Business Innovators Radio - Interview with Financial Professional Bryan Baysinger Discussing Retirement Planning

Episode Date: August 3, 2023

Bryan has been a well-known Financial Professional and Educator for the Last 36+ Years! Bryan has developed a specialty working with Semi-Retired and Retired persons aged 50+. Hundreds have attended his classes on learning how to Shield their Life Savings (Assets) from all the negative issues out there that they are usually unaware of!Knowledge is Power! Education is Key! Consequently, many of those who have worked for small & large companies have set aside millions of dollars. Bryan helps clients to make sure their savings last throughout their lifetime & creating a legacy if they desire for their heirs!Learn More: https://shieldyourretirement.com/Influential Entrepreneurs with Mike Saundershttps://businessinnovatorsradio.com/influential-entrepreneurs-with-mike-saunders/Source: https://businessinnovatorsradio.com/interview-with-financial-professional-bryan-baysinger-discussing-retirement-planning

Welcome to influential entrepreneurs, bringing you interviews with elite business leaders and experts, sharing tips and strategies for elevating your business to the next level. Here's your host, Mike Saunders. Hello and welcome to this episode of Influential Entrepreneurs. This is Mike Saunders, the authority positioning coach. Today we have with us financial professional Brian Basinger and we'll be talking about retirement planning. Brian, welcome to the program. Thanks, Mike. great to be here today. Hey, so I'm looking forward to getting your perspectives on retirement

planning because I know that that is a huge, important topic for pre-retirees. So before we jump into that, I want to learn about you and your story and your background. How did you get into the financial services industry? Actually, I got into financial services industry back in October of 1986. This year will be 37 years. And I was encouraged by a pastor, and some uncles that were already in this industry. I tried mechanicking and machine work and things of that nature. When I got into this, I really felt like I found my calling because of helping people. Now my background, I grew up, I was an only child.

I grew up around retirees. I was being an only child, we went to meetings. My mom and dad belonged to every club in town and all of the people that I grew up around were seniors for the most part. So that edged me on because I just, that was a general love and, and camaraderie with seniors that it became natural for me in 1986 to get into this. And ever since then,

we've helped hundreds of seniors. I've done workshops. I've done just about every area you can think of reaching them with a proper message. and how complex retirement planning can be. And we try to take the complexities out of it and make it simple and understandable. And just realizing that you've got to know how to take the right steps in order to be successful,

just like anything else, to be successful in retirement planning, you've got to know the steps to take. So we believe education is key on, you know, you don't know what you don't know. Yeah. And many times during retirement planning, we hear people that will visit with us if I'd only know what to do, what to have done ahead of time. And we believe that's key in working with people is that we provide knowledge and not only knowledge, specialized knowledge,

so that they can make the proper choices based on the knowledge that we provide. provide to them and especially the specialized knowledge that would provide for them. You know, you bring up a good point about education and also you don't know what you don't know because there's always something we're learning. And there's always things that we tend to think we know like, oh, yeah, yeah, retirement. I'm going to go ahead and do it this way or that way because my grandfather told me or because I read this in the news or online. And a lot of times that might not be the best approach. So you need to make sure that you've got the most up-to-date relevant information for today. So talk a little bit about that aspect of teaching people what to expect,

kind of like being proactive for your retirement planning versus reacting to what you see in the news and making potentially wrong decisions. Well, we run into people all the time, Mike, that has what we call water cooler knowledge when it comes to their retirement plan, Somebody at work has advised them on what to do around the water cooler and in the break room or maybe and can be a problem. You got your parents, grandparents, your family, friends, neighbors, relatives and associates that mean well, but give the wrong advice because the advice that they had for maybe back in that time was appropriate with things changing so rapidly. the time, we find that knowing what to do is not only listening to and doing something you've done for the last 30, 40, 50 years, but being open to all of the facts and all of the strategies that are available today that the water cooler method just doesn't work with. We don't use a cookie

cut or approach. We believe each one, each person has a unique scenario, but how to do we work around that and bring that knowledge to people? And I think probably one of the challenges is a new way of thinking because when you get near retirement, it's different than when you was working. Yeah. Because at that time, while you were working, you made decisions based on, I know I got this paycheck coming in every week or every month. And then now I don't have that. How can I make sure that my retirement last as long as I do. In fact, there's an old quote

that says that most people are afraid of running out of funds in retirement. And we see that all the time that there's a big fear out there of that and because they don't know what choices to make. People learn from people that aren't specialists

in particular areas. They have a general knowledge of things and it's kind of like your general practitioner that you go to, he's great at helping you with general items in regards to your physical health. But oftentimes people need a specialist. Today we live in a world of specialists. There was a time you didn't have specialists, but today we feel like our goal and our knowledge is not only knowledge, as education says knowledge is power, but knowledge is only potential power unless you, until you know how to utilize it and utilize it where it fits your particular scenario.

