Good afternoon,
Hard to believe that Labor Day is upon us already. Where did the summer go? The weather is cooling, kids are headed back to school, college football is under way and it’s time to start thinking about year end planning. Standard stuff like retirement plan contributions, capital gain/loss harvesting, accelerating expenses, deferring income, etc. etc. etc. All the same things that I remind clients about as we approach fall every year, year in and year out. If I sound a bit robotic and slightly weary, it’s because I am. I repeat themes at various times in the WMR throughout the years and I hope that my readers don’t tire of seeing them. I admit that I do tire of writing them sometimes, however, “Repetition is the mother of learning, the father of action, which makes it the architect of accomplishment.” – Zig Ziglar. So, if a topic is timely and important, chances are you’ll see it repeated when appropriate, but hopefully the WMR doesn’t become too redundant or repetitive. As a self proclaimed self help junkie over the years, here are 10 more of Zig Ziglar’s best quotes,
https://www.brainyquote.com/lists/authors/top-10-zig-ziglar-quotes
And speaking of redundant and repetitive, there is a story out again raising questions about the viability of the social security system. And this is not usually one of my go to sources for accurate information, The New York Times, but here’s the story https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/31/business/economy/social-security-funding.html
This narrative comes out at least a couple of times per year like clockwork and tries to scare us all that social security it going away. So here I go again explaining the truth.
- Social security has problems, but will not be allowed to become insolvent. Ever.
- They have funds available to pay full benefits for another 15 years or so.
- They have funds available to pay a majority of benefits (75% ish) for another 70 years or so.
- If you’re at or near your full retirement age, you will receive benefits much like they look today.
- Your kids and grandkids will likely receive something, but it may look different than today’s benefits.
- There will be some changes to the program that will bolster it. Change in FRA, change in income subject to SS tax, change in tax rate, or some other fixes.
- Social security was never designed to be the sole, or even major, portion of anyone’s retirement income.
- If you haven’t gotten your social security estimate, go here and get it, www.ssa.gov
The assumptions and data that I share above are in the latest trustees report. Read the report for yourself here, https://www.ssa.gov/OACT/TR/2021/index.html
But of course the real data doesn’t matter to the press. They’d rather have a screaming headline about insolvency so that they can scare people. They love dirty laundry.
As a good segue, I met with some clients earlier this week who are finally about to retire. I say finally because they retired many years ago from full time employment but have been doing the part time thing. Which has been good. Good for their bank account and good for their state of mind. Now they’re going to retire fully. So after the initial, and important, discussion about what are they going to do now, how will they spend their time, what do they enjoy, etc. We talked about the money. Social security makes up a meaningful portion of their income. They also have a couple of small pensions (which most of us don’t have any more) and some retirement savings. So our discussion centered around how could we generate the income they need that would outpace inflation and last at least as long as they do. We talked about some guaranteed income strategies. Strategies that offer guaranteed, predictable, reliable, inflation protected streams of income that they cannot outlive. Which sounds a lot like social security, doesn’t it? If you’d like to hear some ideas like that, click my calendar link at the bottom of this email and schedule some time.
Is the market overvalued or undervalued? Short answer is yes.
This guy thinks it’s undervalued. By a lot. He’s done the math and he’s been right for more than a decade.
Click here to watch the latest Wesbury 101 – 5,000
#mathwins
However, that doesn’t mean that the markets will not experience a period of downturn or pullback. Which can happen for any reason or for no reason at any time.
Uh oh, Joe Rogan had the ‘vid. One of my favorite podcasters, Joe Rogan, announced this week that he tested positive for covid several days ago after returning from doing some shows in FL. https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2021/09/02/joe-rogan-tests-positive-covid-taking-ivermectin-treatment/5693031001/
He said he had symptoms for about 1 day, began a recovery regimen and is feeling fine now. He’s taken some heat in the past for some of his own statements about covid and the vaccine as well as some of the comments of his guests on the podcast. I suspect, and this is just my opinion, I’m not a doc and don’t play one on the interwebs, that Joe’s relatively mild case and quick recovery are because he’s in good shape, exercises regularly and has a strong immune system. All of which he’s been advocating since the early days of covid. Unsurprisingly for those that know me, my podcast feed contains a lot of content about health, wellness, diet, exercise, longevity, etc. Being as healthy as possible in the first place can mitigate potential problems later. Hence my “stay healthy” tagline at the end of every WMR.
Congrats! And condolences. Was the response I got when I mentioned to a car dealer friend that my youngest daughter turns 16 this week and gets her driver’s license. Another young driver on the road. She is inheriting a car from her older siblings while they’re away at college. She told me the other day that she took some steps to make it her own. She cleared it of the belongings of her older sister and replaced them with items she deems necessary. She vacuumed and cleaned the interior and got a parking pass for school. She’s ready to go. Good for her. Happy Birthday Muffin! Love, Dad. Cue Wille Nelson, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBN86y30Ufc
This week’s chuckle is the trailer from the Pixar movie Cars, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WGByijP0Leo
LF27 – “If everything seems under control, you’re not going fast enough.” – Mario Andretti.
Have a great week, a great holiday weekend and stay healthy.
This material includes links to third party sites not affiliated with Lincoln Financial Advisors. Lincoln Financial Advisors is not responsible for the content and does not guarantee the accuracy of any information or material contained therein. The opinions expressed are those of Michael Acho and not necessarily those of Lincoln Financial Advisors Corp.
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Michael J. Acho, MBA, CFP®
Private Wealth Advisor
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