Will Social Security Run Out of Money?

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Today, we're gonna be asking the question, will Social Security run out of money? Hello, welcome to Money Talks. My name is Ken Wink with Summit Financial Consulting. If you hear the show today and like what you hear, give us a call at 586-226-2100, or you can visit our website, summitfc.net. Be sure to check out the podcast page. You can listen to old shows and subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or Amazon Music. So for most Americans, Social Security is the cornerstone or one of the largest parts anyways of their retirement income. And especially for those who don't have a ton of money set aside for retirement. But you've probably heard the system's under some pressure. According to the current projections, Social Security retirement benefits, the reserves will run out in about 2033. So it doesn't mean that Social Security is going to completely disappear. You know, as long as there's one person working in the United States, as long as there's somebody working and paying in those payroll taxes, there's still going to be some money coming in. But the cushion is going to be gone. So if nothing changes, the program could be in some trouble. And some projections say that they're going to cut benefits by up to 23 percent. So that's that's a really, really big chunk. So during today's show, we're just going to talk about all the challenges that Social Security is facing and But before we jump into that very important topic, let me introduce my co-host, Tony Shore. I have heard through the grapevine that Tony is an avid labubu collector. And for those of you who don't have kids in this age group that are dealing with labubus, it's basically a little... plush collectible toy that it's like the hottest toy on the market. They're actually putting up a little pop-up tents on the corners of major intersections here in Metro Detroit selling counterfeit labubus. So it's reached a feverish pitch over here, Tony.

No, wrong. You're going to get the buzzer today, buddy. That is not... No, I want our listeners to know that I do not, nor will I probably ever own a Labubu. Not that I don't think it's a cute trend, but I collect record albums, vinyl records. Oh, nicer. That's what I'm into. No labubus. My kids are all in their 20s now. They don't have labubus either. But a couple people I work with do have a labubu sitting on their desk. And I'm like, what's that? I didn't even know what it was. And they... They were shocked that I didn't know. So that's the first I had even heard of it. But you're right. I'm eager to hear and to get into the topic today, Ken, because, you know, we hear the sky is falling with Social Security. And I'm hoping you can help set the record straight on what this really means and that the up to 23 percent, it could be reduced. But that's could be. Uh, and I, I, I have my personal feelings on this. We'll get into it about what might happen, but I'm interested to hear what you say. Uh, but you know, you hear things out there, Ken. Um, and, and I think people are scared because I mean, listen to this when, when, when you hear it on the TV and the news was such gravitas. Here's another truth. Social security is dying. Mean that just hearing that, I get, oh, we should all be scared. Yeah, but that's not, but that's not necessarily true, and you're right, a lot of people do rely on Social Security. Uh, so, um, for the countless Americans, uh, that do rely on Social Security, or even, I don't care how much money or how little money you have, you want Social Security to be there. You've paid in for it. Uh, it paid into it. Um, but, uh, there are very few things that are more important than the future of Social Security to a lot of folks. Right.

Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. And I think maybe the best place to start is just how did we get into this situation?

Yeah.

So a stat that just absolutely blows me away is that back in 1945, there were 42 workers for every one retiree. Wow. And, and now recently the number is there are only three workers for for every person receiving Social Security. So it went from 42 to one to three to one. So everybody asks why there's a bit of a strain on the system. That's probably the biggest, but there's a couple other things that are noteworthy and that's just that people are living longer, right? I mean, when social security first started, you couldn't turn it on until age 65. But mortality at that time, so when the average person was passing away, was like 62, 63.

Yeah, for men back then, it was 62 or 63. So the majority of people never made it to the age where they could even collect, at least men, for sure. That's something. In 1935, they didn't have to pay out too much. Right. No, no. So that that makes a big difference, too. And you're right. People are living longer. I think the good news is people are living longer. The bad news is people are living longer. Right. Right. I mean, that's it's a double edged sword.