You know, that's a big point that I really want to highlight because too many times people just go to their regular service providers. You know, oh, the guy that has my car insurance, he can talk about all kinds of insurance, or the guy that has my, whatever the case is. And you mentioned like water cooler talk, people that are just buddies. But specialized knowledge and working with a specialist will help you be that proactive planner versus getting information from the wrong place. So talk a little bit about how you specialize in this and the kind of information you're able to teach and educate your clients about. We look for resources. Matter of fact, to quote,

specialized knowledge comes from a book that a gentleman named Napoleon Hill wrote years ago and he called it that specialized knowledge was a key to success and we find again people

out there that they know just in general terms but specialized knowledge comes from constantly seeking, constantly reading. I go to workshops and I keep myself a on all the things that can

attack your retirement unbeknownst. And it's kind of like, isn't it true? It's the unknown that's the challenge, right? It's the unknown that's so scary. We don't

know what to do when the time comes. That's what remains scary. But a lot of people trust just the general side, but we found out through the years that it's just really a lack of proper knowledge, not just knowledge. So we believe people that take a proactive approach are people that value knowledge

and not only knowledge again, specialized knowledge. I used, you know, we used to watch the game show Jeopardy and all the contestants had general knowledge, you know, and, you know, in every subject imaginable, high IQ. but that's just general knowledge. That's not enough. So we specialize in staying adept on all the new things that's happening out on the horizon. Taxes.

How to structure my retirement plan for the benefit of my family. The list is just endless there. We try to focus in on just a few areas. And like I said earlier in this, make it simple because it really is simple once you understand how to use the knowledge that you're given. But, you know, knowledge is only potential power unless it's your life. So when we're giving out this knowledge, people come to a workshop or wherever I might meet them, they may book an appointment on my website. And then we go into areas and they said, I've never heard that.

been working with the same guy all these years. And it tells me right there what we do is very valuable because they want to know the unknown. And people that are proactive put together a game plan, Mike. And that's what I work to do is putting together a game plan. How do we move out of what we've known to do from 30 to 40 years and transition mentally in a new cycle, it's different today than it was when I was working. Because what's happening when you're working?

You're putting all your money in risky investment, right? Yeah, because you have a lot of time for it to kind of grow and be resilient to some of those market upheavals. So we believe there's three phases of money. There's the accumulation phase. That's the phase when you're probably putting most of your money in the stock market, when you're trying to accumulate as much as you can, ups and downs in the market, in that particular time, the accumulation phase. Usually younger people that still work and fall in what we call the accumulation phase.

Like my son and I were talking this past weekend. He lives in Pittsburgh, Florida. And his approach to planning, he's in his 30s. So his approach versus somebody in their 50s plus is a different approach. A lot of people, that's where the mental change comes in when you realize, hey, I'm not working anymore. So if I have losses or tax problems, I can't replace those dollars because I'm not working any longer to replace those dollars. So during the accumulation phase, you have that opportunity. And you have a longer holding period than opposed to people 50 and plus.

And then, of course, the fact that people are living longer than ever. That's what we bring into the discussion as well because people are living 30, 40 years in retirement today. I mean, my mother-in-law is 94 years old. Yeah, we're eating better. We're taking care of herself. We're exercising more. and that lifespan really is getting more. You just read the news on that.

And, you know, Brian, you mentioned game plan. And I'm sure that you do not have one game plan that you cookie cutter hand to every single client. So how do you tailor a game plan for each specific client's unique retirement goals? Well, we try to cover all the questions. You know, one of the questions I ask people about, that I ask people about is what's in important to you about your money. Where do you want your money as you are retired or thinking about retirement? I'll say semi-retired.

What's the client's goals to begin with when it comes down to their money? Do they want to continue to stay in a roller coaster ride market? Or do they want to look at positioning their retirement where they're not losing like they once did while they were working. So that's some of the areas there that we cover. What about children? Do you have, are you like some of my clients that want to leave a certain amount to your children or your church or your charity?

And then I have some people that I asked them that question. And they said, no, I'm spending all my, you know, it's kind of like a bumper sticker on the RV. It says, I'm spending my children's inheritance. Or you've never seen a U-Haul behind a hearse. That's right. You can't take it with you. You can't take it with you. So, yeah.

So, you know, it's funny that, you know, that bumper sticker, hey, I'm spending my children's inheritance. So I thought that was pretty comical. But then we have each person has their own. and we has their own, how do I put it, their own perspective, I guess you would say,

how they want their retirement to turn out. So we help them first and foremost accomplish their goals. And then we talk to them about here's some of the challenges that you're faced with. And a lot of people don't think they're faced with any challenge. Hey, I've worked 35 years of retired. I got my 401k. or my IRAs or a host of CDs or a host of other type of investments. And so I've worked all these years and I'm set now.

But they don't know about tax planning. If I got an IRA or 401K, so that when we go over there goes, then we get into, did you realize this is what's going on, let's say, in your 401K, your IRA, Thrift Savings, plan, deferred compensation plan, what about your pension plan that you've got, you know, and on and on and on there, Mike. You haven't paid taxes on that money, so when you take it out, you might think you have that bottom line number, but all of a sudden, a big chunk of it disappears.

