Accurate Solutions (02/01/26)

The following is paid for by accurate solutions. Information on the program is intended to solely further the public's general knowledge about the product. Opinions expressed should not be relied upon for any purpose by any member of the audience. News Radio KDK does not guarantee the accuracy of any of the information aired on the following program. Blueprints. They're not just plans, but a step-by-step guide for success. Blueprints make up the floor plan of your forever home. Blueprints are the designed essence of your dream car. Maybe you could have a drawn-out purpose for your money. Kirk Canotic and Ethan Lane are here to discuss your blueprint for a better tomorrow. This is your retirement blueprint. Welcome to Your Retirement Blueprint with Kurt Kinotic and Ethan Lane of Accurate Solutions Group. You can always go to the website to learn more. ASG Retire.com. I'm Mark Elliott. Kurt, Ethan, and the team are here to help you figure out where you are on that retirement. It's right in the title of the show, Your Retirement Blueprint, Income, Investment, Taxes, Healthcare, Legacy Planning, a lot going on. Social Security Medicare, a lot of decisions you have to make. Kurt and Ethan and the team are here to help walk you through your situation. Do you have enough? Do you not have enough? And if you don't have enough, how do you figure out how to get enough? And if you do have enough, then what should you do? Can you do anything you want to? Well, everybody's limited to some degree. But really it's about having a plan knowing where you are. Hey, can we take that trip? Yes. Can we take that trip this year? Maybe next year. So it's really about planning. It's really about your situation because if you have enough income month after month for as long as you live, The stress levels go way down. If you're not sure, boy, if you're living and dying with the market, that's a tough way to go through retirement. So really the idea is have a plan, and the retirement blueprint at Accurate Solutions Group can certainly take care of a lot of those question marks you have because you're going to get some clarity without question. 412, 515, 3355, no cost to you. Guys, welcome to the show. And as we look ahead to 2026, it's interesting. We're going to talk about the market. Right out of the gate. And there's kind of some disagreement on where we are in the market. Basically, the average American seems to be cynical. while a lot of the analysts are predicting a big year for stock. So we're going to talk about that. So, Kurt, I guess before we get into the numbers, where do you think this disagreement comes from the public versus the financial wizards? I'll tell you. And it's so hard. I can't predict the market. No one can predict. Now, we can have a good indication based on fundamentals. And I think, Mark, we're the district. where it comes from his emotions. The retail investor, the average consumer is looking and reacting emotionally where the investment professionals are looking at technical and fundamental analysis and they're looking at.

the plan or the numbers to determine what the outcome for this market may be. But there's also, I mean, if you think about it, there's so much noise out there, headlines and politics and social media. You know, there's Trump wanting to take over Greenland and now he doesn't and now they haven't agree. There's so much going on and emotion sell, fear sells, and marketers know that. And that's one of the advantages when you have a financial professional, when you have someone you work with. They take the emotions out of things. Your emotions, believe it or not, don't matter. Our emotions don't matter. It's the plan that matters and having a proper plan in place so that regardless of what happens. I expect a good year this year in the markets for a lot of different reasons that we might get into. But if that doesn't happen, having that plan in place, make sure that that doesn't matter. You know, your paycheck's coming in. You have a plan in place, and that plan has mitigated that risk. I think it was good that President Trump had a break for four years because we're kind of overloaded in the first term. Then we went four years of not even knowing what was happening anywhere in our government. We didn't even know if the president was actually presiding, basically. Then we go back to Trump and then it's just take a break. Take a break, Don. Take a break. Go play some golf and let us enjoy our lives a little bit. So it's certainly different in how things have gone the previous four years to now. Trump, we're going to year two, though. We're making progress. He does a lot. And he is not afraid to make the other side go crazy. That is for sure. So stock market, because Trump, we know, is huge about the economy, right? The first term. Oh, the greatest economy we've ever seen during his term. And he's a salesman. Remember that. He's a real estate salesman. That's what he does. And that's how he acts as a president, too. Everything's the greatest and the best and the big beautiful bill and all that. But. He is big on the economy. He wants the economy to be good. He wants us to have money. That's a positive. So, Ethan, I guess we know the president wants the economy to be good. And then we know the other side will be saying the economy's not good. So the professionals like you guys at Accurate Solutions Group have a pretty optimistic feel for the markets. I guess why is that? Yeah. I mean, there's a lot good going on. The AI boom that we're in is leading to a lot of spending. That improves the economy, that improves the stock market condition. And a lot of people think that's going to continue. Secondly, maybe the Fed continues to cut rates, which would be favorable for the stock market. We've seen them cut rates in 2025. Maybe in 2026, it looks like they might be. At least they're getting some pressure to cut rates. And if they do, that's favorable for the stock market. And then tax breaks are expected to provide a tail win for the stock market as well. So all this has really led to some analysts forecasting anywhere from maybe eight to double digit returns in the S&P 500 for the next year. And we're coming off of three straight double digit years in the stock market. So there is some tailwinds pushing us forward. So there's a lot of reasons to be optimistic about where the market's headed. So, Kurt, when it comes to investing in retirement, are you seeing any trends that you might?

