle income

652
00:30:52,480 --> 00:30:55,240
Speaker 1: by being on TikTok and Instagram. They're giving maybe like

653
00:30:55,280 --> 00:30:58,520
Speaker 1: beauty tips or doing gardening videos, and yeah, they're making

654
00:30:58,880 --> 00:31:02,040
Speaker 1: real money on the side by taking these videos on

655
00:31:02,040 --> 00:31:05,080
Speaker 1: their iPhone or whatever and uploading them and developing the following.

656
00:31:05,200 --> 00:31:08,320
Speaker 1: So I think there's just nothing that says that you

657
00:31:08,360 --> 00:31:10,800
Speaker 1: have to work for the same employer or even in

658
00:31:10,840 --> 00:31:14,120
Speaker 1: the same industry. So yeah, when people are thinking, okay,

659
00:31:14,800 --> 00:31:17,360
Speaker 1: you know, working longer, that's not necessarily what I wanted

660
00:31:17,400 --> 00:31:19,880
Speaker 1: to hear. What doesn't mean doing the same work that

661
00:31:19,920 --> 00:31:22,560
Speaker 1: you've been doing. There's so many options for you to

662
00:31:22,840 --> 00:31:24,959
Speaker 1: slide over into doing something else, and it might not

663
00:31:25,000 --> 00:31:27,880
Speaker 1: pay as much as the job that you were doing was,

664
00:31:27,960 --> 00:31:30,520
Speaker 1: but it will maybe be less hours and more fulfilling

665
00:31:30,920 --> 00:31:33,240
Speaker 1: provide some of that side income that's necessary to help

666
00:31:33,280 --> 00:31:37,200
Speaker 1: you delay taking Social Security, which obviously provides just major

667
00:31:37,360 --> 00:31:40,600
Speaker 1: financial returns that the longer you wait, that's right. And

668
00:31:40,640 --> 00:31:42,400
Speaker 1: of course, another way to make sure that you have

669
00:31:42,520 --> 00:31:45,160
Speaker 1: enough money set aside for retirement in addition to any

670
00:31:45,160 --> 00:31:47,080
Speaker 1: social security funds that you might receive, is to make

671
00:31:47,120 --> 00:31:50,280
Speaker 1: sure that you are investing independently, you know, on your

672
00:31:50,320 --> 00:31:53,320
Speaker 1: own UH. And also to consider increasing how much money

673
00:31:53,320 --> 00:31:56,680
Speaker 1: that you're sacking away because increasing but you put into

674
00:31:56,680 --> 00:31:58,680
Speaker 1: your pH owne K by a minimum, let's just say,

675
00:31:58,680 --> 00:32:01,200
Speaker 1: of like one percent every year. That's just a good

676
00:32:01,200 --> 00:32:03,320
Speaker 1: goal to have. As you are able to ramp up

677
00:32:03,320 --> 00:32:05,720
Speaker 1: your savings, just put it on autopilot so you don't

678
00:32:05,720 --> 00:32:08,000
Speaker 1: even have to think about it. You can also automate

679
00:32:08,040 --> 00:32:10,880
Speaker 1: your contributions to a roth IRA. That's another way to

680
00:32:10,880 --> 00:32:12,720
Speaker 1: to d I Y it and to build up a

681
00:32:12,760 --> 00:32:16,440
Speaker 1: substantial nest egg. Personal savings have always been a part

682
00:32:16,480 --> 00:32:20,400
Speaker 1: of the UH, you know, the multi legged retirement income stool.

683
00:32:20,920 --> 00:32:22,920
Speaker 1: But the actions that you take now, they're going to

684
00:32:23,000 --> 00:32:26,200
Speaker 1: have an enormous impact on how comfortable that you'll be

685
00:32:26,680 --> 00:32:28,239
Speaker 1: when you do get to that point that you no

686
00:32:28,280 --> 00:32:30,520
Speaker 1: longer want to work, or when you're at the point

687
00:32:30,520 --> 00:32:32,680
Speaker 1: to where you're no longer able to work. Anymore. I

688
00:32:32,680 --> 00:32:35,200
Speaker 1: think that's a really important point to Matt in this

689
00:32:35,240 --> 00:32:39,240
Speaker 1: discussion is sometimes we're planning for the future that we're

690
00:32:39,240 --> 00:32:42,560
Speaker 1: hoping for and not uh for some of the potential downsides.

