On this episode of The Federal Retirement Show, Val explains in detail how to have all of your financial bases covered as a federal employee from comprehensive planning and building assets to eliminating debt.

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8.11.23: Audio automatically transcribed by Sonix

8.11.23: this mp3 audio file was automatically transcribed by Sonix with the best speech-to-text algorithms. This transcript may contain errors.

Val Majewski:
Well, welcome back to the Federal Retirement show. I'm your host, Val Majeski, with American Benefits Exchange. And I appreciate you joining me today, as always. But we're going to be talking about comprehensive planning and covering all of your bases. If you don't know if you're not familiar with my history, baseball is my first love. I played baseball professionally for ten years from 2002 to 2012, right before getting into working primarily with and exclusively with federal employees. I make a lot of baseball analogies. I still love baseball watch way too much of it and usually try to mix in a a baseball saying phrase whatever it may be into the trainings and things that I do. So today is right up my alley when we're talking about covering all of your bases, making sure you are comprehensively planning and killing not just two birds with one stone, killing multiple birds with one stone. So let's dive into today's information and go over covering all of your bases. So what are we talking about? Well, I mentioned comprehensive planning. And in order to kill multiple birds with one stone, cover all of the bases, we got to understand the areas of concern that we're trying to fix, trying to remedy. And within what I'm talking about, you can look at your own situation. But what we give federal benefits and retirement reviews to federal employees of all walks of life all over the country, a lot of common areas of concern come up.

Val Majewski:
First of all, are you planning well enough for retirement? Are you saving enough money for retirement and not just saving money to get an income, but saving money for those unforeseen things, Maybe extra travel that you want to do or emergencies or rainy day funds? Are you planning enough? Are you saving enough for your future? Number two, a big concern is taxes in retirement. And we've done multiple episodes about taxes in retirement, how to mitigate taxes in retirement and trying to get Uncle Sam out of your pocket in retirement as much as possible. Because whether you know it or not, your partner in crime, your silent partner in crime is Uncle Sam. When it comes to retirement. That's a pretty interesting business plan that you've made with Uncle Sam in retirement. But if we can eliminate taxes or get the concern about taxes off your plate when it comes to your future retirement, that would be a huge help. What about family and life insurance coverage? Well, we've done multiple episodes on Phegley and the options that come with Phegley. The options you have outside of the government plan in order to provide maybe better or more comprehensive life insurance for your family. There's a concern about rising costs of Phegley Option B and as a specific example, and helping to mitigate those costs over time save you a ton of money. So when it comes to providing your family with the coverage that you want to have in place.

Val Majewski:
That's a big area of concern and how to do that in the most economical or economically friendly manner, most cost effective way. How can you provide death benefit protection for the unforeseen things in life? The worst case scenario something happens to you. You want to make sure that your family is taken care of. That is a big area of concern. What about eliminating debt and paying interest, paying too much interest? Well, that's a big concern for federal employees, at least in the last couple of years because interest rates have been on the rise. The rates that you're getting when you're taking a loan out for your mortgage or for your car or personal loans at the bank. Student loans are not what they once were several years back when we were in negative interest rates or the Fed was in a super low interest rate environment. Rates have gone up. Okay. Interest has gone up. Variable rates have increased, which means you're going to be paying more interest. So what if we can eliminate debt in a fraction of the time? Pay less in interest. That's a big concern. And we've done other episodes on eliminating debt. So you have seen all of these concerns. There has been a single episode or multiple episodes covering each of these areas of concern. You can certainly go back and review and take a deeper dive into those areas of concern. But today I want to talk about a way that we can cover all of these things in a single plan.

Val Majewski:
I said killing multiple birds with one stone, one plant. Now, you may not have all of these areas of concern. Maybe you have two of them. Maybe you have three out of the four. We're still going to cover your concerns with a singular plan, but we can cover all four of these things with a single plan. Now, you may not know if there is an area of concern with one of these four things. You may not know why, because perhaps you have not gotten a full benefits and retirement review done ever, or maybe not recently. It is in your best interest to go to our website. Federal retirement. Show.com complete the form and request a complimentary benefits and retirement review. After the review, you'll actually receive a free copy of my book which I'm going to talk about here in a little while. But we want to make sure you have all the information that you need to make the best decisions going forward. So if you are not sure if you have a concern at any of these areas, you need to get a review done. We have to expose all of the things within your situation, lay it all out for you so you can see the good, the bad, the ugly, and make sure you're set up properly going forward. Okay. That being said. I just mentioned. How do you know a problem exists? But you need to take a look or deeper dive into all of that stuff, right? Get answers to your questions.