maybe stand out more so than others this year? Yeah, I mean, there is an increased emphasis on diversification, but true diversification. So not just amongst sectors, but different asset classes and even mark, even geographic regions. You know, again, diversification is to manage that risk. There's also a growing interest in, believe it or not, sustainable and responsible investing. Some retirees, now in our area, probably not so much, but some retirees want their portfolios position that. that will reflect their values. And retirees are seeking strategies that balance the growth, income, and preservation. We call that having your retirement blueprint, your retirement house structured properly, having assets in the foundation that are going to generate income regardless of what the markets are doing, having assets on the first floor, second floor up in the attic of the house, the higher up the house, the higher the risk. But if you bucket those assets properly, you are positioning yourself so that no matter what the market does, you're going to be taken care of it. And that's critically important. That's one of the things we do with your retirement blueprint. We will show you, if you have a current retirement home, so to speak, is your house structured properly? Is your house built on sand? Do you not have a foundation? If you have a foundation, do you have too much? Are you being too conservative or are you being too aggressive? having a retirement blueprint that takes that into consideration, looking at cash flow and income, looking at being tax efficient with that income, planning for health care, unexpected health care expenses, and planning for the legacy. Those are all the areas we focus on in your retirement blueprint. And if that is not something you've gone through, 412 5153355. That's our phone number. Give us a call. We can schedule a virtual meeting and in an office consultation. We can begin your own retirement blueprint based upon your circumstance, your life, your numbers. But take that first step. Call us at 412-515335. But you're with us today for your retirement blueprint with Kurt and Ethan from Accurate Solutions Group. And if you're just joining us, we're taking a look at some stock market predictions for 2026. And Ethan, I guess at the end of the day, because it's always one of the challenges, I think, for retirees, is growth versus a more protected portfolio. So you have money at risk, money that's pretty much the floor of your house, the guaranteed income like Social Security and pensions and those kind of things. How should have retirees approach the growth that we need, but also thinking about caution? Well, you really need to have a balance heading into retirement. There's a lot of people that have a risk of being too conservative. I was just talking to someone just the other day who was referred to our firm. He said, all my money's been in cash. I'm a business owner, and I've never really trusted the stock market. And that's surprising to hear because the stock market over time has always gone up. When the market has come down, it's always recovered. So it's hard to not trust the stock market over time.

But you don't want to be overconfident in the stock market and leave too much of your money in the market, especially when you're retired and making withdrawals from your accounts. Like Kurt said, our approach is building up a foundation for income. That way when the market does go down, and sometimes it will. Even when you're retired, if you're taking cash flow from those investments and you're realizing losses, then you're locking in those losses just to get the income that you need. So we don't want to be overconfident in the market. But you also don't want to be too cautious and put everything in the foundation or everything in the bank because you could lead to a loss in purchasing power to inflation. So you have to have a balance portfolio, really the right mix of stocks, bonds, alternative investments that can help manage volatility while supporting your long-term goals in retirement. And one other tip is don't react. emotionally to headlines. It's important that retirees stay focused on what your plan needs are, what your goals are, and make adjustments only after careful review. There's no knee-jerk reactions. We don't say, hey, the markets are at an all-time high. It's time to go to cash. It's time to protect it. Or the markets are headed for a downturn. Or so people think, never make those knee-jerk reactions. It's all about having a well-thought-out and balanced plan. So, Kurt, obviously, Ethan said the markets have been good the last three years. I think up 17 to 23 percent in those three years. So the markets have been good. But we certainly remember, you can even go clear back to 1987 Black Monday, but the dot-com bubble bursting early 2000, great recession of 08, COVID 2020, and then 2022 when stocks and bonds both went down, only the third time in the calendar year that's ever happened. So what's one of the most important pieces of advice you have for investors navigating a volatile market? Because there's no guarantee it's always going to go up. No, and there's going to be a caveat to this, but the first thing I would say is stay invested. Now, when I say stay invested, that's making a big assumption that you're working with someone or if you're a do-it-yourself or you have positioned your assets properly for emergency needs. That savings for short-term cash flows. We always recommend, Mark, three to four years of income needs in a cash or a cash equivalent bucket so that you can stay invested with the balance of those assets because you can't time the market. It is impossible. Warren Buffett has said it over and over again. With the money that is invested for long-term growth out of your assets, you need to stay invested and just turn off the news. Don't worry about things because over time, staying invested will always outperform trying to get in and out at the wrong time. I mean, it's impossible. Markets jump and those drops are normal. And the reality is, and I don't know the specific statistics, but... Whenever market drops on the upswing, I think like 60% of all returns are generated on the upswing. And if you had gone to cash because you panicked and you're not back in yet because you don't know the beginning, that's the beginning of the recovery. You're missing out on most of those gains. So stay invested, but stay invested with the caveat that you're properly positioned in the first place.

So if you're listening today and you don't have a financial plan or maybe you find that you, your emotions are subject to what the markets are doing. You're attached to your phone and you have to be checking your account balance every single day. That's when you know your emotions are in, the markets are in control over your emotions. When you're in retirement, that is not what you need. You need a financial plan or a retirement blueprint. that walks through each and every area of retirement. So you don't have to be attached to your phone. You don't have to be attached to the news and get overly emotional about what the stock market is doing because you know you have a plan in place. Our retirement blueprint looks at income planning, investment planning, tax efficient strategies, healthcare planning, and legacy planning to make sure that you have that plan in place for all market conditions, for all seasons of life. But if you're listening and you don't have a plan or maybe you're doing it on your own trying to figure it out, give us a call. Our number is 412-515-335. We're happy to have an initial phone call, see where we can help you. And if we'd like to have an in-person meeting or a Zoom meeting, we can follow up with your own retirement blueprints. Again, that number is 412-515335. So when you think about the market, are you cynical or are you optimistic? And that's what we're going to talk about when we come back. Not the market specifically, but overall retirement optimism. That's where we're going next. Right here on your retirement blueprint with Kurt Konodick and Ethan Lane with accurate solutions. We're back right after this.