691
00:32:43,040 --> 00:32:46,040
Speaker 1: You might actually have the desire to work until you're eighty,

692
00:32:46,480 --> 00:32:50,600
Speaker 1: but economic or health circumstances could actually prevent that could

693
00:32:50,600 --> 00:32:53,320
Speaker 1: prevent you doing so. So we would say just another

694
00:32:53,360 --> 00:32:56,240
Speaker 1: important caveat to that is to not plan for your

695
00:32:56,240 --> 00:33:00,120
Speaker 1: retirement under just best case scenarios. You realize that you

696
00:33:00,200 --> 00:33:02,120
Speaker 1: might not be able to work as long as you

697
00:33:02,280 --> 00:33:05,120
Speaker 1: hoped as long as you hoped to. It's it's possible

698
00:33:05,200 --> 00:33:07,920
Speaker 1: to save and invest too much and not enjoy some

699
00:33:07,960 --> 00:33:09,400
Speaker 1: of the fruits of your labor. Now we try to

700
00:33:09,400 --> 00:33:12,920
Speaker 1: talk about that on the show, you know, enjoying your

701
00:33:12,960 --> 00:33:15,280
Speaker 1: money while you still can while you're young, and not

702
00:33:15,320 --> 00:33:19,320
Speaker 1: stocking everything away for the future. But there aren't, Matt,

703
00:33:19,320 --> 00:33:21,520
Speaker 1: really that many folks that fall into that camp. We

704
00:33:21,560 --> 00:33:25,040
Speaker 1: certainly do want to prevent over saving, over investing, just

705
00:33:25,160 --> 00:33:27,480
Speaker 1: thinking about the future and only the future, not living

706
00:33:27,480 --> 00:33:30,120
Speaker 1: in the presence. But yeah, putting more money in those

707
00:33:30,120 --> 00:33:33,960
Speaker 1: tax advantage retirement accounts is the real answer to planning

708
00:33:33,960 --> 00:33:37,080
Speaker 1: for a future that will likely include smaller social Security

709
00:33:37,080 --> 00:33:40,080
Speaker 1: benefits or maybe even that inability to work even if

710
00:33:40,080 --> 00:33:42,440
Speaker 1: you want to. That's right, and as we look ahead,

711
00:33:42,480 --> 00:33:46,480
Speaker 1: it's important to remember that the specifics regarding social security

712
00:33:46,680 --> 00:33:50,560
Speaker 1: are completely subject to change. Right as we mentioned earlier, Uh,

713
00:33:50,600 --> 00:33:52,920
Speaker 1: there will have to be some concessions to keep social

714
00:33:52,920 --> 00:33:56,200
Speaker 1: security afloat for the next generation, but no one can

715
00:33:56,200 --> 00:33:58,640
Speaker 1: be sure what those adjustments will actually look like and

716
00:33:58,880 --> 00:34:01,640
Speaker 1: how they will affect the benefits that you are likely

717
00:34:01,680 --> 00:34:04,680
Speaker 1: to receive in the future. We've basically kind of got

718
00:34:04,680 --> 00:34:07,360
Speaker 1: to do our best while flying somewhat blind here. We're

719
00:34:07,400 --> 00:34:09,760
Speaker 1: kind of in the fog, and so plan on social

720
00:34:09,760 --> 00:34:13,160
Speaker 1: Security being there for you, but don't just blindly plan

721
00:34:13,239 --> 00:34:16,880
Speaker 1: on receiving the full amount uh that it says when

722
00:34:16,920 --> 00:34:19,520
Speaker 1: you log into my social Security. If it tells you, hey,

723
00:34:19,520 --> 00:34:22,919
Speaker 1: you're gonna be receiving you know, three grand a month,

724
00:34:23,000 --> 00:34:26,520
Speaker 1: it's like, well, maybe you should only count on yeah, yeah,

725
00:34:26,560 --> 00:34:29,600
Speaker 1: And I think this is just another reason that you know,

726
00:34:29,600 --> 00:34:32,120
Speaker 1: what you said, Matt about investing independently is so important.

