What is Secure 2.0? (Episode 31)

[00:00:00] Yes, because I can tell you too, most plans will force people out if their balance isn't high enough. They... Because it's basically, I don't know, it... I guess it's supposed to incentivize you to contribute more and get your balance up.

[00:00:16] But if you're low, you don't make a lot of money, it may take you a while to get there and then the next thing you know, yeah, you can't afford, or not get it.

[00:00:22] The argument is you can't afford not to but still, it takes folks time to understand all this and then to do it is like another thing. So you get penalized if you don't keep a high enough balance.

[00:00:35] So this is what it's saying, it's like portability, especially going from one job to the next. Welcome back folks, this is Episode 31 of Its About Your Paycheck. We're talking about the Secure 2.0 Act today. It's basically some amendments to the 401K Act that are in employees favor.

[00:00:56] So it's some good info for us to know, especially if you take advantage of 401K. But before we get too deep into that, how are you doing today, sir? I'm good, man. How about you? It's another Sunday for us, another day of...

[00:01:09] Another opportunity to do this, what we love. Yeah. Share information. Word. So I'm good, man. How about you? I'm good, man. Staying here, I'm feeling good, man. I'm in a good place.

[00:01:20] Still a lot of work to do for ourselves and our regular jobs and this job as we talk to think, but I'm feeling good, man. I'm feeling really good and that saying this too shall pass is what is ringing now like yes it passed, but it passed.

[00:01:34] I went through a really tough spot just overwhelmed with work and life and things. And I was just like paralyzed for a bit. That happens, right? We're human. You know what I mean? Yep. You're on a new... Difference man. Difference season, right.

[00:01:49] You're in a new season, a new chapter of your life in GA now. The third... The spoiler. The third is out. You're in it, right? How you like it? I love it so far, man. It's totally different.

[00:01:58] It's not too hot, so there is some heat, but not as hot as South Florida and stuff. Still nice, man. The community, I mean, is nice. In fact, I wasn't able to go over there today, but the office is doing like a brunch

[00:02:13] for the residents, like stripping grits and different stuff like that. Yeah. You wasn't able to go get a plate? Nah. What's going on right now? Damn, we could have... Dude, I was in the midst of stripping grits now. I love stripping grits. That's who is funny.

[00:02:32] That's their man. That's their man. That's what's up. That's just some little things like that. Yeah, man, make a big difference. Yeah, what else? You want to get into pay news? Anything else you want to share with Sharon? Let's get into it, man. Let's get into it.

[00:02:45] What you got for us? So I have something from AARP. Okay. It's a survey that they did recently. They found that one in five Americans over the ages of 50 have no retirement savings.

[00:02:58] So it's an interesting article that's important and I think it goes into in line with what today's... Very, yep. Oh, man. Yeah, I'll get into it. There's areas I want to touch on. I won't go too deep into those, like I always say, but just talk through it.

[00:03:14] Yes. So number one, there was some retirement saving statistics that they did, right? 20% of adults age 50 or over have no savings at all for retirement. No savings at all for retirement. And then they have some financial concerns that 61% of adults they are over worry that

[00:03:36] they would not have enough money to last through retirement. So 61 of those of the people who have retirement savings are worried about not having enough to carry them through. Yeah. Gender disparities, right? Amongst men, 40% of men saving for retirement feel that they are saving enough compared to

[00:03:54] only 30% of women. Number two, financial security challenges. So there's a decline in the financial security that people feel. The growing perception of financial insecurity among men with 42% describing that this situation as fair or poor, which is up from 34% in early 2022.

[00:04:16] A lot of that has to do with inflation. We talk about inflation a lot on this show. So I think as prices have gone up and inflation has increased, people are worried like, hey, this is impacting my retirement plans. I'm afraid that I won't have enough.

[00:04:31] Then there are some barriers to savings, right? Everyday expenses remain the top barrier to saving more for retirement. Again, that's that inflation and the price of food, the price of gas, the price of housing. All those things are going up and remain barriers for people to save.

[00:04:47] Credit card debt is another thing, right? About one-third of older adults with credit card debt carry balances of $10,000 or more. And that indicates a significant financial strain. You have to carry that balance. What's gonna happen? You're gonna get more interest.

