Michael Finke: Why Annuities Make Sense Right Now

November 8, 2022
50 min
Michael Finke: Why Annuities Make Sense Right Now
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IN THIS EPISODE, THE ANNUITY MAN AND MICHAEL FINKE DISCUSS:
- Annuities are more attractive today
- Protecting your future lifestyle
- Cutting little slices on the birthday cake
- There’s no perfect product to solve for inflation

KEY TAKEAWAYS:
- At the time of this episode’s taping, near-retirees can lock in 5.2% on five-year MYGAs for the next five years; however, it may go up or down.
- When buying an annuity, you're essentially buying yourself a minimum standard of living forever, no matter how long you live. You have to choose if you want to shoulder the risk or transfer it. Your future lifestyle is at stake.
- It’s not going to be easy, but you must first recognize that you’re not going to live forever. You have to decide how you could spread out your savings to accommodate your lifestyle until you die or if you want to spend more money to have less worry.
- If you can be more flexible, then inflation’s impact won’t be that big of a deal. Also, there’s no perfect product to solve for inflation. There are options that could help you have some stability through it, like social security and I Bonds.

"If we model out 1000 different potential retirements, the ones who will have an annuity will, on average, be happier, but the ones with an investment portfolio might have a slightly higher probability of success. But there is no information about what failure means." — Michael Finke.

CONNECT WITH MICHAEL FINKE:
Website: http://www.michaelfinke.com/
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Twitter: https://twitter.com/FinkeonFinance

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FUN WITH ANNUITIES (r)

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foreign

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listen learn laugh and love every minute

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[Music]

0:29
welcome to fun with annuities I'm your

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host Dan the annuity man America's

0:32
annuity agent licensed in all 50 states

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I want to welcome every single person on

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all the major podcast platforms and all

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of you Maniacs on fun with annuities

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YouTube channel where you can see me

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wearing a customized stand the annuity

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man sweatshirt that's been tie-dyed

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just incredible the fashion statements

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that I make every single day and then

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over one shoulder you see four Flying V

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Gibson guitars which is the reason is

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it's

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it's uh it's kind of me saying we're

1:00
getting ready to rock and roll and when

1:01
I say that I have a rock star on with me

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today a repeat guest host I I mean every

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time I'm looking something up on