Yeah, they say that life expectancy overall, including men and women, has increased by 16 years since Social Security started. Wow. Yeah, some major advances in medicine and maybe nutrition. I know my... My great grandpa, unfortunately, passed away in his 40s, but it was, you know, lard, sausage, eggs for breakfast, everything. He was literally a lumberjack. So he had a lumberjack breakfast every single morning. But unfortunately, it caught up with him. So, you know, maybe there's some more knowledge going around about how to eat healthy and exercise and certainly more. There is. I haven't heard of drugs. I haven't heard it for myself. I should probably check that out. Well, the next sort of grim stat here, I mentioned it earlier, in 2033, payroll taxes. So for everybody working and contributing into the system, it's only going to cover about 77% of the benefits unless Congress acts. I'm not holding my breath for Congress to act and fix this thing. We've known about this shortfall for a really long time, and they have not been acting very quickly on it.

Yeah, but they have fixed it in the past. And I mean, we've actually come to this point once before, and that's why they raised the full retirement age from 65 to 67. They've made adjustments along the way in the past. But it's been a long time and they've they've known this day would come again and they haven't done anything. They've kicked the can down the road. But I have to believe they're not going to let that happen. That's my personal belief. I think that and there are many things I don't know if you're planning on talking about their options, but they have many options that could easily fix it. Raise the full retirement age from 67 to 70. Doing that alone won't completely fix it, but it would help. There's a cap, right, on how much of your earnings in your working years can be taxed that they pull Social Security tax out of, right? Absolutely. And if they took off that cap, I mean, that would fix it. Because let's say there's a CEO out there who makes $800,000 a year. That's his salary, right? Or her salary. They only have to pay Social Security tax on what's the amount? Is it I think it's $180,000 or $175,000 maybe, right? Yeah.

Yeah, yeah. So, and there's a lot of variation or a lot of calculations that go into it. Sure. And standard deductions and stock options versus just regular wages. Oh, that's true. There's a lot of moving parts there, but you're absolutely right. The bottom line is... If you're making good money at some point, you just don't have to pay taxes for Social Security anymore. And if they removed that and just made everybody pay Social Security on every dollar that they made, that would definitely be a nice shot in the arm for it.

Yeah. And of course, people who make over that amount are saying, hey, no, I don't want that. But somebody is going to have to make some sacrifices somewhere. And maybe we'll all have to sacrifice by they might increase the Social Security tax that's taken out of our paychecks. Right. From whatever it is, 12 and a half percent, it might go up to 14 or something total. That's what you pay, plus what your employer pays total. But I think what is it, six percent or six and a half percent?

6.2% is what individuals pay. And then 6.2% is also what the employer pays. And if you're lucky like me and you're self-employed, you pay both the employer and the employee portion on your own.

So about 12, almost 12 and a half percent of your pay because you're self-employed or you own your own business. Then you're, yeah, then it's you. You are the employer. Lucky you. You're so lucky, Ken. I mean, just, I think all the ways that you have it so good over there. You're paying all your own health care. You don't have a company to contribute to that. You pay all your own taxes. You don't have a company contributing to your Social Security.

That's probably a topic for another day of benefits of being self-employed because there are benefits and there are tax write-offs. I guess we'll make that next week's show. On this particular topic, I got the latest and greatest numbers. If they were to raise taxes right now, to basically fix it. And this was the only thing they wanted to change. Cause you already mentioned two really good ways to, uh, to help improve it. But, uh, 3.8% is how much they would have to raise taxes right now to fix it.

Yikes.

So if you split it between the employee and the employer looking at like 1.9% increase, uh, I remember when that was only 2% and it wasn't that long ago. Um,

It's just going to keep going up because they kick the can down the road. Nobody wants to tackle it. And I always thought one of the lame duck presidents like Biden or somebody who doesn't have another term to go could just once they know they're not going to be reelected, just fix it. uh, fix it. And there's so many things they can do, right?

I I'd rather be the president that fixed social security rather than the president that destroyed social security that led it, that led it, or that caused a 23% deduction in benefits.