[00:05:06] The bills are gonna compound and it'll be harder to pay down those credit cards. Yep. So I can think about that. These are for people that are already just 50 or over. And then number three, there's economic concerns. Inflation impact.

[00:05:20] We just said 70% of these people worry about the prices rising faster than their income. I think everybody is worried about that. Basic expenses, 37% worry about covering basic expenses like food, housing, while 26% are concerned about their family caregiving cost. So childcare might be going up.

[00:05:42] Baby city might be going up. Always going up. Yeah, these people may have to raise their prices because the baby is not in your neighborhood and they have to drive from across town. Hey, I need to charge you a little bit more because gas is more.

[00:05:53] Gas went up. Yep. Everybody's going up retail places. Honestly, retail places have to. They have to keep track with everything because if just like you said, the daycare is spending more to exist. They have to charge. They got to pass that on to the customers, unfortunately. Yep. Yep.

[00:06:12] And if they're paying more, they're paying their employees more, all that. It's a trickle down effect. Yeah. Yep. Trickle down, take it up. So, yeah. Number four, legislative efforts and state actions. So there are some state programs out there that AARP has collaborated with 19 states to

[00:06:30] establish programs for those without employer sponsored plans. So there's federal legislation out there like the retirement savings for Americans Act of 2023 and the automatic IRA Act of 2024 to expand those retirement security initiatives. There's an auto IRA programs out there too.

[00:06:54] State states currently have operational auto IRA programs and 10 others have passed legislations and various stages of implementation. So there's some states like California I know is one of them. They have an auto IRA program they require employers to automatically sign their employees into. Yeah.

[00:07:15] It's also part of the Secure 2.0 Act that we're going to talk a little bit about. Yep. And last but not least number five, this is calls for action. AARP emphasizes the need for swift congressional action to support older Americans financially and ensure widespread access to retirement savings options.

[00:07:38] Access to workplace retirement plans significantly increases retirement savings like your good yet a large portion of Americans lack such access. So that's it man. I think it's a great article. There's way more detail in there and you can find out way more.

[00:07:55] It'll be in the show notes once you post this episode. And yeah, that's all I have. What do you got man? Mine's real real really quick and light. I've been on I've been paying attention to the remote work conversation that has

[00:08:09] been going on since the pandemic and more more so after the pandemic started ending. It was becoming more of do people go back to work or not in the office and I understand from a business perspective if they have when you do commercial leases, you get leases for

[00:08:24] 10 20 30 years the business. Yeah. Right. So it's not easy for a big business to come out of their lease now and downsize just because people want to stay home and they don't need the space anymore. They really want to get back to work.

[00:08:37] A lot of folks feel it does more for the business. There's our point is the argument goes either way right? You how productive you are at work how productive you are at home. One of the articles that I think I shared last time was that the well-being right?

[00:08:53] Remember we were talking about how it increases the well-being and mental wellness of employees being able to do a few days from home. Yeah. So I knew to that end Dell's workforce was Dell the computer company had returned

[00:09:09] office or else and nearly half of the workers chose the or else because they're like now we don't want to go back to work. It doesn't make sense they've been promote they've been productive from home and these

[00:09:24] are all remote jobs but Dell of course as big as it is it has probably a big campus a big a big footprint real estate wise and a huge expense. So who knows they have their reasons of course but the workers stood up and they were like

[00:09:38] no we're not coming back. They do have to read the article and then the show notes or what not and it goes into kind of some of the things that they're willing to give up to stay home. Yeah.

[00:09:49] Was it wasn't one of those things like this like promotions? Yes. That's exactly right. They agree that they can no longer be promoted or hired into new roles within the company. Wow. It's crazy and my guess is that's going to change right because that's not retention

[00:10:06] because one of your best teams is home. So now the whole basically they just buying time to leave because if you've been working for Dell for past five, 10 years and you're a productive achiever earner you're just going

[00:10:20] to go put your resume on the market and go leave because guess what Dell was short-sighted. You know but people these companies have to understand right COVID changed it forever right from the workforce.