1:09
annuities I see an article he's come up

1:11
with and um

1:13
you know uh as I say I've got a new

1:15
saying for him if it's time to do some

1:18
annuity think let's bring in Rockstar

1:21
Michael finka hey man how are you I'm

1:25
good how are you

1:27
Stan where's my swag I I know I want a

1:30
tie-dyed stand the annuity man t-shirt

1:33
the question is before we get started if

1:35
I put that up on eBay how much would it

1:37
fetch

1:40
uh yeah

1:41
I'm thinking thousands I'm thinking

1:43
there would be an absolute bidding war

1:45
right right there's two people that bid

1:48
on it first people that actually like

1:50
the brand and those are consumers and

1:52
then you'd have a bunch of agents that

1:53
would bid it and then burn it or have a

1:56
ceremony

1:59
and that's okay that's okay good to talk

2:02
to you again as always thanks man tell

2:05
me what's new with you Michael finco

2:07
what are you looking at other than

2:09
the conundrum that we're in of large

2:13
debt Rising rates and a retirement

2:15
semi-crisis

2:17
yeah well so let's not start on that

2:19
negative foot let's let's move to a more

2:21
positive aspect of what's going on in

2:23
this crazy market and that is that near

2:27
retirees can lock in 5.2 percent on

2:31
migas on Five-Year migas for the next

2:33
five years at the time of this taping at

2:36
the time of this taping uh you know may

2:39
go up may go down now let's talk a

2:41
little bit about interest rates because

2:42
I think yeah

2:43
uh if you look at what's known as the

2:47
yield curve which is the interest rates

2:50
that you get for investing in two years

2:52
and five years and 10-year bonds what

2:55
you see is that the market thinks that

2:57
these high interest rates are not going

2:59
to last forever there's what's known as

3:00
an inverted yield curve on bonds so what

3:04
that means is that once you go 10 years

3:05
out the markets actually think that it

3:07
that interest rates are going to be

3:08
lower than they are for the next two

3:10
years yeah

3:12
um and this presents a conundrum I think

3:14
for a lot of investors right now which

3:16
is it seems like we been waiting forever

3:18
to get high rates of return on safe

3:20
Investments

3:23
and as we know annuities are a very

3:26
efficient wrapper for safe Investments

3:28
because safe Investments are very tax

3:32
inefficient so your bond your CD

3:35
Investments they get whacked that you're

3:38
taxed at your ordinary income rate State

3:40
Plus Federal so for some people you know

3:43
if you live in California that can be 50

3:45
percent of all of your gains you're

3:47
paying in the form of Taxation but if

3:50
you house them within an annuity you're

3:53
not taxed on the gains every year now

3:55
when annuities were maybe two percent

3:57
that was no not a huge deal when they're

4:00
five percent that all of a sudden

4:02
becomes a bigger deal so if you put in

4:05
500 000 and you're making twenty six

4:08
thousand dollars of interest on it

4:10
um that's a significant amount of tax

4:12
savings that you can get over the course

4:13
of a five-year time Horizon I mean

4:15
that's that's over a hundred and twenty

4:17
five hundred and thirty thousand dollars

4:18
in interest that you can expect to earn

4:20
and then at retirement so this is the

4:22
play that I think a lot of people are

4:24
not giving enough thought to if you're

4:27
62 63 you're the peak of the baby boom

4:30
right now you're planning on retiring

4:32
between 65 and 67. you buy one of these

4:36
things you pull the money out after five

4:39
years you're in a lower marginal tax

4:41
bracket than you were today and the

4:46
interest may or may not be enough to

4:48
push you up into a higher marginal tax

4:50
bracket if that's the case you can roll

4:51
over part of it into another type of

4:53
annuity you can be very strategic about

4:56
your tax planning in a way that you

4:57
can't be if your savings is not within

5:00
the annuity structure so you know a lot

5:02
of us are thinking also of locking in

5:06
those High rates on future income so

5:09
again if you're uh 55 60 years old right

5:13
now and I just had a conversation with a

5:14
friend of mine who works for a big

5:16
brokerage company and he gets these

5:19
quotes in on annuities every day

5:21
um and he's a smart guy like he under

5:23
understands the benefit of annuities

5:25
and we're both like you know he's a

5:27
little bit older than I am and he's

5:29
thinking I need to just take money and

5:31
buy one of these things like a 10-year

5:33
deferred so that I can get 10 years of

5:36
deferral at a really shockingly high

5:38
interest rate correct and they'll buy me

5:40
a very high income in the future so if I

5:43
can you know a great example of this is

5:45
like qlex qlex is so interest sensitive

5:48
that it used to be that 145 000 might

5:51
buy you 35 or 40 000 of income now it'll

5:54
buy you fifty thousand dollars of income

5:55
in the age of 85. that's right all of a

5:58
sudden it's like I can buy future

6:00
lifestyle pretty easily and uh it's it's

6:04
we're in a situation today where it's

6:06
far more attractive than it was a year

6:08
ago and we just don't know where rates

6:10
are going I mean it it it's looking like

6:13
the FED is potentially going to increase

6:15
increase rates none of us know exactly

6:18
what's going to happen in the future but

6:21
there is also this possibility that

6:24
we're going to enter into some kind of a

6:26
recession the FED is going to very

6:28
quickly start pulling back on those

6:29
rates because it's going to it seemed

6:31
that the economy is starting to cool

6:33
significantly sure in which case locking

6:35
yourself into today's high rates I mean

6:37
it's possible they could go up a little

6:39
bit but it's also possible that they

6:40
could go down

6:43
the bill didn't ring at the top man you

6:45
know and you know how quickly those

6:47
things get repriced sure you know once

6:49
things start falling then insurance

6:52
companies are very aggressive about

6:54
reining in some of the generosity uh if

6:58
interest rates start going down so

6:59
that's and I think that probably right

7:01
now the biggest story for me is

7:04
that tax deferral benefit that you get

7:06
from an annuity that you don't get from

7:08
CDs and a lot of people are feeling like

7:11
I don't want to deal with all this

7:12
Market volatility I want safety but the

7:14
thing that you have to remember about

7:15
safety in a high interest rate

7:17
environment is that you pay for it you

7:19
pay for it in the form of higher income

7:21
taxes so you've got to give some thought

7:23
to using an annuity I think the annuity

7:26
rapper on safe Investments the single

7:28
most underused strategy in financial

7:31
planning today sure that's because

7:33
people when they they hear the word

7:34
annuity they think it's one product they

7:37
don't know that there's multiple

7:39
products and so there's High fees you

7:42
know and then on a multi-guaranteed

7:44
annuity it is what it is like you get

7:46
you're right there's no extra fees on

7:48
top of that right right and um you know

7:52
I'm a big proponent of what I call my

7:53
good espia I did a video on it that kind

7:56
of went viral that's that you know let's

7:58
strip out all the fees you have control

8:00
over the asset you can pivot at the end

8:02
of the duration or you can transfer it

8:03
and shut for the highest contractual

8:05
guarantee to that time with a immediate

8:07
annuity instead of buying the Deferred

8:09
income annuity or an income Rider you

8:12
know a lot of people are looking at that

8:13
and the other thing the other thing I

8:14
would tell always tell people you know

8:16
Michael I'm from the Deep South so I

8:18
think differently you know if you won

8:19
the game why are you still playing I

8:21
always tell people yeah you know if you

8:23
got a million dollars or two million

8:24
dollars whatever it is whatever the

8:26
money amount of money is and you

8:27
multiply it by five

8:29
or four if you're gonna you know pepper

8:31
it around with CDs and treasuries and

8:34
never touch the principle can you live

8:35
off that interest it's really that

8:37
simple we're we're at the point now

8:38
where people can actually live off the

8:40
interest is it Jimmy Carter years no but

8:43
we haven't seen this in a long long long

8:45
time you know so it's a different and I

8:49
think a lot of people are looking at at

8:52
myga's multi-year guarantee annuities

8:54
which is the annuity Industries version

8:55
of a CD and they never ever

8:58
heard about it before which is

9:00
interesting

9:01
it is interesting but Stan they become a

9:04
lot more popular I just looked at the

9:05
sales data in 2022 so far those fixed

9:10
annuities they're dominating half of

9:12
that was me Michael just letting you

9:14
know

9:15
um I'm not surprised

9:17
we ton that and we've been doing that

9:20
for a long time uh what people have to

9:22
know is the commissions for all annuity

9:24
types are built in Mica commissions are

9:26
just very very low that's the reason the

9:28
bad chicken dinner seminar isn't given

9:30
on migas because they don't have that

9:33
what else is you wrote an article

9:35
recently about wealthy people and

9:37
annuities I forgot the title but I read

9:39
it and it was pretty interesting what

9:41
drove you there to talk about those Rich

9:43
evil people Michael well no I would

9:45
always actually talking about is a new

9:48
study came out from Morningstar and when

9:50
Morningstar comes out with a new study

9:52
uh a lot of people pay attention to it

9:54
one of the things they said was that for

9:57
uh richer people you know annuities

9:59
don't really provide that much value but

10:03
we got to Define Rich what's that mean

10:05
well I mean for them it was you know

10:08
people whose assets or maybe 25 times

10:11
what their income is but that includes

10:12
Social Security

10:13
more but the thing is the the problem

10:17
that I had is the methodology and uh you

10:20
know I just pointed the first one out I

10:22
mean some people think they're rich and

10:23
they have X amount and other people

10:25
would think that's poor you know just

10:27
something

10:27
the customization of it all

10:31
and the question is uh you know is what

10:34
is the welfare benefit from and it's

10:37
it's kind of a economist word like how

10:39
much happier do you does it make is that

10:41
what welfare benefit means because

10:43
that's a horrific phrase it is a

10:45
horrific phrase but it's used by US

10:47
economists all the time you know we

10:48
don't need to up your game man y'all

10:51
need to bring me in and give you

10:52
southernisms like Southern Saints

10:54
because we would never use the word

10:55
welfare benefits

10:58
hey you're getting a welfare benefit and

11:00
people like I'm never going to be on

11:02
welfare over my life so let me tell you

11:05
something a working man son I mean you

11:08
gotta you gotta rethink this stuff

11:10
you are absolutely correct our marketing

11:13
skills are not that great horrific

11:16
but the idea is that a lot of times in

11:18
financial planning where people use or

11:19
what's known as a failure rate analysis

11:22
they use with a Monte Carlo okay what a

11:25
Monte Carlo does is it gives you it

11:28
spits out this number which is the

11:30
probability of success which means it's

11:33
the probability that you can

11:34
successfully from an Investment

11:36
Portfolio withdraw a certain amount of

11:39
income I like Monte Carlo as a place and

11:43
as the race

11:44
that's kind of played out though isn't

11:46
it all these I mean seriously well you

11:49
know that's why economists don't use it

11:50
is is that it gives you information that

11:52
is not complete so what it tells you is

11:55
if you let's say you've got a million

11:56
bucks and you want to pull out what

11:58
what's a spear rate right now

12:01
one that question has to do with your

12:03
age you know that that was a setup

12:05
question don't don't do that don't even

12:07
try to play me Michael you know me

12:08
better than that well mostly anime

12:10
started like 65. so sorry 65 year old

12:13
male

12:15
I'd have to run the quote I'd have to

12:17
run the quote pick a number

12:20
60 000 a year okay and okay so let's

12:25
let's compare that to an Investment

12:27
Portfolio with stocks and bonds and

12:29
let's say what is the probability that

12:31
you can successfully withdraw sixty

12:34
thousand dollars from a portfolio of

12:35
stocks and bonds

12:37
um and then let's use like historical

12:40
stock return data from the United States

12:43
from back during periods when stocks

12:45
really dominated bonds which by the way

12:47
has not happened since 1990.