That's, that's a killer. That's a, that's a career killer for a politician. So that's why I don't think they'll let that happen. But, uh, like you say, they've, they've let it go this far and it's getting worse. Yeah.

Well, and you mentioned some fixes that have happened in the past. One of the things that they eliminated in the past was some of the extra options that you could do with a spouse. So you could like file and suspend and start getting your spouse's benefit while your benefit continued to grow. That used to make those social security maximization reports pretty exciting to put together. Even more valuable, right? Yeah. Yeah. Basically find ways through planning to squeeze even more out of Social Security. But, uh, president Obama got rid of most of those to try and sort of put a bandaid on social security. So that, that was done and that has helped. Uh, but if, if the politicians wait until the very last minute, they'll have to raise taxes 4.25%. Oh, wow. So to go from the current levels, I mean, it's almost 20%. It's creeping up on it. So that's a lot to go into Social Security. So I'm hoping that they do some kind of combination of factors there.

I guarantee they'll raise the full retirement. Well, I can't guarantee it, but my personal opinion is they will raise the full retirement age. They'll do that for sure, I think. Because people are living longer. Yeah.

Yeah. I agree. I mean, with the extended life expectancy, it makes sense that maybe you could work a little bit longer, but I guess it depends on your job, right? It really depends. Yeah. My dad's 72 and he's still working here at Summit Financial almost full time, but he's not a bricklayer. You know, he's not climbing poles for AT&T or something that can really take its toll on your body. Right. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. The the average reduction, if if we're wrong, you know, because I agree with you, I think the government's going to do something. I think it would create a really, really tough financial situation for the United States if Social Security was cut by, you know, 20, 20 some percent. But the average reduction in benefits for a married couple would be eighteen thousand dollars a year.

Oh, and in retirement, that's real money. Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. I mean, to almost anyone. Yeah. Wow. That's that's not good.

No. And, you know, then you factor in inflation. Right. So inflation has been been eating away at everyone's standard of living. And since 2010, Social Security has lost about 20 percent of its spending power. So it amounts to about four grand per year that people have already lost just because of inflation in the past.

Even with the cost of living adjustments each year, it's it's still lost to inflation because it doesn't it never keeps up. Right. That's the problem.

No, that's the thing. So what we're talking about is the COLA. So that's the cost of living adjustment for Social Security. And here's here's the dirty little secret, Tony. The government wants this number to be as low as possible, of course. Yeah, because the government is one of the largest employers, right? So when inflation is high, that trickles into those wages. There's military wages that increases 401(k) contributions, but that also means bigger matches. There's just so many different areas of the economy that the inflation rate trickles into, right? So they have their own special government calculation on inflation.

Like the year my health insurance went up 20%. I remember that year they said the inflation rate was like 2.9 or 3%. Yeah.

Or in the twos.

And I'm like, that's weird. My groceries went up at least five, not two. And so groceries, gas, my health care costs all went up exponentially. But... their official cost of living adjustment was in the, this is a number of years ago. I looked in the, I know because it was the year my healthcare, our, my healthcare premiums went up 20% one year. Wow. Yeah. And I was not happy about it. And I remember then that it was around the same time I heard the COLA adjustment, the cost of living adjustment, the CPI went up. Oh, 2.8 or something. I mean, it was ridiculous. Like, I'm like, no, no, that's not right.

Yeah. There's a website that's out there and I, I haven't checked it in years, but it used to be a shadow stats. I think it was shadow stats.com. I think you're right. Yeah. And they would, they would figure out, okay, in the 1980s, how the government calculated inflation. And then in the 1990s, how the government calculated inflation in the two thousands and you go through it. If, if we had today's numbers and we're using the 1980s formula, um, regularly inflation. The last time I checked was seven, 8% per year, which seems a lot more like it. Yeah. Yeah, exactly.