Call Accurate Solutions Group today to see if they can help you keep your money where it belongs. Out of the garbage and in your pocket, 412 515335. That's 412 5153355. Imagine, it's the biggest game of the year and your team does not have a coach. They don't even have a game plan. You probably aren't feeling very good about their chances. When you don't prepare, things usually don't turn out very well. So make sure you're prepared for one of the biggest financial decisions of your life. Retirement. Do you have a coach? What about a plan? Get prepared for retirement by calling 412-5153.35 and having financial advisors, Kurt Knotik and Ethan Lane, at Accurate Solutions Group, create your retirement playbook. They'll help you think through taxes, income, legacy planning, and more, and when you're done, you'll have a customized game plan for retirement that you can feel confident in. Start preparing today with Pittsburgh's retirement coaches, Kirk Knotic and Ethan Lane, at Accurate Solutions Group. Call 412-5-35, that's 415. 412 5153355. Firm does not provide tax and or legal advice. Investment Advisory Service is offered through ASG Investment Management LLC. Hello, everyone. This is Ethan Lane from Accurate Solutions Group. Just wanted to let you know that you can now take our show with you on the go. Your retirement blueprint podcast is now available to stream on Apple Podcast, Google Podcast, and Spotify. Simply log on, search for your retirement blueprint, and enjoy. Also, feel free to click the subscribe button to get alerts on our weekly episode release. Again, thanks for tuning in. Without further delay, enjoy the rest of the show.

And I've had conversations like that quite a bit lately to say, hey, this one trip is fine, maybe another trip of the same size next year for the next couple of years. Let's see if your plan is impacted. And we're able to show that out pretty clearly through the retirement blueprint. This is your retirement blueprint with Kurt Knotic, Ethan Lane, and co-host Mark Elliott. Welcome back to your retirement blueprint with Kurt Canoting and Ethan Lane with Accurate Solutions Group. Again, I'm Mark Kelly. Glad you are with us. If you want to find out more, you can always go to the website, ASGretire.com. Accurate Solutions Group, ASG retire.com. You can always call them, as we've said, no cost to chat with them. About anything we've talked about already or what we're going to talk about now, we're talking about longevity for the next couple segments. A big factor in retirement planning. 412.513. 55, 412, 515, 3355. So, Kurt, when you think about longevity, it's one of the things that I think when you and Ethan and the team at Accord Solutions Group put plans together for people, there's a couple big unknowns. One, how long we're going to be here. Two, if we're going to have any health issues or somebody in our family will have health issues. Those are the two unknowns. And professionals are calling it, I don't think you guys are calling this, but you might be. It's a longevity revolution. People are living much longer than previous generations. So I guess if we're going to use that term of longevity revolution, what does that mean for you and your team at Accord Solutions Group, Kurt, when it comes to retirement planning? Yeah, and I can say, and I can probably speak for Ethan as well. I've never used the term longevity revolution, but I understand what we're talking about. And we are living longer today. And I think, Mark, the one thing. You know, if we use an example of if you're 65 today, there's a very real possibility that you could potentially live 25, possibly 30 years, maybe even longer in retirement, but there's something else that's taking place too. And I think Ethan and I have both seen this with individuals who either are referred to us or listening to the radio show or come through one of our educational workshops. People are retiring in their late 50s to early 60s. So couple both of those things. We're living a lot longer, but we're also retiring earlier than what we thought we were going to. It's not unrealistic that some people may spend close to 40 years in retirement. And that's a big deal. I mean, it's a wonderful thing. But you got to plan for it. You got to save more. You have to factor in inflation for a longer period of time. There's a lot of things you really have to address. So it's not just a matter of having a big bucket of money to spend. You've got to figure out how do you spend it? How do you allocate for growth and how do you allocate for income and how do you allocate for those unexpected medical expenses, which will absolutely happen in retirement? You know, when you mentioned 65 years old, there's a couple really interesting stats, I think, and there's always stats and people that do surveys, all that. But it says if you've made it to 65, you're likely to live past 75. But really, now they're predicting if you hit 65, more than likely the majority of men are going to get to the age of 84.