Val Majewski:
And you know what? You may not have any questions, but by the time we take a look at your situation, explore the whole deal, lay it all out for you. New questions may pop up, questions you didn't know to ask before and know what the good thing is. We will answer a lot of those questions before you ask them. You're like, Oh, I was going to ask that, but you've already answered it. I was going to ask this, but you've already answered it. And that could lead to a follow up question. And another follow up question. Knowledge is key here. Knowledge is is your best friend when it comes to your benefits and retirement situation as a federal government employee, because it helps you understand the impact of the choices that you're making, the costs that are involved, how those things change over time, and how to properly prepare for retirement. We've said it once and we'll say it again. We do not want you to get to the end of your career and think that's the only time that you need to get a benefits review or prepare for retirement or we don't want you to get to the end of your career thinking that you were on the right track. Then you get your statement of what you're going to be earning in retirement and find out.

Val Majewski:
That's it. That's all I'm going to get. I can't live on this. So you need to get a full knowledge and understanding of where you currently stand, how things are going to change over time and how you're projecting as you get closer and closer to retirement. That's how, you know, if you have an area of concern, that's how you know if there's a problem. Existing you need to find a solution for. So before we can talk about covering all of your bases, we need to know if there's a problem now. Maybe you're saying, okay, I've already done that. Now I understand there are problems or areas concerned. I looked at the four things you just mentioned, and maybe I've only got one of them. Two, three, maybe you have all four. So if you have a full understanding, you've gone to that. Well, how do we go forward and cover all of the bases? As I mentioned, I'm a huge baseball fan. Love it. Can't stop talking about it. The conversations I've had with friends, they're always like, hey, you should start a baseball radio show. Well, that's my area of expertise for what we're talking about is federal retirement. But I love to compare baseball. And if we're thinking about covering all the bases, what's our our goal on a baseball field? Not only do we want to get a hit, but we want to come home safely. Safely, okay. We don't want to get near the end and get thrown out.

Val Majewski:
We don't want to get close to there and not make it. We want to come home safely. So if we can get you home, we can get you to retirement safely. Okay with a big smile on your face. High five and everybody on the way out. Just like you scored the winning run in the World Series. That's what we want to do now. How can we do this with those four areas of concern? Okay, Number one. Now I'm starting at first base, right? Starting at first base. What type of plan can cover all of these things? Well. Understand that there are a lot of different opportunities out there. A lot of different plans that you can get into that might be able to cover 1 or 2 of those things that I mentioned a couple slides ago. Our areas of concern. But there is a type of plan that can cover all four of those things. Okay. There is a vehicle we can utilize to remedy and cover all of those things. It is a properly designed, permanent life insurance plan. A properly designed. Tax advantaged life insurance plan. Permanent life insurance plan. And that gets us to our first base, right. One of the areas of concern was phegley or having enough life insurance coverage and paying a very cost effective rate for that life insurance coverage to make sure that if something happened to me.

Val Majewski:
God forbid. But if something happens to me prematurely, unexpectedly, all of this stuff that I want to make sure that there is enough death benefit protection for my family, I want to make sure that they're covered. Now, some of you, you may be the primary breadwinner, you may not be, but you still want to make sure that your passing. Is not a burden on your loved ones, on your name, beneficiary or beneficiaries. So there is permanent protection. For you and your family for life's unexpected events. Number one. So that's our baseline part of this plan. Baseline. We got the first. We're there. What other kind of things are we going to cover? Well, in the short term, what if you have emergencies? Okay. In the short term, what if there are things you need to take care of, Meaning nothing. Let's talk about health. The health side. I'll talk about health and finances on this side. So in the short term, we are planning for the long term for you to come home safely. But in the short term, let's say you don't pass away, but you get diagnosed with something like a heart attack, stroke, cancer. You have a medical condition that does not. Permanent. Your life does not kill you, but you still have an emergency. You have a medical thing that you need to take care of. This plan will also have coverage and provide benefits for those types of things should they occur. Now, what if it's not medical? What if it is financial? Well, this type of properly designed plan builds funds.