[00:10:33] So hybrid remote work is here to stay right and these people plenty of other Americans have had to shift and completely overhaul their lives in order to fit their work schedule. And now that they've done it they're like I don't want to go back to work the worst

[00:10:48] for me I'm saving more money you know it's better for me in my life. Yes. It's more accessible for me and my kids. Yep. I'm able to pick them up when I need to whatever family. Yes man.

[00:10:59] So I think there definitely needs to be some definitely some more considerations that I feel like they gave a lot like the promotions like no longer being promoted internally. Look this is just the beginning of it it could change because I promise you there's

[00:11:14] an HR person there saying this is not right you know what I mean and they may not have won the argument the first time but now they'll have numbers to build their case study over the next few years because guess what these people who decided to stay

[00:11:28] at home they probably now they're going to see the attrition rates they can be like look everybody who decided to stay at home 50% are gone now you know that's it's going to be like they're going to see those numbers of people leaving and they're going to say look

[00:11:42] everybody who stood home 50% of them left now what do you still think is a good idea oh and in the article it says many interviewed admitted that they were looking for other work at other companies that aren't trying to corral employees back into the office.

[00:11:58] Wow. So it's a short win for them because they get to stay home and now they get to look for another job while they're home so what are you really doing you just you letting good

[00:12:07] talent leave. It doesn't make any sense one person they spoken with colleagues who had chosen to go hybrid those colleagues reported doing work in mostly empty offices punctuated with video calls and people who weren't and mostly empty offices basically.

[00:12:22] So you know yes now is now the people who did want to come back and be good about it now they get to they working in bad spaces because that's the other argument too is hey if you want

[00:12:34] your people to come back please believe and understand that they've been used to being home for years and it's been comfortable so like you have to try to give them. What a sense of one incentive right. Are you making it do you are you going to

[00:12:48] give free snacks. That's a big thing right there right because when you write your home is it's I get to walk five feet here and I have a gourmet kitchen at home like you got to do.

[00:13:01] What was that statistic that we said like about the people who are going to the office they spend 50 bucks a day 51 bucks a day. Oh my God. That's what I want to the office $8 a day. Yes and 70 if you have a dog or a pet. Yep. Yep.

[00:13:17] That's not that's great. Yeah exactly you get they get to spend this save a ton of money. And again if you have a family the way you get to I had a friend that posted on

[00:13:29] Facebook the other day and she's I don't understand how I got to drop my kid over eight to be working nine and then the kid gets out of two but I don't get out

[00:13:38] so five like how does that work make that make sense. You know what I mean. So it's different man is there and I think again just to I'm happy I'm glad to see now that the wave of media is in support of hybrid and remote because the media

[00:13:53] that I was seeing before was supporting the big businesses about getting them back to work. So yeah that was mine for today. Thank you. That's great. That's great stuff man. I think that I think before we get into our sponsor message here on the

[00:14:08] wonderful time track go. Yeah I think that some of it may be because these companies have these leases for these buildings. Everybody's going in to the building so they're just like it is. So is the up. Yep.

[00:14:22] Yeah and it's a lot of money. It's a lot of money. They're going through the same thing in Manhattan because it changes even the landscape of retail business because in Manhattan is a great example of this type of experience like Spareman or impact or effect or whatever because

[00:14:39] Manhattan is only like one million residents but during the day it swells to three million people there. So two million people commute into Manhattan to work. So think about the businesses and there's parts of Manhattan that are very

[00:14:54] business only. And if you try to like the restaurants and places around there they're only open when nine and five money to Friday. And they support the people who are coming in to commute. So those businesses are suffering also so that like I get the kind I get

[00:15:09] there's an argument on both sides but don't make stuff up either. Don't make things that aren't true to support. I could I could. Yeah so let's get into a word from our sponsor here and this is a great

[00:15:23] example of how these things are sometimes tough because I was sharing with Wall over the last few days that I was actually reading this wrong. And this change for effective July one and effective January one 2025

[00:15:39] there will be two increases one on July one and one on January one. The current salary threshold for exempt employees is 35 and change 35 K and change right now. But it's going to go up to 43 thousand eight hundred and eighty eight dollars on July 1st.