and women 86, but 50% of people will actually live much longer than that. So that's kind of like the minimum. If you're 65, you look at another 20 years, basically, but more than likely you're going to live longer than that. Here's the crazy one. Kurt, we talked about this a long time ago when we were talking centenarians, those were hitting 100. The number of Americans age 90 or older, nearly tripled between 1980 and 2010, and they're expecting that number to triple again by 2040. I know. That's, I mean, that is something you have to plan for. I still have clients coming in and we do review and we'll get through their retirement blueprint and we'll show them they're planning to age 100. And they're like, oh my gosh, I'm never going to make it that long. And we have clients. approaching that age who are still active. That's not everyone, but you got to really take that into consideration for sure. So with that being said, then, Ethan, does that mean that, all right, when do we retire at 60, if you have the younger groups that are retiring? Or me at 65, if I retire, that I might be retired for 30 years. That means I better stay pretty aggressive with my investing, I guess. I don't know. How do you look at that? Yeah, I mean, you definitely need to stay aggressive on a portion of a client's investments for sure. We want to leave money in the market for long-term growth. That's typically one of the very best ways to outpace what inflation can eat away at your budget. But. We really want to find the appropriate balance between growth and preservation. And that varies. We don't have a set rule of thumb where everyone who comes into the office is going to have like a 60, 40 stock to bond portfolio. We don't believe in that for every single person. It's all about a client's need for income. You know, if they have a larger need for income in retirement, probably going to position them a little more conservative so they can get cash flow from more stable investments. But it also depends on a client's tolerance for risk. Have they been through ups and downs of the markets? Have they paid attention? Do they panic? What's their tolerance for risk, so to speak? And that's part of our blueprint process is figuring out both of those things, the capacity to take on risk and their attitude towards risk. And that's how we determine the... the balance between risk and reward. And factoring in longevity, I mean, I think this is a wonderful segment we're doing today talking about longevity because it is a blessing, but it is something that has to be planned for. And a lot of advisors are still under that old model where they might be planning for 20 or 25 years and doing Monte Carlo simulations and all these different things. And you have to take it a step further. So if you're listening today and either you're a do-it-yourselfer, or you don't have an advisor, you just have a 401k, or you have an advisor, and they're not talking to you about longevity and how we offset inflation for 30, 35, 40 years, how we grow those assets, how we preserve some of those assets for those unexpected health care expenses, which will absolutely happen in retirement. Call us at 412, 515, 3355.

That's our phone number. When you call, we can either schedule just a phone call. We can schedule a virtual meeting, a vision meeting here in our Butler Township location. We're conveniently located between Butler and Evan City, right on Route 68. You can always get in touch with us that way. But 412-5153355 is our phone number. We'd love to talk to you. So, Ethan, then how do you help people find the balance? You know, I imagine it really starts at your discovery meeting, the vision meeting, right? You're trying to get a feel for what they want to do and how they want to spend their time in retirement because you've got to have them spending at a level that aligns with what their needs are, their goals are, and obviously it comes down to the available resources. Yeah, absolutely. And so that's part of our vision meeting is really we're going to have about 45 minutes to an hour, just having a conversation with people and really getting to know what their situation is. What are their dreams? What do they want to do in retirement? Have they been holding back on travel because they've been busy with work or afraid to spend the money? You know, is it possible to travel more in retirement? We tell people all the time. Your spending habits are not going to change in retirement. If they do, they're likely going to increase. You're probably going to spend more once you're retired because you have the free time. Every day is a Saturday in retirement, and that's when we tend to spend the most money. So we want to help a client figure out what are their typical spending habits and how much could they actually spend? How much have they saved and how will that allow them to maybe spend more than they ever thought they could? So that's part of our retirement blueprint planning process. First and foremost for us is income planning, figuring out what a client spends, how much do they want to spend in retirement, how much can they afford to spend? Maybe we can show them that they can spend more than they even thought. That's part one that's income planning. Then we combine that with investment planning. Once we figure out with a client how much they want to spend and can spend, that's when we look at their investments and start structuring those buckets that Kurt mentioned. Bucket number one. for more guaranteed income in retirement. Bucket number two, for a more moderate risk with some growth. Bucket number three, more long-term growth protecting against longevity. But you have to have a plan. And planning is in advance. We want to plan years in advance of retirement. So if you're listening today and you don't have a plan, you don't have an income plan for retirement, give us a call it 412-515. 3355, we'll be able to begin starting a retirement blueprint that's completely customized to you in your situation. What are your goals? What are your dreams? We want to help you accomplish those. Again, our number is 412-515-33-55. So we're talking about the challenge of longevity when you're trying to figure out, all right, how long is our money going to last? Is it going to last as long as we're going to be here? Well, we don't know how long we're going to be here. That becomes a challenge. Kurt and Ethan are the team here to help. 412-515335 more of your retirement blueprint with Kurt and Ethan from Accurate Solutions Group right after this. Don't let taxes derail your retirement. Visit AccurateRadio.com today and discover many warning signs that you are paying more than your fair share to Uncle Sam. That's AccurateRadio.com.

