Preparing for Retirement with Brandi Person.mp3: Audio automatically transcribed by Sonix

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

Val Majewski:
Welcome, everybody. Welcome back to the Federal Retirement Show. I'm your host, Val Majewski, with American Benefits Exchange. And today I've got a very special guest, Ms. Brandi Person. She has been one of our regional representatives for many years, has helped out hundreds, if not thousands of federal employees over the course of her career. And I want to talk to her today just about her experience. First of all, her expertise is above par. You're not going to find somebody that's got more federal employee knowledge than Brandi. But I want to talk about her experience, especially when it comes to helping federal retirees or people nearing retirement. And a lot of the concerns and pitfalls and issues that she sees a lot of folks are dealing with. So a very special episode. Today, I'll bring in Brandi Person. Brandi, thank you for joining me. Thank you for taking the time out of your busy schedule to be on the show.

Brandi Person:
Yes, thank you for having me. I appreciate being here.

Val Majewski:
Well, tell me just again, just for those that are tuning in to give a little bit about your background, how long have you been working with federal employees? What drew you to working with federal employees? Just share a little bit about your experience in this market.

Brandi Person:
Oh, wow. It's been about, I'd say, about 11 years. I started in late 2010. Working with federal employees have actually been in this industry since 2007, kind of this realm of helping people with these types of things. But I was introduced into being able to help federal employees in late 2010, and I have been doing that ever since. So I would say that's definitely my niche market and it's what I love doing and helping them prepare for retirement or just help them go along through their career and making the right decisions with their benefits and their retirement. I really enjoy it. I love doing it and I will probably do it until I decide to retire myself.

Val Majewski:
Well, the thing is, and we talked about this all the time, you and I, but they have a big need, right? That's what kind of drew me in. So did that draw you in as well when you saw that they have a lot of holes and needs that need to be filled?

Brandi Person:
What I find is as a whole in general, I think that in our in our country alone, probably others, but in our country alone, I think that people that work on just jobs in general that have like a benefits package or retirement package. Nine times out of ten, they don't understand what that is. You know, I worked in corporate America previous to doing this and had a benefits package myself that I didn't understand. And yes. And working with federal employees, that is one thing that we're able to I was able to learn everything about what they have, and then I can help them to fill those gaps because, you know, most people go to work every day just to work. They're not there to figure out their benefits. And so that's what I've really loved about it, is that there is a big, big need in helping them to understand it. And you know, the thing about what I what we do here and what I've been able to do with the people that I've helped is they they're so appreciative. I mean, that's the thing about it is you're sitting there helping them to understand everything and they're so appreciative of the help that you give them because they truly do not understand how to maximize and make it all work for them.

Val Majewski:
And what I'd like to I mean, you're like, you're in Tennessee. I'm in Texas. So but if you talk to a federal employee that works at a VA hospital or an IRS facility in your area, and I talked to a federal employee that works for the Postal Service or is part of the DOD here in Texas. They're similar, if not exactly the same. As far as benefits and retirement information. So the cool thing about what we do also, it's not just localized. Like like you were saying, my your benefit package in corporate America is going to be different than the company who has the office right next to you. Yeah. So when we're talking to these folks, they may work for different agencies. They may be in different points of their career, different geographical areas, but their benefits are the same. So we can help out a lot more people with our knowledge and expertise. And this is I could I can say, too, I'm learning things every day. I've been in this for the past ten years and I'm learning things. I get I get stumped every now and then. But and I'm sure you do, too.

Brandi Person:
I do.

Val Majewski:
But what are some of the biggest thing? Because there's a lot of common questions that we get asked. Right. A lot of common concerns that federal employees have. So what are and I'm going to put you on the spot. What are there like the top, top two or three? Maybe even just the top one thing that you see is the biggest concern that our employees have or the biggest issue you see they're dealing with as they're nearing or entering retirement.

Brandi Person:
Not enough income. Not enough income. And their biggest question is always, what am I going to receive when I retire? When I retire? What is my pension going to be? What is that monthly payment going to be? And then they quickly learn that it's not enough.

