Good evening.

You've got More Than Money.

You've got Gene Dickison, your host, your personal financial advisor, and so happy to be with you this evening, happy to serve you at any level that I possibly can, offering you all of my 780 years of experience.

And happy to be offering that to you.

If you're a loyal viewer of More Than Money, you know exactly how this works.

We put you at the very heart of our show.

You make us the most relevant financial show on television today, bar none, without question, because you provide us with the agenda.

You provide us with the topics, you provide us with the issues, the concerns, the observations that are of most interest to you, that are most relevant to you, and that allows us to be the most relevant show on television today.

If you are just joining us, you're going, I'm not really sure I understand all of that.

Well, it will become abundantly clear to you momentarily.

But in the meantime, if you're saying how do I get involved in the most relevant financial TV show on TV today, all you need do is send us an e-mail, gene, as you see on the screen, gene@askmtm.com.

Askmtm.com comes directly to me.

We have an entire team, an entire More Than Money team that allows us to serve you.

We answer every single question back to you.

Some of those will appear on future shows.

We couldn't possibly air all of them, we get far too many, but every question is answered.

So it makes no difference to us what your topic is, whether it's a retirement question, an investment question, an income tax question, a 401(k) question, estate planning business.

It simply doesn't matter.

We have a complete complement of advisors and partners that can help us craft an answer that is specific to you.

There's no generalities.

There's no AI, artificial intelligence, kind of bringing together a bunch of words and spewing them back to you in generalities.

We're not interested in any of that.

We're interested in serving you specifically.

So if you would like to enjoy and participate in the entire adventure, we would welcome that and we would be honored to serve you.

Speaking of honored to serve you, we are joined this evening by our financial correspondent, and she brings us our very first question of our show.

Megan, where do we start?

- Hi, Gene.

Our first question tonight says, I enjoy your show not just because of your financial advice, but also because of your sense of humor.

In fact, you're almost as funny as I am.

Now that I've flattered myself, I'll move on to my question.

Nearly 40 years ago, when I had no clue what I was doing, I started an IRA with a reputable insurance agency.

The contract I signed guaranteed 4.5% annual interest.

I mostly forgot about it, though in recent years I've made additional contributions.

With these, along with the 4.5% annual interest, its value has risen to about $60,000.

I have another IRA that's worth about $130,000.

The second IRA is invested in a mixture of growth and dividend stocks.

As I approach retirement, I'm moving most of it to dividend stocks.

However, based on the contract I entered into with the first IRA, I can transfer money from other IRAs into it and still receive that guaranteed 4.5%.

My question is whether I should.

I realize it depends in part on the specific dividend stocks I choose, but in general, will dividend stocks do better than 4.5%?

Should I leave the 130,000 in dividend stocks and tolerate some risk or transfer the money and take the guaranteed 4.5%?

Thank you for your help.

- Well, you're very kind and gosh, very kind to me and very kind of yourself, I noticed.

Huh!

Funnier than moi?

I don't know!

I'm just kidding.

Of course you are.

Bottom line is, this is a very, very interesting question.

I will start with a key phrase, one that I use often both on air and off, and it is "it depends".

And in your case, it really does.

It depends specifically on what this block of money, what this 60 in one piece, 130 in the other piece, what this block of money is intended to do for you in your retirement.

Is it intended to be vital to your ability to pay bills?

If it is, that needs one approach.

Is it intended to be supplementary to paying your bills?

Hey, I'm going to pull off of 200,000.

I might pull 3,000 or 4,000 a year just for a trip or for gifts or for charity.

Or is it really not necessary to provide any income for your retirement and this is your longevity money?

You're in your sixties now.

And 20 years from now, as prices have gone up and inflation has gone up, you will start drawing on this money, many, many years from now.

So our answers will be very different depending on your answers, and that's always the way it is.

That's why so many of the folks that we have conversations with we have conversations with.

It's not a "Here's my question, here's your answer.

See ya."

It's "Here's my question.

"Well, I have some questions back to you."

You answer those.

We go back and forth either by e-mail or by phone or in person, and we get to the specific result that's necessary for you.

So if you're looking to generate cash flow, 4.5% is OK.

It's not fantastic, it's just OK, but it's very safe.

It's very predictable.

If safe and predictable are the key issues that you're looking for, I think you've answered your own question.

If long-term rates of return are more important, then 4.5% is not going to do it.

If you're looking for a guess, that's the only thing a prediction can be, is a guess, looking at the future and trying to predict, project what things might occur, unfold in the future, good luck with all that crystal balls.