Have you saved enough? What are you going to do with Social Security? What will your taxes look like in retirement? Kurt Knotic and Ethan Lane at Accurate Solutions Group believe retirement planning should be easy and you should be able to get all the information you need in one place. That's why Kurt and Ethan's team created the Your Retirement Kit, a comprehensive resource for your retirement. In it, you'll find a copy of the Retirement Income Planning booklet. This booklet will help guide you through retirement with insight on taxes. Social Security, income, and more. To get a copy of your retirement kit, text Kit to 412-5155. In addition to the booklet, you'll also receive updated resources on some of retirement's most common concerns. Help simplify your retirement planning. Claim your retirement kit from Kurt Knotic and Ethan Lane now by texting Kit to 412 515-335. Investment Advisory Service is offered through ASG Investment Management LLC. The following is paid for by Accurate Solutions. This is your retirement blueprint with Kurt Knotic, Ethan Lane, and co-host Mark Elliott. Glad you're with us today for your retirement blueprint with Kurt Kinotic and Ethan Lane with Accurate Solutions Group. I'm Mark Elliott. Again, if you have questions, it's 412-515-33-55. We're talking about longevity. We don't know how long we're to be here. We don't know if we're going to have health issues. So there's a lot going on. There's a lot of things maybe we have to think more about than we did while we're working. Where's our income going to come from? Are we taking too much risk, not enough risk with our investments? Tax is a huge thing when you get to retirement. Health care, long-term care, legacy planning, all that stuff. Social Security Medicare. There's a lot going on. If you have questions about any or all, 412, 515, 3355. All right, we're talking about longevity. And certainly, I think the stats are pretty impressive. If you made it, the stat is that if you made it to 65, you're likely to live past 77, all the way to 84 for men, 86 for women, but 50% of people will actually live even longer than that. And the crazy stat is a number of Americans age 90 year old or nearly tripled between 1980 and 2010, and that number is expected to triple again. by 2040. So, Ethan, during the break, we're talking about the Justin Timberlake movie with Amanda Seafreed, I think, Olivia Wilde. She's really pretty. But Justin Timberlake, this is a 2011 movie in time. And I don't know if you guys, you guys haven't seen it, I don't believe, right? I think I've seen it. It's like my movie, though. It's kind of like in a wild New York where they, like, cut off people from getting to one section or another, but it's kind of crazy. But they actually can look at their wrist. They know how much time they have left in their life. So you could die at 25. I think 25 was the end date. And then you had to do things to get more time. So they actually knew their end date. People would be walking down the street, looking at their wrist, trying to figure out what to do, and then they just topple over. I remember. Yeah, that movie came out while I was working at the movie theater. Yeah, it was 2011. 2011. Yeah. And so.

I would doubt you have very many people come in that have the timeline for their life on their wrist, right? Because that'd be easier. If you knew when somebody was going to, if they came in and you said, hey, I need a plan. It looks like I'm going to live to 77 and 6 months or 93 and two months. That would be an easier way to plan. You don't know that, though, do you, Ethan? No, and you know what? A specific example came to my mind while you were talking about that. I met with a woman who came in and she was told she was terminally ill. And that was her first time coming in to see us. And she said, I don't have much time left at all. I just want to make sure my investments are positioned fine. That was about three or four years ago. And she's been a client ever since. You know, so even when she came in and she thought she knew her timeline, her timeline was able to be extended. She's doing very well now. So you just never know. We want to plan for longevity, no matter the situation. So, Kurt, there's no doubt when people come in now because of, you know, you mentioned in the last segment talking to people and say, hey, we're going to try to get you to 100. I'm never going to live that long. And I think it's one of the things you probably have to overcome a little bit. But what else can people do to help ensure that their money does last what really could be a long retirement? I mean, we hope for that. We all know that there's exceptions to that rule. But you'd rather not say, well, Kurt, I'm not going to live past 80. Okay, well, I'll have your money end at 80. And now you're 81. You got issues. Yeah, and we used to tell people, well, one of the first things you can do is just work longer. Now, I will say this. Very, I mean, people don't embrace that recommendation too much, but maybe not working. full-time longer, but I have many, I mean, probably a majority of my clients who retire end up working part-time, whether it's just to get out, whether it's to stay active socially or physically, depending on the job, just to keep their mind active. So working even part-time in retirement, because retirement is different than it was 30, 40, 50 years ago. So working can be one being efficient with every dollar. I mean, minimizing investment fees is important, and we've talked about that on many other shows. We can always do that in the future, but fees are important. There's nothing wrong with paying a fee, but understand what you're paying and is there value, and how does that fee compare to other services being offered? Taxes is a big thing, additional costs. One thing we do all the time, Mark, and I recommend this for anyone listening today. optimize your social security benefits. Ethan and I do not work for the Social Security Administration. We're not employed by the federal government, but we are smart enough to know that maximizing Social Security can make a big difference in your retirement. Allow us to do a maximization analysis for you. There's no cost. There's no obligation. call the office 412515335, and we can do that maximization analysis. All those different factors, though, can really get a long way to helping ensure your money lasts as long as possible. So, Ethan, here's one, and I am 65, as I've said several times. Well, I didn't say it last year.

Well, no, I would have because I didn't hit 65 until November of last year. But I'm 65. But I have a coworker. Both of her and I graduated in 1977 from high school. But as a reminder, she's several months older than I am. So she's much older. She did what Kurt is talking about. She kind of wants to retire, but is a little nervous about it. So she went from a 40-hour work week to 30. And she did that for like, I don't know, nine months probably. Okay, so she went from 40 hours to 30. So she lost, I think she lost vacation time on that one. She still had all the benefits and everything, but she didn't have vacation time. Well, now she has started the 20-hour work week because she's 65, so she doesn't care about health care anymore because now she just moved it all to Medicare. And so it depends on your age and kind of what you can do, I suppose. Do you have many people that do that just kind of? I like that idea. I'm not ready to do that yet, but I like that idea of just cutting back a little bit. I do like that. Yeah, absolutely. You're kind of like dipping your toe into retirement. You're just scaling back your hours, scaling back your income a little bit. That also helps you judge how much income you can live on. You know, if you scale back your income and you say, wow, that was, I can't live within that. That helps you be more realistic with your spending. But it gives you the freedom and flexibility to have a little more free time, figure out what you're going to do with all that free time when you fully retire. There's a lot of benefits if your work will allow you to scale back. Mark, but you mentioned your 65. So it's good to know we'll have our co-host here for another 20 years, right? Exactly. Yeah, you have a good chance to make it to 84. Yeah. You know, if you scale back to just our show, that'd be great. Maybe I'll hit 80. I'll just do yours then. Yeah, there we go. Perfect. We can still make it work. But if you're listening today and you're not sure of when you want to retire, you're not sure how you're going to retire, are you going to scale back or you're just going to fully retire? Maybe you don't have a plan at all yet. Maybe you're just a little bit away from retirement and you don't have a plan. Give us a call. 412, 515, 3355. We'll start a retirement blueprint that's totally customized to you in your situation, your income needs, your investment savings, and your tax situation. Give us a call. Again, that number is 412. So I guess at the end of the day, Ethan, and you've been doing this now over a decade. Kurtz been doing it a long time, started the company in 1994. But you can't go, you can't get into your financial jargon when you're talking to people. You've got to keep it fairly simplified. You know, the old, you know, what would a fourth grader think or whatever, or the law of 11? If an 11-year-old can understand it, then we can understand it kind of a thing. How do you simplify this process so it's not so overwhelming? Yeah, I mean, we really spend a lot of time making sure we're able to articulate it well. And I spent 10 years ago, over 10 years ago, and I started with Kurt, that was one of the primary things he was teaching me is, Ethan, yes, you need to know the details. You need to know the ins and outs of how all this works, but you also need to know how to explain it to everybody so that they get it. And I think that's a great part of the retirement blueprint is we break it down in a way that people understand it. We start with what's important to them and work from there.