Val Majewski:
And then the biggest I'd say that first big question, right, is when can I leave? When can I get out of here? And then follow up right behind it. Question one B what am I going to get? And in that number you're saying and I've seen it too, is normally not enough or not as much as they thought they were going to get?

Brandi Person:
No. I mean, to spend 30 years, which is I would I would say average for what I see is someone that has probably spent 30 to 35 years in the federal government. And what they're going to walk away with is very alarming to them. And, yes, you're exactly right. I'm hearing it more and more every day now is when can I leave? When can I get out of here? You know? That's the biggest question. And I think it's just because there are so many changes that have gone on and then especially what we just experienced over the past two years and all of that, it's really made people really open their eyes to to life in general. But just that itself is when can I get out of here and how much am I going to be able to get? And then they quickly know that it's not enough.

Val Majewski:
Then if people are already at that retirement age, I mean, there's not much they can do to save more at the last minute. I mean, I say that like saving for retirement is not something it's not like cramming for a test the night before. You can't just do it at the last minute. You have to do that over time. So what kind of advice would you normally give somebody to save more or to have more income in retirement?

Brandi Person:
Retirement begins when you start a job. It doesn't start. It doesn't begin when you end the job. And that's what I really try to drive to people is that planning for retirement starts the day that you start your career. I have a 23 year old daughter that's getting ready to start her career and we're already talking retirement and she's 23 and she's already like, Mom, here's my benefits. I need you to look at them. And she's not going to be working in the government, but it's still because of what I do. It's making her look at it and say, What can I do to be better prepared? Because, yes, retirement starts the day you walk in the door. And I still to this day, have people that call me and say, well, Sally Sue told me to come and talk to you or whatever, but I'm not retiring for five more years still, so I still have time. And I'll say, No, you don't have time. You need to see me yesterday. Yes, because retirement doesn't begin when you walk out the door. It begins when you walk in the door. And that's a huge problem.

Val Majewski:
I love the way you put that, that it's perfect. It starts the day you get hired, the day you first start. And we usually say this when we're talking to a group or somebody is asking us to come to speak to their their group, whatever it might be. Right? Their office, their their union, their association, whatever they say. What kind of people do you want to have in the room? Who should we invite? And I say it's for everybody. Whether your first day on the job, you're in the middle of your career, it's your last day. There's going to be something in there for everybody. But the sooner you can start. The better. So you're telling people that, I mean, that is probably the best advice anybody listening on this show can get is plan your retirement from the very beginning. The very beginning. And you're ready if you say talk to somebody. Right. And they and they over plan like your daughter she over plans for retirement. How disappointed is she going to be if she has way too much money in retirement?

Brandi Person:
Oh, heck, no. She's not going to be disappointed at all. And the thing about it is, you know, I sit with people also, too, that will say, oh, that's when you give them the numbers, you lay everything out and they're like, I can make it. Yeah, I can make it on that, but. But essentially when they retire, they cannot and they end up calling me back and we end up troubleshooting over and over and over even in retirement. And I have many retirees right now that are working part time jobs in their sixties. So how about that? You work 35 years to be retired to only find out that now you've got to go work part time at the grocery store or at Walmart or whatever you can do. I have one lady that's driving around elderly people to the doctors and things like that who wants to retire to have to go back to work.

Val Majewski:
Sure. I don't know too many that I know too I don't know too many that want to, but they're forced to. People probably ask you this question, too. You show them the numbers and they say, well, what can I do? Well, if.

Brandi Person:
You still.

Val Majewski:
If you still plan on retiring at that time without either work longer or you have to change your lifestyle and retirement. And that's going to be exactly what you just said. Either you do less or you downsize or whatever, or you have to still work somehow, somehow in retirement.

