Business Innovators Radio - Episode #74 – Turkey Talk – The 15 Minute Financial Feast Podcast – With Mark Triplett & Troy Westendorf

Episode Date: December 10, 2024

We believe that every dollar has a purpose and a timeline. When and how your retirement assets will be used should be understood before making important financial decisions.The Triplett-Westendorf Purpose and Timeline 5 Step Planning Process (PT5) begins with Discovery.Understanding where you are now, and then defining where you want to go (Your Purpose) and when you want to get there (Your Timeline), programs your financial GPS. Our Purpose and Timeline 5-step process (PT5) programs your financial GPS.Learn more: http://triplett-westendorf.com/ | https://mypt5.com/The 15 Minute Financial Feast Podcasthttps://businessinnovatorsradio.com/the-15-minute-financial-feast-podcast/Source: https://businessinnovatorsradio.com/episode-74-turkey-talk-the-15-minute-financial-feast-podcast-with-mark-triplett-troy-westendorf

Welcome to the 15-minute financial feast podcast, bringing you 15-minute segments to help you retire with purpose on time. We're serving up food for thought and bread for the head. Are you hungry to learn? Here are your hosts, Mark Triplett and Troy Westendorf. Welcome to another episode of the 15-minute financial feast. Today, you are listening to the audio from a live television interview where one of our favorite local news station anchors asked us questions about a financial feast. topic on the minds of many hardworking folks in our community who are trying to make good decisions and get ahead.

As families gather around the table this Thanksgiving, it can be the perfect time to start talking finances, but it may also be an uncomfortable conversation. So that's why local financial professional Mark Triplett is here to talk about what you should be discussing. Mark, thank you so much for being with us today. Thank you for having me. Okay, so let's just start off. Why is it important to discuss financial issues just as a family as a whole? Well, sooner rather than later, it's best to have these type of difficult conversations

and waiting and putting off conversations about maybe related health issues or potential financial concerns. You just might wait until it's too late and it could cost you a long run. Now, holidays can be a great time for us to have these conversations because everybody's already together. And it's a great opportunity to discuss difficult issues and come up with strategic decisions on how to tackle those as a family together. Talk about what some of those topics are.

I know you touched on a little bit there, but what are those topics that we should be covering? I really have three on my list today. Number one is an estate plan. Communicate what is included in your will or your estate plan. And if you don't have one, consider creating one. These are legal directions that dictate what happens to your finances and your responsibilities if something happened to you.

And communicate properly if somebody is part of your estate. plan. Who's a guardian of your children? Or what happens if you're incapacitated? Do you have a power of attorney? Do they know that they are your power of attorney? And this is a good time to get adult parents involved too. If they have conversations they want to have about their own estate plan. Retirement is another one. If you have parents that are nearing retirement, check in with them. Are they on track? Are they off track? Do they need to save more? Are they carrying debt potentially into retirement? We really like to help our clients. make plans for that journey to and through retirement. And oftentimes we find that folks have

accumulated 401Ks or IRAs or other retirement plans or financial products along the way. And they really don't know how any of it works and putting a plan together to help them understand how that works is really, really helpful. And last is long-term care. One in ten Americans today are caregivers. And that's probably going to go up because the cost of care is getting so expensive. In fact, in the Des Moines area, the average assisted living cost today is $6,700 per month. The long-term care is not insurance. Long-term care is an event with a high probability of occurrence, and it's important to have a conversation about who will care for you, how will that care be delivered, and who's going to pay for it. And it's a conversation that some people are

a little bit weary of and maybe stay away from. So what advice would you give to get that conversation started? Well, make sure the time is right. This is not a conversation to bring out while you're carving the turkey. but find a calm, comfortable place to have a discussion about this. Let the folks that you're having the discussion with know that you're coming from a place of concern, not judgment, and just be willing to have a conversation and hear their thoughts and their concerns and be open with it. And lastly, if you have a professional like a financial advisor that you can bring in to moderate, it's a great tip too. Awesome. All good advice there. Thank you so much for joining us today.

Really appreciate it and very informative for the holidays. Thank you so much, Mark. Thanks for having you. You've been listening to the 15-minute financial fees podcast. Remember, every dollar has a purpose and every dollar has a timeline. If you have questions about today's topic, schedule a call with a team member. Visit www.w.com. Until next time, be sure you're taking steps to retire with purpose on time.

Mark Triplett is an investment advisor representative of and advisory services offered through Royal Fund Management LLC, an SEC registered investment advisor. Nothing contained in this program should be considered an offer to buy or sell securities. Different investments have different risks associated with them, and not all investments are appropriate for all investors.