Not really appropriate, but if we're using an educated guess, your quality portfolio of high-dividend stocks should be looking at producing a total return, not just cash flow but growth of the stocks, 6% or 7% a year.

So, long term, ten years plus or minus, 4.5 versus six or seven, if that's enough of a differential that you would make that move, fantastic.

If it's not, goodness, then 4.5, go forth and sin no more.

In today's environment, 4.5, better than three or four years ago.

But with inflation being well above six, many folks would argue that you're actually kind of losing purchasing power along the way.

I would be one of those.

So, you've got a substantial sum of money.

You need to decide exactly what role it should play in your life.

You should talk to a financial advisor.

You've already sent out your initial e-mail.

My guess is you've already been in conversation with one of our More Than Money advisors, but deciding specifically what to do with it, beyond our scope for our purposes this evening, but it does give us a good chance to demonstrate how we approach the question.

Speaking of questions, Megs, what do we have as our next question?

- Our next question says, I like my current financial advisor, but I'm concerned.

He works alone.

He doesn't even have an assistant.

I'm wondering what happens to me and, more importantly, my wife when he decides to retire.

He's about your age.

So I'm wondering, what do you say to your clients and should we make a change now?

- Well, I'm not really sure how to interpret "He's about your age."

Youthful.

Youthful.

Well, immature, anyway.

Yeah, I would be concerned as well.

I would be concerned as well.

The fact that you like your advisor is not terribly relevant.

And that may sound either inappropriate or cold-hearted.

It isn't.

It is a reflection of the fact that there are so many high-quality financial advisors available that restricting yourself to an individual that has, in my opinion, made an error in judgment about how he has set up his business and how he expects his clients to react versus a financial advisor who has.

Well, you ask about my scenario.

In our More Than Money team, we have many, many, many financial advisors from near my age to, gosh, infancy, so it seems.

Bottom line is that we have lots of generations, lots of backup.

So forget the fact that I'm the healthiest senior advisor you've ever met.

The bus doesn't care how healthy I am.

If my time has come, my time has come.

And while I don't ever plan to retire until He decides it's my time, the bus may have different plans, and I tell my clients, You won't miss a beat.

You may miss me.

I hope you do.

I hope I've given you a reason to miss me.

But you won't miss a beat financially because another advisor will step in, sit in my chair, and they have been trained to provide advice just as I do.

They have my philosophy, my structure, my systems.

And again, you won't miss a beat.

For someone who's operating as a solo advisor and doesn't even have an assistant that would help in the transition, as someone in your situation, I wouldn't take that.

And yes, I would move now when moving is pretty easy, when moving can be done on your terms and in your timeframe as opposed to, "Did you see in the obituaries?

"Did you get a call?

Hey, your financial advisor is "passed away.

And now what?"

Yeah, you don't want that to happen.

So making the move now is likely in your best interest, or maybe, as an alternative, suggest to your advisor he affiliates with a firm, join, merge with a firm that has that kind of backup so that you can have the best of both worlds.

That's an idea kind of off the top of my head.

Maybe that will work.

Maybe.

Megan, what works next?

- Our next e-mail says, My husband and I really like your show.

We like how you explain things in a way that we understand.

I'm sure there are times when things are so complicated that can't be explained in simple terms.

We're wondering, what do average people like us do to be informed enough to make a good decision?

Is there a book that we should read?

Thank you.

- This is a concern that is very prevalent, much more so than some might believe.

And the popularity of finance books, I think, actually proves my point.

There are dozens, hundreds and many more that come out every year.

To be blunt, most of them are not really very valuable.

Actually, to be blunter, more blunt, there are some that I think are outright dangerous.

They are so out of date.

They're so out of touch, or they're so interested in puffing up the author and making the author look special, so to speak, that they're not really focused on the person they should be, which is their reader, their customer or their client.

So for the most part, books, no.

And I say that not in a dismissive sense, because if you've been in our More Than Money world headquarters, you will rapidly notice there are books everywhere, hundreds and thousands of books.

And, yeah, I've read probably 85% or 90% of them and still do, just a part of who I am.

But I'm also a writer and when I write on a monthly basis, what I write is in your hands.

If you're wise, you're receiving all of my writings by e-mail.

They're in your hands in hours.

If you're receiving by snail mail, you know, weeks, months, eons, we don't know.

But by electron, which is - thousands of you get my writings by e-mail very quickly - very fresh, very specific, very timely.