so that they know are their goals are being achieved. We know exactly what their concerns are. And we can articulate it in a way that makes it simple. We talk in buckets. You know, we talk bucket number one, bucket number two, bucket number three. We have pivot accounts, you know, red zone accounts, things like that that just make it simple for people so that they understand where income can come from. Yeah, and if you're listening today and maybe you have an advisor or maybe you're doing some stuff online yourself, and all you hear is Monte Carlo simulations and standard deviation and beta and alpha. You know, you hear all these terms and you wonder, how does that pertain to what I'm doing? Proper asset allocation and, you know, stock options, puts and calls. That's not how we talk here. We understand that. And that's... That's what we do as advisors, but our job is to convert that language into language that makes sense. If you do not have a plan in place, like your retirement blueprint, if you haven't factored in five key areas for retirement, which is income planning, proper investment allocation, taxes, healthcare, and legacy planning, and have done that in just normal terms that are easy to understand. That's what we can help walk you through. Simply call us at 412-515335. Again, that's 412-5-1-35. Thanks for being with us today for your retirement blueprint with Kurt and Ethan from Accurate Solutions Group. We've got another segment to go. Stay with us. We're going to wrap it all up. right after this. Visit AccurateRadio.com and put your portfolio to the test with our checklist challenge. You can also check out our other offers from Accurate Solutions Group. That's AccurateRadio.com. Have you saved enough? What are you going to do with Social Security? What will your taxes look like in retirement? Kurt Knotic and Ethan Lane at Accurate Solutions Group believe retirement planning should be easy and you should be able to get all the information you need in one place. That's why Kurt and Ethan's team created the Your Retirement Kit, a comprehensive resource for your retirement. In it, you'll find a copy of the Retirement Income Planning booklet. This booklet will help guide you through retirement with insight on taxes. Social Security, income, and more. To get a copy of your retirement kit, text Kit to 412-5155. In addition to the booklet, you'll also receive updated resources on some of retirement's most common concerns. Help simplify your retirement planning. Claim your retirement kit from Kurt Knotic and Ethan Lane now by texting Kit to 412 515-335. Investment Advisory Service is offered through ASG Investment Management LLC. Hello, everyone. This is Ethan Lane from Accurate Solutions Group. Just wanted to let you know that you can now take our show with you on the go.

Your Retirement Blueprint Podcast is now available to stream on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcast, and Spotify. Simply log on, search for your retirement blueprint, and enjoy. Also, feel free to click the subscribe button to get alerts on our weekly episode release. Again, thanks for tuning in. Without further delay, enjoy the rest of the show. This is Your Retirement Blueprint with Kurt Knotic, Ethan Lane, and co-host Mark Elliott. Glad you're with us today for your retirement blueprint with Kurt Kinotic and Ethan Lane of Accurate Solutions Group. Kurt started the company back in 1994. What year did you join, Ethan, 2015? Does that sound right? Yeah, that's right, Mark. 2015 is when I started with Kurt. So I'm going to ask you each one question. Then we're going to kind of have another, we're going to have our third think fast segment. It's totally different questions. It'd be kind of fun. It gives you an insight into Kurt and Ethan as well, so it's kind of fun to do. But I'm going to give you each one kind of. Just general retirement question. And, Kurt, I'm going to ask you about Social Security because, you know, we first were hearing that, boy, 2034, it looks like, you know, you're only going to get 78 cents on the dollar if you're receiving Social Security at that point. Then COVID happened and they moved it up to 2033. Well, they've just now moved it back to 2035 where you're maybe only going to get 78 cents on the dollar. We don't really know how that's going to play out. How do you help people with Social Security? Because this, I think a lot of people just take it by, you know what? I'm going to retire at 62. I'm going to take it. I'm going to retire at 65 because I get Medicare. So I'll start it then. I'm going to wait until full retirement age. I'm going to take it. No, I'm going to take it. I'm going to take it. I'm going to take Social Security. I'm going to make it for a while. It depends. And it literally does depend on so many different factors. You know, if it's a husband and wife and there's a big age gap between the two, well, that comes into play based on your budget. And if you have a pension, that comes into play of when you should claim and time those benefits. Based off of what that monthly budget is going to be and how much you've accumulated in savings, it for retirement comes into play. One of the biggest things I could say is we're happy. 4125-15-355-35. We can do a Social Security maximization analysis. If you text that 412-5153-35, just text Social Security, we're happy to do that for you. But the maximization analysis will look at that particular couple or individual circumstance, look at when they're retiring, what they've accumulated, what their budget's going to be, and it'll help them figure out when to time and claim for those benefits. But it's critical and it's crucial. It can be literally tens of thousands of dollars over your lifetime left either on the table or off the table. And the one thing I will mention, I'm going a little long here on this, but I think it's important. Don't make a decision out of fear.

