Life’s 6 Financial Stages Part 2

Intro: Welcome to Christian Financial Perspectives, where you’re invited to gain insight, wisdom, and knowledge about how Christians integrate their faith, life, and finances with a biblical worldview. Here’s your Christian Financial advisors host, Bob Barber and his co-host, Shawn Peters. Shawn: Welcome to another episode of Christian Financial Perspectives. We’re so glad that you joined us. If you’d like financial topics from a Christian perspective, we’d love for you to hit that subscribe button that’ll help us out, but it’ll also help other potential viewers and listeners to find this kind of content. Now, today we’re gonna be covering part 2 of 2for Life’s six financial Stages. And if you haven’t seen the first episode, we covered the first three stages ranging from your twenties to your late fifties. So link is in the description, or you can click the video should be over here on screen. And so with that, let’s get into the next 3 of 6 stages, and Bob over to you for that. Bob: Yeah. So here, I’m in this fourth stage that we’re gonna be discussing. We’re gonna discuss stage four, five, and six today. All right. And that fourth stage is from your early sixties or 60 years old. And I turned 60 Yeah last year, from your sixties to your mid seventies. I call this the retirement and traveling years. I wonder why I would call it the traveling years? Shawn: Well, let’s not get ahead of ourselves. You wanna read the scripture or you want me? Bob: I think the scripture is good to read because this scripture, we read this last week, is because it really talks about life, doesn’t it? So, go ahead, Shawn. Shawn: We’re gonna be reading Ecclesiastes 3:1-7, “A Time for Everything”. Verse one. “There is a time for everything and a season for every activity under the heavens. A time to be born and a time to die, a time to plan, and a time to uproot, a time to kill, and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build, a time to weep, and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance, a time to scatter stones, and a time to gather them. A time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing, a time to search and a time to give up, a time to keep, and a time to throw away, a time to tear and a time to mend. And finally, a time to be silent and a time to speak.” Bob: Huh? That scripture says a time to throw away. In this stage four, that could be a time to start throwing away some of that junk you’ve accumulated in those first three stages. Because it’s during this stage where you become a empty nester. Many times, the children are on their own now. At least you hope they are. This is the retirement points during the sixties sometimes, or it may be even in mid seventies now. I’ve decided I’m not gonna retire till I’m 85. So my wife says, no way are you retiring. Shawn: Well, you’re not gonna retire in the traditional sense of completely stopping work. Because mainly you would just go, you would get bored outta your mind. Bob: I would. Exactly. I love producing stuff, producing this podcast. I love writing. But you talk about the traveling years. Rachael and I are starting to do that. By the time this comes out, we would’ve just gotten back from a Europe, a trip to Europe, which I’ve never been to, and it’s gonna be really fun to go to. I’m looking forward to that. But we are empty nesters, and it’s major traveling years. And it’s not only Europe, but I see the RV happening during this time for my retirees and visiting friends and family. There’s a lot of… Shawn: It’s a lot traveling. Bob: Yep. This is where the downsizing to probably a smaller home sometime from the sixties to the mid seventies and possibly a retirement community. We got that one between here and San Marcos, which we’re between Austin and San Antonio, called Kissing Tree. It’s gotta be 55 and up to live in there. So on a golf course, it’s got all the pickleball… Shawn: Downaizing for something easier to take care of or just hanging out with the other people in that stage of life. You’re gonna get more time with the grandchildren. Hopefully. And at this point if you haven’t already had some health issues, this is usually when those just normal wear and tear health issues, if you will, start popping up. And that’s just part of life, right, BOb? Bob: Yep. Exactly. So I have seven financial takeaways on each stage, just like we did last week. We have financial takeaways during the during that stage. So, good financial advice during this point is more important than ever. I mean, this is very important during this point, this stage, because the biggest concern is running out of retirement assets before life ends. And you gotta be very careful about overspending in the beginning years of retirement. There’s that tendency, I’m gonna go travel, travel, travel, I’m gonna buy that RV, and then all of a sudden, what happened to a third of my retirement? I’ve seen this happen from being in the business for years. Debt. It is not to be tampered with at all at this age. Shawn: Don’t mess with her. Don’t. Bob: Yeah, exactly. Just stay away. Stay away from her. Possibly downsize to a smaller home to lower expenses. Buy the best health supplement plan you can get. I promise you’re gonna be glad you did. I’m brought into a lot of my…when it’s the