Books take so long to publish that by the time a book that was written in September of last year, so six months or so ago, commenting on the rules that affect IRAs, is completely out of date because the rules changed on January 1st.

Could not have known that.

So you buy fresh, crack that spine, open it up.

"Hey, and now I know what I'm talking about."

No, you really don't know.

You really don't.

So, book - no.

How do average people stay informed in such a way that they understand what needs to be done and understand how these things work, even the complicated ones?

In general, they work with a trusted, experienced financial advisor who communicates well.

By the way, those things don't always come together.

There are lots of financial advisors.

I have had the privilege over a 780-year career of knowing hundreds, maybe thousands, and some incredibly smart, incredibly talented, incredibly insightful, terrible communicators.

Some great communicators, not that bright, not that insightful, not that up to date.

So they don't always come in a package, but having the package of trusted, experienced, knowledgeable and good communicator, and when I say good, everybody is a little bit different, so how I communicate with you apparently you appreciate.

I guarantee you there are folks who have seen my show who have turned it off after five or six minutes.

And I get it.

"I don't get the guy.

I don't care what he says.

"I don't understand what he says.

"I'm not sure I like how he says it."

Understandably.

Everybody's a little different.

So you've got to find one smart, indeed etc, but communicates in a way that you're comfortable with, because I am here to tell you, yes, you are correct, there are complicated challenges in the financial world.

There are complicated investment strategies, there are complicated estate planning strategies.

These are challenges, but they're not so complicated that a normal person can't understand, given the right support, given the right communication.

So from where I stand, is there a certain book?

No.

Is there a certain magazine?

Certainly not.

Is there a certain relationship?

The answer's yes.

And it's the relationship you have with a trusted advisor that communicates in a way that allows you to understand comfortably in your own fashion, in your own way, at your own pace, to your own benefit.

I hope that helped a little.

Megan, can we help somebody else?

- I think so.

All your e-mails tonight are starting off very flattering.

This one says, You seem to have a handle on lots of things, and we guess you've helped lots of people retire.

My husband and I are both looking to retire at the end of next year.

We've never been retired, and the thought is pretty unsettling to us.

Is there one or two things we can focus on that will give us some peace while we're getting our ducks in a row?

- One or two things that will give you peace.

The answer is yes.

First of all, you're absolutely right.

Lots of folks... And, yes, the feeling is very unsettling for a lot of folks, because - and I think you've said it very well - you've never been retired.

You don't know what to expect.

Right now, you get a paycheck and you've probably been getting a paycheck for decades and, for the last couple of decades, direct deposit.

You don't have to think about how you get money in your bank account.

A lot of your bills are probably paid on autopilot.

You don't have to think about all that kind of stuff.

There's a lot of things that have been automatic for you in your working life.

There are lots of things that will be automatic for you in your retired life as well.

You just have not been exposed to them.

You have not experienced them, you haven't tried it on, you haven't looked behind the curtain.

So, a couple of things, yes, sit now, don't wait till next year.

Sit now with an advisor, sit now with someone that you trust, maybe a good friend, maybe someone from your church, someone that has retired recently.

It could be an advisor, could be a friend, could be an associate.

It could be someone again from your church, and just say, We're kinda unsettled.

How has it gone?

What have been your challenges and how have you met them?

That's a really good way to kind of get a feel for what you should expect.

Most of your uncertainty, your anxiety is based on you don't know.

Ignorance creates fear, and understandably so.

That's the way we are wired.

So, number one, get a peek into your future with someone who has been there, either someone who has helped thousands retire or someone who recently retired that you trust.

Number two, I think one of the key financial issues is budget.

How much do you need on a monthly basis so that your bills are paid and you're happy and healthy?

How much do you need?

It is not a rule of thumb.

It is not a, Hey, somebody can tell you that.

It's you specifically.

And there are lots of advisors who use rules of thumb.

They say, Hey, whatever you're making, you're going to spend 70% of that in retirement.

I have found that to be false probably more often than it is true.

People have certain tendencies.

Some people naturally spend what they make.

"Hey, my salary is 80,000."

"What do you spend?"

"About 80,000."

Some people naturally spend way less than they make.

That's just their nature.

"I make 80.

I live on 38.

"I'm very comfortable, I'm very happy."

And others, sadly, spend way more than they make.

So you've got to get a good handle on who are you and what is your budget, because you may find, as an example, if you and your husband have been working for many, many years, that your Social Security combine might be 5,000 or 6,000 bucks a month.

What if you did your budget and found out that your budget is 4,000 a month?

Wow.

Wouldn't your anxiety kind of melt away pretty quickly?

