Business Innovators Radio - Interview with Len R Martinez, Founder of LRM Retirement Discussing Planning for Retirement as a Federal Employee

Episode Date: July 17, 2025

Len R Martinez is an Investment Advisor and a Fiduciary in Texas. Len is a fee-based planner and works primarily with clients planning for or in retirement. His goal for his clients is to replace “hopefully, we will” retirement with “we know we will” retirement. With 25 years of client relationships and success, Len focuses on educating his clients on how to plan for and pay for retirement.Learn more: https://lrmretirement.com/Disclaimer: Investment advisory and financial planning services are offered through Simplicity Wealth, LLC, an SEC-registered investment adviser. SEC registration does not constitute an endorsement of the firm, nor does it indicate that the adviser has attained a particular level of skill or ability. Insurance, Consulting and Education services offered through LRM Retirement. LRM Retirement is a separate and unaffiliated entity from Simplicity Wealth.Influential Entrepreneurs with Mike Saundershttps://businessinnovatorsradio.com/influential-entrepreneurs-with-mike-saunders/Source: https://businessinnovatorsradio.com/interview-with-len-r-martinez-founder-of-lrm-retirement-discussing-planning-for-retirement-as-a-federal-employee

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. 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 back with this Len Martinez, who's the founder of LRM Retirement, and we'll be talking about planning for retirement as a federal employee. Len, welcome back to the program. Thanks, Mike. I appreciate it. I really enjoy these talks. Yeah, you know, I love your fresh, clear, simple approach to explain any topics that sometimes can get confusing. And I can only imagine that retirement is a broad topic, but retirement for a

federal employee could pose some additional challenges to understand. So where do you start when you're working with a client who's a federal employee? How have they successfully navigated retirement compared to those in the private sector? Right. Thank you. Yeah, it's very important. Someone early in my career, some 20-something years ago, said to me after a presentation, they said, Lynn, I appreciate that you explain this stuff in English. And I took that to heart, and I've tried to make that the case every time I stand in front of a group of people or I'm sitting with one of my clients at their kitchen table doing detailed work. The financial planning services market is very complex. Products are very complex. It's very important to make sure that we understand and we

use language that people can relate to and repeat. Well, being a federal employee adds another layer to that because the federal retirement program is unique. It has things that are, in my opinion, excellent among the best in terms of benefits, but they're very unique. And if you work with an advisor that's not familiar with them, there's some critical mistakes that could do things like cause a widow to lose her health insurance later in life. I mean, it's that serious. And the mistakes cannot be undone. I've been working in the federal marketplace. Sometimes I hate to count this because it keeps adding every year, but somewhere in the neighborhood of 16, 17 years, and counseling federal employees that are either planning for retirement or in the process of retirement,

or now in probably well over 100 clients that have been retired for some time, and they're my advisory clients. The benefits that a federal employee has are good, but they're different. They're different from the private sector, and they're even different from other public sectors. Right here in Texas, we have TRS. which most teachers are a part of. We have regional, we have municipality programs that are all very different. In most cases, what I recommend, first and foremost, is it's very important to leverage fully all of your benefits.

Of course, task A is to understand all the details. Learn the numbers, I like to say. Outside of the federal government, people get confused as to when does Social Security start? When is Medicare? Do I have Medicare? Do I need Medicare? When do I have to take money out of my IRA? Those dates, 62, 65, 67, 70, 73, or 74, some of those have changed over the last few years. So even the things you may have learned five years ago, the laws have changed. In the federal marketplace or in the, I should say, federal employees, you have a whole different set of numbers. You have to know in addition to those. What is my minimum retirement age? Can I retire and not have 20 years? and still get some kind of pension.

How do I do that? Do I keep my medical insurance? Do I need Medicare? Those are questions that are very unique and need to be clearly understood before a person starts to fill out that paperwork. You know, it's really important to fully know what are all of these benefits and fully understand them because it's one thing to understand, oh, the main ones, but what about the ones you just didn't even think about?

So I think that's really a huge point that you bring up. So let's talk a little bit about the specificity of that plan. So how can federal employees maximize their benefit from that TSP to make sure they've got that secure retirement? Yeah, this is where most of the conversation centers around. Once someone has understood their benefits, so to speak, they're going to look at what they have available to them. For example, you've got your pension. Almost anyone in the last few years that retired, retired under first. Prior to that, we had SERS. Your advisor should know that. Benefits are very different. But for a

first employee, you're going to have a pension that you're going to be paid the rest of your life. If you manage it correctly and if you do your paperwork right and you elect two, you can also cover a spouse after you pass away. There's limits, of course. But that's one part. Social Security is another piece. You actually have more of a three-legged stool when it comes to your retirement because you've got your pension and Social Security. Again, very complex topic, important to understand how to do it. And then the third leg is the TSP. And this is where most of the conversation is around when it comes to speaking to advisors. A federally specialized advisor, someone with, let's just say 15 years in the business, can customize a plan using the tools that you have within your own benefits

and the tools that we have access to outside on the private side. we can customize plans for your needs, for your personal values, for where you want to be, which ultimately is all about maintaining your lifestyle. Yeah, that's a really, really big point. And I know that there's some things we don't want to get in the weeds, but there's things like a TSP is similar to a 401k where you have allocations, like, oh, what percentage do you want in this and that and fund and all of that? So what about allocations? What about timing?

What about pulling, you know, timing of withdrawal? So those can make a big difference. And I think the point that you are bringing up is know what they are, understand what impact that it could have, and make sure you're getting that good advice, right? Right. Absolutely. Especially when it comes to TSP itself. Some clients want to stay within TSP, and that's fine.

No problem. But you do need to understand exactly how it works. You do need to understand that you're signing up. to be your own investment advisor for the rest of your life. For anyone that's interacted with the TSP.gov website, you know it can be a little tricky. It's good to have someone that knows that thing inside and out when you're trying to do any kind of function on it.

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. 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.