And good evening.

You've got more than money.

You've got Gene Dickison, your host, your personal financial advisor.

And I'm welcoming you to a very special two part more than money, two parts, because we've got two shows that we're going to do today with the live studio audience.

They are, I think, ready to join us and be as, oh, see that?

The thrill, the excitement, it's palpable.

We will have some fun.

But you at home are often we give you some insight tips about what's going on in terms of production producing more than money.

Tonight you get to reverse roles.

You're going to watch me serve the folks that are in our studio audience.

They have asked me some of these questions are fascinating.

Some are obviously intended to put me on the spot.

We'll, we'll deal with those as well.

So as you, spend the next, 26.5 minutes with us, we're going to cover a lot of ground, hopefully answer the questions that you might be interested in.

But if you find something that, not quite fits you, then make sure that you send us your email questions as well.

We answer every single question back to you.

Even the rude ones, even the fun ones, even the simple ones and the hard ones.

Every single question gets answered.

And if you're not getting the answer back to you, check your spam filter.

That's usually the culprit.

So for the next 26 minutes, we're going to be offering as much information to these folks as we can.

So forgive me, just, follow along.

First question from, a gentleman I know quite well.

Do you think Gronk could replace you as host of More Than Money?

Wow.

Was that goes, what is this?

How is your 780 years calculated?

Has anybody heard me claim 780 years?

Yeah, yeah, I claim a lot of stuff.

My wife will assure you, 780 years.

By the way, same question that the SEC Securities Exchange Commission had for me.

And our most recent audit, how did you calculate 780 years and I had to remind them that the as close as as as accurate as is it, Methuselah?

I'm an amateur at the Bible.

But but somebody will correct me if I'm wrong.

Message was a right.

900 years or so.

I was just.

I didn't think I was quite that good, so I just gave a number.

The reality is, I was on a radio show.

Somebody said, it sounds like you've been doing this forever.

I said, 780 years.

And that's how it started.

So calculated.

Yeah.

Not exactly, not exactly.

How do financial firms determine if a client, if a prospect becomes a client, that's a very interesting question.

For most of you that have gone through that process.

You think about that, conversation you had with your financial advisor.

What do you think the tipping point was for all of you?

You'll have maybe a slightly different point in the conversation, but the reality was there's a, a guideline that we use, a rule of thumb, some would call it a litmus test that says if you are to become a client, we expect that you will be with us at least 20 years.

So as we're talking to you as a prospective client, the dollar amounts are not terribly interesting.

The the the cash flows are not terribly interesting.

What do you think is interesting?

It's you.

It's it's who you are.

It's it's that fit.

It's that ability to communicate.

You meet someone.

Did you ever meet someone?

And and right away you could talk to them right away.

You got that sense.

They understood you.

And did you ever meet someone that you could talk at them all day long and they never get it?

We have to make sure that the folks that come through our door and become our clients are the ones that we can talk to and that can talk to us and that they get it.

And so for all of you who are kind enough to be here this evening, that have already made that commitment, made that journey, made, built that relationship, it speaks very well of you.

It speaks very, very well of you.

Because again, it's not it's not dollar amounts.

It's not cash amounts.

It's it's people.

People to people.

And for some of you, you've already volunteered that, you'll be part of my triple H club.

Has anybody heard of triple H happy, healthy 100?

Why not?

I have all the motivation I need sitting in the back, sitting on my wife's lap.

Diane, if that is her real name.

You've heard that as well.

So it's all the motivation I need to make sure that I stay happy.

Healthy 100 is that'll give me 30 more good years for that young lady.

Hopefully.

See her go through all kinds of wonderful things.

But I invite you to join me on that path on that journey.

Next question.

Very good question.

At 28, how much of my gross income should I save, and should I also have a pension interest?

If some of you out.

She's not liking that question.

If some of you think back to when you were 28, if somebody said, I'm going to offer you a pension, would you have been excited or not so much?

That's a not so much.

It was not something that was really on your radar as you think about it now.

Would you have been excited?

Of course.

Of course.

The ability to create a cash flow, the ability to create a commitment that financially will support you for the balance of your life is a fantastic opportunity.

What percentage of American workers today have access to a pension?

1%.

Very, very small number under ten, certainly under ten.

The vast majority work for us.

They're either teachers or they work for the government in some way, shape or form.

So the vast majority folks, we're we're broadcasting from Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, the home of Bethlehem Steel, maybe a company that gave the most generous benefits, maybe in the history of American corporate.

And yet they're not with us now.

And so many companies that offered pensions were absolutely, excited to to guarantee something that ended up not being guarantee able.

So now it's important that we create those, those answers, those, what strategies?

The queen of strategy is in the room.