12:50
um here's a stat for you since 19 since

12:54
1990 a dollar in the S P 500 has never

12:58
grown to more than seven dollars over 20

13:01
years

13:02
between 1934 and 1953 a dollar never

13:06
grew to less than seven dollars every

13:10
single year during that time period

13:12
between 1934 and 1953 one dollar never

13:16
grew to less than seven dollars over the

13:19
next 20 years but since 1990 that has

13:22
never happened once so we're using a lot

13:25
of people use a Monte Carlo are using

13:27
these data from nice a period where

13:30
stocks really dominated other types of

13:33
Investments and then they project the

13:35
likelihood that you can withdraw sixty

13:38
thousand dollars from a million dollar

13:39
portfolio using those historical data

13:42
which are probably not relevant going

13:44
forward

13:45
um but and then it gives you it spits

13:47
out well there's a an 80 probability of

13:50
success what does that mean there's an

13:52
88 probability using historical data

13:55
that are not relevant that you're not

13:57
going to run out of money what that

13:59
doesn't tell you is that when you do run

14:01
out of money between 20 percent of the

14:03
time using these simulations you got to

14:05
live off Social Security okay so they

14:08
say well you're toast yeah and that

14:10
that's what economists say is wait a

14:12
minute let's let's look at how bad

14:14
things can get when you actually do run

14:16
out so you know if you buy an annuity

14:18
and let's say you've got two people you

14:21
know one of them has two million dollars

14:22
of savings they use a million dollars to

14:24
buy sixty thousand dollars of income the

14:26
other one just has two million dollars

14:28
and they try to pull out an income and

14:30
the one with two million dollars tries

14:31
to match the same income when they run

14:33
out they got to live off Social Security

14:35
the one who used a million dollars to

14:37
buy sixty thousand dollars of an annuity

14:38
they've got sixty thousand plus thirty

14:40
thousand dollars of Social Security

14:42
their worst case scenario is that

14:44
they're living on ninety thousand

14:46
dollars a year but they both they might

14:48
both have the same failure rate we're

14:49
the one who bought the annuity might

14:50
have a lower failure rate depending on

14:52
how you model it out or a higher failure

14:54
rate but even if they do

14:56
what's the consequences so when you buy

14:58
an annuity especially if you take part

15:00
of a chunk of your savings advice and

15:02
you're talking about when you say

15:02
annuity you're talking about lifetime

15:04
income annuity

15:05
okay okay and and let's say you know you

15:08
take a chunk of your savings you use it

15:10
to buy an annuity you're essentially

15:12
buying yourself a minimum standard of

15:15
living forever no matter how long you

15:18
live and so if we model out a thousand

15:21
different potential retirements the ones

15:24
who will have an annuity will on average

15:26
be happier but the ones with an

15:29
Investment Portfolio might have a

15:31
slightly higher probability of success

15:33
but there's no information about what

15:35
failure means the Community College

15:37
version what he just said was you either

15:39
want to shoulder the risk or transfer

15:41
the risk one of the two it really comes

15:44
down to and yes community colleges are

15:46
great because they teach trades Michael

15:47
I mean they yes we need plumbers and

15:51
electricians and things like that what's

15:53
the probability Michael of me having six

15:55
pack abs my wife wants to know

15:58
can we run a Monte Carlo on my abdomen

16:02
muscles

16:04
it's not good his algae here

16:06
[Laughter]