Yeah. Yeah. Well, their calculation for inflation is crazy and what they do include in there. They don't include certain things. I don't know that groceries are included or clothing. There's something weird that isn't included, right. Or energy or gas or I forget. There's certain things that aren't included that everybody has to buy. Right. Which is, well, that should be included. Right.

Yeah, it's surgical the way that they manipulate and update the calculations. So that's how we can have a number like that where people's spending power has gone down so much despite the COLA. So that's where we're coming from.

I mean, at least, hey, not to look a gift horse in the mouth. COLA, the cost of living adjustment, it's good that they have something, right? Absolutely. Yeah, I mean, when we had such high inflation, the cost of living adjustment was...

pretty decent, right? That year it was eight percent. Yeah, something. Yeah, it was a good jump. Yeah, yeah. So that's, well, and I, I think, you know, to your point, I don't really think there's a chance that they're gonna let this go without just making some type of adjustment on the fly. I mean, if they keep the benefit the same, that'll probably save the economy, because we know you know, one in three people are getting Social Security versus workers anyways. And I found a stat 40 million Americans depend on social security for at least half of their income. And for 16 million Americans, it's literally their only source of income. It's the only thing getting deposited in their bank account every month.

So that's a lot of the Americans out there. And that's a lot of money that goes into the economy that wouldn't be there. If you cut that by 23 percent, you're going to you could really cripple the economy if you let Social Security go because it creates a number of other issues for the country, too.

Right. Yeah. Yeah. So if you're in this situation right now where you're trying to decide, should I turn on Social Security or not? Just remember that timing is really, really important, because if you start to draw on it early, you know, you can draw it as early as age 62 and earlier, actually, if you're permanently disabled, if you're anyone's dealing with a situation where they might be permanently disabled, be sure to give us a call at 586-226-2100. Cause we have absolutely wonderful referrals for disability attorneys. I won't name her, but every single case that she's taken, she's won. So she's at a hundred percent success rate. So, you know, if she takes your case, she doesn't want to break her streak. She's probably going to win it. Yeah. Yeah. So we'd be happy to help with that. But if you wait until age 70, that's the longest that you can wait to turn on Social Security. And that's basically a way to effectively maximize it. And you always got to keep in mind, if you are married, that if one of you passes away, the surviving spouse will get the higher of the two Social Securities. So we always want to remind people, you know, right while you're married and both alive, you're getting two social securities, but you got to have a game plan for someday. God forbid, you know, your spouse is going to pass away.

Yeah, it's typically the wife, the female that ends up with the short card, because if you both say, I'm going to file as soon as I can, I'll get more checks. But then you pass away. Women typically outlive men by at least six years is the average, I think. And that's... you're going to leave your spouse in a bad situation if you don't have a higher Social Security amount because they're left with the higher of the two. But if it's not that if it's greatly reduced. So let's talk about that. I that was my big question. A lot of our listeners want to know. So you hear these arguments all the time. You've got to file as soon as you can at 62 to get the most checks. You've got to wait until you're 70 to get the most. Well, you know, what about filing and what's the truth there and what does it mean when to file is important? Right. It's huge.

Yes. Yeah, it is absolutely huge. I think that the number one reason people want to file early is just fear. Like they they sort of take their spreadsheet or their pad of paper and they just set it aside and just say, I'm scared. So they're scared. Here's another truth. Social Security is dying. Why would they be scared? I have no idea. I mean, we have that soundbite. That's evidence enough. But, you know, yeah, people get scared. They're scared they're going to outlive their money. They're scared of inflation. They're nervous about the types of headlines, you know, why people are watching and listening to the shows because they're just nervous that it's going to run out. But I think it's safe to say unless – I just don't see a scenario where they don't find a way to fix it one way or another. And most likely they'll just punish the younger workers by giving them higher taxes. Cause that doesn't affect the retirees and retirees, Tony, they are good at voting and that's, they're the big voting block, especially now with all the baby boomers who have retired.