727
00:34:32,400 --> 00:34:33,680
Speaker 1: Of course, you want to make sure that you have

728
00:34:33,760 --> 00:34:35,480
Speaker 1: enough stocked a way to pay the bills that you're

729
00:34:35,520 --> 00:34:37,920
Speaker 1: gonna have in retirement. Right. That's the practical numbers and

730
00:34:37,960 --> 00:34:40,480
Speaker 1: accounting side of the equation. But don't forget about the

731
00:34:40,680 --> 00:34:43,239
Speaker 1: emotional security that comes with knowing that you're going to

732
00:34:43,360 --> 00:34:46,719
Speaker 1: have more than enough set aside for yourself. You know. Unfortunately,

733
00:34:46,719 --> 00:34:50,000
Speaker 1: those who are more dependent on Social Security for their

734
00:34:50,040 --> 00:34:52,160
Speaker 1: retirement are likely going to be experiencing more of an

735
00:34:52,160 --> 00:34:55,239
Speaker 1: emotional roller coaster in the coming years. As you know,

736
00:34:55,320 --> 00:34:59,000
Speaker 1: changes to benefits are made. If you're waiting to see

737
00:34:59,280 --> 00:35:01,239
Speaker 1: what the cost of adjustment is going to be and

738
00:35:01,239 --> 00:35:04,200
Speaker 1: whether it's going to be enough to counteract the inflation

739
00:35:04,239 --> 00:35:06,960
Speaker 1: that you're seeing in your life, that's a tough situation

740
00:35:07,000 --> 00:35:09,600
Speaker 1: to be in, UH, to have that as your primary

741
00:35:09,760 --> 00:35:12,960
Speaker 1: main source of retirement income. So it's important to develop

742
00:35:13,040 --> 00:35:16,239
Speaker 1: that your own three legged stool. You are more in

743
00:35:16,320 --> 00:35:18,840
Speaker 1: charge of that than ever before. UH, and social Security

744
00:35:18,840 --> 00:35:21,040
Speaker 1: can be an important part of that. But if that

745
00:35:21,160 --> 00:35:23,399
Speaker 1: is the main part of that, that's what we would say,

746
00:35:23,520 --> 00:35:25,359
Speaker 1: you've got to take some more action and make sure

747
00:35:25,400 --> 00:35:29,919
Speaker 1: that you're doing even more right now to prepare for

748
00:35:30,040 --> 00:35:32,520
Speaker 1: that eventual retirement date. Yeah, that's right. We don't want

749
00:35:32,520 --> 00:35:35,360
Speaker 1: our listeners, especially to to be jerked around by the

750
00:35:35,440 --> 00:35:38,279
Speaker 1: changing laws. We want you to have as much agency

751
00:35:38,840 --> 00:35:42,239
Speaker 1: when it comes to your retirement as possible. And so yeah,

752
00:35:42,320 --> 00:35:44,120
Speaker 1: so this is why we're again we're huge fans. Have

753
00:35:44,160 --> 00:35:46,919
Speaker 1: you taken the reins of your own financial future, because

754
00:35:46,920 --> 00:35:48,920
Speaker 1: social Security it's going to be there in some form

755
00:35:49,239 --> 00:35:52,480
Speaker 1: and it'll be a helpful benefits in retirement. But social

756
00:35:52,520 --> 00:35:56,279
Speaker 1: Security should be a supplement to your retirement spending. Don't

757
00:35:56,320 --> 00:35:59,640
Speaker 1: paint on it being your your main source of income. Uh,

758
00:35:59,680 --> 00:36:02,600
Speaker 1: And would be particularly excellent if you're able to save

759
00:36:02,680 --> 00:36:05,240
Speaker 1: and invest in such a way that the Social Security

760
00:36:05,239 --> 00:36:07,520
Speaker 1: money that you receive some day truly is it's just

761
00:36:07,560 --> 00:36:09,160
Speaker 1: like the cherry on top. It's just like you said

762
00:36:09,200 --> 00:36:12,680
Speaker 1: Joel earlier, it's just the gravy. It's extra because something

763
00:36:12,800 --> 00:36:15,000
Speaker 1: will need to be done at some point to address

764
00:36:15,040 --> 00:36:18,600
Speaker 1: the issues with social security, and it'll be truly interesting

765
00:36:18,640 --> 00:36:22,200
Speaker 1: to see when the political will to make these adjustments

766
00:36:22,239 --> 00:36:25,160
Speaker 1: will actually come along. But we just want our listeners

767
00:36:25,160 --> 00:36:27,600
Speaker 1: to know that likely you are going to be okay,

768
00:36:27,920 --> 00:36:31,080
Speaker 1: You're likely going to receive a very large chunk of

769
00:36:31,120 --> 00:36:34,600
Speaker 1: what it's forecasting, especially if you are an older listener.

770
00:36:34,760 --> 00:36:37,520
Speaker 1: The closer you are to retirement, the less likely it

771
00:36:37,600 --> 00:36:39,520
Speaker 1: is that you're going to be affected by any of

772
00:36:39,520 --> 00:36:42,480
Speaker 1: these changes that might be coming down the pike. All right, Matt,

773
00:36:42,480 --> 00:36:45,040
Speaker 1: do we do it? Do we make Social Security not boring?