16:09
listen you come on this on the program

16:12
you know I'm gonna push the envelope man

16:15
and I'm thinking myself can you run a

16:17
Monte Carlo there's no chance that this

16:20
person here in this nice

16:22
red tie-dyed thing isn't going to have

16:26
six-pack abs but that's all I care about

16:27
Michael can I have six pack abs

16:30
um that's that's why I was when people

16:32
call me and they'll say well this guy

16:33
told me that this or new to do this and

16:35
this and this and this I'm like listen

16:37
you have a better chance of having

16:38
six-pack abs and I don't know you but

16:40
you're not going to happen

16:42
that's my analogy to the good too good

16:45
to be true sales pitches that are out

16:47
there so

16:48
um what else is new in the annuity

16:50
industry Mr finka

16:53
um what are you working on what's the

16:55
super secret double secret probation

16:57
project you're on well gosh so one of

17:00
the things that we may or may not have

17:02
talked about in the past is

17:04
um how having greater guaranteed income

17:07
actually allows you to take more risk

17:09
with the remainder of your Investment

17:11
Portfolio I think something that not a

17:12
lot of people give thought to first of

17:14
all when you buy an annuity an income

17:17
annuity that's part of the bond portion

17:19
of your portfolio and again I was

17:21
mentioning before that you can can use

17:23
an annuity as a substitute for part of

17:25
your CDs or your bonds sure and you get

17:29
that additional tax deferral benefit but

17:32
something that I like to think a lot

17:33
about is okay you're close to retirement

17:35
you've got this asset allocation you

17:37
have some of it in qualified some of it

17:38
non-qualified you start moving the chess

17:40
pieces a little bit and how does that

17:43
impact the optimal allocation outside of

17:46
those chess pieces so I have two million

17:49
dollars of savings I use 500 000 to buy

17:51
myself an income annuity what does that

17:55
entail in terms of what the rest of my

17:57
portfolio should look like and what it

17:59
should look like is if I if I got a 50

18:01
50 portfolio then I can actually

18:05
continue to invest a million dollars of

18:07
my two million dollars in stocks I now

18:10
have five hundred thousand dollars in

18:11
bonds and in fact I might even be able

18:13
to go to 1.1 million dollars of stocks

18:15
and four hundred thousand dollars of

18:17
bonds again because my safety net that I

18:19
built is bigger uh the the worst case

18:21
scenario is better so I mean what risk

18:24
and retirement means is spending

18:26
volatility and if you take more risk

18:29
you're going to have more volatility of

18:31
your spending you're gonna have a higher

18:33
probability that you're gonna have to

18:34
cut back that's really what risk means

18:36
it means that let's talk also about 2022

18:40
because I don't think we've done that

18:41
and if you would have started out the

18:44
beginning of the year uh with a million

18:47
dollars and you would have you would

18:50
have done the four percent rule so you

18:52
got two retirees they each got a million

18:53
bucks one follows the four percent rule

18:55
they think they can spend forty thousand

18:57
dollars a year plus inflation forty

18:59
three thousand two hundred dollars next

19:00
year

19:01
um the other one decides to wait nine

19:03
months to retire and they had a million

19:06
bucks now they've got eight hundred

19:08
thousand dollars and the financial

19:09
advisor tells them no you know we're

19:11
gonna follow the four percent rule you

19:12
can spend thirty two thousand dollars a

19:14
year plus inflation that doesn't make

19:16
any sense this this guy over here

19:18
started with a million bucks he's now

19:20
down to eight hundred thousand dollars

19:21
minus whatever he spent over the last

19:23
nine months he's got even less money and

19:25
you're telling him or her that she can

19:28
spend forty three thousand two hundred

19:29
dollars next year and the other one

19:31
you're telling you can spend you know

19:33
thirty two thousand plus inflation next

19:35
year you have to be willing to be

19:38
flexible when it comes to spending if

19:40
you take investment risk and I think

19:42
oftentimes people don't really fully

19:44
understand that and I think people are

19:46
beginning to become aware of it in fact

19:47
when I look on the boards of retirees

19:51
what I'm seeing a lot of people talking

19:52
about these days is I did not know this

19:55
could happen I I started my advisors

19:58
said I was going to be fine I started

20:00
out with his nest egg I reached my goal

20:02
you know a lot of people hit their gold

20:03
number in 2021 they decided they were

20:05
going to retire sure now they get a lot

20:07
less money and they're saying I gotta go

20:09
back to work or my advisor is stupid you

20:12
know they put me in these things I like

20:15
the my advisor stupid broad brush

20:17
because that's pretty good of course

20:20
that doesn't include me

20:22
um but yeah I do like that now go ahead

20:25
it's the market right you know all all

20:28
everybody that was in the market lost

20:30
that money I lost that money you lost

20:32
some of your money I mean we all lost I

20:34
don't do markets come on man I only do

20:36
contractual guarantees but I will tell

20:37
people that most advisors today I have

20:39
cowboy boots that are older than them

20:41
they have only seen bull Marcus they

20:43
have not seen people walk out in the

20:44
front yard and vomit you know and I

20:47
started in the Securities industry in 87

20:49
uh if you that that that gear rings a

20:52
bell there's a reason

20:54
um you know markets don't always just

20:57
historically go up and up and up and up

20:59
quickly over time they do but I think

21:01
for the baby boomer the conundrum

21:04
the head scratcher is what do I do here

21:06
do I have enough money to win the game

21:07
and just peel off interest or create an

21:09
income floor do I still want to play the

21:11
game my opinion Michael is

21:14
you know the the whole people saying to

21:17
everyone well you got to go to college

21:18
you got to buy a house you got to go you

21:19
gotta gotta get a dog you got to be in

21:22
the markets

21:23
do you if you have enough money and just

21:25
want to peel off interest or create a

21:27
lifetime income stream do you really

21:28
need to be there

21:31
it's a great question and I think most

21:33
of us who have talked I have friends

21:35
obviously we're this group of retirement

21:38
dorks who talk to each other about

21:40
uh what we hope to do with our own

21:42
retirement is that retirementdorks.com

21:44
yes uh

21:47
it needs to be it's a special Club

21:49
you're invited by the way Stan you call

21:51
me a dork is that wait a minute swallow

21:53
down

21:56
it's an exclusive Club oh thank you very

21:59
much but we all I mean when it comes to

22:01
our retirement that's how we want to

22:02
play it like we we can take risks during

22:05
the accumulation stage but when we get

22:08
close to retirement we I just want to

22:09
lock it in and I don't have to think

22:11
about it I don't have to worry about

22:12
what's going on in the markets when I'm

22:14
deciding whether or not I can go on

22:15
vacation next year I don't have to say

22:18
well wait a minute you know the markets

22:19
are down I'm not going to be able to do

22:21
that I want to be able to lock in as

22:23
much as I can lock in without the fear

22:25
and I know the older I get the more it's

22:27
going to bother me and that actually

22:28
shows up in the data is that we do get

22:29
and you're like you're like 32 right

22:31
Michael absolutely yes how did you know

22:34
I know I just took a stab at it just

22:37
your voice no I'm kidding um you know I

22:39
always tell people there's no U-Hauls

22:40
behind hearses I'm trying to I'm trying

22:42
to figure out how to quantify that with

22:44
a formula

22:45