Brandi Person:
And this is another one that I get to that I try to tell people to is I say, okay, you go to work and you spend I'm going to say 8 to 12 hours a day on the job. So 8 to 12 hours of your day are taken up in a 24 hour period or whatever. What are you going to do for those 8 to 12 hours when you're retired? Oc Is it going to take less money for you to live in retirement than it took for you to live while you're working? Or is it going to take more money? And to me and my advice to them is it's going to take more money because unless you just sit in front of the TV and watch TV all day for 8 to 12 hours, you're going to want to be doing something and whatever you're going to be doing, it's going to cost some money. So you need more money in retirement than you actually need while you are working. And so often, more often than not, the people that are retiring are retiring with less money.

Val Majewski:
And a big part of that retirement income, there's not much they can do with pension and Social Security, right. I mean, those are pretty much set in stone. They work you said average, say 30 years. They're going to get what they get. They they make a certain amount of money. They put in a Social Security for a certain number of years. Social Security tells us what we're going to get. The big thing as far as far as retirement income and need is going to revolve around TSP. So what kind of, I guess, advice, guidance, because that's usually going to be their biggest concern in retirement when it comes to that income that you're talking about. What do you normally talk to federal employees about when it comes to their TSP?

Brandi Person:
Well, number one, walking in the door, you want to be doing what the government is going to match you at minimum. And then the next thing is, is that I'm glad you asked that question about, because TSP is so misunderstood. So often do I have people come into my office and we're talking about Thrift Savings Plan? And they say to me, Well, I was thinking I only owe 50,000 on my home and I could just take some money out of my thrift savings plan and pay my home off. Or they say, well, I only owe about five more thousand on my car and my wife owes about five more on her car. And you just take that money out of there. And so my advice to anyone with Thrift Savings Plan is when you put your money in the thrift savings plans, there are two things that you should never do. Number one, you should never use thrift savings plan as a place to withdraw and pay off any debt that you owe. That is my professional opinion because of that's not what it was designed for sure. And then number two, you should not take loans on your thrift savings plan. So, so often.

Brandi Person:
More often than not, to me, I see people that will say, well, I'm going to take a loan on my thrift savings plan to pay off whatever or to buy a car or whatever. And I'm paying myself back or not. Isn't that okay? Because I'm paying myself back? Well, when you're paying yourself back at 1% or 1.3% interest, when that money that was in there could have been making, I don't know, 5 to 10% interest, depending on what funds you're in. You tell me if that's a smart decision. But those are two things that I truly see as a huge problem with our federal employees in their thrift savings plan is that they put that money in there and they kind of use it like a savings account. And your thrift savings plan is not a savings account. In a matter of that, you go and draw from it. It's a savings account intended to provide you income when you retire and for any other purpose than that. To me, it's a big mistake to make a change and take money out to pay something off, especially a car. Because here's what I've seen happen several times. You got me on this question because.

Val Majewski:
I love it. Keep going. Keep going.

Brandi Person:
This is one that is is really a touchy one. So I see people say, well, I'm going to pay my car off and I'll say, okay, that's great. Are you going to park that car in the garage and never drive it? Well, no, it's got to drive it. Well, did you know that when you put it on the road, someone can hit you? You may be the best driver out there, but if someone hits you and your car is totaled nine times out of ten, you're not going to get the value to be able to go buy that car again. So guess what? You're going to get another car payment. So I just never pay it off. A home is one thing. You know, if you were working to pay your home off, I would not do it with Thrift Savings Plan. But if you get your home paid off, that's a smart thing because now you've got to pay for home. But paying off a car to me that your intention is that you're never going to buy another one. Cars wear out, we put them on the road and they can be totaled. And I've had that happen to at least not many. But I'll just say at least on one hand, at least five different people that are retired, paid cars off. And then a couple of years later, something happens to their car and they had to get another one. Yeah. So two things I would not do with my thrift savings plan is it's just not designed to pay off debt. That's not what it's for.

Val Majewski:
Right. And it's a retirement savings vehicle for if you're talking about a first employee, it's one of those three income sources that they're going to rely on. And you mentioned about the 5% matching. I'm glad you did. I mean, that's the the best investment you can make. It's free money. You have government employees. Question for you, how much does the government really give you for free? They want to give you free money. Take advantage of it, that 5%. And you're right, it's it's supposed to be a retirement savings account, not something that you're drawing from. That's what you're checking in savings. That's what your emergency stuff is from. That's where just general financial planning is coming in, not your deferred, your retirement vehicle, tax deferred retirement vehicle that is meant for your retirement income.