oftentimes, that's the one thing I can say for all clients. If you're taking it at 62 just because I don't know if it's going to be there and I'm going to take it early, I would caution you against that. I caution you against emotional decisions when it comes to finances and money regardless. Yeah, that's a great point, Kurt. I think, you know, at the end of the day, I'm 64. I'm not worried about my Social Security. It's going to be there because if it's not, they lose by vote and they're out of office. So it's certainly a challenge. Things they're going to do probably to change it. They could move the four retirement age from 67 to 68 or 69. They could take even the early election period, move it from 62 to 63 or 4. When they did that in 1983, it went from 66 to 67 for your full retirement age, born in 1960 or later. That means the oldest of that group that was going to be affected was 23 years of age. Now, will they do something that goes back to people in their 20s? Will it maybe be in their 30s? We don't know. They're going to do, they have to do something with Social Security. is sit down with Kurt and the team at Accurate Solutions Group, figure out where you are. Don't just look at it by, well, I'm retiring now, I'll take it. If you're married, there's a lot of moving parts there. You lose the lower of the two Social Security is when you lose a spouse. So it's a lot bigger than just that. I mean, the average Social Security right now is $1,900. You times that by 30 years and two people, you're well over a million. I think a million, three or something like that in Social Security. that you've received. If you do it 20 years, it's right around a million dollars. So this is a big decision. 412-5153-55 to chat with Kurt and a team at Accurate Solutions Group. Ethan, all right, this is for you. Because the retirement blueprint that you walk people through is income, investment, taxes, health care, legacy planning, Social Security decisions, Medicare decisions. What do you really mean, though, when you start talking about having a retirement income plan? Because Kurt always says that's where it starts. Can't retire without income. We need an income plan. What do you and Kurt mean by that? Yeah, that's a great question because I met with someone the other day. They attended one of our dinner events that we hosted and came in and said, you know what? Coming into the night, I thought I had an income plan. And then when you talked about your income plan, I realized I really didn't have a plan at all. So I started asking them some questions. I said, well, what was your income plan? And they said, well, we have a 401k. She has a 401k. We're just going to take distributions from it. But they realized from our talk that really isn't a plan. You know, you have to understand the tax implications. for which account to withdraw from. If you have joint monies, if you have IRAs or 401ks or Roth monies, you have to come up with a strategy of which to draw from first, from a tax perspective. But you also have to look at your investments, and you don't want to take equally from all investments, because if you have some riskier accounts, when the market's down, they're going to be down the most. You may not want to withdraw from them during those times. You have to be more strategic. The first part of the income plan is what you just talked to Kurt about was Social Security. Have to make sure that we're timing Social Security properly and any fixed sources of income. So next would come to find benefit pensions. If you're still blessed to have one, you have lots of different options. And like Social Security, you get one shot at it. You want to make sure you're claiming it properly. But then after that, you have to look at what you're spending on a monthly basis.

Account for the fun things like travel and dining out and spoiling the grandkids and things like that, see what you spend on a monthly basis and see what the shortfall between fixed income sources like Social Security and pension may be. From there, we have to structure an income plan from your investments. Whether you're a married couple, a single person, we want to look at the tax implications of withdrawals from 401Ks or after tax monies. And then we have to look at the investments that you have in position. certain investments for income and certain investments for growth. Make sure that our client understands the whole way through how that's going to work. So that's the first step of our retirement blueprint is an income plan. I would encourage you to give us a call at 412, 515, 3355. Maybe you're already retired and you have income coming in, but you realize that really isn't a plan and you don't understand how long it's going to last. Call us at 412515335 for your very own retirement blueprint, and the start of that is an income plan. You can even text income to 412-515335. All right, Ethan, I'll start with you on some of these random questions, and it's really just about you. We know that you are much younger than Kurt and I. What are you? Early 30s? Yeah, 31. Yeah, and Kurt and I are not. That's true. So here's my question, because I think your answers will be different. So first, Ethan, then Kurt, you can take this as well. What are the top news sources you check regularly? And, you know, you can always do ESPN and those things for, you know, the pirates and the Steelers and all that kind of stuff. But my guess is let's talk about business-wise. Are there any... websites or whatever that you go to and check regularly? Yeah, I mean, my default tends to be Yahoo Finance. I end up just liking the articles that they post. It tends to be on top of it. They always have the market ticker. So whether it's... Yahoo Finance for those articles or MSNBC for financial type of articles or financial news is a good one as well. So those tend to be the ones I check most frequently, but Yahoo Finance is always on. It's always a tab open on my internet. Okay. Kurt? Yeah, I too, Yahoo Finance when it comes to finance. Wall Street Journal, you know, the online version of the Wall Street Journal, I know that's probably old school, but still. plenty of good content, good information. And when it comes to just news in general, what's interesting is artificial intelligence is just getting into our lives today. And so on Google, I have a Samsung phone. It's an Android phone. As I search different things, whether it's sports, whether it's news, financial, whether it's just world news. It provides me a feed of articles just based off of my search criteria. So it's kind of nice because I don't have to go to any specific site anymore. Yeah, I like that. All right, Kurt, this is for you because I'll start it, my first car, because I'm older than both of you, high school grad of 1977, 64 years of age, soon to be on Medicare. Holy cow. First car, 1966.

