This week’s episode of The Secure Retirement Podcast marks the beginning of a special series focused on the specific concerns of members of the Florida Retirement System. However, the key topics covered in this series will still relate, in principle, to any retiree, regardless of whether they are a member of the FRS.
“I have clients from across all walks of life— doctors, lawyers, business owners, and we all have something in common. All of us. And that is: someday, we have a vision of retirement,” says John.
As always, with this series, John uses practical knowledge gained through 45 years of experience in retirement planning to provide insight, not only to members of the FRS, but to other retirees and those planning their retirement, so that they can retire with a sense of financial security.
We chat about why John specifically wants to help members of the FRS, as well as:
His retirement planning principles
Concept first— what does retirement look like to you?
What working with a retirement planner looks like
And, what to expect from the rest of this special series
Listen now…
Mentioned in this episode:
Transcript
Steve Gordon: Welcome to John H. Curry's Secure Retirement Podcast. I am not your normal host, but I am standing in for the host. My name is Steve Gordon and I am actually here to turn the tables on Mr. Curry.
And we're going to do a special series here on the podcast, really focused on the specific concerns of members of the Florida Retirement System, but even if you are not a member of the Florida Retirement System, what we're going to cover here actually will apply to you in principle and certainly worth listening to as we go through, we're going to get into really all of the key topics that affect everyone related to retirement. And I know this is going to be a real great service to folks. So before we dive in, I first want to welcome your normal host and my guest today, Mr. Curry. John, welcome.
John Curry: Hello, Steve. Nice to have the tables turned.
Steve: Yeah, I know.
John: Literally.
Steve: Right. Well, I'm excited for this. We've been planning this for a little while and, you know, I think your wisdom in these areas really gonna be helpful to a lot of folks. You've been working with members of the Florida Retirement System for
John: 45 years.
Steve: And so, you know, you have a lot of experience. You know, as I always like to tell my clients in my marketing practice that, you know, I've created 1000 marketing plans, you're only ever going to do one. Same is true with retirement plans. You've probably seen thousands and people listening to this only really ever get to do one. So you've seen all the variables at play. But I'm curious, why the specialization in the Florida Retirement System and why this particular series? Why do you want to do it?
Why John Chose Retirement Planning
John: Well, it goes back to my grandfather. When my grandfather retired from DOT out of Phoenix Springs, Florida he chose option one with the Florida pension option thinking he was going to live a long time. When he died shortly before he turned 72 years old. My grandmother lived to be 94, two weeks shy of being 95.
She lost that pension. So all those years, 20 something years, 27 years, I think it was, she had no pension. All she had was a small social security check. And you fast forward to my dad, my dad worked at the same place my grandfather did. He saw what my grandfather did and said I'm not making that mistake. So he chose option three with the state of Florida pension.
He retired at 62, died at age 85. So 23 years he got that check, reliable check every month. And it was designed that when he died, the same check would continue to my mother. So it did exactly what it's supposed to do. She lived another year and a half and died. So I realized that they could have made better decisions had they had the information that I had. But over the years, they were both stubborn. They wouldn't listen. What do I know? I'm just a grandson or son in my 20s at the time.
So that's what got me focused on specializing in the Florida Retirement System and members of the Florida Retirement System. I have clients from across all walks of life, you know, doctors, lawyers, business owners. We all have something in common, all of us. And that is someday, we have some vision of retirement. Now, mine is that I never fully retire, it is that I continue doing what I'm doing with people I want to do it with but when I want to do it. So I built retirement into it. But for some people, they truly want to retire.
But for these two men, I saw what happened. And I saw what could have been better. And then a friend of mine who's a professor, retired now in his 90s, 95 years old, one day he came to me with a big box of stuff, dumped it on my desk and said I need your help. Help me. I said I don't know all that. He said please walk through it, learn it, help me. Those two scenarios, grandfather, father, and then later in life, this fellow friend, client asked me for help. I realized right then, that was it. It was like a calling. I had to do it.
Steve: Well, I know you've really focused in this area. And there are some unique challenges. But before we get into those, one of the things that I know about you as you approach this entire idea of retirement planning with a set of principles in mind. Can you walk us through what those principles are?
Retirement Planning Principles
John: Absolutely. The very first one is protect what you have. I hear people all the time asking me to invest your money in ways that are too aggressive, so I can do that. But what happens if you lose 38 percent, like in 2008 when the market crashed and the s&p 500 was down 38%? So what if I take your money today and I promptly lose that? How would you feel?
That would hurt. You might not recover from it because the five years leading up to retirement and the first five years of retirement are critical. You lose money then, you're in trouble. So number one principle is protect the asset. Number two, grow the asset. And number three, at some point, make sure that asset will pay you income that's reliable, preferably guaranteed reliable. But those are the concepts I'll look at.