You've got way more money coming in before you touch your investments than you actually spend.

What if you have a pension that adds to it?

What if?

What if?

What if it's the opposite?

What if there's a gap?

And now you need to get a handle on how much of your investments need to spin off on a monthly basis so that you can pay your bills, be happy and be healthy.

So talking to somebody to give you a peek into the future, getting a handle on your budget now is a really, really important piece of the puzzle.

And then the other thing I would strongly encourage you to do is think carefully about what you will do in retirement.

We see so many success stories, and for some it's they work part time and they have a ball.

For some, they play golf five or six times a week and they have a ball.

For some they volunteer.

For some it is a combination.

For some they travel.

The answer isn't important.

What's important is that if it's you, that it fits you and that you're comfortable that that's going to be fulfilling in your retirement.

So those are just a couple of keys, a couple of tips.

I hope that gives you a little less anxiety, a little less stress, hopefully.

And of course, stay in touch.

It's what we do.

We are the guides.

You are behind us on the path.

We have guided many people down this path and will continue to do so and happy to do it.

You'll do fine.

You'll be great.

Speaking of great, Megan, you're pretty great.

What do you have back there for me?

- Thank you.

You're pretty great, too.

We have a 401(k) question next.

It says.

My 401(k) has over $400,000.

I am 53 and thinking I'll likely retire at 65.

That's a long time to watch my 401(k) go up and down, mostly down, without having a handle on it.

I'm wondering, will a financial advisor be able to manage this for me and how would that work?

- Yeah, it's a very fair question.

And a year or two ago, I would have said, You're kind of stuck.

401(k)s generally have a menu, some a smorgasbord.

Wonderful!

From stem to stern, everything you can think of at your fingertips, so that constructing a financial plan, an investment portfolio, is very easy, because you have all the parts, all the ingredients to construct a really effective plan that over the next 12 years or so should serve you well.

Others are the opposite.

They have a fairly limited number of options, you really feel kind of hamstrung.

And then the real question becomes, are you a cork in the ocean?

Are you just kind of bobbing your investments or in a certain allocation, recipe, structure?

And now what?

The reality is that that's not an effective way to manage a portfolio.

It should be monitored, it should be adjusted, and it should be done roughly on a quarterly basis.

Again, a year ago, you would have been in rare company if your 401(k) plan offered advice.

There are more plans now offering advice, but still not a majority, not by a long stretch.

Recently, a year or so, technology has been developed that will allow a financial advisor to manage your 401(k).

In the vast majority of cases that we've bumped into, 401(k) plans connect with the technology.

It allows the financial advisor to have direct access to the plan, review all the investments, make all the adjustments, in other words, effectively manage your entire investment portfolio.

$400,000, a huge sum of money.

Can do it for you.

For you.

So assuming that you're comfortable having a financial advisor do that for you, assuming that you are of a mind that you would see value in having that happen, most financial advisors charge a fee for that, as they often do in charging fees for investing any investment portfolio.

But the fees in general are pretty darn reasonable and can give you that peace of mind of knowing that you are maximizing the results.

12 years is a long time.

The opportunity to do very, very well versus the opportunity to do just OK might be a difference of 2% or 3% or 4% a year, and 2%, 3%, 4% on this sum of money, we're talking about $8,000, $12,000, $16,000 or more a year potentially accruing to your benefit over 12 years, an extra $250,000 when you retire.

Would that be useful?

I think it absolutely could be.

But again, you will need to connect with a financial advisor who has access to the technology, connect your 401(k) with that advisor and then work on a quarterly basis.

Have those conversations, make sure it's being monitored and adjusted.

I think you're going to end up doing really well.

You've saved a ton already.

You've got a ways to go.

You're going to be a millionaire in retirement.

I have every prayer for you.

I think you're going to do really, really well.

Speaking of really, really well, we've covered a lot of ground thanks to you.

You make us the most relevant financial show on TV today, because it's all about you, and we're so proud to be able to serve you each and every week here on PBS39.

If you have enjoyed our show, we thank you for that, and hopefully you'll be so motivated that you will wish to be part of the show.

Send us your questions, your concerns.

Gene@askmtm.com works very, very well.

You'll have our entire staff and team at your service answering your questions back to you, even the silly ones, even the ones you think are silly that we know are very important, even the hard ones.

There's lots of those.

But we answer all your questions back to you.

Just send us your e-mail.

Thank you so much for sharing part of your evening with us.

We hope you are so inspired to return next week, when we're back with another episode right here of More Than Money.