[00:16:01] And then it's going to go up again to 58 thousand six hundred and fifty six dollars on January 1st of 2025. Time track go rightfully was putting out there a free month to attract folks to or not attract folks they're putting out a free month for

[00:16:20] anybody who's wanting to chest the system out because now you may have more employees that are due over time and we're going to get into a little bit more of that. But again effective July one it goes from 35 to 43 and in the

[00:16:36] effective January one it goes from 43 to 58. That's a big impact. Yep. The huge impact is right around the corner. So like Brian was speaking to that means that millions of workers potentially going to be required to track their time and attend this

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[00:17:42] So we're going to get into it. We're talking about the Secure 2.0 Act today and basically what is Secure 2.0 folks will be like what you know it's formally known as the Secure is the securing a strong retirement act of 2022.

[00:17:59] And it's a piece of legislation aimed at enhancing and expanding retirement saving opportunities for Americans. Right. We know America 80 percent of Americans now live paycheck to paycheck. Like Walt just reported here. Folks over 50 don't have enough retirement funds. Like we've reported 60 percent of Americans don't have an emergency

[00:18:18] savings account for at least a thousand dollars. Like all these things that are stacked against us as Americans as far as saving money. So the government came out to push the push push it along and force things a little bit just a little tweaks.

[00:18:32] And I was reading a little bit about it before the show and they didn't get everything they wanted. So there's a lot of kind when they were all these legislation things is always like they want 20 things. And they might get four. That was part of it.

[00:18:43] But we're going to cover some of the things that they actually did get as far as in the 2.0 act. And again this is it builds upon the original Secure act setting every community up for retirement enhancement act. Secure. Oh this is great. You're accurate acronyms. You love it.

[00:18:59] And that was originally passed in 2019. And then they are following up with this. Right. Yeah. Look how many that we got here. Nine. Nine. First four or five and then a first. Sure do. Secure act 2.0. Recent legislative update introduces several key changes

[00:19:17] aimed at enhancing the retirement system in the United States and his or breakdown. So the first one is called RMD changes. The age basically the age for starting required minimum distributions RMD from retirement accounts increased from or increased like a decrease.

[00:19:37] But the way they word is increased from 73 to 72. So I guess down from the age of 73 down to 72. Yeah. High like. Yeah. Anywho this delays this delay allows retirees more time to grow their retirement savings before mandatory with the troll. OK. No so it did go up.

[00:19:58] It went to 73 then it was a 72. It went to 73. Basically if you stay in the account so long at a certain age they require you to take the distributions out because it's built for a time and it's not there's not a lifetime savings account.

[00:20:14] And then the penalties for not taking RMDs were reduced from 20 to 25 percent from 50 percent. Isn't that crazy? Because but it says if correct. Probably yeah. If corrected probably yeah. Roth accounts and employer plans will be exempt from the RMDs and 24.

[00:20:32] And a little bit around that is the IRS is so strict with this because it's a tax free component. Right. So that's why they're so strict with this. If folks are thinking about it oh my gosh why they do

[00:20:46] this my money blah blah blah it's a retired bill for retirement it's not savings if you want savings save it. Right. If you want a retirement growth vehicle that's what this is. So there are rules and regulations around it that you got to pay attention to. That's all.

[00:21:01] You got to think about it because yes some of these accounts you gain interest on so as a way of government to protect themselves from having to pay so much interest they're like hey we're going to force you to take this money out. Yes.

[00:21:13] But you can use it to live off of because we don't want to keep adding interest to it or whatever. So 73 take all your money out or whatever. Right. And for the withdrawal. Number two is catch up contributions. It says starting one one of 20 25 individuals age 60

[00:21:30] to 63 can make annual catch up contributions up to $10,000 to workplace plans indexed to inflation thereafter IRA catch up limits will also be an inflation indexed from 24 onward. Now this is curious I'm curious now because I wonder if it's in it because they already allow

[00:21:51] folks 59 or was above 50 actually to do a catch up. Yeah I think it's over 50 and over to do a catch up now so I wonder if this is an additional catch up at 60 to 63 you can put even more in. Again folks IRS is limited because of what they

[00:22:10] allow you to do as a tax tax wise they put a lot of strict rules around this. So they say if you're under 50 you can only contribute X amount but if you're over 50 you can do that amount plus.

[00:22:24] So now that I think if I'm reading it right at 60 you could do another catch up and put more. Number three is Roth. Okay. Before you move on like I want to just put a little bit putting the more common language for people. Yeah.