And if she were talking to you, she would say there are a number of strategies that you can use to make sure that your money lives longer than you did.

So at 28, gentleman asks you, young lady asks, how much of my income should I should I save?

There has been a rule of thumb that has been around for literally thousands of years, thousands of years, that there's a percentage of your income that if you save that, you can be financially secure throughout your life.

So anybody remember the the, the percentage?

It's 10%.

It's just that simple.

It's 10%.

I was in conversation with a young lady, this past weekend.

Very close to our family.

And she is, unhappy with herself.

She doesn't feel like she's saving.

She has so many obligations.

Right.

This moment and at a young point in her life, and she doesn't feel like she's making progress with the short conversation, it turned out that she has a 401K plan, that she contributes 5% to, and her company matches 5%.

Oh indeed.

Yeah, that's a that's worthy of an O.

And and, that's an unusual, circumstance in today's economy.

But the reality is she has that opportunity.

So without her even acknowledging the good work that she's doing, she's already putting 10% of her income away.

And if she does that consistently throughout her her working life, it's a fantastic opportunity.

So 28, 10% fantastic.

If you can do a little more.

Not a bad idea.

One strategy that we often recommend for younger folks, in terms of doing a little more, if we start with 10% of whatever they're currently making and next year they get a promotion, let's say they get a 4% raise.

What would you recommend they do suck some of it away, at least as a young person, there's always going to be things that are still going to want.

Maybe they're saving for a down payment on a home, maybe they're saving for a wedding, maybe they're saving for a new car.

There's all of those.

But if you get four and you forget about one and tuck it away and just take a piece of every pay raise, the end result will be magnificent.

There is a a gentleman.

His name is unimportant.

He is very popular on, on radio, on television for his ads where he claims that it is impossible to save your way to wealth.

You can only become wealthy by buying his books and his tapes and doing what he tells you.

I have listened very carefully to his message.

It is, well, another, phrase that we use quite often.

It is “poo, poo, ca ca”.

Very good, very good.

It's a technical term meaning not as effective as he might suggest, if you like it.

So if we put the poo, poo, ca ca aside and we start thinking about how is it possible to become wealthy, we have, I've lost track.

Mark would would, would be in a better position to maybe give me an idea.

We have hundreds of clients who are multi-millionaires, who worked at jobs just like everybody in this room.

Save 10%, 12%, sometimes 14 or 15, year after year after year, often two income families, often they put themselves in a position where mom and dad were both working.

The family understood all that.

There were a lot of sacrifices made, but through a 401K through a 403 B through an IRA, a Roth IRA, S.O.B., whatever initials you might use.

All right, three of you got it.

On the way home, you'll go, I knew it.

It's.

That wasn't.

It's not, bottom line is that if you're putting those tools to work, it is absolutely possible to save your way to wealth.

And the the the idea that you have to in some way, shape or form to have a miracle happen in order.

You have to hit the lottery.

You have to invent something.

You have to be Elon Musk.

This just isn't true.

This just isn't true.

So fascinating question.

And we love questions from younger people.

So for some of us a little further down the field, right.

Maybe we're in the fourth quarter.

All right.

For me late third quarter okay I get that.

I didn't think you're supposed to laugh at that as a as a little hurtful.

I mean, not really.

Well, we'll be okay.

For those of us who are a little further down the field, any movement that we may make financially will certainly have an impact on our lives.

But to be blunt, it may have a relatively modest impact on our lives.

But if we have the opportunity to make a strong impact on somebody, someone else's life, Annabelle comes to mind.

And you all have Annabelle's in your life.

You all do you have someone that you care about, someone that you love, someone that you just go, goodness gracious.

Yes, I want to be financially independent, but I also want to.

And you fill in the blanks.

Does that all make sense?

Thank you.

It's television.

When you nod, it doesn't make any sound.

I just thought I'd point that out.

Okay, that one goes there.

We want to gift money to our niece who's graduating from college.

Where can we invest it to benefit her?

We want to set up an account.

Excellent.

Young people learn best.

What's the right word?

Tactilly.

You can tell them stuff.

I don't know if your children are like my children.

Yeah, they're not even listening now.

So this is, for some reason, parents, the kids.

It's got to be a sound block.

And what the what?

The cone of silence from from Get smart.

It doesn't necessarily translate, having, a demonstration that that should be good.

Here's some charts.

Here's some graphs.

Maybe if you put it on their phone.

Maybe.

But allowing them to actually get involved, allowing them to hang on to something, to see it tangibly tangible is a lot better than than than tag.

What the tactility tangibly.

Setting up an account, particularly if you engage this young woman with you as you set up the account, introduce her to your financial advisor.

Hopefully your financial advisor can make that connection and start not just investing, but educating.