There are the, there are 11,200 people a day in the United States turning 65 every single day. 11,200 people in our country a day are turning 65. That's the highest that number has ever been. So that means there are more seniors entering the system, putting strains on Social Security and Medicare, and they are. the largest voting block at this time, or one of the largest, but they actually vote. They're the largest because of the percentage of seniors who vote versus the percentage of everyone under the age of 65 who doesn't, right? That's what makes them more powerful.

I mean, if you're young and you have kids, and especially if your kids are playing sports, there's just not enough time in the day. So it makes sense that the seniors who just got to work around Jeopardy

make it out in the boat. I like to watch the wheel. I'm a wheel watcher. Yeah. Well, fair, fair enough.

Yeah. At one point we were running commercials on both and it was, uh, it was equal. So there's a, there's a divide.

Well, sure. I like, I like both. I'll watch both if I can.

Yeah.

Unless they're on at the same time, but you're right. Fear and anxiety about social security drives people to file. Right. Um, uh, but what about that? Um, early claiming, uh, compounds the, the cuts and the reduction, right?

Yeah. It does, yeah. So if you file at age 62, you're basically locking in a smaller monthly benefit for yourself for the rest of your life. And when these COLA, when the cost of living adjustments come in, your annual raise, those are going to be smaller because you filed earlier as well. And then again, if you're married and if your spouse passes away, now we're locking in a lower benefit for their lifetime too. So even if one of you has some health problems, you got to approach it as a team and look at... What's our life expectancy? Every time we sit down with a family to talk about when they should turn on social security, that's the first place we go. Tony is how does life expectancy look in your family? When did people pass away? Were they heavy smokers or drinkers or on drugs or, you know, does cancer run in your family? All these sorts of things can help us come up with a game plan. Nobody know, you know, we joke around with people all the time. If you tell us what day you're going to die, I will tell you exactly when you should turn on social security. Um, Right. And nobody knows the day or time.

Nobody knows the day or time. And that's the issue here. You could really do it. Not only Social Security, you could plan out the best retirement income plan in the world if you knew the day and time, right? You have to plan. You have to, you know, hope for the best plan for the worst. Right. And so claiming at 62 permanently reduces that monthly income. You may get more checks that way. But waiting until 67, your full retirement age. I mean, we're not just talking tens of thousands of dollars. How much more can you possibly get? I mean, what's the statistic there? What are the numbers?

Yeah, great, great question. So, yeah, waiting from age 62 until age 67. If you do, if you're one of the luckies, you know, that make it into their late 80s, early 90s, it can add up to a quarter million dollars of extra money from the government.

$250,000 more. Wow. by just waiting from 62 to 67. Now that's if your life expectancy is, you know, you may, you have to make it to, there's a sweet spot for everybody. And if you have good family health and you're healthy, you could easily make it to 85. The majority of people do who make it, if you make it to age 65, you have a better chance of making it to 85. I know the stats go up. And so that's, that's real. I mean, you have to consider that, right? Absolutely.

Yeah. Yeah. I mean, when it comes to a break even analysis, that's what people usually get hung up on. So if you don't turn it on at age 62 and you delay it in a lot of depending upon what age and what your earnings were, I would just say the general rule of thumb from what we've seen from running hundreds and hundreds, if not thousands of Social Security maximization reports is. is that you got to make it into your early 80s, usually age 81 or 82. So if you do delay and you make it into your 80s, then you can start fist pumping Tony and saying, OK, I beat the government. I got bigger checks now. I missed out on some checks for some years. So you said it perfectly earlier. You might get more checks if you file at age 62. But assuming you live into your 80s, you're going to get less money by doing.

Right. Because those checks by filing at 62, that's actually filing early. You can file as early as 62, but it's a greatly reduced benefit. So those checks, if I file at 62 instead of waiting until my full retirement age, how much reduced or 70, how much reduced are they? It's like, isn't it about 30? Aren't the stats? It's like 30% less than if you wait until 67. Isn't there a close?