Brandi Person:
Yes.

Val Majewski:
So you're talking mostly about from the start of their career down towards the end. What about when people are nearing retirement? Right. Say they're within their within a few years from retirement or they're getting to that age where they're considering it. They've done a good job of building up money in their TSP. What are the what are questions or what's some of the guidance that you're helping people out with towards the end of their career with TSP?

Brandi Person:
Definitely getting them into once they have arrived at whatever number they've arrived at in saving over all those years. It's more about making sure that that money can be there for their lifetime so that that money does not run out. So of course I provide them with places where they can take and put that thrift savings plan into an account that they own and control where their money can be protected, but they can still have potential for higher growth, as if maybe they were invested in the stocks or stuff like that. But they don't have any they don't have to worry about their money being lost. So that is one thing for sure is that I do have people ask me when they come in, you know, I don't I don't know what I want to do with my money and but I want it to provide me an income. And they're always pleasantly delighted to hear that I can show them how to take that money, whatever it is, and make it last their lifetime. That's something that they can never that can never run out on them. Whereas when they leave it in the thrift savings plan, they're very limited on options that they have for making that money last their lifetime without giving up control of it. So that is definitely a huge, huge deal with people who are intending on having their income come to them monthly from their thrift savings plan.

Val Majewski:
Yeah, that you mentioned keeping the money safe, right? I mean, imagine this is if you're watching a recording of this, then we're still in July 2022. I mean, the market has not done well. Tsp funds have all lost money this year up to this point except for the G fund. So people are losing money in their retirement savings. And imagine you said in January 1st, you know, I've got one year left. This is great. The markets have done awesome. I'm going to let my money ride for this next year. And you're relying on TSP to provide you retirement income and you lose ten or 15%. Yeah, that's a that's a big hit. Right. So the folks that you're helping and talking to, I mean, you've got to bring that realistic example to their attention because we were in a very comfortable zone over the past decade and not everybody was thinking about safety and security. They're just thinking, I've got I've been getting 15 to 25, maybe 30% return in my TSP some years. I've got to think about safety as I'm getting closer. Is that what you normally talk about? Hey, let's let's take the foot off the gas a little bit and let's make sure you can't lose any money.

Brandi Person:
Yes. And I'll tell you this, too, Val. I honestly feel like of course I say I always call it my professional opinion, but. But its real deal is that if you even if you're in the thrift savings plan and you decide when you get to retirement or as you're near retirement or even now when things loosen and you just. That you're going to take your money and put it into the G fund, even though there's not loss in the G Fund. In my opinion, it is lost because you're only earning. I mean, the average is around 2% over the last decade and you're not really earning anything. So even when you're not earning enough, that to me is still losing because you're losing an opportunity to be able to be in a safe zone where your money can be protected and you can be earning more than that 2% then that TSP or Thrift Savings Plan is given you. So I usually tell people, you know, if you leave your your funds and thrift savings plan, you have two options. If you want to try to earn more, you can put it into those riskier funds where you are going to be susceptible to loss. Or you can put it into the safe fund where in my opinion you're still losing because you're not earning a whole lot. So why not take your funds and put it where it can be 100% protected and you still have potential for more growth without having to worry or lose sleep at night that your money is going to be gone.

Val Majewski:
That's a good way of putting it, too. People are worried. Worried about losing money. That's a big stressor. Even the people that I talk to, folks that manage money. Yes, actively manage money. And they say that's a big stressor and it's not it's not their money, but people trusted them with their money and they can't prevent all losses. I mean, if you're in the market, that's that's entirely unrealistic. But the only way to guarantee you can't lose money within TSP is to go in the fund. And you just said that that opportunity, you're not keeping up with inflation. Now we're sitting at 6% inflation and you're only earning one and one half, 2%. You're you're actually losing opportunity on that money. So it's not the best bet, in my opinion, too. And that's for those that are listening. Look, we are giving our our opinions based upon our experience in working with federal employees in these types of situations. Obviously, your situation is different, which is why you need to sit down with us and talk about it.