um but you know I do think that people

22:48
and I'm pounding the table a little bit

22:49
out here for the Baby Boomers to

22:51
consider and look at their situation

22:53
that you might not only want to retire

22:54
from your job you might want to retire

22:56
from the markets

22:59
if you can a lot of people can't but if

23:03
you can

23:04
and I think that these choppy markets

23:06
and and I think we're getting at the

23:08
time of this taping I think people are

23:09
listening to standing new to man because

23:12
you know it's lifestyle in chapter two

23:14
of your life so what are you and the

23:17
dorks doing to get this message out

23:21
retirement dorks I I've got to go get

23:24
that domain

23:25
um to get the message out in English to

23:27
people not you know I I I'll let you

23:30
finish that question here's a great

23:31
comment guy was calling me the other day

23:33
and he was looking at annuity product a

23:35
very complex one we won't mention it and

23:37
his comment was in southern he goes you

23:39
know I didn't know mathematical formulas

23:42
had letters in it I'm like it does okay

23:45
and that's not a good thing so so what's

23:50
the messaging

23:52
that we're trying to get across other

23:54
than just hiring me and paying me a huge

23:56
retainer to do it right what are you

23:57
guys doing you know one of the things

23:59
that I'm a big fan of is telling people

24:02
if you try to do it yourself first of

24:05
all you have to pick a failure rate a

24:08
probability that you know what's it what

24:10
age do you want to run out oh by the way

24:13
this is all prefaced with a discussion

24:15
that begins

24:17
you're gonna die so I have a friend of

24:20
mine who's a research beautiful yeah

24:22
he's a researcher who studies this idea

24:25
of people's unwillingness to accept

24:27
their own mortality and whenever anybody

24:30
brings up anything I mean there's a

24:31
reason why it's called life insurance

24:32
and not death insurance and even though

24:34
it is death Insurance uh it's because

24:36
people don't want to acknowledge the

24:39
fact that they're going to die but as if

24:42
you're going to do retirement planning

24:43
right you've got to acknowledge the fact

24:45
that you're not going to live forever

24:46
hopefully you're going to live a really

24:48
long time but none of us know so there's

24:50
only two places your money can go your

24:52
money can either go to other people you

24:54
know when you die

24:56
all that all that fun that you could

24:58
have had get spent by someone else my

25:00
daughter's showing up to my funeral in a

25:01
Lamborghini that's what's going to

25:03
happen it is and it's actually the

25:06
research is so much fun because when

25:08
people get these inheritances it's

25:10
always the ones who like having a whole

25:12
lot of fun who spend it down the fastest

25:14
and they're the ones you know every

25:16
generation has those people who didn't

25:18
really accumulate much money in their

25:20
lifetime but when they get the money

25:22
they know how to spend it like they know

25:23
how to live so either either the money

25:26
goes to that kid who is really good at

25:29
spending money or it goes to your

25:31
lifestyle and and if it's gonna go to

25:33
your lifestyle you got two choices you

25:35
can uh you can try to spread it out or

25:38
you can buy yourself some sort of a

25:40
guaranteed income product that allows

25:42
you to spend we've talked about this

25:43
before the birthday cake problem it

25:45
allows you to spend more every year

25:47
without having to worry about

25:48
potentially running out that's why you

25:49
do it that's why economists say it's a

25:51
puzzle that we're not buying more of

25:52
these things but I think the big the big

25:54
thing you have to overcome is

25:56
recognizing that you're not going to

25:58
live forever and you either have to cut

26:00
little little slices of the birthday

26:01
cake or you can spend more with less

26:04
worry so why not just do that what

26:06
worries you Michael finka other than

26:08
waking up in the morning and just

26:10
continuing to be vibrant and Young

26:13
what worries me

26:15
you know frankly uh right now and it's

26:19
probably the same thing that you

26:20
mentioned at the very beginning of the

26:21
podcast which is one of the consequences

26:24
of really high interest rates the FED

26:27
raising these rates is that it's

26:29
crowding out everything in the federal

26:31
budget and absolutely you know that

26:35
makes me worry about spending austerity

26:38
which is another one of those funds holy

26:40
crap I love the views uh you know that

26:42
sounds like an Affliction like spending

26:45
austerity means that I've got money but

26:47
I don't know what it's for that's what

26:50
that means to me I don't need that y'all

26:52
need the federal government only has so

26:54
much money it can spend and if it's

26:56
spending a ton of money on interest

26:57
payments then it's not going to be able

26:59
to spend as much money on things like

27:02
generous Medicare and social security

27:04
benefit increases over time that's good

27:07
that's good I love your friend you guys

27:09
need to come up with these phrases and

27:11
then sell t-shirts on

27:12
retirementdorks.com you know spending

27:15
austerity what was the level in the

27:16
welfare

27:18
yeah welfare I've got I've got I mean

27:21
it's just like what in the world are

27:23
y'all talking about Economist jargon and

27:26
then I'm over here doing all the

27:27
southernisms like you know squeezing oil

27:30
out of a brick that's what we're doing

27:32
right here we're trying to get the

27:34
highest contractual guarantee we're

27:35
squeezing a lot of a brick but you know

27:37
I think that's part of the annuity

27:39
industry's problem is we have not

27:41
messaged it right to people in their in

27:45
English that they fully understand

27:47
because the way that we talk about it

27:49
seems complex but truly annuity types

27:53
are very simple if explained properly

27:55
this isn't they are they really couldn't

27:58
be any easier I really I mean yeah I

28:00
mean I always say if you can't explain

28:01
it to a nine-year-old don't buy it no

28:03
offense to nine-year-olds it really is

28:05
that simple I mean because everyone will

28:07
they're expensive and they're can't

28:10
understand them you know and I'm like

28:12
you know I told a guy the other day and

28:13
I was trying to explain why because I

28:15
told him I said I'm a little frustrated

28:17
I feel like I'm showing a painting to

28:18
blind person you know because they just

28:20
didn't understand the correlation

28:21
between CD and mind I'm like he's really

28:23
that simple don't don't make it any more

28:25
difficult right and so

28:27
um so that that worries you but what

28:30
makes you get up in the morning put on

28:32
the running shoes you know you you run

28:34
seven to ten miles every morning as you

28:35
know after that run went what makes you

28:38
want to just go get it I got to keep up

28:40
those six-pack abs yeah man I mean you

28:43
know you're you're my yeah you're kind

28:44
of the idol that I'm looking for so what

28:46
I mean what what motivates you what

28:48
keeps you going Michael

28:49
well I mean first of all uh we have this

28:53
huge Baby Boom cohort and I worry about

28:56
them frankly I I think that it's the

28:58
first generation that's gonna have to

29:00
rely entirely on savings to fund their

29:03
lifestyle I think they had a really

29:05
great time back in 2021 the markets were

29:09
doing fantastic all of them felt really

29:11
rich uh but I I was really worried then

29:14
and and I'm worried that they don't have

29:16
the right information about what they're

29:20
supposed to do with that money after

29:21
they retire I think we've we've really

29:23
dropped the ball as a society on those

29:26
retirees we don't have any moment where

29:29
we sit down with them and say all right

29:31