[00:22:40] The inflation indexing means is like automatic cost of living adjustments built in and built into tax provisions to keep pace with inflation. That's another way to think about it. Okay. Hey so it's an automatic adjustment so that 10,000 that Bryant go to it may increase as inflation goes up.

[00:23:00] Nine. Potentially. Seeing that's good too. That's a good call out and I see that it's doing a little something because they don't haven't been doing that. I don't know if they have because it does go up a little bit every year. Okay.

[00:23:11] So yeah but that's really good right you think about inflation thinking about saving money in general you should be saving more money as inflation goes you should save more right if you oh I'm saving 10% now yeah 10% on yesterday's money is not the same as 10% on tomorrow's

[00:23:26] one so you may want to make it 11-12% as inflation goes or whatever that right method. Number three is Roth options. Employers can now offer matching contributions to Roth accounts allowing tax free growth on earnings with RMDs still applicable until 24.

[00:23:46] Okay so that's cool I didn't realize that I guess I did I just never thought about it companies don't match Roth they match the 401K piece they don't usually match Roth and that's true so look at that you can get a match on

[00:23:58] the Roth now which is great if your employer yeah more money and then sidebar here is if you are contributing to your 401k and your company doesn't match make sure you're maximizing that match you're leveraging that match out right meaning don't leave any money unmatched basically so

[00:24:21] think about do to get the calculation and understand okay wait a minute I could do five percent they only match for instance they may only match up to the first five percent of what you contribute so match do at least five percent don't do four

[00:24:34] percent do five percent so you can get that total match. You want understanding of that right because if they say to five percent of what you do it could be different right it's oh it could be because I've been in situations where the company was like

[00:24:50] oh it's not the total three percent that you're putting in will do a certain percentage of that percentage that you're doing in right and so you just want to make sure that what's up. I'm okay yeah yeah you want to make sure that you understand the

[00:25:04] calculate what that's. I wasn't going to get into it because it does get complicated but what Walt saying is because I can give you a good example is some companies will do 25% up to the first five percent of your now what does that mean what it means that

[00:25:23] they'll only do 25% of that five percent right yes and it just ways that they get nifty on the matching it is when I first learned about I was like what and I had to like put it in an excel it took me a while to understand what

[00:25:39] it is but it's just for me it's not very transparent it's a way that companies are let oh we do a match yeah but it the 25% up to the first 1.25% of your and then 3% after that like so any who just make sure you understand

[00:25:56] the calculation get your finance whoever HR finance payer to help you understand it so that you're maximizing that contribution. Number four is qualified child charitable distributions so individuals age 70 and a half and older can direct up to $100,000 annually and injustice for inflation to charitable

[00:26:20] trust or annuities as QCD's counting towards RMD's okay qualified charitable and accounts against your required manual distribution this is where things get a little complicated right you got it makes no impact to me because I'm not giving $100,000 to anybody right now.

[00:26:36] Now yeah for the most part this helps like the high end higher earners more wealthy people. Number five is says annuities and longevity the premium limits for qualified longevity annual annuity contracts increased to $200,000 requirement limiting premiums to 25% of retirement balances was removed.

[00:27:00] Wow okay again some more on the investing side folks that have that level of money to invest here's a good one number six oh you want to finish the last three you can go through it wherever you want you're in a roll let's go.

[00:27:16] Number six is automatic enrollment and portability so starting in 2025 new 401k and 403 plans must automatically and this is what we saw my must automatically enroll employees fostering retirement savings automatic plan portability allows transferring low balance accounts when changing jobs okay really okay now

[00:27:36] this one is more for that everyday person I believe yeah right. Recall out on that and then notice how it says here plan portability allowing transfers of low balance accounts like to Brian's point the everyday employee. The everyday person has those the $100,000 that they're putting in.