774
00:36:45,120 --> 00:36:48,480
Speaker 1: Do we? Uh? Okay, hopefully we've provided some good information

775
00:36:48,640 --> 00:36:51,440
Speaker 1: there and hopefully more than anything, it was just a

776
00:36:51,480 --> 00:36:54,640
Speaker 1: little bit reassuring and sometimes having that information on hand,

777
00:36:54,680 --> 00:36:56,759
Speaker 1: I know it made me feel better. Like when I

778
00:36:56,840 --> 00:36:59,160
Speaker 1: read that stat about twenty nine being the date that

779
00:36:59,520 --> 00:37:01,480
Speaker 1: would say at a reduced benefit level, I was like,

780
00:37:01,520 --> 00:37:03,840
Speaker 1: oh my gosh, that's a really really long time. Anybody

781
00:37:03,840 --> 00:37:06,000
Speaker 1: who's listening right now is going to be fine. You're

782
00:37:06,000 --> 00:37:07,759
Speaker 1: at least, like, yeah, like you said, you're at least

783
00:37:07,800 --> 00:37:10,239
Speaker 1: going to receive semi five percent of your benefit. And

784
00:37:10,239 --> 00:37:12,319
Speaker 1: that's assuming that no changes are made. And I think

785
00:37:12,320 --> 00:37:14,399
Speaker 1: there's a good chance that changes are going to be made.

786
00:37:14,400 --> 00:37:15,920
Speaker 1: And if you're in your twenties and you're really really

787
00:37:15,920 --> 00:37:18,400
Speaker 1: concerned about your great grandkids, well then I don't I

788
00:37:18,640 --> 00:37:22,040
Speaker 1: can't offer anything super helpful for that worry. But yeah,

789
00:37:22,080 --> 00:37:24,080
Speaker 1: for for most of us who are alive right now,

790
00:37:24,120 --> 00:37:26,279
Speaker 1: there there is a lot of hope. I think given

791
00:37:26,320 --> 00:37:28,319
Speaker 1: some of these numbers. Plus right, let's get back to

792
00:37:28,680 --> 00:37:30,600
Speaker 1: the beer that we had on today's show, Matt. This

793
00:37:30,640 --> 00:37:33,840
Speaker 1: one's called Roosevelt Coffee Stout. It's by Old Tangy River Brewing.

794
00:37:34,040 --> 00:37:35,799
Speaker 1: Listener Scott sent this one our way. Yeah, what were

795
00:37:35,840 --> 00:37:37,680
Speaker 1: your thoughts on this beer? That's right? Yeah, this is

796
00:37:37,719 --> 00:37:40,719
Speaker 1: the second Old Entangy beer that we've had. Uh, And

797
00:37:40,800 --> 00:37:42,880
Speaker 1: I think the one word that I'll use to describe

798
00:37:42,880 --> 00:37:46,480
Speaker 1: this beer is super smooth. I guess that's two words smooth.

799
00:37:47,080 --> 00:37:50,760
Speaker 1: I was like, was that hyphens It's like milk chocolate almost,

800
00:37:50,800 --> 00:37:52,880
Speaker 1: you know, like there are some coffee stouts that we

801
00:37:52,960 --> 00:37:55,480
Speaker 1: get or just bigger Russian Imperial stops where it's just

802
00:37:55,520 --> 00:37:57,920
Speaker 1: like me and they're like, there are tons of roasted

803
00:37:57,960 --> 00:38:00,359
Speaker 1: cocoa nibs. There are a lot of some of those

804
00:38:00,400 --> 00:38:03,000
Speaker 1: bigger smokier flavors. Not this one. Man. This was just

805
00:38:03,200 --> 00:38:06,360
Speaker 1: really smooth, really easy to drink. It had those nice

806
00:38:06,400 --> 00:38:09,279
Speaker 1: subtle coffee notes. Uh, definitely kind of like a light

807
00:38:09,280 --> 00:38:12,560
Speaker 1: to medium roast, uh, not a medium to dark roast

808
00:38:12,600 --> 00:38:15,000
Speaker 1: where you would pick up those super roasty notes. I

809
00:38:15,000 --> 00:38:16,719
Speaker 1: don't feel that they had that going on, and it

810
00:38:16,760 --> 00:38:19,520
Speaker 1: made this a really drinkable beer. What are your thoughts? Yeah? Man,

811
00:38:19,520 --> 00:38:22,520
Speaker 1: it takes it like a milk chocolate Hershey's bar with okay,

812
00:38:22,600 --> 00:38:24,120
Speaker 1: just a little bit of coffee thrown in there, So

813
00:38:24,120 --> 00:38:26,279
Speaker 1: I think we're picking up the same vibe it was.