Right. I had a similar scenario with a client of mine. I've been telling him for years, hey, he had a tax-sheltered annuity with me. and one day I get a phone call and he says, yeah, I bought a car this past year, but I pay taxes on all that annuity that tax-sheltered annuity. I said, you know, I've been telling you for years, that's designed for income. It's not like a CD or savings account where you reach into that account for emergencies. It's designed to provide an income.

And, you know, I had another scenario. other day, one of my also tax sheltered annuity clients that had this tax sheltered annuity for a while is getting advice from her nephew. Tax advice, he's not in the tax business. He was not a CPA. He's not a tax advisor. He's not a tax attorney. So my challenge is to go in there and say, here's some areas that you may not be aware of that's out. there. And a lot of people are really shocked because they believe they're set for where

they're at. But now we've got to make that transition to make sure we accomplish your goals for you and your family. I had a client sometime back said I'm spending all my money and I'm just leaving

my life insurance to my wife and children. So there's a different approach again. So we tailor to make all this around the goals, but then we bring out all the unknowns that's out there. And proactive people want to know, Mike. They won't know. Because if you're reactive, you're reacting to something that has happened.

Well, many times what has happened could be a tax incident or a penalty because you didn't take a distribution or you pulled money out and shouldn't have. And so having that proactive approach really will prevent some of those, you know, incidences from happening. I think that's a huge thing for people to keep in mind. It's too late. Once the cat's out of the bag or the toothpaste is out of the tube, it's too late. So be proactive.

You know, I had a client like that, if I could speak about this as well, that had a $250,000 IRA with me. And his intention was to utilize the old stretch IRA. or what's known as multi-generational IRA. We've had some changes since the CARES Act on that. But back then, his intention was to stretch his $250,000 out to his child and his grandchildren. But when he died, because many companies want to follow what the children want, because this is my inheritance from my grandfather or my father. So they want to follow that their children, the children want to follow that.

So what happened with in this particular story that I'm talking about, the grandfather wanted to stretch those payments out over a 20, 30 year period. So each one, it was five inheritors or a child and four grandchildren. And that was his goal. But the companies, as I mentioned, wanted to do what the heirs or the beneficiaries in this particular case did. So when he died and stood in fulfilling, and I talked with his brother,

who was also the executor of his wheel, who knew the same thing, but because the airs wanted, it's kind of like that, you know, advertisement on TV where the guys got the window up and says, I want my money and I want my money now. and the old J.G. Wentworth commercial.

Yep. And so that's what happened with these children and grandchildren. I explained. This is a payout. This is like a pension. This is an income plan. Individual retirement accounts, an income plan. But what did they do?

They cashed it all in, Mike. And guess what? Those kids that was going to get $50,000 a peach that they could stretch and let it grow for, let's say, 20, 30 years. And maybe when they get near retirement, they were $150,000, $200,000 to them. They took it all out at one time and all of them only got like $21,000 a piece. Wow. So that, you know, they say, you know, experience is the best teacher.

I've had some real life experiences with people that make the wrong choices or their heirs make the wrong choices. Thankfully, now we've got some companies that we work with that do, does the restricted payout? Because it's okay for if this gentleman was married, he could do what we call a spousal assumption. It could have just went to his wife and she could take it over. His name comes off and her name goes on. but with children, thankfully now we've got what we call restrictive payout.

We're not doing necessarily the stretch anymore because of the CARES Act because of that change. But we're stretching it out by not really under the stretch premise, but it's five to ten years now. You can restrict those payouts. So I was helping a client the other day

who didn't want their children to get it all at one time. pay all taxes. So they want to do a five-year plan. We're stretched out over a five-year scenario where their kids would only pay taxes and it'd take them five years. But these companies now are allowing up to, and IRS is allowing up to 10 years that they could stretch it out. Not like we used to 30 or 40, but up to 10 years. Wow. Well, you know, I think, Brian, the point that we just keep talking about over. and over is the fact that when you work with a qualified professional that knows what the up-to-date

rules and regulations are and can be proactive in your planning, it sure prevents a lot of heartache. It prevents not knowing what you don't know. And it makes sure that you are putting the right foot forward. So I just think that is so important for people not to just talk to brothers, cousins, nephews, and their friends at the water cooler or Google. listen to what qualified professionals can do about your specific situation and then you make sure that you're moving forward toward retirement in the right path. So I just think it's been so amazing hearing how you treat your clients. It's so spectacular.

If someone is listening to this and would like to learn more and reach out and connect with you, what's the best way that they can do that? Well, they can, my website is shield your retirement.com, S-H-I-E-L-D, while you are retirement, R-E-T-I-R-E-M-E-T-T-com, shield your retirement.com. And if you want to take it a little further, after you look on the website, you can schedule a no cost, no obligation, interview meeting. We can discuss this via Zoom, telephone, whatever medium you prefer, we can utilize that for you. Excellent. Well, Brian, thank you so much for coming on today. It's been a real pleasure talking with you. Thank you, Mike. Thanks for having me on. You've been listening to Influential Entrepreneurs with Mike Saunders. To learn more about the resources mentioned on today's show or listen to past episodes, visit www.com.com.

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