Episode 89: A lifetime of Work Leads to This: How to Navigate your Retirement Nest Egg with Ben Francis

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(uplifting music)

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- Welcome back to the Get
Unstuck and On Target podcast.

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I'm Mike O'Neill with Bench Builders

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and we help growing companies,
especially manufacturers,

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improve their people,
process, and planning systems

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so they can scale smarter and faster.

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Joining me today is Ben Francis.

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Ben is the Director of

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Retirement Income and
Investment Operations

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with Bryce Thomas at Northwestern Mutual.

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For the last 15 years, Ben
has helped clients plan for

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and realize their retirement goals.

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This makes Ben the perfect guest

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to help us better understand
retirement matters,

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Social Security in particular.

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Welcome Ben.

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- Thank you. I'm glad to be here.

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- Ben, I shared with you right before

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we hit the record button that
I don't know if I know anybody

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who has more initials after
their name than Ben Francis.

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Very impressive.

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- Thank you. Thank you.

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Polite way of saying I'm
a nerd, but that's okay.

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I take that. I appreciate that.

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- Well, it's gonna be your nerdiness

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that we're gonna really kind of tap into.

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And if memory serves me,

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what prompted my requesting
you to come on the podcast

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is the topic of Social Security came up.

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And if memory serves me,

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we were having a sidebar conversation

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and we both were just talking
about personal examples

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by which through family members,

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we kind of got thrust
into Social Security.

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And what I would say is for
our listeners who have said,

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"Oh, wait a second. I'm
a long way off from that.

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I don't need to listen to this."

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My encouragement is give this a listen.

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There is something that,
just in our conversation,

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I learned so much,

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and I'm looking forward to
you sharing your knowledge

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with our listeners.

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So let's start with that, Ben.

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What is it about Social Security

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that kind of gets people
a little bit rattled?

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- I think the biggest thing is

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that there's no straight
answer for everyone.

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And what I mean by that is
your friend might tell you

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what they did and it
works perfect for them,

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but their situation could
be so different from yours.

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And so I actually, a few minutes
ago, I had someone call me,

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tell me, "Hey, my friend
told me to do this."

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And we talked about her situation

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and it was a completely
wrong move for her situation.

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Now for her friend, it may
have been the right move,

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but Social Security is so
specific to each person.

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Even if you come down to

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you work at the same
place as somebody else.

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But does your spouse work? Is
your spouse older or younger?

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Was your spouse a higher or lower earner?

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So all of those are going to factor in,

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in addition to what are
your retirement assets

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and how is that gonna
play into the picture?

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So I think it gets confusing for people

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because not only are there
a lot of very specific rules

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and people feel like they
have nowhere to turn,

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because in some cases they really don't.

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But you add on top of that,

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the fact that it's different for everyone.

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- You know, I said that we
might focus on Social Security,

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but I think it would be doing an injustice

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to not just talk about just
the notion of retirement.

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You and I are speaking
from the United States

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and this notion of retirement,

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if you open a magazine and
you look at what retirement

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"looks like", how realistic
is these media portrayals?

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- I think for a lot of people,

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it's not very realistic at all.

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A lot of folks think, "Hey,
I'm saving this, my 401k.

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65's gonna come around
and I'm gonna retire.

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It's gonna be a done deal."

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And so I think in a lot of people's minds,

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they have this switch
that they're gonna flip

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when they get to 65 and
that's not at all realistic.

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They've got so many different
options and decisions

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that they're gonna have to make.

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Some of them force at a certain age,

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some of them you can choose
between windows of ages.

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But for example, you know, at
age 50+, you can start doing

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your catch up contributions
into your 401k.

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It's a big deal.

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At 59-and-a-half, for the most part,

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qualified dollars are unlocked

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that you can start
getting without a penalty.

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By 62, you've got early Social
Security that you can take.

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By 65, you've got Medicare
that you probably have to take.

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But again, one of those specific
to your situation, right?

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Depending on how big of a
company you're working for,

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you might be able to delay
that decision without penalty,

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or even if your company
offers you coverage,

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that might not qualify if
the company is too small,

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so you might still have a
penalty on the Medicare.

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Then by, for most people, 67,
somewhere between 66 to 67,

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is gonna be their FRA,
their Full Retirement Age,

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where you can get the full benefits.

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You don't have the reduction
or the earnings offset

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for Social Security more,

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but that's not your max age yet

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because that decision comes at age 70,

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where you can get your max benefits.

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And then of course, 72,
you've got different RMDs,

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which are Required Minimum Distributions,

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where you have to start
taking qualified money out

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and so on and so forth.

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So for a lot of people,
they have this idea that,

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"Hey, I picked 60" or "I picked 65.

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I'm gonna flip a switch
and I'm gonna be retired."

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It's just not that simple.

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There's so much more that goes into it.

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And that's without even talking about

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all the investments that you have

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and how you're going to
manage those into retirements.

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- I know when you work with your clients,

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you're looking at kind
of the whole picture.

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Maybe it not be appropriate.

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When you sit down with a client,

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in this case we're talking
about an individual,

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an individual or a couple,

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what are the kinds of things
that you are looking at

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as kind of a starting point?

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- I wanna find out what's
most important to them.

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What are their goals? What
are they trying to accomplish?

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'Cause I can sit and do
as much math as I want to,

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but if the math isn't personal to them,

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if it's not accomplishing their goals,

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then there's really no point to it.

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So I wanna start and see what
are you trying to accomplish?

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And then we start backing
into things from there.

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Once we know that, well, we can see,

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"Okay, what have you done?

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What kind of planning have you done?

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How's longevity looking? What
age are you at right now?

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Do you wanna pass on money
to future generations?"

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We start building it in from there.

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But my most important thing is to find out

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what excites them.

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What makes them happy?
What are they trying to do?

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- And do you find sometimes
when you ask that question,

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you get blank stares?

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- Sometimes yes.

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Some people have never
stopped to think about that.

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They've been saving into their 401k.

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They might have been
saving some other places

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and they stop and think,

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"Well, you know, I've always heard..."

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and they might throw out a percentage or

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"I should have this much in retirement."

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Okay. That may or may not hold true.

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Is your home gonna be paid off?

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Do you have other debts
that you're carrying?

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Did you pay those off a long
time ago? What's the lifestyle?

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Do you plan on traveling? Do you not?

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A lot of that factors in,

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so there are some assumptions
that are somewhat safe to you.

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So that 80% rule that you hear about?

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I don't have a problem with
using that as a starting point,

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but it can vary a lot from there.

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And to your point,

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some people have never
given it much thought.

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- So let's go down that road.
The 80% rule, what is it?

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- So you probably hear a lot of people say

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that's going into retirement,

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"You're gonna need about 80%

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of what your pre-retirement income was."

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And some people, on a state income,

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I think what most people
mean by that though

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is 80% of what you were living off of.

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So in some people's heads
are thinking income,

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but really what they're meaning is

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80% of what you were living
off of pre-retirement.

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That idea comes from a
couple different places.

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One, it's assumed for most people,

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they're gonna have their debt paid off,

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including their home,
going into retirement.

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So that can come out the budget.

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Two, you're not saving
for retirement anymore.

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So that was a big part of the budget.

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But that comes back to the point of,

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"Well, if you're planning
on traveling more,

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is that 80% rule really gonna work?"

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So I think it's a good starting point,

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but I wouldn't just assume that

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that's gonna be the right number for you,

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especially if you haven't
given much thought

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to what are you gonna do
with your free time now?

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You know, I've got some
clients that work part-time

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'cause they really just want to.

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They don't need to, they just enjoy that.

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I've got other clients
that say, "Look, I'm done.

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I don't have to, I'm
not going back to work."

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I've got some clients
that travel the world.

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I've got some that travel the country.

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I've got some that wanna go
sit in a cabin in the woods.

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It really depends on
what you're trying to do.

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But I think, you know, the
80% is a good starting point,

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but I wouldn't bet everything there.

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- You know, you and I
started this conversation

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probably six or eight weeks ago.

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We met at a professional association

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and if memory serves me, what
was kind of crossed in my mind

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is we were talking about the
current economic climate.

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We are recording this
podcast at the end of June.

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It will probably be closer to September

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before this will actually uploaded.

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However, at this juncture,
there's a little bit of

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uncertain future about the economy

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and what I think you and I
discussed is this idea of

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"The Great Resignation" is
that a lot of folks thought,

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"You know what? I'm gonna
go ahead and retire."

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And what I understand and what I'm reading

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is there are quite a few number people

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who are choosing to unretire.

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- That's right. That's right.

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- And they're choosing that
for a variety of reasons,

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but perhaps the one that's
most notable is financial.