And I also look at planning comes first, before you go look for products. Just had a guy call, he wants me to do, focus on life insurance for him. I said I'll do that, but would you mind if we just do the planning first? Because I don't even know what kind of policy to get you. But some people, they gtt their mind so made up. I want this and only this. And, you know, you try to respect that but at the same time, it'd be like going to your doctor and you say, Hey, Doc, I need some penicillin. And what you really need is amoxicillin.
Steve: Break that down a little bit because, I mean, it sounds simple enough. Yes, you have to plan first. You sort of have this, this idea of concepts first. So, what does that mean?
John: Well, the details don't matter if you don't buy the concept. Agree? If you don't like the concept of retirement in general, then why should I get deep into the details? All I'm gonna do is confuse you or frustrate you. So let's first get an understanding of what retirement means to you. In the worksheets I use, what's your vision of retirement? And most people can't answer that. They're like, I don't know. Well, why would you retire if you don't know what you want to do? Let's get some clarity because my job is to bring some clarity, some leadership and competence to the table for you.
But if you don't have any clue as to what you want in retirement, why would you want to retire? And they go, Oh, good point. So the first concept is, let's understand what retirement is. And if you agree, we got to work on what that looks like, then we start the planning process. But it first starts with what does retirement look like? Your vision, not mine. I know what mine is. Mine's nailed. I'm retired now, to be honest. You know, I collect social security, two pensions. I work, Stev,e because I want to, not because I have to.
Steve: I watch you. You and I know each other pretty well. I know you work because you enjoy it. It's fun. And you love getting up and helping people. So concepts first, I get that, and then you roll into the planning. And then you touch briefly on the different parts of that protection, growth, income. And so paint a picture. When a typical person comes in to work with you, what is that interaction? When you take somebody through this, what does the interaction look like?
John’s Planning Process
John: Well, the first thing is we, I tell everybody, we're going to invest about an hour, hour and a half together in our first meeting. We're gonna get to know each other. I'll ask you questions, you'll share with me your financial data. And we'll determine number one, are we a fit? I have no false delusions, I'm not for everybody, okay? Some people should do it themselves or find somebody else, but the ones where we're a fit, then we will engage and go to work. But the first thing that I walk them through, our planning process. We look at everything they've got. Something as mundane as car insurance and homeowners.
And I've always had people ask me, Why do you care? You don't sell those products. I don't sell those products. But I don't want you to be my client and get hurt because something was overlooked. So I look at everything. And then I'll refer you back to the appropriate person. If I find that your deductibles or your liability limits aren't right for you, or think they aren't, I'll send you back to your property casualty agent, because I'm not licensed in that area so I'm not going to give you advice on it other than to say, Steve, go talk with your agent.
Here's what I think. Talk to them. Sometimes pick up the phone and call them right then. But we do the same thing. Car Insurance, home insurance, health insurance, which is a big issue for people in retirement. Many people continue working longer than they want to because they're losing health insurance. Legal documents, Again, I'm not a lawyer so why do I care if you have a will or not?
Well, I don't want to do all the work for you and then upon your death, it all disappears because of lawsuits. And then, of course, we'll look at protection. What do you have in life insurance? How much life insurance should you have in retirement? And then we get into the retirement assets, savings, investments, retirement and liabilities. Do you have a mortgage? Do you have credit card debt? Car loans? How do you plan on handling that when you retire? And then we look at every stream of cash flow, money coming in money going out. We look at all of it.
Steve: I know it's, having gone through it myself, it's a comprehensive process. So we are doing a series here on different issues that members of the Florida Retirement System, and really everybody, needs to think about and pay attention to. As we wrap up this kind of introductory episode in the series, can you give us a little bit of a preview of what's to come?
Everyone’s Situation is Different and Should Have an Individual Approach
John: Absolutely. The, first of all, everything we're going to be talking about now applies to every person who has a job, with the exception of FRS pensions specifically, but everyone is going to have some type of retirement money in all likelihood. Either they have a 401K, a 403B, or they have an IRA, a SEP plan if they're self-employed.
So those who are not members of the Florida Retirement System, you can just substitute those things. But number one for FRS members is, do you take the pension or the investment plan? If you're already in the pension, you probably want to stay there. Then we talked about does it make sense to defer money into the future with a 457 Deferred Comp Plan or a 403B plan? Many people have been told put money in these plans because when you retire, you'll be in a lower tax bracket.
We're not seeing that. Most of the people I work with, they're in the same tax bracket, if not higher, when they come out of retirement, into retirement. Which pension option should you choose? I touched on that at the very beginning about my grandfather and my father. Too many people have just been told by well-meaning friends, take this option, that's it. It shouldn't be done that way. You may be in a position because of having other assets or life insurance in a place that you can take a different option than maybe your friend did.
So I tell people, I'll listen to whatever you say but I'm going to design a plan based on what I know about you, present it to you, and then you get to vote, you decide. What age should you retire? Should you retire at 62? Should you continue working as long as possible? When do you want to retire? And that leads me to a discussion about DROP. Should I go into the DROP program or stay out of DROP and just keep working?