Yeah, so that's correct. And then again, if you're married, you have to take that into consideration, too, because some people in a relationship, one spouse makes quite a bit more than the other spouse. And especially if they were a stay at home parent or, you know, they they took some time off with the kids for a few years, whatever the case may be. If those earning records, if there's a big discrepancy, a lot of people will think like, oh, well, if I retire and turn on Social Security, I'll have my spouse turn on the Social Security and they'll get half. That's only if you both wait until full retirement age. So if you retire and then have your spouse turn it on at age 62, again, they're going to have a drastically reduced benefit. So it's so important that people do a Social Security maximization report and see what these numbers are and make an education.

For them, for their personal situation. everybody's different. I always hear this cooler talk or, you know, it's funny. My wife had a, went out with a friend of hers and she's like talking about, you know, I'm going to file when I'm 62. That's the only way you got to do that. And, uh, my wife tried to explain to her because she knows because I've talked to her about this and she knows, no, you should go to a financial advisor and have them run a personal Social Security maximization report. If they're a good fiduciary advisor, they'll run that report at no cost and you'll be able to see where you're at and what makes most sense for you and your situation. And that's what you need to do. But I know we have listeners. And before they tune out, I want to ask you this. You're not saying some listeners might say, oh, I you know, he's saying don't file at 62. You're not saying don't file at 62. Absolutely not. Because for some people, that makes the most sense, doesn't it? Everybody's going to be different, right?

I have a client that is dealing with cancer right now. You know, sure. A heart goes out to him. And because of the. potentially poor health outlook right now. Absolutely. We got to turn on social security as soon as we can to try to get money out of it. So it's every situation is different. We have people turn it on at 62, 63, 65. A lot of people will turn it on at 65 because that's a great time to retire. If the numbers line up, because that's when you qualify for Medicare, then you don't have to worry about health insurance costs spiking because if you retire before the age of 65, you Most people are on a healthcare.gov plan unless your COBRA is affordable. A lot of times COBRA is unfortunately very expensive. COBRA is health insurance after you leave your employer.

That's very expensive.

Yeah. Most of the time it's unbearable. So you go on healthcare.gov, well, your health insurance premiums are based upon what your income is with healthcare.gov. So the lower we can make your income on paper, the less you have to pay for healthcare, which means if you're drawing on Social Security, that's probably going to increase your income, which will also increase your healthcare costs. So it's just so intertwined, Tony. I don't know how anybody does it without working with a...

You should never do it on their own, your own. And I mean, I look at my dad's side of the family has a lot of longevity. My grandfather lived to 101. Wow. My aunt lived to 103. My uncle on his side lived to 101. Um, and my grandfather lived to 101. I mean, imagine if, you know, uh, For him, he could have easily waited until 70 to file and made a lot of money off Social Security. I mean, you live until 101 and you waited until 70, he would have made more than he paid in, probably. I mean, he did pretty good, right? But again, no one knows, right? The people that created Social Security were just rolling around in their graves hearing him. He almost drew on it for 40 years. And he was active through age 100. He was driving at age 100. He was active up until three months before he passed, too. And they asked him what his secret was, and he said, don't stop. You just got to keep going. If you have a purpose every day, get up every day with a purpose. Were you skeptical at all?

Like, he's driving, but can he drive? Yeah.

Toward the very end, they finally said no. But yeah, he was surprisingly good. My dad was worse. I mean, my dad doesn't drive anymore, and he's 81. But yeah, Grandpa Bob was good. But anyway, not to get off the topic, we're going long here, but this is an important topic. So will Social Security run completely out of money? I don't think so. I don't think you think that. But but could it be decreased significantly? Significantly?

Yes, it could. Right. There's a chance. And unfortunately, like all the numbers that you and I are discussing, we're still sort of getting the hang of how this is going to work out, because there was some recent legislation that was passed this year. Most people have probably heard of the the one big, beautiful bill act. Never heard of it. Yeah, I think we did three shows on it. Yeah. Oh, we did? The biggest thing with that is that before this bill, 68% of people did not have to pay any taxes on their Social Security. So this is once you're retired, once you're actually receiving the benefits, 68% of people did not have to pay taxes on their Social Security. Now, after the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, they estimate that 88% of people will not have to pay taxes. Right.