you got this pot of money what do you

29:33
want to do with it what's your goal uh

29:35
how do you want to live like let's start

29:36
with the lifestyle that you want to lead

29:38
and then let's build that plan around it

29:40
and to the extent that I can educate

29:42
people on making some of these choices I

29:46
see it is an opportunity to help people

29:49
live better

29:50
um but I think they just have no idea

29:51
they don't understand what these

29:52
trade-offs are again to an economist it

29:54
seems pretty easy you know you've got

29:56
these very easy to understand trade-offs

29:58
that are all about welfare maximization

30:01
but to the average retiree they have no

30:03
idea what it's all about well fair

30:06
maximization so it's our job to try to

30:08
to try to use

30:11
Concepts to help people put together a

30:14
plan that's going to make them happier

30:16
I could get elected running against the

30:19
phrase welfare maximization just just

30:22
bringing it up and say I am totally

30:23
against welfare maximization because

30:27
we're tired of giving this stuff away

30:29
you know what I'm saying and then you

30:30
step into like Stan that's not what I'm

30:33
talking about that's not welfare

30:35
maximization's all about I am now

30:37
running on the welfare maximization

30:45
but people always talk about fake news

30:47
and political fake news and all this

30:49
stuff Financial fake news is as bad

30:52
it's as bad because what and I want you

30:55
to think about it from a party

30:56
standpoint you have the party over here

30:58
of contractual guarantees and the curse

31:00
word of annuities then you have the

31:02
party over here of market growth and

31:04
potential and it's going to go up

31:06
and both sides Hammer each other

31:09
both sides say things about each other

31:11
that are unfounded to get the sale from

31:15
the other guy similar to a politician

31:17
saying what they have to say to get the

31:19
vote

31:20
that's the problem the problem is is the

31:23
master of the universe Financial

31:24
architect wealth architect financial

31:26
advisors and all annuities are bad I'm

31:28
just telling you right now son and

31:30
that's that's stupid as if I said all

31:33
mutual funds are bad that's stupid

31:36
um and I think I don't know how to cut

31:38
through that noise but other than you

31:41
know the annuity industry is notorious

31:43
for sponsoring the Rolling Stones tour

31:45
which is I don't understand that unless

31:47
I'm opening for them

31:49
um we need to do a better job of buying

31:52
air time I would think you know I see

31:54
some I've I've seen some stabs at that

31:57
I know you sit in the Big Board rooms

31:59
with the big marble stuff and they feed

32:00
you all these really nice food and stuff

32:02
has anybody talked about actually

32:03
marketing to the Boomers other than what

32:06
I'm doing

32:07
well Stan I have to say that's why I

32:10
recently I mentioned to you uh before

32:13
this interview that I actually used your

32:15
name in a very important group early on

32:17
in this week just tell me the truth

32:20
because I can take it they're all right

32:21
they didn't they they hadn't heard of

32:23
you standing what they don't know to

32:25
hate you you've got to be kidding me but

32:28
then again I don't Market to the

32:30
financial industry no you don't and so

32:32
but no this was this was more like

32:34
policy folks from big companies oh these

32:37
are not saying like you've got this is

32:39
how you need to present this information

32:40
it's it's simple it's straightforward I

32:43
used examples of the way you presented

32:44
information on the website because

32:46
that's what the consumer needs to know

32:47
is they need to know you know the

32:49
quality of the different insurance

32:50
companies they need to know the quotes

32:52
that they're getting you focus on very

32:55
simple products that are very easy to

32:57
explain that are providing the kind of

32:58
Lifetime income that people actually

33:00
want uh that you know it's it's uh it's

33:04
something that I think others could

33:06
learn from I'll say that that's that's a

33:09
the ultimate compliment by the way Stan

33:10
that that you I think you're marketing

33:12
skills are are exceptional I need to go

33:16
speak in front of this group now I would

33:17
do it with the drummer behind me you

33:20
know doing like a hip-hop drum beat as

33:21
I'm talking and maybe a guy on guitar

33:24
but the point is it would be neat for me

33:27
to talk to these I did it one time at

33:28
like the association of financial

33:30
planners

33:32
in Chicago and they brought me in they

33:34
paid me it was like a thousand people in

33:35
the room it was like a fist fight the

33:38
whole time of course I won everyone but

33:40
factually but you know it was it was it

33:42
was bizarre it was it was interesting

33:45
but I think that's what needs to happen

33:46
we need to go into the belly of the

33:49
Beast as they say and factually Hammer

33:52
them on what this is all about and have

33:54
the people step up to the mic and and

33:57
try to you know Stump Michael and Stan

33:59
and we just go uh sit back down chump

34:02
because we're getting ready to kill you

34:03
right here with facts you know I

34:06
actually I don't see the same level of

34:08
antagonism towards annuities are fun

34:12
just let me go let me have it okay I

34:14
hear you I hear you you know what

34:17
time and that is great to see because I

34:19
think especially in the investment world

34:21
people were not as open to having these

34:23
kind of conversations maybe four or five

34:25
years ago but there is a general

34:26
acknowledgment yeah these things

34:28
actually have a place let's think about

34:30
how we can position them to Consumers

34:32
well there's a demographic tidal wave

34:34
and I've got a feeling that a lot of

34:36
people are walking in whether it's from

34:38
a bad chicken dinner seminar or just

34:40
life saying I'm really tired of the

34:41
volatility do you have anything else for

34:43
me yeah

34:44
um I I think I think as like everything

34:47
that's good the consumer drags the

34:50
industry across the Finish Line oh I

34:52
want to talk about one more thing yes

34:54
we'll stop this this so first of all

34:56
well indexed annuities

34:59
um

35:00
it is but let's think about this for a

35:03
minute Sam oh no no I read Jason I read

35:05
I read his article no no the the option

35:09
but first of all the option budgets are

35:10
getting pretty generous in these things

35:13
which means that the Caps are pretty

35:15
high they're higher than they have been

35:16
in the past but let's also think about

35:18
you know those those guarantees the

35:21
insurance company provided that you

35:23
wouldn't lose money on your investment

35:25
as a bond substitute so the insurance

35:29
companies a reminder about how fixed

35:31
index annuities work wait stop I can't

35:34
make I'm gonna argue with you here you

35:37
cannot

35:38
put fixed indexed annuities in the same

35:40
categories as a bond you just can't

35:42
Michael come on man well I mean if you

35:44
look at the Historical long-term

35:45
performance they're they're pretty close

35:48
to a corporate intermediate term bond

35:51
over time but but you get this downside

35:56
protection of the principle now the

35:59
thing I want to talk about here Stan is

36:00
that with those products the insurance

36:02
company has actually lost the money so

36:06
you're right they invested in their

36:08
general account portfolio they assumed

36:10
it was going to provide a five percent

36:13
return so they have you know they took

36:15
95 of your money they are going to give

36:18
you a hundred dollars back next year

36:20
they invested the rest in a financial

36:22
option which lost did not pay off this

36:24
year sure sure of your bond portfolio

36:27
you're not going to lose any money on

36:30
that and the assumed rate of return was

36:33