VW Beetle. Kurt, what about you? Can't tell you the year, but I can't tell you probably one of the worst decisions I ever made, but it was the greatest decision at the time. Fiat Spider. I had a little Fiat Spider. Yeah, so Italians are really good with wine and really good with food, and I'm Italian, so I'm allowed to be a little critical, but they're not really good with cars and electrical systems within cars. Let's just say that. All right. Ethan, what about you, first car? I tried to find a balance of practical and kind of cool. I had a Honda Accord, but a coupe version. So a little cooler that way. All right, Ethan, your favorite sport as a season ticket holder of the Steelers. Are you still going to be this year? Yes, yeah, coming up to show. I might have an easier time getting rid of tickets than I have in the past couple of years with the new offense and things like that. But, yeah, it's hard for me. I grew up more of a baseball fan, actually. So growing up with the Pirates, they have a sweet spot in my heart. And so this season, especially with the excitement of Paul Skeens and Jared Jay Jones and that pitching staff, I don't know. And right now, probably the Pirates. I'm pretty excited about where we could go. Kurt, what about you? I definitely grew up a Steelers fan, got into hockey when hockey wasn't popular here in the Pittsburgh area. So I was going back to hockey games in 83 and 84, and this is pre-Mario Lemieux. And it was very inexpensive to go. The arena was typically half-filled, if that, food was less expensive. And it was still fun to watch. But I would have to say, out of all the teams right now, I would probably say more of a Pirates fan than anything else. Okay. You know, and you think about it, it's kind of fun, I think, to hear the inside of Kurt and Ethan and kind of things that are kind of away from work and. what they're doing and all of that. We had a fun time for a long time about the mini pig, but we did not let Allie, Ethan's wife, get the mini pig. We moved on from that. So it's kind of fun to hear about their personal lives a little bit as well. And so that's kind of fun. Kurt, I'll let you wrap it all up. And I'm going to give you one more question that you can answer and then you can wrap it all up for us. And that is, Kurt, what is the most important thing you want your clients to know about you and maybe even about your team? I will say this. First of all, I'm a little biased, but I think we have the best. team in the world. We have a super staff, knowledgeable staff. More importantly, they know our clients. Our clients know them. Our clients are not a number to us. They're people with lives. And, you know, Ethan and I are different. I mean, we put our shoes and our pants and our shirts on the same as everyone else. You know, outside of work, you know, I'm driving a truck. I'm going fishing. I'm going up Marionville to camp. And so we're normal people. We talk finance and that's our profession. And we love it. We have a passion for it. but we have a passion for outside of work as well, too, just like everyone else. So if you're listening today and you have a question, you have a concern, you want a plan, you just want a second opinion, we are here to help. You just simply either text or call 412-5-355-35. Again, it's 412-5-15-335.

Visit AccurateRadio.com and put your portfolio to the test with our checklist challenge. You can also check out our other offers from Accurate Solutions Group. That's AccurateRadio.com. Investment advisory services offered through ASG Investment Management LLC. Investing involves risk, including the potential loss of principle, any references to protection, safety, or lifetime income generally refer to fixed insurance products, never securities or investments. Insurance guarantees are backed by the financial strength and claims-paying abilities of the issuing carrier. This radio show is intended for informational purposes only. It is not intended to be used as a sole basis for financial decisions, nor should it be construed as advice designed to meet the particular needs of an individual's situation. Accurate Solutions Group is not permitted to offer a No statement made during this show shall constitute tax or legal advice. Our firm is not affiliated with or endorsed by the U.S. government or any governmental agency. The information and opinions contained herein provided by third parties have it obtained from sources believed to be reliable, but accuracy and completeness cannot be guaranteed by accurate solutions group. This radio show is a paid placement. Have you saved enough? What are you going to do with Social Security? What will your taxes look like in retirement? Kurt Knotic and Ethan Lane at Accurate Solutions Group believe retirement planning should be easy and you should be able to get all the information you need in one place. That's why Kurt and Ethan's team created the Your Retirement Kit, a comprehensive resource for your retirement. In it, you'll find a copy of the Retirement Income Planning booklet. This booklet will help guide you through retirement with insight on taxes, Social Security, Income and more. To get a copy of your retirement kit, text Kit to 412-515335. In addition to the booklet, you'll also receive updated resources on some of retirement's most common concerns. Help simplify your retirement planning. Claim your retirement kit from Kurt Knotic and Ethan Lane now by texting Kit to 412-515-335. Investment Advisory Service is offered through ASG Investment Management LLC. The proceeding was paid for by accurate solutions. Information on the program was intended to solely further the public's general knowledge about the product. Opinions expressed should not be relied upon for any purpose by any member of the audience. News Radio KDK does not guarantee the accuracy of any of the information heard on the proceeding program.