So that's because of the six because of the additional six thousand dollar tax credit or tax deduction standard deduction. Right. Yeah.

Yeah. You got to be over age 65 and make less than one hundred and fifty thousand a year and you get this extra thousand dollar tax. deduction per person. It's not a credit. You're not going to get $6,000 on your tax return just because you turned 65. It's a deduction, so it'll help offset income. But this type of thing could potentially help reduce the government's lifespan when it comes to Social Security, and, and just, you know, everybody knows about our national debt. It's, it's very, very large, so just puts a little bit more pressure on the system. We're hopeful that, um, the current administration is right and that this will help stimulate the economy, and we'll grow our way out of it. Time will tell, but it is a potential strain coming out. Yeah.

So what you're saying is, Ken, I'm a little concerned because as of the recording of this show, we're recording this on a Wednesday. You're saying the government that shut down last night, the government that closed last night had to shut down. We're relying on them to make the right decision to keep this thing. Precisely. We're in good hands, Tony. Nothing to worry about. Nothing to see here. Move on. Yeah. Yeah. No, I appreciate that. But, you know, I don't think people should panic or lose sleep. I think they're going to do something to fix it. And don't just make sure before you file for Social Security or if you've just recently filed within the last year, go in and go into Summit Financial Consulting and say, hey, run that Social Security maximization report for me. Right. And I mean, I mean, here's the deal.

God bless Social Security.

God bless. I mean, right. Absolutely. That's the sentiment because we all we all rely on it somewhat. So it's the foundation of good, solid retirement income planning, isn't it?

Absolutely. And one last thing I want to mention before we wrap up, if you're in a situation where you're on Social Security or you're thinking about retiring and you're not sure if you can afford to do it, just remember there are some safety levers that you can pull. You can get a part time job. You could do some gig work. You could do freelancing in your former career, just in a more limited capacity, you know, less time, less pressure, or you can turn hobbies into income. I have an uncle that loved painting and now he goes to art shows and sells his paintings and he does pretty well with that. So there's all sorts of things that you can do to increase your income. And then also there's ways that you can reduce your lifestyle just a little bit, maybe downsize your home or eliminate a second vehicle or eliminate a vacation property or, relocate to a lower area when it comes to either expenses or taxes. So, you know, there's things you can do to not necessarily eliminate your quality of life, but you can maybe cut expenses a little bit or increase income and make things a little bit more comfy for you.

Yeah, there you go. Well, and I think the bottom line is give Ken and the team there a call at Summit Financial Consulting. So before we go, let our listeners know how they can get ahold of you.

Yes, so we would love to put a retirement income plan together for you. Not only will we look at Social Security, we'll also look at what your expenses are, what your income is, how much you want to spend on vacations each year once you're retired, how much you want to gift to family, whether it's Christmas, birthdays, helping the grandkids out with college. That's getting tremendously expensive. We can help you plan for your own kids' college expenses, how much you need to set aside and how much you can cover. you name it, IRA to Roth IRA conversions, we know that our national government has way too much debt and it may be beneficial to pay some of the taxes now when tax brackets are low versus in the future when they might have to raise because of that national debt. So we can mathematically figure out to the dollar, how much you should convert from IRA to Roth IRAs to help potentially sustain your retirement and actually do multi-generational tax planning to help not only you, but the next generation. So we would love to do that for you for no cost. Give us a call at 586-226-2100 or visit our website, summitfc.net.

All right. Thanks, Ken. Listeners, that does it for today's episode of Money Talks with Summit Financial Consulting and our host, Ken Wink. Thank you for joining us for Money Talks. Don't head into retirement without a strategy that addresses both income and taxes. For more information, please contact Ken Wink at Summit Financial, working with people you trust. Call 586-226-2100 or visit summitfc.net. Join us again soon for another episode of Money Talks.