Val Majewski:
It accumulates cash value. It builds an asset for you that you can utilize at any point in time, as long as you have money in there to utilize, you can utilize that for the financial emergencies. Maybe it goes a combination. It's a medical thing that causes a financial emergency. You can pull from this plan to pay for those things. So you're preparing for the short term. Now, granted, again, our goal is long term in this. Our goal is long term. But there are ways in which you can protect the short term for medical financial type of emergencies. We talked about eliminating debt. So going over to third base, we're progressing in this plan. Okay, We've got it started. It's got permanent protection in case something happens to me. I'm protected on the short term in case something happens that does not kill me. I've got a financial emergency. Medical emergency. But we talked about debt, eliminating debt. Now go back to the previous episodes talking about debt elimination and you can see we discuss interest. What is interest really? Interest is money that you pay a lender. It benefits them. It does you no good money that you pay in interest. You might as well light on fire, throw it in the trash, tear it up, flush it down the toilet. It does absolutely no good to you. So if we can eliminate interest that you're paying over time any kind of interest bearing debt, credit card, home loan, car loan, student loan, personal loan, whatever.

Val Majewski:
That's money that you just didn't throw out the window. You didn't light it on fire. Okay. Flush it down the toilet. So if we can help you eliminate debt in a fraction of the time compared to just stay in the course and paying it off on the normal schedule, we will save you money in interest, which will then put more money back in your pocket if you pay off your debt quicker. What are we doing? Also, we're freeing up all that monthly cash flow that was going to debt that can now go in your pocket, can go towards retirement savings. So within this plan, we designed it so that we can pay off your debt in a fraction of the time, ideally nine years or less, and ideally doing so without spending any additional money than you're spending right now. So you wait. Let's back up. You're saying that I might be able to start this whole plan and pay for this whole plan without spending any additional money that I'm spending right now? That is absolutely correct. We talked about comprehensive. We're going to try and do so and say try. And if you want to add more money to it, you certainly can, but do so without spending any additional money than you're spending right now. So you're out of pocket can be the same, and now you'll get protection.

Val Majewski:
You didn't have short term protection for emergencies, both financial and medical, and we're paying off your debt in a fraction of the time. Again, not spending any additional dollars. Sounds too good to be true. It is not. Let us show you how this works. Design a plan specifically for you. So eliminating debt in a fraction of the time. We pay off all the debt, free up that cash flow that was going to debt less than interest, multiple savings there. Double whammy. More money in your pocket. Less that you're paying out at interest. Awesome. So once we get there, let's say debts completely paid off. Now, along the same way, all this time we've been saving money for the long term in retirement. But let's say we've gotten all the way here. Okay? Started with the protection short term in case it's there kind of medium term when we're paying off all of your debt. Now we're focusing long term on retirement. We're going to focus on cash accumulation on a tax advantaged tax free basis. So tax advantage. It's actually on a tax free basis. If this plan is designed properly, this money that you're going to be saving in this plan is going to be accumulating risk free and tax free. What do I mean by risk free? Risk free because the money is not subject to the ups and downs of the stock market. You can accumulate interest.

Val Majewski:
Gain cash value on a tax free basis without the money being subject to the risks of the ups and downs and the volatility that exists within the stock market. Pretty awesome. This is your slow and steady wins the race. I'm sure you've heard the story of the tortoise and the hare. We're not trying to be the the the hare. We're flying out the gate and getting distracted, getting hung up and seeing the ups and downs like the market does. This is slow and steady, gradual over time, accumulating these funds, after all the debts are paid off on a tax free basis. Now what can you do with that money in the end that can start for you in additional retirement income? Stream out a tax free basis. It can be rainy day emergency money on a tax free basis. It can sit there and you can just let it sit and grow on a tax free basis. Should you need to borrow money again after all of your debt is paid off? Well, guess what? You can borrow it from yourself. You can become the lender at this point. Not going to pay interest to somebody else. You can become the lender to your future. Thanks. If something does happen to you and you never use the money, well, again, you've got a death benefit that's going to go to your beneficiaries on a tax free basis. But ideally, we're setting this up for you to utilize it, complete this entire plan covering all the bases.