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That's something that I don't
know if you would have seen

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to the degree that you
might be seeing it now.

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- Right. Absolutely.

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And inflation is a big concern for people,

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especially once you've retired.

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So if you're not just looking at

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what's coming out of your
investment accounts in terms of

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are they performing well?

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Is this a good time to pull out?

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But you're also thinking, "How
far can the dollar stress?"

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Because when you start
realizing that you're on

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that fixed income, that
you're not gonna be advancing

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in your job anymore, that
you've spent your whole life

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building into these accounts,
but it turns and comes time

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to start pulling money
out of the accounts,

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mentally, that's very different.

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So can you start thinking
about things very differently?

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And then when inflation is
as high as it is right now,

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that's a huge concern.

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And so I have several
clients who just say,

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"You know, I know the numbers
say I'm good to retire now,

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but I'm probably gonna
delay a year or two.

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They still want me at work.

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I'm gonna stick this out
and see what happens."

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And you know, that makes
them feel more comfortable.

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I think that's not a bad move currently.

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It's up to each individual person,

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but with where things are at right now

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with all the uncertainty, yeah.

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It's definitely a good
idea to take a step back.

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Hopefully what you would
have done to this point.

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So what I always try to do with
my clients is we always try

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to make sure that we've
already planned for this.

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We always wanna be planning
a couple years out, right?

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So I have some clients who say,

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"I know things aren't great,

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but because of the planning
we have done, I also know

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I can retire now and not
have to worry about it."

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So some are choosing to work longer.

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What you never wanna do is
put yourself in a situation

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where you're having to work longer

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or having to go back to work.

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An older school of
thought was the 4% rule.

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So, you know, you can pull 4%
a year from your retirement.

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You're gonna be good
throughout retirement.

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That is definitely an older,
outdated way of thinking

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that's been proven wrong in several cases.

00:10:06.090 --> 00:10:07.447
So I meet with some clients who say,

00:10:07.447 --> 00:10:09.240
"Hey, you know, this is
what I learned early on.

00:10:09.240 --> 00:10:10.350
This is what I've always just assumed.

00:10:10.350 --> 00:10:12.360
So looking at that,
the numbers look good."

00:10:12.360 --> 00:10:14.130
But then when we start doing
the calculations with them

00:10:14.130 --> 00:10:14.963
and start looking at,

00:10:14.963 --> 00:10:17.400
"Hey, look, let's factor in
different tests on things,

00:10:17.400 --> 00:10:18.900
let's factor in different rates of return,

00:10:18.900 --> 00:10:20.580
let's factor in different
inflation rates."

00:10:20.580 --> 00:10:23.100
You can see how it doesn't
always work that way.

00:10:23.100 --> 00:10:24.390
So planning ahead of time.

00:10:24.390 --> 00:10:26.430
You don't wanna wait
until you're at retirement

00:10:26.430 --> 00:10:27.510
to start thinking about this stuff.

00:10:27.510 --> 00:10:29.167
So to your point earlier of,

00:10:29.167 --> 00:10:30.780
"Hey, I'm a couple years away from that.

00:10:30.780 --> 00:10:31.980
I'm many years away from that.

00:10:31.980 --> 00:10:33.870
Why would I be spending
too much time on it?"

00:10:33.870 --> 00:10:36.900
Because you still have a runway.
You can still make changes.

00:10:36.900 --> 00:10:38.340
You can still make adjustments

00:10:38.340 --> 00:10:40.530
so that when you get to this
point, you have options.

00:10:40.530 --> 00:10:42.780
The most perfect thing to
be looking at right now

00:10:42.780 --> 00:10:43.980
is having the option.

00:10:43.980 --> 00:10:45.030
Do you want to retire?

00:10:45.030 --> 00:10:46.197
Do you want to go back
to work or do you not?

00:10:46.197 --> 00:10:47.030
And if you do want to,

00:10:47.030 --> 00:10:49.590
I've got some clients
that want to just because,

00:10:49.590 --> 00:10:51.670
honestly, they missed the
work environment a little bit.

00:10:51.670 --> 00:10:52.700
Hey, that's a great reason to go back.

00:10:52.700 --> 00:10:55.047
But it'd be a sad reason to
go back because you have to,

00:10:55.047 --> 00:10:59.010
and you're worried about not
being able to meet your needs.

00:10:59.010 --> 00:11:01.320
- Yes. You know, we said that
we're gonna talk a little bit

00:11:01.320 --> 00:11:04.020
about Social Security as a starting point.

00:11:04.020 --> 00:11:06.600
What's probably one of
the biggest misnomers

00:11:06.600 --> 00:11:07.983
about Social Security?

00:11:09.570 --> 00:11:11.220
- For a lot of people,

00:11:11.220 --> 00:11:14.730
they get hung up on when
they take Social Security.

00:11:14.730 --> 00:11:17.070
So they think, "Hey, if I take it early,

00:11:17.070 --> 00:11:19.110
I wanna get every dollar that
I can, so if I take it early,

00:11:19.110 --> 00:11:21.780
then I'm gonna maximize my benefit.

00:11:21.780 --> 00:11:24.120
What you find though, is
if you're taking it early

00:11:24.120 --> 00:11:25.740
versus taking it at your max,

00:11:25.740 --> 00:11:27.900
so your max being age 70,

00:11:27.900 --> 00:11:29.520
remember that's different
from your full benefit,

00:11:29.520 --> 00:11:30.900
which is your full retirement age.

00:11:30.900 --> 00:11:32.820
Depending on what year you were born,

00:11:32.820 --> 00:11:36.450
it's gonna be age 67,
maybe 66 and some months,

00:11:36.450 --> 00:11:38.580
but for a lot of people that
are gonna be retiring here,

00:11:38.580 --> 00:11:40.593
upcoming, it's gonna be around age 67.

00:11:41.610 --> 00:11:43.800
So again, if you're taking it early at 62,

00:11:43.800 --> 00:11:46.710
your earliest benefit, you're
taking a reduced benefit.

00:11:46.710 --> 00:11:48.960
So you're taking a reduced
benefit that's going to be

00:11:48.960 --> 00:11:52.800
about 70% of what your full,
a hundred percent benefit

00:11:52.800 --> 00:11:54.660
would be be at 67.

00:11:54.660 --> 00:11:56.220
Whereas if you delay all the way to 70,

00:11:56.220 --> 00:11:58.590
you can grow it all the way to 124%.

00:11:58.590 --> 00:12:00.240
So each month that you wait-

00:12:00.240 --> 00:12:01.657
That's a big misnomer
too, is people think,

00:12:01.657 --> 00:12:03.443
"Well, if you don't wanna
commit to waiting to 70."

00:12:03.443 --> 00:12:05.640
No, no, no. You're not
committing to that at this point.

00:12:05.640 --> 00:12:07.920
Each month, you can decide
if you want to take it.

00:12:07.920 --> 00:12:09.390
It's not even year by
year, it's each month,

00:12:09.390 --> 00:12:11.490
and each month, you're
gonna get those credits.

00:12:11.490 --> 00:12:12.967
But a lot of people will get
confused about that and think,

00:12:12.967 --> 00:12:14.970
"Hey, I've gotta decide right
now if I'm taking it now

00:12:14.970 --> 00:12:18.660
or I'm having to wait until
whatever day, FRA, max."

00:12:18.660 --> 00:12:21.420
Well, that's not the case.
You can pick at any point.

00:12:21.420 --> 00:12:24.270
Once you start it, for the most
part, there's no going back.

00:12:24.270 --> 00:12:26.430
There are a few exceptions
where you could go back,

00:12:26.430 --> 00:12:27.420
but to do that,

00:12:27.420 --> 00:12:29.970
you're having to repay the
benefits that you received.

00:12:29.970 --> 00:12:31.920
So if you've been on Social
Security for a year or two,

00:12:31.920 --> 00:12:33.660
for most people, that's just not practical

00:12:33.660 --> 00:12:34.980
and there is a time limit as well.

00:12:34.980 --> 00:12:36.450
So for the most part, hear me on this,

00:12:36.450 --> 00:12:39.060
for the most part, you're
not able to turn it off.

00:12:39.060 --> 00:12:40.920
But remember, you can
turn it on at any point.

00:12:40.920 --> 00:12:42.990
So if you're not sure, wait.

00:12:42.990 --> 00:12:45.330
This is another one that
almost everybody misses.

00:12:45.330 --> 00:12:46.710
So we talked about the
permanent reduction.

00:12:46.710 --> 00:12:48.930
Those are the percentages I
was just given out, right?

00:12:48.930 --> 00:12:49.763
- Yes.