[00:27:55] Yes because I can tell you too most plans will force people out if their balance isn't high enough they because it's basically I don't know it I guess it's supposed to incentivize you to contribute more and get your balance up but if you're low

[00:28:12] you don't make a lot of money you may take you a while to get there and then next thing you know yeah you can't afford or not get it the argument is you can't afford not to but still but takes folks time to understand

[00:28:23] all this and then to do it is like another thing so you get penalized if you don't keep a high enough balance so this is what it's saying is like portability especially going from one job to the next because when you leave

[00:28:36] a job they'll just force you out there's like boom here you go now here's your money whatever the low balance anyway you terminated low balance that's like a whole another thing so that's really good but the auto enrollment is something that there number six I did so basically

[00:28:51] is saying because a lot of companies it is not an auto enrollment you get to a company and they say hey we have 401k you can contribute you can be a part of it if you're eligible what this is saying is all companies

[00:29:03] when you start that new job they are going to automatically enroll you into 401k you have to opt out of it they will default you in and you have to opt out and be careful because if you don't catch it in time

[00:29:17] you you're going to see it in your first check and you may not be able to get that money back but it's a very it's a you have to may have to go through a lot to get that money back and it may get penalized on it

[00:29:28] so what they're saying is they're going to default you right in and you just go from there and that it the numbers say that it increases what is the word i'm adaptive what's the word i'm looking for participation it increases participation into the plan

[00:29:44] so it is what it is do you want to finish it out or do you want to finish these okay I'll do the last three okay yeah number seven emergency savings defined contribution plans can incorporate emergency savings account in Roth format allowing tax-free withdrawals for certain expenses after

[00:30:01] contributions I think that's big right you may be able to put some of your savings in Roth format and that will help you avoid some of those taxes that you may have to face when you do other withdrawals and stuff like that if they're no more 401k right

[00:30:16] so number eight student loan assistance so employers can match retirement contributions to employees making student loan payments starting in 2024 encouraging savings despite debt obligations so that's a good thing right so if you have a student loan and you want to get into 401k

[00:30:34] this may be a this may be an incentive for you to do that look a match that right but then the last thing is the five to nine plan after 15 years assets in five to nine college savings plans can roll over into Roth IRAs subject contribution limits promoting

[00:30:55] flexibility and education and retirement savings so that's a good thing too yeah that's a really cool one and uh so these go ahead no i was just gonna comment on the student loan one it's cool because if they're basically saying if they do

[00:31:08] a match it's not if they don't do a match then they may not do this at all and it's not mandated it's just employers can keyword can match so basically if your excuse is I have student loan payments right now then the employer can say what's your

[00:31:24] payment that I can match against that payment and put it into your 401k for you even though you're not contributing to 401k yes that's a really good one again I'd like a few of these are for the everyday person right the 80 percent of Americans out there

[00:31:39] which is good that's right and even on the five 29 plan the five 29 plan is a college savings plans it's I don't know if it's called five 29 everywhere like I wonder if here in Florida there's like a Florida college thing they don't really call it five 29

[00:31:55] so I don't know if that's eligible for it but a five 29 plan allows you to save for college and now what they're saying is hey if you got assets there that's been there for a long time you can roll it over into a retirement fund like boom

[00:32:07] and how does that happen maybe you've been saving for one of your kids or yourself for college and they didn't go you know what I mean they did something else in life and now they're successful doing that and now 15 20 years later your kid is 40

[00:32:19] and you're like man I still got this money in this five 29 plan what am I gonna do with it boom you can roll it into your own retirement plan yeah those are really cool those are cool man I love it so it's a great thing

[00:32:32] these changes aim to bolster retirement preparedness by adjusting savings initiatives facilitating easier transition between jobs and encouraging broader participation in retirement planning through innovative savings mechanisms right your personalized guidance on navigating these changes you want to consult a financial advisor so that's something that's highly recommended

[00:32:56] before we end this episode yep so let me ask you Brian share companies and or the government force Americans to save for retirement beyond any current measures that are already in place they already do right it's a great question and then we already do is social security

[00:33:15] to be on that yeah no no I know beyond what's in place but the things that are in place is social security and it's so I'm glad you said this because I had wrote down in my notes here to one I wanted to do it for myself

[00:33:27] I did it many years ago and two I encourage everybody out there to go do it folks we can go and log on to social security and create an account and look at the money that's sitting there that it they have it on record everything we've contributed

[00:33:42] to social security since you've been a W2 employee right so it's a good thing to go look like I remember when I did it years ago I was like oh wow I was like money there I've been working since I'm 16 years old on the books so