five percent the insurance company is

36:35
now holding all of these intermediate

36:37
terms from corporate bonds they saw this

36:41
tremendous loss in their general account

36:43
portfolio that they cannot transfer to

36:45
you so this is one of those years where

36:48
a product like a fixed indexed annuity

36:50
that provides you with protection

36:53
against loss

36:55
um it's it's become very apparent that

36:57
you've transferred a lot of risk to the

36:59
insurance company of your bond portfolio

37:02
and that's that is and I agree with you

37:05
and you said something on a previous

37:06
podcast with us that I've attributed to

37:09
you since I mean and you probably said

37:10
it by mistake it was so good Michael

37:12
that's what I mean yeah is that good and

37:15
you said let the annuity companies buy

37:17
the bonds for you yeah with these

37:19
products and I thought that was genius

37:20
and it still is genius and you still get

37:22
the props and you still get the

37:23
royalties because this is a great

37:26
example of they're buying the bonds for

37:27
you and you're not suffering in the

37:29
volatility of the underlying principle

37:31
of those bonds yet you're got you have

37:34
the contractual guarantees in place so I

37:37
think this is something a lot of people

37:39
had forgot now that agreed take agreed

37:41
you know at the beginning of the year

37:42
some people thought well wait a minute

37:44
you know interest rates are so low I'm

37:46
going to try to get I'm going to buy

37:47
bonds that have a higher yield I'm going

37:49
to buy bonds that are longer term I'm

37:51
going to buy bonds that are uh riskier

37:53
you know lower quality sure and those

37:56
people thought well you know how how

37:58
risky could bonds be and by the time we

38:02
get to October the Vanguard long-term

38:07
corporate bond ETF is now down more than

38:10
30 percent

38:11
like who thought that that was even

38:13
possible listen I was there in the 90s I

38:15
was at Morgan Stanley when that happened

38:17
and I was I was a bond guy at those big

38:20
firms and I always tell people you know

38:23
bonds aren't always a safe haven

38:26
at all you know from a standpoint of

38:28
underlying value we're definitely seeing

38:30
that this year oh my gosh I and I think

38:32
we're in a bear market for bonds and I

38:34
hope I'm wrong and I'm who knows I mean

38:36
that's from my past but

38:38
um I don't know tell me about inflation

38:40
Michael you wake up in the morning after

38:42
the workout and then you start thinking

38:44
about inflation

38:45
what are you thinking about

38:48
well okay so inflation has been really

38:52
spotty so that means that you know when

38:55
I look at the inflation numbers what I

38:57
see is not that everything is going up

39:00
by a lot I'm saying that some things are

39:02
going up by a lot and obviously the war

39:05
in Ukraine has impacted energy costs

39:09
that's gone up a lot uh there are supply

39:11
chain issues that are you know partially

39:14
a carryover from the covet era that are

39:17
affecting prices a lot some things like

39:19
health care that seniors pay a lot of

39:21
money for I really have not gone up at

39:23
all over the last couple of years so if

39:25
you can be more flexible then like which

39:28
most retirees can be more flexible then

39:31
the impact of inflation is not as big of

39:34
a deal one of the things I worry about

39:36
with those retirees is that there is

39:39
such a thing as inflation sequence of

39:42
return risk and what that means is that

39:44
if inflation is really high early on in

39:46
retirement the prices of stuff you buy

39:50
throughout retirement is going to be

39:51
more expensive so it's worse if

39:54
inflation's High early than if inflation

39:56
is high late because if inflation's High

39:58
early then prices go up and they stay up

40:01
forever and if inflation's highly and

40:03
you pay a really high prices later on

40:05
it's not a big deal because you were

40:06
able to buy cheap stuff for the first 10

40:08
years of retirement and you're gonna die

40:10
well don't remind people because that

40:13
freaks them out

40:14
as a good friend of mine that does life

40:16
insurance he always says one out of one

40:18
of us is going to die I'm like thanks

40:19
mathematician appreciate that Tony

40:21
Robbins

40:23
um but it but it is true and inflation

40:26
I always tell people

40:28
if you have enough money like if you

40:30
call me and you have multiple millions

40:32
of dollars and you ask me let's solve

40:33
for inflation I will call you arrogant

40:36
um and I will start yelling at you at

40:38
the top of my lungs because come on man

40:41
you can you can afford the eggs and the

40:43
bread and the gas you know obviously

40:44
inflation hits people at the low end it

40:46
always does

40:48
um I always tell people there's no

40:50
perfect product to solve for inflation

40:51
you know you already have social

40:53
security and you can buy I bonds but

40:56
you know annuity companies have the big

40:58
buildings for a reason there's no

40:59
floating product out there that

41:00
addresses this even though every a lot

41:03
of people will say they have it they do

41:05
not in your Round Table of retirement

41:07
dork Geniuses with Advanced degrees

41:11
what are you guys talking about from the

41:13
standpoint of future products that you

41:16
see coming down the pike that should be

41:18
developed

41:19
well okay so one company has developed a

41:22
fixed index annuity with an income

41:25
payment that is actually allowed to

41:28
float up with inflation up to five

41:30
percent per year I understand don't

41:31
mention the name don't mention the name

41:33
please don't mention it don't mention it

41:35
do not mention it

41:37
um

41:38
lower the initial but they lowered every

41:41
one of these firms that have that and

41:43
there's there's actually five or six of

41:44
these products out there that they lower

41:47
the initial payment to make up for that

41:49
potential increase so you have to factor

41:51
in the break-even point

41:53
if you bought a static payment versus

41:56
the potential hypothetical theoretical

41:58
projected unicorn situation the

41:59
butterflies increases that's being sold

42:01
out there

42:02
it's not as pure as you're pushing

42:04
because

42:06
um Social Security is best inflation

42:07
annuity on the planet because there's no

42:09
actuaries involved there's only

42:10
politicians Stan and that is the bottom

42:13
line is like if you're worried about

42:14
inflation just wait to claim until

42:16
you're 70. that's that's the best way to

42:19
deal with it beyond that yeah the

42:21
options are limited well I always tell

42:23
people you want to solve for inflation

42:24
reverse engineer an immediate annuity

42:27
for the exact dollar amount that you

42:29
need to fill in the income gap period

42:31
that's it everything else is a sales

42:34
pitch you know and and so the other

42:37
thing too is is inflation's customizable

42:41
um so some people it affects differently

42:43
than others my two daughters have left

42:44
the building and I don't have to pay for

42:46
dance classes and drive them back and

42:48
forth so there's no not as much allowed

42:51
to mention that you can even use a key

42:52
lack as a way of dealing with later

42:53
retirement inflation you are allowed to

42:56
say that because you know I did write

42:58
the first book on the planet about culex

43:00
in 2014 as you know and so well

43:02
documented

43:03
um but you know it's not for everybody

43:05
it is a future income payment that can

43:07
hedge against inflation why because you

43:10
have you have income starting at a

43:12
future date no different than buying an

43:14
immediate annuity at a future date there

43:16
are some tax savings Etc do you see

43:18
culax do you see our politicians who we

43:21
both love trust and understand

43:23
do you see them you're supposed to laugh

43:26
