Speaker 1: I think at this point though, it's pretty hard to
deny the power that bitcoin currently has up until what
the last week and a half, with all the discoveries
we've seen posted about Google achieving in terms of quantum computing,
I think there's a little bit of concern that those
type of computers could crack the code for a bitcoin.
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Speaker 3: And welcome you are listening to and watching the Financial
Survival Network. I'm your host, Carrie Luttz. Well Ted Thatcher's
back with us, well known noted financial expert. Ted. You
just released your book, Finally Launch Your Retirement, a financial
planning guide to go from saverer to spender. Well, I
was never a saver, so the transition was easy for me,
and I'm not getting retired.
Speaker 1: But so who's this book for. It's a great question.
Carry is always as great to be with you. You know,
I think in today's world, there's a ton of information
available online about what to invest in, how to start,
you know, building up some assets. But the question I
get so often is, hey, like I maybe I've built
up this nest egg. How do I like take that
and replace my paycheck? You know kind of say, hey,
how do I build that golden goose that lays the
golden eggs? And so this book is for that person
who's trying to say, hey, I have some money, now
how do I replace my paycheck? How do I make
sure that I don't have to.
Speaker 3: Go back to work anymore? Okay, so you asked, you
asked the question, now answer it, yes, So how do
we do it? Right? Of course?
Speaker 1: So the book basically outlines our planning process and basically
everything you need to do to launch your retirement. So
uh there, we basically follow what we call the five
pillar process, and that is first making sure you have
an income plan for your money. You know, basically, like
I said, how much money we're going to need to
replace that paycheck? And you know there's a lot that
goes into that. Right, you got to make sure you
have your Social Security right. You know, a lot of
clients we work with, we'll have like rental property or
a pension, you know, certainly you know stocks, maybe do
it unstocks, things like that. The second pillar is having
an investment strategy, right, just there's a lot that goes
into that, you know, analytically, of course, but what it
boils down to, and I think that sometimes it gets
blost in the weeds, is simply having enough money set
aside for growth and having enough money set aside for income.
Then we get into our third pillar, and that's actually
having a tax strategy for your money. I think a
lot of financial advisors I talked to even honestly, it's
like they would treat this word tax like a four
letter word they can't say. And I really reject that premise.
You know, I think that at least for the vast
majority of retirees, the analytics and the data tell us
that the biggest bill a retiree is going to pay
is their tax bill. And then of course, just to
round it off, I mean, I would tell you very
much that those are primary sort of foundational pillars. Then
we get into what we call advanced planning, you know,
healthcare planning for Medicare and legacy planning. And state planning
those types of things. But not to get too long winded,
that's what the book is about, walking you through all
those different steps to make sure that you're set up
for success in creating that sort of permanent paycheck so
you don't run out of money, which is the other
question we get a lot, all right, so.
Speaker 3: What let me ask you, what do you think about
how social Security should play into this?
Speaker 1: Yeah, well, I think the one question Carrie I get
a lot is especially around Social Security, is hey, is
it going to be there?
Speaker 3: Right?
Speaker 1: It's underfunded, it, you know, underwater, and so I think
it's created a lot of questions for folks in retirement
or getting close to retirement about whether it's going to
be able to be counted on, and you know, how
does it play into it? You know, for most people,
of course, it's a part of you know, their monthly expenses.
The Social Security Office itself has come out and said
you would expect social Security on average, meaning if you
have an average American family's expenses and wages, et cetera,
that it would maybe count for about a forty percent
or so of your monthly needs. But to kind of
come back to that answer in that question.
Speaker 3: The way I think.
Speaker 1: About social security tends to be a very i'll say
practical one. And so when I look at Congress red
or blue, I have not seen a real political will
from our congress people to spend less money. And of course,
if faced with the option of i'll say, reducing retirees
social security benefits or simply writing a bigger check, it's
my opinion at this point most congress people would simply
choose to write a bigger check because I just think
the incentives are, unfortunately such that if they did, you know,
vote to be i'll say, for austerity, they would likely
be voted out and maybe replaced by somebody who would
be willing to simply, you know, sign that omnibus bill.
Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, Well, but Trump is talking a big game here, right, Sure.
Speaker 1: The Department of Government Efficiencies are you referring to?
Speaker 3: Of course, the dose I hope it's a doge and
not a dog, right, I.
Speaker 1: Think so, you know, I think, uh, you know, I
think most people now will look at the government and say, hey,
we're probably spending too much money. And so I think
that the Department of Government Efficient efficiency and the natural
you know, initiative in the name, is the right thing
to prioritize. I think that the the natural I mean
criticism is probably too strong of a word. But there
is a practical, you know side of how deep they
even can cut. And so, you know, what is sort
of required spending and what is discretionary spending comes to
mind really quick, right, and most people would argue, of
course medicare spending and social security spending, even military spending,
those are you know, baked in, and so I think
under I would say, really positive auspices like the DOGE
they could cut a third of the budget and still
they you know, two thirds of our spending is still
considered you know, a non discretionary, and so I do
I'm interested to see how deep they're actually able to go.