[00:33:57] I've been contributing now for over 20 years I ain't gonna say you know you know so no real talk 30 years I've been contributing to the plan already and I'm now I'm like wait a minute I gotta go see how much does that man now and basically they tell you

[00:34:14] what you would get at retirement they give you projection they even tell you now too because some things force you disability can force retirement early and then you could tap into your social security but it'll be it says like alright if you retired right now

[00:34:27] you would get this but if you retire at this age you'd get that so it's a good tool so that we don't feel like our money is just going into the abyss it's there it's being accounted it's being tracked you can go and log in

[00:34:39] and look at your account so I urge folks to do that and then back to the safe talk question should companies or the government force Americans to save beyond what they're already doing it's that's a tough one for me because if I believe in the capitalist system capitalism

[00:34:57] capitalistic system no they shouldn't they already did it that's your mechanism and beyond that you should be saving yourself you should be controlling that narrative that that outcome that you should be controlling that on your own right and they look they're already doing it with the secure 2.0

[00:35:21] where they're forcing auto enrollment to encourage participation the social security's out there beyond that I think they're already doing it what do you think no I agree with you I think the answer we had to say yes or no I think the answer is no I do think

[00:35:37] the government and employers should do is do better at educating the employees yes giving them a picture that those of you even us included who are listening to this show right now that we understand fully the benefits and the results of being prepared for retirement because

[00:35:56] I think there needs to be a more emphasis on that it's not should you be forced to do anything heck no right ultimately our responsibility to save for our retirement ultimately that's our responsibility to make sure that we're doing what we're supposed to do and honestly

[00:36:11] if you think about it government did force us to do something they're not they haven't managed social security well to your point they haven't managed that well which is why I'd say social security is running out and to go see your balance go to www.ssa.gov

[00:36:28] and you create a kind of an account there and you'll be able to see your stats there and it'll give you projections on when you may want to retire and how much monthly you would get yes my answer is the same as yours no yeah

[00:36:44] yeah I hate you because it's right I think if we say yes we're moving more towards the socialistic dictated communist dictate those words where I'm not a big politics I don't know politics but when forced things are that that makes me think more of that

[00:37:00] and that's not what capitalism is and that's not what America was built on in my opinion my knowledge my novice opinion and knowledge of things yeah but it look like you said companies don't do a good job and the government education wise they do the bare minimum

[00:37:18] but you know what that's an opportunity for us and shows like this to kind of keep that conversation going and helping folks understand what they can do and the disclaimers that we always talk about folks we're not an expert on any of these one things we're just giving

[00:37:35] want to give you enough to be curious and spark that curiosity and spark that motivation to go wait I need to go research a little bit of this and get savvy on this stuff and there's no excuses these days because honestly if you start searching on your TikTok

[00:37:50] where we spend most of our time anyway you'll start getting good information there there's info there there's other folks like us putting out things on retirement social security and investing and then things like that there's enough there's no reason for us to be ignorant anymore

[00:38:07] the information is there so I'm gonna be transparent to my own personal account because I just logged in and everything right that looks great so no I already had an account if I was a retire by the age of 62 which is 20 years for me

[00:38:23] so if I was a retire in 20 years that would only and this is an emphasis on why it's important to for us to manage our own finances accordingly right not just to lean on social security if I was to retire at the age of 62

[00:38:37] I would only get 2400 dollars a month damn so that's why it's important yeah that's why it's important for you to manage your finances right now that makes you that you that you put some other stuff aside for 401k right now even if it's 1% even if it's

[00:38:57] you have to move to Peru yeah something South America somewhere yeah because you ain't gonna be a living America with that yeah oh boy you would have to live in some type of group home retirement situation compound yep live with a bunch of friends for real

[00:39:14] bunch of old friends you need a nurse on but they like one so it's something to think about so really consider that really understand how important it is for you to have other means of savings and retirement in place remember that stat people who are

[00:39:31] they age 50 or older yeah a lot of them are concerned that they don't have enough money right now maybe I'm I'm looking 50 right in the face yep me too yep you know no we gotta get on our grind man so yeah little things like hey look

[00:39:46] yep I got exactly folks which is giving you enough to go out there and be curious and and get things together for yourself until the next time I hope you like the show we love you peace