00:12:49.763 --> 00:12:51.690
- There's also an earnings
offset if you take

00:12:51.690 --> 00:12:55.530
Social Security before
your full retirement age.

00:12:55.530 --> 00:12:58.680
When you reach your full
retirement age, it goes away.

00:12:58.680 --> 00:13:01.410
But up until that point,
there is an earnings offset.

00:13:01.410 --> 00:13:03.780
So for anyone that is not turning

00:13:03.780 --> 00:13:05.160
their full retirement age now,

00:13:05.160 --> 00:13:07.510
so if you take your
benefit at 62, for example,

00:13:08.670 --> 00:13:12.660
for every $2 that you
earn over roughly 20,000,

00:13:12.660 --> 00:13:15.090
it's gonna reduce your benefit by $1.

00:13:15.090 --> 00:13:16.860
That is on top of the permanent reduction

00:13:16.860 --> 00:13:18.720
you already took because
this is the earnings offset.

00:13:18.720 --> 00:13:20.580
That's different. People miss that.

00:13:20.580 --> 00:13:22.613
They don't realize there's
an earnings offset.

00:13:23.677 --> 00:13:25.657
I had someone call me today and say,

00:13:25.657 --> 00:13:27.000
"Hey, my friend told me
I should just go ahead

00:13:27.000 --> 00:13:28.590
and turn on my benefit anyway,

00:13:28.590 --> 00:13:29.910
even though my earnings are higher."

00:13:29.910 --> 00:13:32.437
So she actually knew there
was an earnings offset.

00:13:32.437 --> 00:13:33.850
"But my friend said just turned on because

00:13:33.850 --> 00:13:35.910
I'll get the rest of the benefit later."

00:13:35.910 --> 00:13:39.150
So what she's referring to
is with that earnings offset,

00:13:39.150 --> 00:13:40.920
so separate from the
permanent reduction, right?

00:13:40.920 --> 00:13:41.753
We'll come back to that.

00:13:41.753 --> 00:13:42.630
Let's go back to the earnings offset.

00:13:42.630 --> 00:13:45.390
With the earnings offset,
what they do is they will

00:13:45.390 --> 00:13:48.690
withhold your benefit if
you're over the threshold

00:13:48.690 --> 00:13:50.100
and then they will redistribute it out

00:13:50.100 --> 00:13:52.200
over the years that you
start claiming again.

00:13:52.200 --> 00:13:54.840
So once you qualify again,
they'll redistribute it out.

00:13:54.840 --> 00:13:56.040
Here's what she was missing, though,

00:13:56.040 --> 00:13:57.630
and here's what her friend was missing.

00:13:57.630 --> 00:14:00.150
You still have that permanent reduction.

00:14:00.150 --> 00:14:02.750
So she still would've been
taking 70% of her benefit

00:14:03.960 --> 00:14:05.580
for no reason because
she wouldn't be receiving

00:14:05.580 --> 00:14:06.780
a single dollar from it.

00:14:08.097 --> 00:14:09.480
But they had it partially right,

00:14:09.480 --> 00:14:10.860
so she had it more right
than some people do,

00:14:10.860 --> 00:14:12.390
'cause a lot of people
are completely unaware.

00:14:12.390 --> 00:14:13.890
I had someone else call
me a few weeks ago.

00:14:13.890 --> 00:14:15.000
It was actually a friend of mine's aunt.

00:14:15.000 --> 00:14:17.010
She's like, "Hey, my
friend told me to call you

00:14:17.010 --> 00:14:18.360
because I was turning on my benefit."

00:14:18.360 --> 00:14:19.193
And I was like, "What are you making?"

00:14:19.193 --> 00:14:20.026
I was like, "No, no, no.

00:14:20.026 --> 00:14:21.150
You turn your benefit, you get $0."

00:14:21.150 --> 00:14:22.800
She had no idea.

00:14:22.800 --> 00:14:25.110
So in this case, the
person who called me today

00:14:25.110 --> 00:14:27.210
was a little more educated.

00:14:27.210 --> 00:14:28.470
She had a couple pieces of it right,

00:14:28.470 --> 00:14:29.580
but she was still missing the fact

00:14:29.580 --> 00:14:31.170
that she'd have that
permanent earnings offset.

00:14:31.170 --> 00:14:33.572
So why on earth would you turn it on?

00:14:33.572 --> 00:14:37.500
The offsets and the reductions people,

00:14:37.500 --> 00:14:39.270
one, they don't understand
it's both of 'em combined,

00:14:39.270 --> 00:14:41.820
and two, people just don't
really get how they work.

00:14:41.820 --> 00:14:43.320
Back to my point of the break-even.

00:14:43.320 --> 00:14:45.060
So depending on where you
take it on that spectrum,

00:14:45.060 --> 00:14:46.380
if you're gonna take it at your max

00:14:46.380 --> 00:14:47.760
versus taking it earlier,

00:14:47.760 --> 00:14:50.670
typically the break-even
point is around age 80 to 83.

00:14:50.670 --> 00:14:51.540
So what do I mean by that?

00:14:51.540 --> 00:14:53.040
What does that mean? The break-even point.

00:14:53.040 --> 00:14:55.260
What I mean is if you live to that age,

00:14:55.260 --> 00:14:57.330
it really didn't matter so
much if you took it earlier,

00:14:57.330 --> 00:14:58.710
if you took it later.

00:14:58.710 --> 00:15:03.270
If you outlived that age, the
later you took it, the better.

00:15:03.270 --> 00:15:05.700
If you underlive that life expectancy,

00:15:05.700 --> 00:15:06.870
the earlier you took it,

00:15:06.870 --> 00:15:09.300
the more financially
you benefited from it.

00:15:09.300 --> 00:15:10.327
So then it comes down to,

00:15:10.327 --> 00:15:12.210
"Well, how long are you gonna live?"

00:15:12.210 --> 00:15:13.770
I wish we knew, right?

00:15:13.770 --> 00:15:15.030
But you can look at your health.

00:15:15.030 --> 00:15:17.310
You can look at your
history, figure that out.

00:15:17.310 --> 00:15:18.600
Here's another thing that plays into that.

00:15:18.600 --> 00:15:21.270
Let's say you're looking
at a spousal situation.

00:15:21.270 --> 00:15:23.970
So now we're looking at
the higher earner, right?

00:15:23.970 --> 00:15:26.250
So now whoever lives
the longest is the one

00:15:26.250 --> 00:15:28.800
we're gonna count because
with Social Security,

00:15:28.800 --> 00:15:29.820
if you're both married,

00:15:29.820 --> 00:15:31.590
you're both pulling from your benefit,

00:15:31.590 --> 00:15:34.530
if one of you passes away,
whoever is still living,

00:15:34.530 --> 00:15:36.870
it's the higher of the two benefits.

00:15:36.870 --> 00:15:39.030
So now, we're talking
about at least one of you

00:15:39.030 --> 00:15:40.560
outliving that age, not both of you.

00:15:40.560 --> 00:15:43.830
So we've got situations
where it's spouses,

00:15:43.830 --> 00:15:45.637
then we'll look at the higher one and say,

00:15:45.637 --> 00:15:47.850
"Hey, is it realistic to delay that?

00:15:47.850 --> 00:15:48.906
Would that make more sense?

00:15:48.906 --> 00:15:49.770
'Cause it's gonna give you more

00:15:49.770 --> 00:15:51.920
of a base income for
the rest of your life.

00:15:53.550 --> 00:15:55.867
- I'm sitting here listening
to you and realizing,

00:15:55.867 --> 00:15:58.290
"My goodness. This is a sticky wicket,"

00:15:58.290 --> 00:16:02.723
as you begin talking
about Social Security.

00:16:02.723 --> 00:16:05.970
In what you have just shared,

00:16:05.970 --> 00:16:10.970
if you know there's a maximum age,

00:16:11.190 --> 00:16:12.630
there's a full benefit age.

00:16:12.630 --> 00:16:14.910
Help me with the right terminology.

00:16:14.910 --> 00:16:19.910
But let's say you are approaching
the maximum benefit age.

00:16:20.255 --> 00:16:24.420
How soon should you begin the process

00:16:24.420 --> 00:16:27.813
of reaching out to the Social
Security Administration?

00:16:29.220 --> 00:16:33.600
- I would say do that within
a month to two months.

00:16:33.600 --> 00:16:35.700
You can go ahead and start
reaching out, figuring out.

00:16:35.700 --> 00:16:37.300
Basically what they're gonna do-

00:16:38.370 --> 00:16:40.110
People think they're gonna go
to the Social Security office

00:16:40.110 --> 00:16:43.170
and get advice on when to apply.

00:16:43.170 --> 00:16:45.090
They really aren't
allowed to tell you that.