Brandi Person:
Right.

Val Majewski:
But but yeah, there's if you look at the whole scheme of things, you lay out all the the options. There's not a whole lot of plans out there. And we deal with we do deal with these not a whole lot of plans out there that can say, I'm going to guarantee you against loss, just like the G fund, but I'm going to give you a good opportunity for growth in some cases, maybe three or four times worth. The G Fund does. There's there's not a whole lot of plans out there that that can do that. There are some that do, but it's very limited amount of plans.

Brandi Person:
And the fees that are on a lot of those plans out there, too. You know, what I really like about the plans that we offer is that, you know, you can do those plans without paying those quarterly fees or those annual fees or things like that. There are plans that you can do that do not have those fees. So if you're you're with a major company, a very sustainable company, that is going to protect your money 100%. And all they're asking you to do is just hang tight with them for a little while and keep your money here. And you can still access it. You can still draw income from it. You can still all the things that you want to do. You're not giving up control of it, and we're not even going to charge you a fee for that. We're just asking you to stay with us for a few years. Why wouldn't you do that?

Val Majewski:
I'm going to give you a rundown scenario. Right. And you're going to probably tell me you've had similar ones. But what COVID happened and we saw, let's say the C fund dropped 30% in one month. People were panicking. So I had several clients of mine call me. And at that time it was like the end of March, maybe beginning of April 2020, and they're like, Val, what's going on? You know, these are clients that I had already helped. They had already moved money outside of TSP and what's going on? Is everything good? What's going on with my money? I said, Remember we talked about this, let's log into your account together and you can see that nothing has happened to your money. It's exactly the same as it was. You can't lose anything. And we logged in and they said, okay, okay. That's what I thought we talked about, but I just wanted to make sure. Did you have similar experiences? Oh, you're in code.

Brandi Person:
Yes, I still actually still have them because of the market being the way it is right now. And the way things are down is I've had I have several people, they always call me back or either they're in my office for something else was helping a lady that I'm helping a lady retire she's retiring at the end of August and her and her husband both trusted me with their first savings plans to put into these plans. And it had been a year. And he said, Brandi, he had texted me and of course, I told him everything was safe. But then when he sat down with me, he said, Tell me, tell me again what's going on with our monies, our our thrift savings plan that we moved over with you. What is going with it? I did the exact same thing. I said, let's look at it. Let's look at it together. And the relief in people's faces when they go. Oh, okay. That's right. You did say that. And a lot of times when I'm sitting with people, too, because we do this every day, so we these things are kind of there in us. But I tell people all the time, I said, Listen, don't try to remember everything that I'm saying to you because I will be here for you every step of the way.

Brandi Person:
And if I'm not, I have a backup person and I'll reference you. I actually had a couple of people ask me say, Well, Brandi, you're human, too. What about if something happens to you? I mean, I know we have the company to contact, but we want a point of contact. And I said, Well, I got the perfect point of contact for you. I will give you his name. If, if, heaven forbid, God says it's time for me to go, then you will have someone else to fall back on. So it's not just me. So that's also what about I love about organization too is that we we all work independently, but we all can help each other out. But yes, I've had many people to go back to your question. I've had so many people to contact me during that time and say, tell me what's going on with my money, what is happening? Am I okay? You know, the market dropped. I watch the news yesterday and they said, da, da, da, you know, whatever. And it's so nice to be able to say you're fine. Remember, we talked about this. Let's look at it together, you know, and I wouldn't have it any other way. I just. Yeah.