at that Michael come on no it's beyond

43:29
laughter at this point

43:31
you see him raising it to where it's

43:33
real like a 200 000 or 250 where people

43:36
can actually whack it

43:38
pretty good

43:40
so I mean I the the reason that they

43:43
would do that is to develop some sort of

43:47
a workable

43:50
default in a retirement account so all

43:54
what what is happening right now is qlax

43:57
have been considered by some companies

43:59
as a default solution to protect against

44:02
longevity risk in your 401k

44:05
and if you have a high enough income

44:08
then you're going to go over that 145

44:11
000 limit are we going to pass first of

44:14
all you're asking are we going to pass

44:15
secure two I don't know it's like 50 50

44:17
shot

44:18
um and second of all

44:21
is that going to be an issue i i people

44:24
have tried to beat me down on culax

44:26
stand to be honest that nobody really

44:29
cares that much about them and you know

44:31
making significant policy changes Beyond

44:33
increasing it by the rate of inflation

44:34
is going to be tough unless it's coupled

44:37
with some sort of a qdia solution like a

44:41
Target date fund solution

44:44
are you a fan of Target day funds I am I

44:46
think are you oh yeah

44:49
the reason is and I'm just doing a paper

44:50
give me the reason you sell me on that

44:52
because you and Paul Merriman who's a

44:55
good good friend of the show

44:56
our Target date fund I mean you I mean

44:59
he you probably have a tattooed like

45:01
Target date phone on your arm I mean I

45:03
don't know right now it's just key lack

45:05
just

45:07
why Target dates sell me

45:10
um because I've seen what people do when

45:13
they try to invest on their own so oh

45:15
it's a loving handcuff is what you're

45:17
saying it is and and you I was just

45:20
doing a paper I was talking to a

45:22
reporter this morning about it where I

45:24
look at for those who have a Target date

45:26
fund how many of them phoned up their

45:30
uh Record Keeper with the Record Keeper

45:32
is the one that they need to phone up to

45:33
make a change in their Investments and

45:37
half the percentage of those who have a

45:40
Target date fund versus those who are

45:42
managing their Investments on their own

45:45
half of them called up their provider

45:47
when the markets fell in early 2020 and

45:51
one tenth of them their one-tenth is

45:53
likely to make a change and by the way

45:55
the ones who didn't make a change were

45:57
all pulling money out of stocks at

45:58
exactly the wrong time in March 2000 so

46:00
you're dummy so what you're saying is a

46:02
target they fund is a dummy proof

46:04
investment absolutely you know that is

46:06
its biggest strength is that people it's

46:09
a set it and forget it kind of

46:11
investment and people don't touch it and

46:13
they actually outperform the experts

46:15
over time in these things it's magic

46:17
it's really great now the problem is

46:19
that it's you know it's not customized

46:21
it's not tailored for every person uh

46:24
everybody gets the same thing it's uh

46:27
you know and the amount of money that

46:28
you save nobody ever like figures out

46:30
whether that's appropriate for you

46:32
somebody with a high income is saving

46:33
the same percentage as somebody with a

46:34
low income that's not right either so

46:36
probably the best kind of default is

46:39
something that's a little bit more

46:41
customized than a Target date fund but I

46:43
tell you targeted funds are infinitely

46:44
better than where most workers were back

46:47
in the early 2000s they were either

46:49
investing in money market accounts only

46:51
like 70 of the money was money market

46:53
accounts or they were trying to invest

46:55
in stocks and they are so bad at

46:59
investing in mutual funds they they buy

47:02
more mutual funds after they've gone up

47:04
in value you know they look at the

47:06
quarterly statements to see what

47:07
outperformed last quarter and then they

47:09
shift all their money into that and then

47:11
it underperforms so I'd rather people

47:13
just leave them alone the best thing

47:15
they can do is just leave their

47:16
Investments alone so if I'm a bad

47:17
financial journalist which I'm not my

47:20
quote would be Michael finka quote

47:22
Target date funds are for low IQ overly

47:25
emotional investors unquote yeah like me

47:28
so I have my retirement invested in a

47:33
Target date fund now that I'm I'm lying

47:36
actually half of it's in a Target date

47:37
fund half of it I invest on my own and I

47:41
was really clever when I had put

47:43
together my portfolio on my own I you

47:46
know did the right asset allocation I I

47:48
I did yeah I was very very thoughtful

47:52
Stan how many times have I readjusted my

47:54
allocation since I did that seven years

47:56
ago 50. I haven't touched it I haven't

47:59
looked at it which means it's all out of

48:01
whack right now you know the stock

48:03
market has gone up so now it's really

48:05
stock heavy which means I lost a bunch

48:07
of money when the market went down

48:08
recently I'm supposed to be a finance

48:11
Professor who is constantly readjusting

48:14
my portfolio but the thing is there's

48:15
always something that's more important

48:17
to do that day and I never get around so

48:18
you're a disinterested Economist is what

48:21
you're trying to tell me I am I'm not

48:22
I'm not very good at practicing what I

48:24
preach uh and it's you know I I just

48:26
don't want to have to think about that

48:27
stuff which is one of the advantages of

48:29
automating it

48:31
I hear you you know we've talked for a

48:33
long time this has been good this has

48:35
been good so you know I'm waiting for

48:38
you guys to fly me in on the Learjet to

48:40
uh to take this thing to the next level

48:42
you know the annuity thing to the next

48:44
level because I'm gonna do it on my own

48:45
by the way yeah I've got a couple I'll

48:47
let you borrow one anytime okay no

48:49
that's cool that's cool yeah I was

48:51
looking at that Professor oh yeah you

48:53
guys are rolling nothing in the cash you

48:55
know you guys are rolling so uh no it's

48:57
good I I appreciate you joining me kind

48:59
of out on a I read your article they're

49:01
like man I gotta call him

49:03
um because I was wondering where that

49:05
was coming from and um you said

49:07
Morningstar but that's good but we

49:09
always want you back on the show and we

49:10
really appreciate you

49:12
working on this for the Baby Boomers all

49:15
those people you are doing yeoman's work

49:17
we just have to shout it from the

49:19
rooftops

49:21
we really appreciate what you're doing

49:23
as well Stan we're trying you know we do

49:25
a few videos we do a few podcasts

49:28
um you know we try to get it out there

49:30
the best we can

49:32
um and I think we're making an impact

49:33
because people are starting to look at

49:35
it in a in a serious way and the way

49:37
they should from the contractual

49:39
guarantee standpoint of these of these

49:41
products I just hope that the industry

49:43
continues

49:44
to be pushed or push themselves to

49:46
create better and better products not

49:49
just you know re-polishing up the old

49:51
stuff but you know we'll kind of see I I

49:53
put that on you that's that's what you

49:55
need to do okay I'll work on that

49:58
put it on my to-do list Melissa I

49:59
appreciate it I appreciate every single

50:01
person on every major podcast platform

50:03
and on the fun with annuities YouTube

50:05
channel yes you can email me about those

50:07
four Flying V Gibson guitars in the back

50:10
that you see

50:11
and about the my band which by the way

50:13
Michael at the end of this annuity man

50:15
thing I will go on tour uh just to let

50:18
you know so with that being said we had

50:20
a lot of fun we will see you next time

50:22
on fun with annuities

50:29
[Music]

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