00:16:45.090 --> 00:16:46.500
That's not what their job is, right?

00:16:46.500 --> 00:16:47.940
Think of them as the DMV.

00:16:47.940 --> 00:16:50.700
So you don't go to the DMV
to get driver's lessons.

00:16:50.700 --> 00:16:52.560
That's just not what
they're there for, right?

00:16:52.560 --> 00:16:54.240
You go to the DMV to process paperwork.

00:16:54.240 --> 00:16:55.950
It's the same thing for
Social Security office.

00:16:55.950 --> 00:16:58.560
So when you go, I would
say within a month or two,

00:16:58.560 --> 00:16:59.610
that's perfectly fine.

00:16:59.610 --> 00:17:01.200
That should give you plenty of time.

00:17:01.200 --> 00:17:02.850
With COVID, it's been
taken a little longer

00:17:02.850 --> 00:17:03.683
to get the appointments,

00:17:03.683 --> 00:17:06.450
so you might wanna start
a little bit earlier.

00:17:06.450 --> 00:17:08.970
But when you go, the most
important thing is that

00:17:08.970 --> 00:17:10.350
you know what you're asking for.

00:17:10.350 --> 00:17:11.377
Is that you go there and tell them,

00:17:11.377 --> 00:17:13.800
"Hey, this is what I'm
trying to accomplish."

00:17:13.800 --> 00:17:15.630
If you go there and say,
"I don't know what to do,"

00:17:15.630 --> 00:17:16.890
they can read rules to you, right?

00:17:16.890 --> 00:17:18.930
And they can say, "Hey, you're
at your full retirement age.

00:17:18.930 --> 00:17:20.477
You can get your full benefit."

00:17:21.990 --> 00:17:24.060
I think maybe this is a
good time to tell a story

00:17:24.060 --> 00:17:26.160
about my mom.

00:17:26.160 --> 00:17:27.607
Her and I called and I told her, I said,

00:17:27.607 --> 00:17:30.780
"Hey mom, make sure you're
on the phone with me.

00:17:30.780 --> 00:17:32.100
I know exactly what we're gonna do."

00:17:32.100 --> 00:17:33.840
So let me give you a little
background on my mom's story,

00:17:33.840 --> 00:17:35.130
and this actually will parlay into

00:17:35.130 --> 00:17:38.190
why I know so much about
Social Security at all.

00:17:38.190 --> 00:17:41.460
So when it came time to help
my mom with Social Security,

00:17:41.460 --> 00:17:42.480
I couldn't find anyone

00:17:42.480 --> 00:17:44.010
who was really knowledgeable about it.

00:17:44.010 --> 00:17:45.007
And I got pretty frustrated like,

00:17:45.007 --> 00:17:46.620
"Okay, there has to be answers to this.

00:17:46.620 --> 00:17:47.667
Why is this so hard?

00:17:47.667 --> 00:17:48.510
I wouldn't feel like this would be hard.

00:17:48.510 --> 00:17:49.350
Everyone deals with it.

00:17:49.350 --> 00:17:50.340
Why can't I find anyone

00:17:50.340 --> 00:17:51.990
who can just give me straight answers?"

00:17:51.990 --> 00:17:52.980
So I kept digging and digging.

00:17:52.980 --> 00:17:54.930
And then over time, getting
these designations and learning

00:17:54.930 --> 00:17:56.640
and really honing in on
the Social Security side

00:17:56.640 --> 00:17:59.970
because I couldn't find
help for my own family.

00:17:59.970 --> 00:18:01.957
So when it came time
for us to call, I said,

00:18:01.957 --> 00:18:03.240
"Mom, make sure I'm on the phone with you.

00:18:03.240 --> 00:18:04.470
Wanna make sure that this is done right.

00:18:04.470 --> 00:18:05.820
What we're gonna do is-"

00:18:05.820 --> 00:18:08.580
My dad actually passed away
about 10 years ago now.

00:18:08.580 --> 00:18:11.820
And he passed away on my parents'
31st wedding anniversary.

00:18:11.820 --> 00:18:13.650
The last thing he did was
he brought mom 31 roses

00:18:13.650 --> 00:18:16.410
that morning, the last
time that she saw him.

00:18:16.410 --> 00:18:17.970
But since he passed away,

00:18:17.970 --> 00:18:20.460
my mom gets to work by a
different set of rules.

00:18:20.460 --> 00:18:24.120
So she gets to go by the
old rules, being a widow.

00:18:24.120 --> 00:18:26.280
Widowers would also gets
to work by the old rules,

00:18:26.280 --> 00:18:27.780
which is different from the current rules

00:18:27.780 --> 00:18:30.330
that if they were still
living, they would work by.

00:18:30.330 --> 00:18:31.410
So what my mom gets to do is

00:18:31.410 --> 00:18:34.050
Mom gets to pull Dad's benefit now

00:18:34.050 --> 00:18:36.303
and let her benefit continue to grow.

00:18:37.560 --> 00:18:39.480
So it's an old structure, right?

00:18:39.480 --> 00:18:40.440
So we called Social Security,

00:18:40.440 --> 00:18:41.760
knowing exactly what we wanted to do.

00:18:41.760 --> 00:18:43.890
So we called. Guy's name
was actually Michael,

00:18:43.890 --> 00:18:44.887
My mom was talking to him and was like,

00:18:44.887 --> 00:18:47.070
"Hey Michael, you know, I'm a widow."

00:18:47.070 --> 00:18:48.270
They asked her a bunch of questions.

00:18:48.270 --> 00:18:49.110
She was like, "Okay, I wanna turn on

00:18:49.110 --> 00:18:51.210
my deceased husband's benefit,

00:18:51.210 --> 00:18:53.210
but let mine continue to grow until 70."

00:18:54.270 --> 00:18:55.770
So, you know, you could
hear him typing or whatever.

00:18:55.770 --> 00:18:56.603
And he comes back.

00:18:56.603 --> 00:18:57.960
He says, "Man, I just don't understand

00:18:57.960 --> 00:18:58.793
why you would do that.

00:18:58.793 --> 00:19:00.840
You're at your full age, you
would get your full benefit.

00:19:00.840 --> 00:19:02.160
Now you wouldn't have any reductions

00:19:02.160 --> 00:19:04.680
and you would get double
if you take your benefit,

00:19:04.680 --> 00:19:06.320
versus if you took your
deceased husband's benefit

00:19:06.320 --> 00:19:07.153
as you're asking for.

00:19:07.153 --> 00:19:08.880
So I just don't understand
why you wouldn't do that."

00:19:08.880 --> 00:19:10.020
So they kind of go back
and forth a little bit

00:19:10.020 --> 00:19:12.990
and finally Mom just says,
"Ben, handle this, please."

00:19:12.990 --> 00:19:15.000
I was like, "Look, Michael,
this is how we're gonna do it.

00:19:15.000 --> 00:19:15.833
Please make sure those gets done."

00:19:15.833 --> 00:19:16.740
And he said, "Well, sir,

00:19:16.740 --> 00:19:18.600
I'm gonna have to go talk to a supervisor.

00:19:18.600 --> 00:19:19.770
Let me come back to you."

00:19:19.770 --> 00:19:21.217
So he leaves for a while,
he comes back, he said,

00:19:21.217 --> 00:19:23.040
"Okay, I talked to him
and yeah, we can do that.

00:19:23.040 --> 00:19:24.270
We'll do it that way."

00:19:24.270 --> 00:19:26.490
So I thought, "Hey, okay, we're
good to go. Taken care of."

00:19:26.490 --> 00:19:27.408
So then my mom calls me.

00:19:27.408 --> 00:19:30.090
Within three days, the money
had already been deposited

00:19:30.090 --> 00:19:31.470
in her account, already was flowing.

00:19:31.470 --> 00:19:32.303
I was like, "Hey, no problem."

00:19:32.303 --> 00:19:33.840
But later that day she calls me back.

00:19:33.840 --> 00:19:36.030
She's like, "I just got a
letter from Social Security,

00:19:36.030 --> 00:19:39.240
and they said they've now
named you as my spouse."

00:19:39.240 --> 00:19:40.080
So I tell everyone that's how

00:19:40.080 --> 00:19:42.180
I became my own father
with Social Security.

00:19:42.180 --> 00:19:44.190
And I have no idea how that even happened.

00:19:44.190 --> 00:19:46.800
That was never even discussed or anything.

00:19:46.800 --> 00:19:47.633
And that's what someone-

00:19:47.633 --> 00:19:49.830
We called in knowing
exactly what we wanted.

00:19:49.830 --> 00:19:52.230
We knew exactly what we wanted
to do. We knew how to do it.