Val Majewski:
I agree. It's it's a good feeling. It is. And I can't stomach you know, I'm a terrible gambler. I can't stomach losing a few dollars. I couldn't imagine losing hundreds of thousands or what some people are losing because of what's gone on this year. Yes. And if we can help protect some of that, it doesn't have to be all of it. But whatever they want to protect, if we can help with that and give them that peace of mind. You said that sleep well at night type of protection. It helps us sleep well at night. Right. We know we've done right by that federal employee, by their family. And when the time comes that they need those monies for retirement, it's going to be there. They're not going to log in one day and go, oh, what happened? Where does it go? It's going to it's going to be there for them. That's that's a security in the safety that that you're providing, folks. So that's awesome. I appreciate you sharing those stories.

Brandi Person:
Yes, you're welcome. Yeah. I mean, you get a lot of them and and you know, and I have the ones that also come in and talk to me about where their monies might have been previous to. So if they had maybe worked at a. Right place and had a left over, say, for one day somewhere, and they may have put it somewhere where there was loss and then to take those monies and actually be able to secure them as well in these plans. Yeah. It's it's a feeling like no other. So be able to help them and then, you know, the years when they are getting the double digit growth and they didn't have to worry all year long about their money being at any risk to get that growth. They are blissfully happy with those results.

Val Majewski:
So I appreciate you sharing. I know we're coming towards the end of our time. Any any kind of just just lasts for federal employees that are that are listening tuning in. Curious. And any last concerns or tips that you'd want to share before we wrap up our time today?

Brandi Person:
The main thing for me would be get that no obligation. As I say, free consultation. That's what we offer. And I love when people which I get referrals all the time now from doing this for so long. And the first question they always ask me is they say, how much is your fee? What do you charge? And I say, Well, you know what? Lucky for you, I don't charge anything. We do. We provide this service to federal employees and we give them a free I usually say 45 minute, a free 45 minute, no obligation consultation that I can walk you through your benefits and just show you where you are and where you need to be or what's good, what's not good and what we can fix. So don't a lot of times people are are alarmed with what am I going to have to pay for that service? So what I would say to any federal employee listening to this, if you have not had an evaluation in the last 12 months of your federal employees benefits or benefit package, even if you think you know it all, I highly encourage you to sit down with a federal benefits counselor myself, someone like me, Val, someone like him, and talk with someone that can help you with that. We would love to help you. I would love to help you in any way that I can and offer you that free, no obligation consultation just to show you where you are. You and I say to anyone, you may be exactly where you need to be and you may be the furthest from where you need to be. But that's what we're here to do. And don't let money or the fact that you feel like you're going to have to pay something to get that service, stop you from doing that evaluation.

Val Majewski:
Well, I think that's great advice for anybody. Right. And if like you said, if they if they think they know it already, great. You're just going to get a validation of what you already know. You know, a double checking, if you will say that. Just a double check. Make sure you know everything. Now, if somebody did, what's the easiest way for somebody to get in contact with you? If they did want that consultation.

Brandi Person:
They can reach out to me through my email. They can reach out to me by way of text to my phone or I have an office number. There's three different ways you can reach me. My email address is very simple. The insurance lady dot be a boy apple at gmail.com or you may reach me by way of phone or text at 9014850197. And I would be happy to just offer that information to you, that free consultation to you, to just give you that peace of mind and help you out through this process in your work and careers to return.

Val Majewski:
And I will say, just because just because you're in Tennessee doesn't mean you're only talking to folks that are in Tennessee. It's we help people out nationwide. So if you're in Hawaii or if you're down at the tip of Florida and anywhere between the we can assist you and Brandi, be happy to assist you as well. So, Brandi, thank you for your time. I really appreciate you taking the time out of your schedule to come on to the show, share your experience, stories, advice. This has been awesome. So awesome. Thank you.

Brandi Person:
Thank you for having me. I appreciate you and I hope you have a wonderful rest of your day.

Val Majewski:
Appreciate it. Appreciate it, Brandi. Well, thank you, guys, for for joining us again on this episode of the Federal Retirement Show, special guest Brandi person, very, very thankful for her taking time out of her schedule to come on and join us today. Be sure to like, subscribe, share with colleagues, friends, our episodes. We'd love to just give this information so we can help you along the course of your working career. Be sure to check us out on our previous episodes and look forward to seeing you on our next show.

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