Educating at this level, coming out of college, way more important than the dollar amounts.

Would you like to demonstration?

Okay.

Thank you.

One person.

It's a tough audience.

What can I tell you?

So let's say grandma and grandpa are, head over heels in love with where their grandchild, and let's say his grandchild is fantastic.

16 years old, part time job, great.

And school athlete.

The kind of kid that you just dream about is dream event.

And you want to reward them?

Well, you can give them some money.

Sure.

And and it'll be gone in a matter of moments.

Or if they are indeed working.

And you could set up a, an account, perhaps a Roth IRA, that you could contribute for them a relatively modest amount of money.

Let's say you just do, $5,000 four times.

That's a 20,000 in total.

So $5,000 four times, could work for this young lady as well.

So we set up an account, working with her, educating her, showing her why we're investing in what we're investing in, and then monitoring it year by year so that she gets all the good stuff that she's supposed to get at the age of 20.

If it has earned nothing, it's 20,000 bucks.

What's the big deal?

Has anyone heard of the rule of 72?

1 or 2?

Three?

Excellent.

Fantastic.

That means I get to educate everybody else.

Rule 72 is a fabulous thing to know because it's like a party trick.

You can tell how quickly something will double by dividing the interest that it's earning, or the rate of return into 72.

So simple example 7.2% per year.

If we divide it into 72, it comes out to be what number ten.

We have math wizards with this tonight.

That's fantastic.

So ten years.

So at age 20 this young lady bless her 20,000 bucks, not even a decent downpayment on a car.

But at 30 it's 40,000 now.

It is a decent down payment on a car.

And what we can pray is that she doesn't take it out because at 40, it's $80,000.

Now, she could pay cash for a car, but it's in a Roth IRA.

It's growing tax free, tax deferred and can come out at retirement tax free.

So what are we up to?

Are we at 40 and we're at how much?

80.

That's not that much.

At 50 it becomes a $160,000.

And at 60, $320,000.

And if they decide to work as they should, they're going to be part of the triple H club.

Happy, healthy 100.

Why would they retire at 60?

They're going to retire at 70 $640,000.

Do you think they'll remember Grandma and Grandpa?

Yeah, I think so, because Grandma and Grandpa took a fairly small amount of money, but they used a lot of brainpower, a lot of strategy, a lot of taking advantage of the tools that were given to them to not only make their niece, in this case, make their niece more educated, more aware, more empowered, but also make her freedom predominantly a millionaire in retirement, by the way, tax free, tax free.

There are some of you in the room old enough to remember the TV show The Millionaire, where he always showed up for the million dollar check, tax free.

That's what a Roth IRA can do.

So fantastic question.

Excellent, fantastic.

Does it make a difference regarding what time you can tell?

I have not seen these in in advance.

Where I'm flying by the seat of our pants.

Does it make a difference regarding what time of the year you withdraw your RMD?

Interesting.

Very good.

What amount is used in calculating the RMD?

And that's, RMD.

So everybody's familiar?

I could tell by the age, that, the young people in the audience are going RMD.

Now, is that the new Honda?

That's a great Honda.

It's a it's a hybrid.

The RMD, RMD are, for folks who are not required, required minimum distribution for our audience at home for folks who are not required, they are, Interesting.

A curiosity for folks that they are required.

They're one of two things.

They're either wonderful because they are necessary to pay bills, be happy, be healthy.

Yeah.

That's necessary.

Or they are annoying beyond belief because I don't want to take the money out.

I don't want to pay Uncle Sam the tax.

And why don't they just leave me alone?

The IRS is not interested in leaving you alone.

The IRS is interested in you sending them money.

So the RMD was created to force you literally required.

Tiny is a hint force you to take money out of your IRA, your 401Ks etc.

at a certain age, the original age.

Anybody remember 70.5?

Exactly.

Nobody guessed it.

Bottom line now it's 73 and if you're young enough it will go to 75.

So they're actually pushing that out a bit.

Does anybody know why they're pushing it out a bit.

Is it that they don't want your taxes the way they used to?

No.

It's because Social Security has some real challenges.

And the more money you save for your retirement, the less likely that you will carry a pitchfork and a flaming torch to burn down the Capitol and ask where the hell's my money?

So the RMD process, mechanically, it's very, very easy.

They look at your account balance at the end of the prior year.

So you use very simple numbers because I'm live on air, don't want to get a headache and hemorrhage and all that stuff.

Trying to do mental math.

So we use simple numbers.

It's 200,000 in the IRA.

Exactly.

At the end of the year.

The first year distribution is approximately 4%, 4%, approximately $8,000.

Not to the penny.

Connie is here.

Connie does it to the penny to she should for me and for our demonstration.

You get the idea.

It's about 8000 bucks.