00:19:52.230 --> 00:19:55.140
We still got pushback. Now
think back to what Michael said.

00:19:55.140 --> 00:19:58.080
He told my mom, "You can
get your full benefit now.

00:19:58.080 --> 00:19:59.490
You're at your full retirement age.

00:19:59.490 --> 00:20:00.810
There is no reduction."

00:20:00.810 --> 00:20:02.670
All of those are factually correct, right?

00:20:02.670 --> 00:20:04.380
Each one of those statements was correct.

00:20:04.380 --> 00:20:06.690
It wasn't that he was
incorrect with his facts,

00:20:06.690 --> 00:20:07.770
but what didn't make sense?

00:20:07.770 --> 00:20:09.750
It didn't make sense to her situation

00:20:09.750 --> 00:20:11.670
because she got to work by
a different set of rules

00:20:11.670 --> 00:20:13.380
where she gets to pull Dad's benefits

00:20:13.380 --> 00:20:15.810
while hers continues to grow until 70.

00:20:15.810 --> 00:20:17.190
So by doing it our way,

00:20:17.190 --> 00:20:19.470
she's going to get more
money out of the system,

00:20:19.470 --> 00:20:21.420
which makes sense, because
otherwise, my dad's benefit

00:20:21.420 --> 00:20:24.483
that he paid into his
whole life, just vanishes.

00:20:25.980 --> 00:20:29.760
- That's a great illustration
of what really led you

00:20:29.760 --> 00:20:32.201
to get as intimate with
Social Security benefits

00:20:32.201 --> 00:20:35.820
the way you actually have.

00:20:35.820 --> 00:20:39.570
Before we move to something
else, is there anything else,

00:20:39.570 --> 00:20:41.400
though, you wanna make sure that we hear

00:20:41.400 --> 00:20:43.893
about Social Security
that we need to know?

00:20:46.290 --> 00:20:47.970
- My biggest advice to Social Security

00:20:47.970 --> 00:20:50.790
is stop and ask questions.

00:20:50.790 --> 00:20:52.770
Before you go to the
Social Security office,

00:20:52.770 --> 00:20:54.630
understand your situation.

00:20:54.630 --> 00:20:56.730
You don't have to know
everything about it, right?

00:20:56.730 --> 00:20:57.990
Talk to someone who does.

00:20:57.990 --> 00:20:59.580
Talk to someone who
understands Social Security.

00:20:59.580 --> 00:21:00.413
They can help you see

00:21:00.413 --> 00:21:02.460
how it's going to fit in your situation.

00:21:02.460 --> 00:21:04.620
Your situation is not the
same thing as your buddy.

00:21:04.620 --> 00:21:06.480
Even if you work in the
office next door to him,

00:21:06.480 --> 00:21:07.380
even if you worked in the office

00:21:07.380 --> 00:21:09.300
next door to him your entire career,

00:21:09.300 --> 00:21:11.910
the situation can still
be very, very different.

00:21:11.910 --> 00:21:14.160
Again, depending on if
you're single or married,

00:21:14.160 --> 00:21:16.110
or your spouse is the same
age, older or younger.

00:21:16.110 --> 00:21:18.570
Did your spouse work? Do they
have higher, lower incomes?

00:21:18.570 --> 00:21:19.800
How's longevity in your family?

00:21:19.800 --> 00:21:21.960
What is your retirement asset background?

00:21:21.960 --> 00:21:23.220
There's so many differences.

00:21:23.220 --> 00:21:24.053
So a lot of people think,

00:21:24.053 --> 00:21:24.886
"Well, I'm gonna do what my buddy did

00:21:24.886 --> 00:21:25.860
because it worked for him."

00:21:25.860 --> 00:21:28.740
Hey, he might have done what
made exact sense for him.

00:21:28.740 --> 00:21:30.750
Doesn't mean that's the same
thing for your situation.

00:21:30.750 --> 00:21:33.723
So my advice to everyone is stop and ask.

00:21:34.650 --> 00:21:35.673
- Hmm. Good advice.

00:21:36.660 --> 00:21:38.370
Ben, you know this question's coming.

00:21:38.370 --> 00:21:40.560
And that is, I wanna invite
you to kind of reflect

00:21:40.560 --> 00:21:42.030
on a circumstance when perhaps

00:21:42.030 --> 00:21:44.670
either you or a client got stuck.

00:21:44.670 --> 00:21:47.490
And what did it take to get unstuck?

00:21:47.490 --> 00:21:49.890
- Yeah, so we're gonna
go back a little bit

00:21:49.890 --> 00:21:51.240
to when, I kind of alluded to this,

00:21:51.240 --> 00:21:53.580
where my dad passed
away about 10 years ago.

00:21:53.580 --> 00:21:55.920
What I didn't tell you was
what was going on in my life

00:21:55.920 --> 00:21:57.240
at that time as well.

00:21:57.240 --> 00:21:58.800
I had been in a car accident

00:21:58.800 --> 00:21:59.850
where I was sitting in a red light,

00:21:59.850 --> 00:22:01.560
I was the third car back at a red light.

00:22:01.560 --> 00:22:03.660
Somebody come in the other
direction was going too fast,

00:22:03.660 --> 00:22:05.910
lost control, missed the first two cars,

00:22:05.910 --> 00:22:08.850
and then slammed into me,
which led to a back surgery,

00:22:08.850 --> 00:22:11.250
which led to another back
surgery, which led to another one.

00:22:11.250 --> 00:22:12.783
I had shoulder surgery.

00:22:14.070 --> 00:22:16.290
By the end, I had about 11 surgeries

00:22:16.290 --> 00:22:18.210
over about an 8-9 year period.

00:22:18.210 --> 00:22:20.340
My dad passed away about
halfway through that.

00:22:20.340 --> 00:22:23.160
So when, physically, I
was one of my worst times

00:22:23.160 --> 00:22:25.980
I've ever been at, I was
still working, of course.

00:22:25.980 --> 00:22:27.540
There were times where I
was out in the hospital

00:22:27.540 --> 00:22:28.373
and then I'd be back at work.

00:22:28.373 --> 00:22:31.620
So of course it was very
frustrating, very discouraging

00:22:31.620 --> 00:22:35.130
to have built up a practice
and be working so hard;

00:22:35.130 --> 00:22:38.130
but at the same time, just to
not be able to be here fully.

00:22:38.130 --> 00:22:39.210
And so talk about being stuck.

00:22:39.210 --> 00:22:42.510
I mean, being in your
thirties, by that point,

00:22:42.510 --> 00:22:43.590
and needing that much help.

00:22:43.590 --> 00:22:45.120
I mean, sometimes, physical help

00:22:45.120 --> 00:22:46.410
getting in and outta the bed,

00:22:46.410 --> 00:22:48.748
physical help getting
to a bathroom and back.

00:22:48.748 --> 00:22:51.270
It was not a proud or fun place to be.

00:22:51.270 --> 00:22:52.230
And it's easy to get discouraged,

00:22:52.230 --> 00:22:54.740
especially after we tried
the first back surgery,

00:22:54.740 --> 00:22:56.400
it worked for a couple months

00:22:56.400 --> 00:22:57.960
and then I was in terrible shape.

00:22:57.960 --> 00:22:59.250
Had a second back surgery.

00:22:59.250 --> 00:23:01.500
It made it to where I could
walk again a little bit.

00:23:01.500 --> 00:23:03.270
But I think back to that,

00:23:03.270 --> 00:23:05.700
and I'm surprised there
was not to just a mark

00:23:05.700 --> 00:23:06.690
all the way down the hallway from where

00:23:06.690 --> 00:23:08.640
I would have to hold the
wall as I walked down.

00:23:08.640 --> 00:23:09.870
And that lasted for a couple of years

00:23:09.870 --> 00:23:11.310
'cause I was terrified
to have a third surgery.

00:23:11.310 --> 00:23:13.380
And then in the middle of
that, having other surgeries,

00:23:13.380 --> 00:23:16.110
my dad passed away after my
second one, before my third one.

00:23:16.110 --> 00:23:19.410
So I was not doing well and
not feeling like I'd be able

00:23:19.410 --> 00:23:21.390
to help the family as
much as I knew I could.

00:23:21.390 --> 00:23:23.820
And then on top of
that, trying to help Mom

00:23:23.820 --> 00:23:26.310
with Social Security thing,

00:23:26.310 --> 00:23:29.310
which my family hadn't faced
any of those questions before.

00:23:29.310 --> 00:23:30.570
So then learning all that.

00:23:30.570 --> 00:23:33.253
So I knuckled down, I really did.