I think if I were going to place my bets
on what might be actually some of the most important
work that they do, I think it might be around regulations.
Because I was reading an article in the Wall Street
Journal just about how much the regulatory environment has grown
over the last you know, even just ten years, and
their argument that they were making. The author of the article,
of course, said that if they could basically reduce you know,
the regulatory environment in a substantial way that we could
actually get our GDP up to six percent a year,
which is like rocket fuel when it comes to you know,
economic growth, of course, and that could really have an
effect on, you know, ultimately the financial picture of the US.
Speaker 3: The question is will they do it? And Trump say
he's hell bent on it now. And look the military,
you know, we all know we need a strong defense
blah blah blah. But a veritable fortune gets wasted every year,
like forget it, right, I mean we know this, right,
as much as half of it gets wasted. And you know,
corporate now there, Look we've got three hundred and fifty
when i'd look two three years ago billion per year
of corporate welfare. Right, that's just short government money that's
just blown on corporations that don't need it. Right, So
even if there's a lot of blooding and then three
hundred and fifty billion a year of improper payments, and
then like you said, he's not going to touch the
money to the recipients, but the people who were there
who don't show up the work for years and all
the fat there. You know, it's not hard to envision.
And then the corruption, like I said in the military
the spend or right uh you know, the big contractors,
they just put in change orders and they automatically are accepted,
and then the general retires and he goes to work
for fill in the blank, mega defense contractor. But it's
going to be pain here, Like everybody wants somebody else
to take less, but not themselves, right I think.
Speaker 1: So, I mean, I do think that I think that
the point you make, especially around the defense is well made,
and I think it's the one that Trump would agree with,
you know, and it doesn't take very far to you know,
you don't have to look very far to see the corruption.
I mean, the amount of money that's been spent in
the Middle East and you know what has been you know,
branded as forever wars. Uh is deserves I think all
the criticism in the world. And it is absolutely crazy
to think that, you know, one day you can be
signing the the approval on a contract for like you said,
insert large defense contractor, and then the next day you're
sitting on the board and then two years later you're
back in Washington maybe you know, if you were lucky.
And so I think that that is hopefully the kind
the kind of thing that we are going to see
a lot of light shed on because I don't I
don't know like an American on either side of the
aisle that just thinks that that's okay. You know, waste
isn't okay. And we've just especially when the people that
pay that price are our kids and our grandkids. You know,
I certainly when I look at my family, I want
my kids to have a better life than I have.
My folks hope that for me, and I think that
that trend certainly, of course continues.
Speaker 3: Of course, a my kids are already having a past
life than me, so I'm not competing. I want him
to have a real good life so when I stopped working,
they'll be there to pick up the slack for me.
But but seriously, you know, it's it's it's very intractable.
Nobody has ever had the political will to do it.
Reagan tried. He managed to cut taxes, but he couldn't
cut spending. And you know, but it is interesting thing.
This isn't an ad for Trump or anything else. My
own preference was the lesser of two evils or the
evil of two lessers. That's what we're at least faced with.
But this guy like somebody was saying that you think
he's stupid. He now he now is going back to
the White House, has the Senate, the House, the Supreme Court,
the world's just man ever working for him, the most
notable Kennedy working for him. So if we can't get
it done now, Ted, then it's hopeless, isn't it. Yeah?
Speaker 1: You know, I think that we have a really interesting
window of opportunity as a country is specifically around what
we've been talking about here when it comes to efficiency
and when it comes to and I would say, hopefully
at a minimum, maybe stopping the level of spending, even
if we're not able to, like, even if we weren't
able to drastically reduce the size of government, which you
know we could have again we kind of discussed already,
even if they could just stop.
Speaker 3: The the the.
Speaker 1: Balloon that's been occurring, I think it would be a success.
And I think it was Charlie Munger who said, I
want to say it was actually this about Elon Musk,
which he says never what did he say said, never
underestimate a man who overestimates himself. And I always struggle
with that one.
Speaker 3: Yeah, well, uh, well, you know what's amazing here, Ted
is we see like all these governments which are opposed
to him, they're all collapsing all over the place. First
we see Germany collapse, then France. Uh, probably Canada is collapsing. Now.
I don't see how the current occupant there of Ottawa
can stay in and uh, you know, his government's collapsed
around him. I'll have to carry him out in a stretcher.
I have a few links, but I think you're going
to see it in China. There's going to be collapse.
You know. It's uh, it's really interesting. So getting back
to transitioning for retirement, what do you say to the
person who says, well, I'm never really gonna fully retire.
Speaker 1: I think you I'd probably say that you're in good company.
Speaker 3: You know.
Speaker 1: I have a real mixed group of people that you know,
I've chatted with over the years, and I actually work
with the gentleman. I remember, I want to say, maybe
two years ago or something, he had retired and he
I think he probably stopped working for maybe about eighteen months,
and he came back and he basically said, Ted, I'm bored.
I'm going to you know, die with my boots on.