Medicare, Medicaid, and the supplements, get that best supplement that you can,. Number six. Shawn: Update your estate plan for both your spouse and your children’s sake. Because again, you don’t want something to happen and that estate plan to be outdated or non-existent, I mean, hopefully you do have an estate plan, but if you don’t get one now. Bob: And that’s amazing. If you don’t have one by now, but hopefully. Shawn: It happens, though. Bob: I know it does. I see it happening all the time. Number seven, sell off those unneeded assets that cost unneeded money or make low returns. I would really invite you to go back and listen to podcast number 129 if you own rental homes. Shawn: That’s right. It’s the one, “Are rental homes a good investment?” Bob: And the yield of the rental home after taxes, insurance, and maintenance is no more than about 3% or 4%. You can make that in a CD today. And so I really think that’s a good example of, to unload those assets, if you got several rental homes. Shawn: So go back again, that’s episode 129, and then the last financial takeaway, make sure you build a diversified portfolio that can keep up with or overcome inflation, but be sure that you are limiting your risk as much as possible so there, there’s a balance to that. Bob: Right? There is. But still, you gotta keep up with inflation. You just can’t go all the way over to the left, super, super conservative. You still have need to have some in a moderate portfolio. Shawn: Stage five, the slowing down years. Bob: Yeah. Now it’s like, okay, I’ve done my traveling and actually the cost during this retirement stage goes way down. Now it’s gonna go up in that last stage because of health costs, but the health cost goes way down, but the health issues, they just start popping up left and right, and that’s sad. But they do. Shawn: So again, stage five, the slowing down years from your mid seventies to your mid eighties, your health issues start popping up. There’s less travel, if any, because it’s just harder, possible loss of a spouse. Bob: Happened with my mom. My dad passed away when my mom was 80 years old, actually. My dad was, was 83-84. Shawn: The next one you might be selling the last home. Your last home. And primary home. Bob: I’m thinking about my mom and she’s 88 now, and she did a couple years ago. She sold her last home. Shawn: And moved into assisted living. Bob: That’s correct. Shawn: Which is also pretty common, especially by mid eighties. Bob: By the way, because she’s so social, she’s doing something every day. She has a meal with all of her friends. It’s a great, great place. Shawn: Got her bridge club, right? Bob: Yes, she does. Exactly. And they play dominoes, and they even have a miniature golf course there. Shawn: Mini golf? Bob: Oh yeah. It’s nice. It’s amazing. It’s amazing. So financial takeaways, there’s a must have, again, for a trusted financial advisor to help you make those wise decisions during this stage. And the second thing that’s really important is that you need a younger, trusted family member to help with those financial decisions. Shawn: Preferably something like limited power of attorney, just in case maybe there’s a health issue to where you’re not able to voice your concern. So having that trusted younger family member being able to be empowered to help you with those decisions. And the other thing, too, that, you know what unfortunately happens, but as you get into this stage, the chances of of memory issues occurring also go up drastically. So that’s again, another part of having that trusted family member, because you might be great, and then next month, all of a sudden, you just can’t remember what’s going on with finances. Bob: Yeah. And the financial takeaway, which you talked about, you end up doing anyway, is that you sell that home, and it helps with the financial cost of this, we’re using the sale proceeds from my mom’s home to help offset offset the cost. And we have all her estate planning documents updated, and we’ve got a great power medical power of attorney, financial power of attorney. It’s so important that you have that trusted family member to help you with these items. Shawn: Which is our number four of four for these financial takeaways. All your estate planning documents need to be updated. And like we were just saying, a good suggestion is have a medical power of attorney and a financial power of attorney in place with that younger, trusted family member. Bob: Now we get to stage six, if you’re lucky enough to make it this far. Shawn: If you make it this far. Congrats. Bob: Exactly. Shawn: You won. You made it to stage six. Not all of us get to this part. Bob: Right. Which is the mid eighties to mid nineties and to a hundred. Oh, by the way, I went to see my mom this weekend, and they were having a person there having their 100th birthday. And I just, you wanna sit down with somebody like that and talk to ’em. I mean, you think about that. This is 2023. They were born in 1923. They went through the Great Depression and they’ve seen life change so much. I can’t imagine. Here’s what I say. You’re hanging on, you’re hanging on for dear life at this point. Shawn: Well, let’s make sure we cover it. It’s stage six, the no-go or assisted living years. It’s starting The mid eighties to mid nineties, maybe