00:23:33.253 --> 00:23:35.910
I was in hospitals and stuff
and outta the office more

00:23:35.910 --> 00:23:38.250
so I took that time to get
more of the designations,

00:23:38.250 --> 00:23:41.790
to really study, to utilize
the time the best that I could,

00:23:41.790 --> 00:23:42.623
to make the most of it.

00:23:42.623 --> 00:23:43.650
And there were days
that were discouraging.

00:23:43.650 --> 00:23:45.810
There were weeks, even months,
that were discouraging.

00:23:45.810 --> 00:23:47.910
Some days it was all I could do to get up

00:23:47.910 --> 00:23:49.590
and walk around the block.

00:23:49.590 --> 00:23:51.030
And I couldn't even always
make it around the block.

00:23:51.030 --> 00:23:52.467
Sometimes I'd have to call
people to come and walk with me.

00:23:52.467 --> 00:23:54.510
I'd have my cane, some
days I'd have a walker.

00:23:54.510 --> 00:23:56.550
But I got out. I did
everything that I could.

00:23:56.550 --> 00:23:58.140
I kept pushing.

00:23:58.140 --> 00:24:01.710
It's so, so easy mentally
to get stuck somewhere,

00:24:01.710 --> 00:24:03.810
especially when you're going
through something physical.

00:24:03.810 --> 00:24:06.406
And then on top of that,
unexpectedly, my dad passing away,

00:24:06.406 --> 00:24:08.700
who was going to be there
to help me through this.

00:24:08.700 --> 00:24:10.410
He had been there to help
me through a lot of this

00:24:10.410 --> 00:24:13.380
and then I didn't even
have him there to help.

00:24:13.380 --> 00:24:17.100
And so it's very easy to fall
into some tougher thoughts,

00:24:17.100 --> 00:24:18.150
some darker thoughts.

00:24:19.350 --> 00:24:22.050
Thankfully, I'm incredibly stubborn.

00:24:22.050 --> 00:24:25.350
So through great support, through friends,

00:24:25.350 --> 00:24:27.540
through colleagues,
and just being stubborn

00:24:27.540 --> 00:24:28.373
and not giving up,

00:24:28.373 --> 00:24:29.206
just refusing to give up

00:24:29.206 --> 00:24:31.860
and just continuing to fight
no matter what it took.

00:24:31.860 --> 00:24:33.210
And then finding things that I could do.

00:24:33.210 --> 00:24:34.830
Working on those designations
gave me something

00:24:34.830 --> 00:24:36.510
that I could still keep doing

00:24:36.510 --> 00:24:38.100
when I couldn't physically
be here in the office.

00:24:38.100 --> 00:24:40.260
And that was back before the days of Zoom

00:24:40.260 --> 00:24:44.460
and all the out-of-office
work that we do now.

00:24:44.460 --> 00:24:46.050
But finding something
that I could keep doing.

00:24:46.050 --> 00:24:47.340
Walking around the block some days

00:24:47.340 --> 00:24:50.133
was what I could accomplish, and I did it.

00:24:53.730 --> 00:24:55.833
- Thank you for sharing it.

00:24:57.690 --> 00:25:02.690
You said basically stubbornness,
good friends, colleagues,

00:25:03.330 --> 00:25:06.360
family came along side.

00:25:06.360 --> 00:25:09.360
As you kind of look back
on that time, what were

00:25:09.360 --> 00:25:12.093
some of the lessons you
learned in getting unstuck?

00:25:13.140 --> 00:25:14.130
- Don't give up.

00:25:14.130 --> 00:25:16.440
You don't always know what
the future has for you.

00:25:16.440 --> 00:25:21.067
Sometimes it's very easy to
get discouraged and to think,

00:25:21.067 --> 00:25:22.230
"What am I even doing all this for?

00:25:22.230 --> 00:25:24.030
Where is all this leading?
Where is all this going?"

00:25:24.030 --> 00:25:27.210
It's very easy to fall into that thinking.

00:25:27.210 --> 00:25:29.280
And I think that applies
in so many areas of life.

00:25:29.280 --> 00:25:31.920
Not just if you've been
through car accidents,

00:25:31.920 --> 00:25:33.990
not just, if you've had your independence

00:25:33.990 --> 00:25:34.823
taken away from you.

00:25:34.823 --> 00:25:37.200
I think it's very, very
easy in our day-to-day jobs,

00:25:37.200 --> 00:25:39.270
in our workout routines, in our diet,

00:25:39.270 --> 00:25:40.950
to think, "What am I
even doing all this for?

00:25:40.950 --> 00:25:42.810
What's the point? Why
don't I just take it easy,

00:25:42.810 --> 00:25:43.680
let my foot off the gas,

00:25:43.680 --> 00:25:45.017
just kind of enjoy things a bit more?"

00:25:45.017 --> 00:25:47.520
And it is important to enjoy things,

00:25:47.520 --> 00:25:49.170
but I think you can plan
for that too, right?

00:25:49.170 --> 00:25:50.310
Not that things are so structured

00:25:50.310 --> 00:25:52.470
that you can't be spontaneous,

00:25:52.470 --> 00:25:54.570
but remember that there's more out there.

00:25:54.570 --> 00:25:57.870
There's more that you can't
see yet. And that's okay.

00:25:57.870 --> 00:25:59.070
That's part of the beauty of life

00:25:59.070 --> 00:26:02.670
is understanding that you
can't see it all right now,

00:26:02.670 --> 00:26:05.730
but not forgetting that
good things are to come.

00:26:05.730 --> 00:26:07.380
It's good to be stubborn.
It's good to see it through.

00:26:07.380 --> 00:26:09.630
And some days, if the
stubbornness is all you have,

00:26:09.630 --> 00:26:10.680
lean into it.

00:26:10.680 --> 00:26:12.570
Throw on some good rock-and-roll,

00:26:12.570 --> 00:26:13.800
good Breaking Benjamin on the rough days

00:26:13.800 --> 00:26:16.050
you don't go to the gym
and just work it out.

00:26:17.550 --> 00:26:22.440
- For those who are watching
this episode via YouTube,

00:26:22.440 --> 00:26:25.680
when I started asking these
very detailed kind of questions,

00:26:25.680 --> 00:26:26.940
you kind of light up.

00:26:26.940 --> 00:26:29.290
People probably can pick
that up in your voice.

00:26:30.720 --> 00:26:32.970
You also light up on another topic

00:26:32.970 --> 00:26:36.333
and that is, when you're
not helping clients,

00:26:37.380 --> 00:26:40.410
you are doing something that
I just found very fascinating.

00:26:40.410 --> 00:26:43.170
Not just because you're doing
it, but the extent of that.

00:26:43.170 --> 00:26:46.230
Would you mind share the
hobby that you and I discussed

00:26:46.230 --> 00:26:48.060
over lunch a few weeks ago?

00:26:48.060 --> 00:26:50.190
- Travel. I absolutely love to travel.

00:26:50.190 --> 00:26:53.280
I love experiencing new cultures.
I love meeting new people.

00:26:53.280 --> 00:26:56.040
I love seeing new places.

00:26:56.040 --> 00:26:58.020
I just booked my flights to Peru

00:26:58.020 --> 00:26:59.940
for the end of September,
beginning of October.

00:26:59.940 --> 00:27:02.070
So I'm gonna finally see
my last World Wonder.

00:27:02.070 --> 00:27:03.840
All that got delayed because of COVID.

00:27:03.840 --> 00:27:05.700
And then hopefully, this December,

00:27:05.700 --> 00:27:07.620
hopefully that'll be my last continent.

00:27:07.620 --> 00:27:09.120
So I've had my Antarctica trip scheduled

00:27:09.120 --> 00:27:10.050
for the last two years.

00:27:10.050 --> 00:27:12.000
It's the third year I've had
it scheduled, tickets in hand.

00:27:12.000 --> 00:27:14.220
So hopefully this year
it will actually happen

00:27:14.220 --> 00:27:16.500
and I'll get to step foot on
my last continent finally.

00:27:16.500 --> 00:27:17.640
I'm very excited about that.

00:27:17.640 --> 00:27:19.680
I'm very, very thankful
for the amazing people

00:27:19.680 --> 00:27:21.330
I've been able to meet all over the world.

00:27:21.330 --> 00:27:23.070
For many of the things
I've been able to see.

00:27:23.070 --> 00:27:25.410
I was able to visit
Ukraine several years ago.

00:27:25.410 --> 00:27:26.910
I was able to visit Russia.

00:27:26.910 --> 00:27:28.470
To visit Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan.

00:27:28.470 --> 00:27:31.230
I was able to visit Syria
before ISIS swept through there.

00:27:31.230 --> 00:27:33.240
I saw Notre Dame before the fire.