Val Majewski:
Bringing me home safe. So let's recap on covering all the bases. Right. Guaranteed or sorry, I shouldn't say guaranteed. We'll say permanent. Protection on the death benefit side. Permanent protection. It's going to be there forever. As long as you've paid the premium for the plan that's going to be there on a tax free basis to your beneficiaries if something were to happen to you in the short term. Also, in the short term, if you something happens and it doesn't kill you, now you've got the ability to utilize the plan for short term medical emergencies, financial emergencies. Ideally, in the medium term, we're looking to pay off all of your debt in a fraction of the time. Do so using the plan, which will help you save money on interest. Free up that monthly cash flow that can then be redirected towards your retirement savings. And now we're building we're building an asset building cash value that can be utilized on a tax free basis for your future, whether that's retirement, emergency savings, etcetera. So hope that makes sense. You followed me all the way around the bases and we scored safely at home again, high fiving everybody as we head back to the dugout of retirement. And you are one happy camper. Okay. You did above and beyond what you just thought you would do. And we've we've increased or. Over done your retire, which is a great, great feeling for those that get there safely.

Val Majewski:
So where do we go with comprehensive planning? Well, I want to offer you this. Okay. I mentioned it before. You can read the book. I was going to come back to it. I'm coming back to it now. Where do you get a good baseline knowledge Now, not only do we want to go over your specific situation with you, but a good general starting point is by getting a copy of my book. There's no excuse. This is a book I wrote in the same way that I talk. So if you read it, you could read it in my tone of voice. You can read it the way I talk, but I give a lot of presentations. I've done so over the past decade plus working specifically with federal employees and decided to write a book. Write down all of my thoughts on the ins and outs of what you need to know regarding your benefits and retirement situation. It's an easy read, but it's a good baseline knowledge for you when it comes to being a federal employee and understanding all that's included with that. The back side, though it is general in nature. So said, it's an easy read General in nature. You're going to have specific questions. You're going to want to go over your specific situation. So there's there's two ways you can get a copy of the book. You can purchase it on Amazon or you can sign up for a complimentary benefits and retirement review.

Val Majewski:
And upon completion of that, you're going to get a complimentary copy of the book so you can go to federal retirement. Show.com fill out the form, request some information. One of our representatives will be in touch with you shortly thereafter to schedule your benefits and retirement review, create a couple of different reports for you, show you all the numbers. Now with that, I've really appreciate you you kind of tuning in to learn about this, covering all of your bases. If this title excited you, if you were a baseball fan like me, hey, where are they going with this? What are we going to be talking about? You know, killing multiple birds with one stone? I hope you got a great understanding of how we can do that and the benefit that we can provide by comprehensively planning for your situation. As I mentioned earlier, everybody's situation is different. This is not a one size fits all deal, which is why we need to speak with you. We need to create your custom plan, make sure that it's set up for you, your family, your needs. With that, I'll say again, I appreciate you taking the time to view this episode. Be sure to go back and check out our previous episodes. A lot of great information in there. My name is Val Majewski with American Benefits Exchange and I look forward to seeing you on a future episode. And.

Producer:
There's never been a more lucrative time to be a collegiate athlete. I'm Jim Trebilco with the Retirement.Radio Network Powered by Emera Life. In July of 2021, the US Supreme Court unanimously ruled the NCAA no longer had the authority to prohibit student athletes from profiting off education related payments. In other words, student athletes can now receive benefits from endorsement deals. Autographs, apparel and appearances can also generate income as well. Cnbc's Courtney Reagan discusses further.

Courtney Reagan:
New state laws and NCAA rules went into effect at 12:01 a.m., allowing collegiate athletes to profit off their name, image and likeness for the first time. It's not just global or national deals. Some who use their athletic fame to market local businesses or even their own outside endeavors.

Producer:
And while there's been some debate about the future complexion of collegiate athletics from various coaches and athletic directors, athletes have taken it upon themselves to score deals. Ohio State University city star wide receiver Marvin Harrison Jr is one of seven athletes from different schools to sign as ambassadors for Dwayne the Rock Johnson's ZOA energy Drink. Lsu gymnast Olivia Dunne has signed on with Activewear clothing brand fury for a deal worth over $1 million. The debate of collegiate athletes becoming paid employees has raged on for decades. That debate may still exist, but collegiate athletes being compensated is the way of the future for the Retirement.Radio Network Powered by AmeriLife.

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