a hundred if you live to a hundred. And like you said, the first one hanging on for dear life. Bob: I’m sorry. And I don’t mean to offend any of you, my clients that are in this stage, and I got some clients that are at this age. But they have, they’ve had a few things happen. It’s very close, you know. It’s on the edge. But what’s interesting is, is the few clients that we have they’re actually living with a family member not in assisted living like my mom is. Shawn: Typically, it’s gonna be one of these two, though. It’s either assisted living facility at this point of some kind or living with a family member. Bob: I actually had a client that was living in assisted living and then the family member built them a really nice little bungalow off the back of the house. All right. Major health issues are very likely at this stage, short-term memory loss may be occurring. And of course, you got a lot of great grandchildren coming along. Shawn: Possibly loss of hearing and eyesight. Bob: Starting that with me. Shawn: That’s okay. You’re not quite into this. Bob: Exactly. I’m a long ways from there. So hopefully they’ll have ear replacement by then, you know? Shawn: Yeah. May even get a new ear. Bob: Put a new ear in. All right. So financial takeaways. If the assets have not run out yet, invest conservatively to moderate at best. You don’t have anything, nothing to do with growth unless those are assets that you’re gonna pass down to the next generation. Now we have some clients that are multimillionaires and they’ve put aside $100,000 or $200,000 for the grandkids, and that is in growth, and they wanna be there. Shawn: But if it’s assets that you’re using for yourself to take care of your needs – conservative to moderate. Otherwise, if it’s going to the next generation… Bob: Because you may need to reach into that because the health issues can be very costly. Shawn: Which is number two, health issues can be costly. Bob: That advisor relationship, that financial advisor relationship is very important along with the trusted child or grandchild that’s handling finances. And Shawn, I think it’s very important that that trusted child or grandchild have the relationship with the financial advisor that their parents are using. Does that make sense? Shawn: Yes. Bob: All right. Shawn: Or a grandparent depending on which one it is. Bob: Right. And these financial accounts at this point, I feel should be in a trust or definitely have state of beneficiaries payable on death to avoid probate. But I like the trust part because it makes it so much easier to have a trustee, and a trusted child or grandchild needs to have a complete financial power of attorney to act on the behalf during this stage. All right. Whew. So there you go. There you go. So there you have it. We’ve gone through six financial stages of life from the beginning years in the twenties to the growing years in the thirties and forties to the maturing years to the retirement and traveling years, which is stage four. We covered that today. The slowing down years, and then the no-go years. It’s quite a life if you’re blessed with all six stages and each stage has very different issues and needs that is in need of a well qualified, financial advisor that has the experience to guide you through these stages and understands them. Shawn: That’s right. So if you have watched this or listened to this and you’re thinking, I like how Bob and Shawn were talking about it, we’d love to hear from you. You can comment. You can also visit our website, www.ChristianFinancialAdvisors.com, and during business hours Monday through Friday, you can call or text us at (830) 609-6986. We’re here to serve. And thank you for joining us. Bob, do you have any final words? Bob: No final words. There’s enough there. We’ve had a lot of words these last two. Shawn: We have. Bob: So, we’ve laid a lot on our listeners and watchers. Shawn: Well, that is true. May God bless you. Thank you so much for watching or listening to this and for sticking through it, and have a wonderful day. Bye-Bye. [CONCLUSION] That’s all for now. We invite you to listen to all of our past episodes covering many financial topics from a Christian Perspective. To make sure you don’t miss any of Bob’s upcoming episodes you can subscribe to Christian Financial Perspectives on iTunes, Google Play Music, Spotify, or Stitcher. To learn more about integrating your faith with your finances, visit ciswealth.com or call 830-609-6986. [DISCLOSURES] Investment advisory services offered through Christian Investment Advisors Inc dba Christian Financial Advisors®, a registered investment advisor registered with the SEC. Registration as an investment advisor does not imply a certain level of skill or training. Comments from today’s show are for informational purposes only and not to be considered investment advice or recommendations to buy or sell any company that may have been mentioned or discussed. The opinions expressed are solely those of the hosts, Bob Barber and Shawn Peters, and their guests. Bob and Shawn do not provide tax advice and encourage you to seek guidance from a tax professional. While Christian Financial Advisors® believes the information to be accurate and reliable, we do not claim or have responsibility for its completeness, accuracy, or reliability.