00:27:33.240 --> 00:27:34.320
You know, there's so many things.

00:27:34.320 --> 00:27:36.217
People sometimes give me little grief.

00:27:36.217 --> 00:27:37.800
"Why do you travel so much?
It's always gonna be there.

00:27:37.800 --> 00:27:39.450
Just take your time."

00:27:39.450 --> 00:27:40.620
We've seen that it's just not the case.

00:27:40.620 --> 00:27:42.720
The world is so different
over these last couple years,

00:27:42.720 --> 00:27:44.490
and we saw how spoiled we really were.

00:27:44.490 --> 00:27:45.323
We could jump on a plane

00:27:45.323 --> 00:27:46.831
and basically go anywhere we wanted to.

00:27:46.831 --> 00:27:48.780
And now, things are different.

00:27:48.780 --> 00:27:50.340
There's so much opportunity out there

00:27:50.340 --> 00:27:52.890
and there's so many beautiful
people and beautiful ideas

00:27:52.890 --> 00:27:54.030
and cultures and different ways

00:27:54.030 --> 00:27:56.340
of doing things and seeing things.

00:27:56.340 --> 00:27:57.510
My first time going to Europe,

00:27:57.510 --> 00:27:59.910
one of the first places
that I went in Europe

00:27:59.910 --> 00:28:03.330
was France and our cab driver was awesome.

00:28:03.330 --> 00:28:05.130
Spoke great English, super, super nice.

00:28:05.130 --> 00:28:06.697
But as we're driving, he's like,

00:28:06.697 --> 00:28:08.933
"This bridge was built in blah, blah."

00:28:08.933 --> 00:28:12.510
That bridge is so much older
than our entire country!

00:28:12.510 --> 00:28:14.130
Literally that bridge
that no even thinks about

00:28:14.130 --> 00:28:15.690
that I was just driving over, spitting on,

00:28:15.690 --> 00:28:18.360
nobody thinks about is so
much older than our country

00:28:18.360 --> 00:28:19.650
and seeing how they did things there

00:28:19.650 --> 00:28:23.400
and just really realizing what
history and culture has to do

00:28:23.400 --> 00:28:24.990
and seeing how beautiful that was.

00:28:24.990 --> 00:28:26.160
But then, when I came back to the US,

00:28:26.160 --> 00:28:27.967
I realized being over
there, it's easy to think,

00:28:27.967 --> 00:28:28.830
"Man, that's such an advantage."

00:28:28.830 --> 00:28:29.827
And then I came back
over here and thought,

00:28:29.827 --> 00:28:31.890
"Hey, we have our
advantages over here too.

00:28:31.890 --> 00:28:35.040
We're not bogged down by
all these hundreds of years

00:28:35.040 --> 00:28:37.050
of tradition where it's
always been done this way,

00:28:37.050 --> 00:28:38.400
so we're gonna do it this way.

00:28:38.400 --> 00:28:39.510
We don't have that."

00:28:39.510 --> 00:28:41.400
We're more innovators here, right?

00:28:41.400 --> 00:28:43.860
Which I think is beautiful,
but that has it's downside too,

00:28:43.860 --> 00:28:45.300
'cause you don't always
have to reinvent the wheel

00:28:45.300 --> 00:28:46.133
to get something done.

00:28:46.133 --> 00:28:47.033
Sometimes doing something
the way it's been done,

00:28:47.033 --> 00:28:49.350
there's a reason it's been done that way.

00:28:49.350 --> 00:28:51.960
So looking at just those
ideas, the beauty of that.

00:28:51.960 --> 00:28:55.320
I was on a train coming
back from Tashkent,

00:28:55.320 --> 00:28:57.960
or going to Tashkent,
coming back from Uzbekistan,

00:28:57.960 --> 00:28:59.820
there was a lady there, thankfully again,

00:28:59.820 --> 00:29:02.550
she spoke wonderful English,
so I was very, very thankful.

00:29:02.550 --> 00:29:03.990
Wish I spoke more languages. I do not.

00:29:03.990 --> 00:29:05.527
But we were talking and she said,

00:29:05.527 --> 00:29:09.600
"Hey, what do people think of Tashkent

00:29:09.600 --> 00:29:11.487
and Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan?

00:29:11.487 --> 00:29:14.760
I think that most people
probably just think of the movie,

00:29:14.760 --> 00:29:15.990
Borat, the comedy."

00:29:15.990 --> 00:29:17.503
Which I'd never seen, so I
didn't really have anything-

00:29:17.503 --> 00:29:19.680
I was like, "Yeah, that's probably fair."

00:29:19.680 --> 00:29:21.360
I said, "You know, what do
people think of Americans?"

00:29:21.360 --> 00:29:22.890
And she didn't wanna say it for us.

00:29:22.890 --> 00:29:24.630
She's like, "That
they're loud and stupid."

00:29:24.630 --> 00:29:27.570
I was like, "Ah, well,
okay, not entirely wrong."

00:29:27.570 --> 00:29:28.993
But we got into a deeper
conversation and she said,

00:29:28.993 --> 00:29:32.241
"You know, that's the idea,
but here's what we've learned."

00:29:32.241 --> 00:29:33.450
Then she started quizzing me.

00:29:33.450 --> 00:29:35.430
She asked me when the
French Revolution happened.

00:29:35.430 --> 00:29:37.020
What year it was. I had no idea.

00:29:37.020 --> 00:29:38.761
She asked me all kinds of
things around the world.

00:29:38.761 --> 00:29:40.710
I was embarrassed. Like I had no idea.

00:29:40.710 --> 00:29:41.700
So I started to defend myself.

00:29:41.700 --> 00:29:43.342
She goes, "Wait a
minute." Puts her hand up.

00:29:43.342 --> 00:29:45.000
She said, "Wait a minute, please.

00:29:45.000 --> 00:29:46.050
Here's what we've learned.

00:29:46.050 --> 00:29:51.050
If you put a group of
our students in a room,

00:29:51.330 --> 00:29:52.260
they can answer these questions.

00:29:52.260 --> 00:29:53.610
They know it very, very well.

00:29:53.610 --> 00:29:56.250
However, we don't specialize as well.

00:29:56.250 --> 00:29:58.410
So if we give them a task to do,

00:29:58.410 --> 00:29:59.580
everyone has the same knowledge base

00:29:59.580 --> 00:30:01.410
so they can all specialize
in that one thing.

00:30:01.410 --> 00:30:02.400
But we've learned that when you put

00:30:02.400 --> 00:30:04.770
a group of Americans in a
room, they're so specialized.

00:30:04.770 --> 00:30:05.603
They all know something different.

00:30:05.603 --> 00:30:07.620
And so they're able to accomplish
a task more effectively

00:30:07.620 --> 00:30:09.870
in many cases because they
know different things."

00:30:09.870 --> 00:30:11.760
So she said, "Yeah, you
guys don't know as much

00:30:11.760 --> 00:30:13.800
about this or that or world history,

00:30:13.800 --> 00:30:15.128
but if we want to accomplish a task,

00:30:15.128 --> 00:30:16.740
you guys have a clear advantage there."

00:30:16.740 --> 00:30:18.990
Which I never would've thought about.

00:30:18.990 --> 00:30:20.010
I never would've even.

00:30:20.010 --> 00:30:22.110
I just thought like, "Man, we are dumb."

00:30:22.110 --> 00:30:22.980
That's all I was thinking.

00:30:22.980 --> 00:30:25.110
But I can see what she's talking about

00:30:25.110 --> 00:30:26.790
in terms of the different
kinds of knowledge

00:30:26.790 --> 00:30:28.680
that we have here and just
expanding your horizon

00:30:28.680 --> 00:30:29.880
that way and traveling.

00:30:29.880 --> 00:30:32.367
I don't know another way to do that.

00:30:32.367 --> 00:30:33.840
- Ben, you may not realize it,

00:30:33.840 --> 00:30:35.640
but we just recorded a teaser

00:30:35.640 --> 00:30:37.743
for what might be another podcast.

00:30:38.751 --> 00:30:39.900
- Great.

00:30:39.900 --> 00:30:42.990
- You could speak knowledgeably
about your travel.

00:30:42.990 --> 00:30:46.380
What I failed to ask, how
many countries does that make?

00:30:46.380 --> 00:30:48.330
- I'm at 32 right now.

00:30:48.330 --> 00:30:50.850
- Goodness, goodness.

00:30:50.850 --> 00:30:53.640
So the stories that you have already told

00:30:53.640 --> 00:30:54.543
and could tell.

00:30:55.470 --> 00:30:57.750
As you look back on our conversation,

00:30:57.750 --> 00:31:00.630
we've started talking
about the broader topic

00:31:00.630 --> 00:31:03.690
of retirement and nest eggs.