And I think that really there is some transition people
go to for sort of from sort of I'll just
say working because they have to pay the bills and
working to do something that they find a lot of
purpose in and that they enjoy doing. And regardless of
what path you take, I think it's really important to
think about what you're going to retire too, because retirement
isn't the end of the finish line of the marathon,
right like you don't just claps the end of it.
You know, there's chapters in life, and you're making a
big transition for most folks in their financial life, and
then they're going to find some purpose in something new
and ultimately, again, regardless of whether you're not working entirely
or working part time or taking on a new endeavor,
I think just really determining hey, what am I going
to retire too is just as important as you know,
i'll say, the allocations and the decimal points and the
percentages and all that stuff.
Speaker 3: Mm. Yeah, I couldn't agree with you more. So, what
do you think looking ahead? And obviously we don't know,
but do you think everybody should be putting some money
into cryptos?
Speaker 1: I think that you know, when it comes to when
it comes to cryptocurrency, I think I would say a
couple of things. You know, I think for a while,
over the last even several years, I think cryptocurrency has
held a place in my mind where it was more
of a speculation than a like real investment, And I'll
speak more specifically of bitcoin in that scenario. I think
at this point, though, it's pretty hard to deny the
power that bitcoin currently has. Up until what the last
week and a half, with all the discoveries we've seen
posted about Google achieving in terms of quantum computing, I
think there's a little bit of concern that those type
of computers could crack the code for a bitcoin. But
should people have money invested in it, well, you know,
I think, I guess I would say this, it's a
cautionary side. Fear of missing out is not an investment strategy.
And so while I don't categorize bitcoin just as a
speculation anymore, I do think it is investment, as volatile
as that may be, I just wouldn't guide folks towards
investing a bunch of money because they're afraid of missing out.
And certainly the other principle that comes to my mind
is don't risk the empire for a pot of gold,
and so you know, don't take unnecessary risk. As the
whole point there, I think when I look at bitcoin
as to where it fits, I think that it trades
a lot like equity right now, a lot like technology stocks.
You see the correlation with it, and so just like
you know, you might see folks guide toward a diversified
mix of stocks, big technology stocks, you might include bitcoin
as a piece of that. But I think, really where
it fits as it trades a lot like an aggressive equity,
and so sure, you know, I probably wouldn't put more
than two to five percent of my money in that asset.
But I think it's beyond the point now where you
can can avoid the discussion. And I mean, the truth is,
I think it's pretty clear that we're at almost ground
zero with governmental and institutional adoption, and there's potential for
a whole lot of more growth from here. To say
nothing of the FED.
Speaker 3: Yeah, to say nothing of the Fed, yeah, So all right,
But so you put a small bit because it looks
like Trump is held bent on setting up a national
bitcoin reserve, and if he does that, who knows how
how high the price can go?
Speaker 1: Sure, you know, I think, like I said, yeah, a
ground zero for governmental adoption and institutional adoption. Maybe not
quite ground zero, but close to it. I think that
that him doing that, I think is really interesting for
several reasons. One, I do think that there's been because
of the discussion in the last several years about how
much spending we've had, is that there needs to be
some alternative to quote unquote the dollar as a reserve currency. Well,
I think really interestingly, if you look across the crypto market,
almost all crypto is priced is in US dollars, like
as compared to US dollars. And to your point, given
the broader you know, uh international scope you mentioned China,
and you know some some decline h and you know
some of these bricks countries, et cetera. If the United
States has a substantial amount of bitcoin and it does
continue to go up, I think it protects two things.
I think it actually protects interestingly, the dollar as a
reserve currency because everything is priced typically in the crypto
world to US dollars. And of course you have the
balance sheet potential, right if bitcoin goes up a lot,
it potentially of course puts the US had a better situation.
Speaker 3: All right, well this is interesting. Hey, how do we
get your book? TeV? That a great question.
Speaker 1: So if you just go to our website bright Lakewealth
dot com.
Speaker 3: There's a tab we have there.
Speaker 1: It says, you know, just off for our book, Launch
your Retirement, of course, is the title. You can find
it on Amazon. Just google Launch your Retirement. You can
go to launch my Retirement dot com. It's they're available.
But if you just search for the name of the book,
you'll be able to find it real easily.
Speaker 3: All right, Well, we got a link in the show
notes this interview on Financial Survival Network your book, what's
your what's your regular company website?
Speaker 1: Brightlakewealth dot com.
Speaker 3: All right, of course that's in there. And I've got
any questions for Ted myself, shoot me an email k
l at Kerrie LUTs dot com. When you visit Financially
Survival Network dot com you find the links right there
in the show notes. While you're there, we just ask
you to please sign up for your free newsletter like
sixty thousand other FSN community members have and tet we
will talk to you soon. Thank you, Kerry, good to
be with you.
Speaker 2: Thanks for listening to Carrie Letz's Financial Survival Network your
solution to today's trying times. For the latest, go to
Financial Survivalnetwork dot com. Financial Survival Network now more than
ever