814
00:38:26,480 --> 00:38:28,319
Speaker 1: It was smooth, it was a little bit sweet, not

815
00:38:28,400 --> 00:38:31,680
Speaker 1: overly sweet, and it as you know, we're in the

816
00:38:31,719 --> 00:38:34,080
Speaker 1: fall now fall time, it's kind of nice to have

817
00:38:34,440 --> 00:38:37,120
Speaker 1: a nice stout again because I feel like summer no

818
00:38:37,239 --> 00:38:40,799
Speaker 1: stouts for me, but yeah, drinking occasionally, but when the

819
00:38:40,800 --> 00:38:42,680
Speaker 1: fall rolls around, when it starts to get cool at night,

820
00:38:42,719 --> 00:38:45,360
Speaker 1: I'm like, okay, it's stout weather. So it's nice to

821
00:38:45,400 --> 00:38:47,880
Speaker 1: have some of those perfect time of beers. And that

822
00:38:47,960 --> 00:38:50,840
Speaker 1: being said, this isn't like one of those massive stouts either,

823
00:38:50,920 --> 00:38:53,360
Speaker 1: like just truly is just like a nice, easy drinking

824
00:38:53,760 --> 00:38:56,200
Speaker 1: coffee stout. And earlier on to you said, is there

825
00:38:56,280 --> 00:38:58,200
Speaker 1: lactose in this? Because it it does almost have like

826
00:38:58,239 --> 00:39:01,680
Speaker 1: this kind of lactose milk stout quality to it. If

827
00:39:01,680 --> 00:39:04,319
Speaker 1: you happen to be near this brewery, maybe you've not

828
00:39:04,360 --> 00:39:06,279
Speaker 1: branched out and tried some of these different beers before.

829
00:39:06,280 --> 00:39:08,640
Speaker 1: I would highly recommend this one. This is an easy

830
00:39:08,760 --> 00:39:13,200
Speaker 1: way to try a new style without overly assaulting the senses,

831
00:39:13,960 --> 00:39:16,400
Speaker 1: no doubt. All right, that's gonna do it for this episode.

832
00:39:16,440 --> 00:39:19,359
Speaker 1: For show notes for this episode, and links to any

833
00:39:19,400 --> 00:39:22,880
Speaker 1: of the resources that we mentioned, including where to go

834
00:39:23,080 --> 00:39:27,960
Speaker 1: get your personalized Social Security statement from the federal government.

835
00:39:28,239 --> 00:39:30,480
Speaker 1: Will have that link and more up on our website

836
00:39:30,520 --> 00:39:32,360
Speaker 1: at how to money dot com. That's right, and up

837
00:39:32,360 --> 00:39:35,200
Speaker 1: there will also post jols social Security number, which is

838
00:39:35,200 --> 00:39:40,359
Speaker 1: two seven six five. I'll stop there. I just made

839
00:39:40,360 --> 00:39:43,000
Speaker 1: those numbers out by the way. Um, now, if you

840
00:39:43,040 --> 00:39:45,400
Speaker 1: are listening to this show and you have not subscribed,

841
00:39:45,440 --> 00:39:47,759
Speaker 1: make sure you subscribe. That way you don't miss any

842
00:39:47,760 --> 00:39:50,600
Speaker 1: future episodes. And if you are subscribed and you haven't

843
00:39:50,680 --> 00:39:53,919
Speaker 1: left us a review yet wherever you listen, but specifically

844
00:39:53,960 --> 00:39:57,080
Speaker 1: over at Apple Podcasts, that helps tremendously. It helps others

845
00:39:57,239 --> 00:39:59,239
Speaker 1: to find the show, and that's gonna hopefully help them

846
00:39:59,280 --> 00:40:02,359
Speaker 1: to make smarter decisions with their money so that they

847
00:40:02,400 --> 00:40:05,359
Speaker 1: can be less reliant on Social Security down the road.

848
00:40:05,600 --> 00:40:07,319
Speaker 1: We'd appreciate if you did that for us, and thanks

849
00:40:07,360 --> 00:40:09,400
Speaker 1: in advance for that, Joel. That's going to be a

850
00:40:09,440 --> 00:40:12,479
Speaker 1: buddy until next time. Best Friends Out, Best Friends Out,