00:31:03.690 --> 00:31:05.760
We kind of did more of a drill down

00:31:05.760 --> 00:31:08.610
on Social Security, in particular.

00:31:08.610 --> 00:31:09.810
I asked you a little bit earlier,

00:31:09.810 --> 00:31:11.460
if you were to kind of recap

00:31:11.460 --> 00:31:13.470
what might be some takeaways
for Social Security,

00:31:13.470 --> 00:31:15.030
what might they be?

00:31:15.030 --> 00:31:18.189
Could I step back and just
ask that in a broader sense?

00:31:18.189 --> 00:31:19.022
- Of course.

00:31:19.022 --> 00:31:21.060
- If we've got listeners to this podcast

00:31:21.060 --> 00:31:23.790
and retirement's kind of on their mind,

00:31:23.790 --> 00:31:28.410
what might be some major
takeaways you want them to have

00:31:28.410 --> 00:31:30.660
as a result of our time together?

00:31:30.660 --> 00:31:32.880
- Save early and save often.

00:31:32.880 --> 00:31:35.760
If the markets aren't
doing well, keep saving.

00:31:35.760 --> 00:31:37.980
If the markets are
doing well, keep saving.

00:31:37.980 --> 00:31:39.960
I think it's very, very
important that you find someone

00:31:39.960 --> 00:31:41.280
that you can talk to that you trust,

00:31:41.280 --> 00:31:43.061
whether that's a financial advisor,

00:31:43.061 --> 00:31:45.570
whoever that is to you,

00:31:45.570 --> 00:31:47.220
that you absolutely trust
that can talk to you

00:31:47.220 --> 00:31:48.390
and help guide you.

00:31:48.390 --> 00:31:50.220
It's okay that you don't
know everything about this.

00:31:50.220 --> 00:31:51.810
That shouldn't keep you from doing it.

00:31:51.810 --> 00:31:53.550
I'll tell you, I don't know
a thing about car engines.

00:31:53.550 --> 00:31:55.800
My little brother convinced
me to change my own oil once.

00:31:55.800 --> 00:31:57.240
He convinced me back in college

00:31:57.240 --> 00:31:58.073
that it was gonna be cheaper.

00:31:58.073 --> 00:31:59.940
I was still back in college
and I was trying to save money.

00:31:59.940 --> 00:32:01.050
He ended up costing me so much money.

00:32:01.050 --> 00:32:01.883
I broke so many things.

00:32:01.883 --> 00:32:02.716
He came outta the house

00:32:02.716 --> 00:32:03.930
cause I've been out there
for hours working on it.

00:32:03.930 --> 00:32:05.797
He just put his hands
on his head and said,

00:32:05.797 --> 00:32:06.750
"What have you done?"

00:32:06.750 --> 00:32:08.241
I was like, "You're the one
who told me to do this."

00:32:08.241 --> 00:32:10.230
He said, "I will fix this.

00:32:10.230 --> 00:32:13.260
Go inside and promise me you
will never do this again."

00:32:13.260 --> 00:32:15.480
So I think of that when
it comes to finances,

00:32:15.480 --> 00:32:16.920
with the stuff that I
do, the Social Security,

00:32:16.920 --> 00:32:18.210
I don't expect people to know.

00:32:18.210 --> 00:32:19.200
That's ridiculous, right?

00:32:19.200 --> 00:32:21.810
How would they have room in
their head to do what they do?

00:32:21.810 --> 00:32:22.847
So I think it's okay.

00:32:22.847 --> 00:32:25.304
There's nothing to be
ashamed of or embarrassed of.

00:32:25.304 --> 00:32:26.700
I mean, yeah, I'm a guy,

00:32:26.700 --> 00:32:28.710
and I like to think I
have pretty good beard,

00:32:28.710 --> 00:32:30.552
so I should be able work
on cars, but I don't.

00:32:30.552 --> 00:32:33.210
It's not my thing. And I'm okay with it.

00:32:33.210 --> 00:32:35.640
You know, I got my brother
if I need something.

00:32:35.640 --> 00:32:36.780
I just take the mechanic honestly,

00:32:36.780 --> 00:32:37.613
but I'll call my brother and be like,

00:32:37.613 --> 00:32:39.600
"Hey, they told me this. Does
that sound right to you?"

00:32:39.600 --> 00:32:41.010
'Cause I really don't even know.

00:32:41.010 --> 00:32:43.890
And that's okay when it
comes to finances. It's okay.

00:32:43.890 --> 00:32:45.060
You've gotta be saving though.

00:32:45.060 --> 00:32:46.260
No matter what, you've gotta be saving.

00:32:46.260 --> 00:32:47.850
Get compound interest working for you

00:32:47.850 --> 00:32:49.260
instead of working against you.

00:32:49.260 --> 00:32:51.120
There's really only two
options there, right?

00:32:51.120 --> 00:32:53.610
You're not sitting it out,
'cause if you're taking loans,

00:32:53.610 --> 00:32:54.930
then it's working against you.

00:32:54.930 --> 00:32:56.853
If you're able to invest
and continue to invest,

00:32:56.853 --> 00:32:58.020
then it's gonna work for you.

00:32:58.020 --> 00:33:00.660
Now of course, you wanna invest
in smart investments, right?

00:33:00.660 --> 00:33:02.137
When I say invest, I'm not just saying,

00:33:02.137 --> 00:33:03.630
"Just put money anywhere
and hope for the best."

00:33:03.630 --> 00:33:04.950
That's not at all what I'm saying.

00:33:04.950 --> 00:33:05.783
You wanna be very smart with that.

00:33:05.783 --> 00:33:08.259
You wanna be conscious of what fees are.

00:33:08.259 --> 00:33:09.861
You wanna be conscious of

00:33:09.861 --> 00:33:13.050
when you want to have access to the money.

00:33:13.050 --> 00:33:14.160
That's one of the most important things.

00:33:14.160 --> 00:33:15.690
Cause then you can align your allocation

00:33:15.690 --> 00:33:16.940
with what your goals are.

00:33:17.910 --> 00:33:20.220
- Hmm. Great guidance.

00:33:20.220 --> 00:33:22.950
Ben, if folks want to reach out to you,

00:33:22.950 --> 00:33:25.320
what's the best way for them to do that?

00:33:25.320 --> 00:33:26.760
- Email is one of the easiest.

00:33:26.760 --> 00:33:30.743
So my email address is ben.francis@nm.com.

00:33:42.660 --> 00:33:47.160
- Excellent. We will include
that in the show notes as well.

00:33:47.160 --> 00:33:48.270
Thank you, Ben.

00:33:48.270 --> 00:33:50.446
- Absolutely. I've
enjoyed talking with you.

00:33:50.446 --> 00:33:53.220
- I also wanna thank our
listeners for joining us today.

00:33:53.220 --> 00:33:55.740
We upload the latest
episode every Thursday

00:33:55.740 --> 00:34:00.030
to all the platforms,
including Spotify and Apple.

00:34:00.030 --> 00:34:02.100
So if you've enjoyed
this episode with Ben,

00:34:02.100 --> 00:34:03.900
please subscribe.

00:34:03.900 --> 00:34:07.230
As we wrap up, I've got a
question for our listeners.

00:34:07.230 --> 00:34:09.690
Are you frustrated because
your company's growth

00:34:09.690 --> 00:34:13.470
has been slowed by people,
process, or planning problems?

00:34:13.470 --> 00:34:15.870
If yes, perhaps we can help.

00:34:15.870 --> 00:34:17.910
We love helping growing companies

00:34:17.910 --> 00:34:20.490
get to the root cause of these problems,

00:34:20.490 --> 00:34:22.950
with coaching and
training that's guaranteed

00:34:22.950 --> 00:34:25.260
to have a bottom line impact.

00:34:25.260 --> 00:34:27.630
To schedule a call, go to our website,

00:34:27.630 --> 00:34:29.550
bench-builders.com

00:34:29.550 --> 00:34:34.257
or simply type unstuck.show
in your browser.

00:34:34.257 --> 00:34:38.070
On this non-sales call, we'll
talk about your business

00:34:38.070 --> 00:34:41.040
and what we do and see
if it's a good match.

00:34:41.040 --> 00:34:43.200
So I wanna thank you for joining us

00:34:43.200 --> 00:34:46.170
and I hope you have picked
up on some tips from Ben

00:34:46.170 --> 00:34:49.800
that'll help you Get
Unstuck and On Target.

00:34:49.800 --> 00:34:50.879
Until next time.

00:34:50.879 --> 00:34:53.712
(uplifting music)