Some people get into DROP and later they regretted it, Steve, because they said I don't really want to leave now. But if you're in the DROP program, in ten to five years, you got to go. And I've had people who are so anxious, made a mistake, I should not have done that. So that's an important decision. And then social security. Do you take social security at age 62, the earliest you can get it? Do you wait until full retirement age which is between 66 and 67, depending upon the year you were born? Or do you delay all the way to age 70 to get the maximum benefit?
Again, well-meaning people will say take it at 62 because the system is going to be bankrupt and get your money as early as possible. Well, first of all, I don't buy into that. I did start mine at 66, time-valued money, I didn't want to wait until 70. Even though I'm still working, I saved the money, invest the money, sometimes I use it to buy, for life insurance premiums, but I didn't want to wait. And then Medicare, you have Part A, which you will automatically be enrolled in 65, then you have Part B. If you're still working and under a group plan, you can delay Part B until you actually retire.
A lot of confusion on that. Also, a lot of confusion about what the premiums would be for Part B because many people are realizing they're paying higher than the normal Medicare Part B premium. At the time of this recording. It's about $140 a month. But you may have to pay, I call it a surtax because of your income level. It's called IRMA. And then the biggie is what do you do with all this money? The old law said at 70 and a half, you had to take a required minimum distribution. The new tax law under the Secure Act stretched that out to 72.
But at some point, you've got to start taking money. And they're not doing that to guarantee you income streams. They're doing that to recover the taxes that you never paid. They meaning Congress and the IRS. So those are some of the topics that all of us will face. I believe everybody will face those. The only question is do you have a pension? Most people today don't. So if you don't have one, you might want to be asking yourself, how do I create one for myself?
Steve: I love it. Well, we're going to get into all of those topics. I think we're going to have a dedicated episode on each one as we go. And so folks, as you're listening to this, make sure you are subscribed to John's Secure Retirement Podcast. You can do that in Apple Podcasts. If you got an Apple iPhone, right there on your phone. If you've got an Android. you can do it right in Google Podcasts.
And you can also listen to them on John's website. John, I know you'll be sending emails out to folks every time a new one of these episodes is released in the series. And so look for those emails as well. If you're not on John's email list, go to johnhcurry.com and get on his email list. And John, before we wrap this episode up and move on, I want to give you an opportunity to share any final thoughts. And I also would like you to share with folks how they can get in touch with you if they want to have a conversation.
Tend to Your Personal Economy First
John: Well, my final thoughts will simply be this, first of all, thank you for doing the interview for me. I've got the stuff in my head and you've told me over the years, get it out. And that's why I did the first book and we're doing another book also, so that'll be coming. But the final word would be simply this, pay attention to your own personal economy. There's a lot of anger out there today. There's a lot of divisiveness, there's a lot of worry and anxiety. Take care of your own economy. Take care of your planning.
On the airplane, the flight attendants tell you if the mask drops, put it on yourself first. Same thing with your planning. Take care of yourself first and you'll be able to weather the storm just fine. And if you'd like to know more about my information, how to get in touch with us, the best thing to do is call the office at 850-562-3000, 850-562-3000. I would suggest people start with a simple telephone appointment, 20, 25-minute discussion. Or you can go to my website, johnhcurry.com, johnhcurry.com. And a lot of resources there, as you mentioned the podcast, but there's a lot of other good data there too.
Steve: Absolutely. Absolutely. Well, folks, stay tuned for the next episode in this series where we are going to cover the FRS pension and investment options. And we'll be back, I guess about two weeks with that next episode. John, thanks.
John: Thank you.
Voiceover: If you'd like to know more about John Curry's services, you can request a complimentary information package by visiting johnhcurry.com/podcast. Again, that is johnhcurry.com/podcast. Or you can call his office at 850-562-3000. Again, that is 850-562-3000. John H. Curry, chartered life underwriter, chartered financial consultant accredited estate planner, Master's in science and financial services, certified in long term care, registered representative and financial advisor at Park Avenue Securities LLC.
Securities products and services and advisory services are offered through Park Avenue Securities, a registered broker-dealer and investment advisor. Park Avenue Securities is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Guardian. North Florida Financial Corporation is not an affiliate or subsidiary of Park Avenue Securities. Park Avenue Securities is a member of FINRA and SIPC. This material is intended for general public use.
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Please consult with your attorney, accountant or tax advisor for advice concerning your particular circumstances. Not affiliated with the Florida Retirement System. The Living Balance Sheet and the Living Balance Sheet logo are registered service marks of The Guardian Life Insurance Company of America in New York, New York, copyright 2005 2020. This podcast is for informational purposes only. Guest speakers and their firms are not affiliated with or endorsed by Park Avenue Securities or Guardian and opinions stated are their own.
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