If you got more money, do the math.

If you got less, you do the math.

The same thing happens.

So when do you take the money out?

You take the money out when it fits.

Now, for some folks, it fits.

For a lot of our clients, it fits.

They they take the money out right around August.

Does anybody have an idea why August real estate taxes, tax bills are coming out in August and September and they take it out for that.

Some take it out at the end of spring.

Why vacations exactly?

Some take it out into spring because they're giving it away to, kids and grandkids for graduation gifts.

Some folks take it out monthly, just like a paycheck.

And that's pretty cool.

And you can do that with any amount that you wish.

Taxes can be withheld.

Most of you who have already experienced this know that there are no Pennsylvania income taxes on RMDs.

That's lovely.

They took the tax out in advance, so let's not give them too much credit.

But the reality is, in retirement, it's nice to not have to pay that tax.

You're saving 3% or so on your distribution.

Taxes can be withheld, can be deposited monthly.

Now if you have none of those issues, none of that applies to you.

You're going on.

I don't really care what's the best from a financial standpoint.

Well, it depends.

Has anybody heard me say that before?

A couple times.

Yeah.

It's very useful.

It's very useful because it absolutely does depend.

It will depend on two things.

It will depend on your opinion and your psychic ability.

No one volunteering for that one.

Okay.

Psychic abilities, they're in short supply.

I would love to tell you I have psychic abilities.

My wife can assure you I have psychotic abilities.

But psychic?

Not so much.

That's a little disturbing.

The psychic ability piece has been largely discounted, and as a result, you got to kind of put that to the side.

But you can certainly have an opinion.

You can certainly have an opinion that says, hey, I'm reading the financial tea leaves.

I think the market's going to go up, in which case you're going to want to wait till the end of the year because you'll have the most money making a higher return or.

I don't think so.

I think it's going down.

You want to take it early because then you will have pulled it out at a high point.

The reality is you're not going to know either way until the end of the year.

It's I like a lot of financial decisions you won't know until well past you've made that decision whether it was correct or not.

We often talk about Social Security.

When should you take your Social Security benefits?

What is what is the gold standard for taking Social Security benefits?

67 excellent.

That totally wrong.

But it's an excellent answer to very, very good answer.

And and and 62 is an excellent answer as well.

Equally wrong.

But go away.

You're going to die.

It depends on when you're going to die.

We're right back to the psychic part.

That's a.

Well, actually, I have said often, often it doesn't matter what, criterion you've used to pick when to take Social Security.

You will only know that you have picked correctly as you are ascending to the next level.

Because if you wait long and then the bus takes you out.

If you start early and you live a long time.

I made such bad mistakes.

The reality is we're not going to know until.

Until, We are blessed.

We are blessed are more than money.

Team is blessed to have the finest Social security partner we could possibly have.

Mark Basak, who was active and leader leadership role in Social Security administration throughout the Lehigh Valley for decades.

By the way, his wife is there one year longer than he was.

So when he gets into a tough spot, he calls her.

Bottom line is his advice.

Very simple.

You take Social Security when you need it.

So if at 62 you're saying, I got to go, I'm my I'm my physical health does not allow me to work anymore.

And I can't pay my bills unless you take it in 62.

And if you're saying, no, that's not me, I'm fine.

I'm in very, very good shape.

I expect a full, life expectancy 67 might be the ideal time.

If you want the most money you can possibly get from Social Security.

And if you happen to be part of the triple H club, happy, healthy, hundred, 70 is ideal.

It's ideal because it will maximize not just the amount that you get per month, but the number of years that you get it.

If you're part of triple H, and I would encourage you to all sign up for that.

I have no idea how you would do that.

We don't have sign ups, but but you get the idea.

If your expectation is a good, long, healthy life, then sticking with, age 70 works really, really well.

Folks.

We've covered a lot of ground.

For those of you that are, eavesdropping, it's a little rude, but we'll accept that for the evening.

This is part one of a part two, event that we're hosting here live in the PBS studios here on Sesame Street.

Where else would PBS be?

We are very, very lucky.

We have the best studio audience ever assembled in this room.

Without a doubt, we do that about.

You could have been here.

You had other stuff to do.

I get that if you are, pleased with what you have heard, we covered a ton of ground already.

I have no idea that we're gonna have any questions answered in part two, but bottom line is that if you've heard something that you go, hey, that's something I want to explore.

That's something that's important to me.

Make sure you reach out to us, Gene at ask MTM dot com works very, very well, Gene at ask MTM dot com and send us your questions.

We'll answer them back to you even if you're not in our studio audience folks, I hope you enjoyed this half hour.

And, you're gonna want more.

So more for us means that we'll be back behind this podium again next week for another edition of More Than Money.