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Jim Brogan 00:00:02 You're tuned into more Living with Jim Brogan, broadcast live from the Brogan Financial studios at Newstalk 9087, where old fashioned values, expert knowledge and genuine understanding come together to give you the retirement straight talk you deserve. Jim's a former National Advisor of the year recipient and a financial educator, and he's here today to talk about how you can live out the best years of your life. Jim and the Brogan financial team have been helping retirees and retirees across the southeast for over 20 years in their pursuit of financial independence. You can reach them during the week at 865862 6800. So sit back, relax and get ready to learn because More living with Jim Brogan starts now.

Speaker 2 00:00:46 Hello East Tennessee, welcome to More Living with Jim Brogan, where it's all about living the best years of your life your way. You're listening to Newstalk 987 Waukee. And today I want to talk a little bit about uncertainty And you know, how can we plan for uncertainty? Uncertainty is a regular way of life. Especially when it comes to the economy in our and particularly the markets.

Speaker 2 00:01:12 How do we plan for this to create a better financial future? You know, it's really become a new normal in today's economic landscape. We've had certainly market volatility. There are continued inflationary concerns. There are shifting job markets. And it has many people questioning their financial security. Recent economic indicators have sparked discussions about a potential recession, with market fluctuations and expert predictions making headlines. What do we make of that and where do we need to be cautious with how we interpret that? You know, whether a recession materializes or not. Building financial resilience is essential for navigating uncertain times. So by implementing strategic financial habits and making informed decisions. You can protect yourself from economic downturns while positioning yourself for growth when opportunity arises. So let's explore some practical strategies to reset your financial foundation, strengthen your economic resilience, and create a more secure future regardless of what the economy throws your way. So you know, today we're going to talk about recession ready strategies. How how do you prepare for financial uncertainty. We're going to talk about smart borrowing.

Speaker 2 00:02:32 How do we manage debt before retirement and during retirement. And we'll talk about some tax planning tips. And how does that relate to things like Medicare premium and Social Security taxation. How's all that stuff connected in retirement? So let's dive in. Preparing for financial uncertainty and economic downturns. You know, it's interesting because a lot of the data out there, when we see survey data, how do you feel about the economy? You know, a lot of people seem to be very worried. we would call that soft data. You know, getting people's perceptions and opinions. We know investor sentiment is kind of low right now. We also know economic. When we look at economic indicators over time, things like, you know, consumer sentiment, really actually working an inverse relationship to what markets do. So usually when in other words, usually when consumer sentiment is low, usually it's followed by periods of economic prosperity and stock market growth. Now that doesn't mean that's what's going to happen this time. But we are seeing hard data support that consumer spending is strong.

Speaker 2 00:03:55 Companies are making money. Now, it is true that the wealthiest are driving a lot of that economic growth. So there there are things to be thinking about, but how likely is it and what are the realities of recession? So first let's look at the data. Some of this soft data, as I mentioned it in our in a recent survey from a firm, a firm called a firm, it shows that 86% of respondents feel economic uncertainty, and 58%, however, do not think that the US will avoid recession. So in other words, the bulk of Americans think we are going to see a recession and they're driving those beliefs are driving. Half of those who took part in that poll to save cash for emergencies. And most people think that the uncertainty will last for the next ten months. And they're taking steps. Things like avoiding credit card interest. Focusing on elements of their finances that they control rather than external factors. So it's almost like Americans of all ages are actually adopting the kind of strict controls of their finances that retirees on a fixed income do all the time.

Speaker 2 00:05:19 With a strong focus on avoiding surprise fees on purchases, controlling costs, wanting certainty on the timing and the amount of their bills. And so there's a lot of wisdom to be learned, I think, in considering. You know, how you prepare for retirement, even if you're 15, 20 years from retirement, you know, if you have a fixed income, how can you batten down the hatches, so to speak, and prepare for economic uncertainty? So let's go through a few essentials. One is the, of course, the emergency fund. Now in our working years, we call it an emergency fund. I like to call it rainy day money. You know, especially in retirement, because the purpose is a little bit different. You know, when you're in your working life, you're planning for emergencies. Like if you were to get laid off, you know, you're looking at, you know what? If earned income goes away for some period of time. When you're retired, you're earned. You you have no earned income.

Speaker 2 00:06:23 And retirement is all about creating income certainty. Certainly Social Security is part of that. Investment income is part of that. How we structure investments to support income. The point is we're not worried about, you know, well, what if I get laid off and I have to look for new employment? We're planning for being permanently unemployed when we're retired and replacing our earned income with unearned income, which is what all these other income sources are in retirement. So when we're in our working years, you know, a good rule of thumb, you'll hear having at least having 3 to 6 months of living expenses in emergency cash. And I think those are pretty good numbers. I certainly would towards six months, especially if you're a dual income family. and if you're a single income household, frankly, you should really have more, because certainly a dual income has more margin. Usually, if one of you gets laid off, you should include some non-discretionary expenses in your calculations for your living expenses. I mean, you're going to, you know, you are going to tighten your budget, but you're, you know, you still have to you're still probably going to eat out some.

Speaker 2 00:07:45 You're probably still going to, you know, drive and do different things. You may to take more, you know, more affordable Vacations and things like that. but you definitely are going to cut back. now, when you're, when you're retired. You know, I don't like thinking of it as how many months of expenses because you're not worried about losing or losing earned income. I like to think of it as a percentage of your total assets, and you're in specifically your investment assets. And a good rule of thumb is 5 to 10%. You know, 5% would be ideal. you know, if it's 5% of your life savings, you know, that's not a huge amount of money to be sitting in liquid investment alternatives, cash equivalents, that you can get to at any time. And cash equivalents. Now, you can get around 4% interest on high yield savings, government money markets, things like that. But a good rule of thumb 5%. If you have to go up to ten because you have a lower investment base.

Speaker 2 00:08:57 I mean, I think every retiree ought to have probably 20,000 in emergency cash reserves. So I think of it in those kinds of terms. Likewise, if you've got a high net worth, it's okay to have 3 or 4% in cash reserves. Just make sure you're you're you are earning around 4%. It's not just all sitting there at a bank making absolutely nothing. Talk to your bank or your credit union. What do they offer in terms of high yield savings? Now this is a a little bit of a sticking point for me with banks because if they have high yield savings you can make around 4%. You know, why aren't they telling you about that? Why do you have to ask about it in order to find out about it? But bottom line is there is some simplicity with having your high yield savings, your emergency fund at wherever your banking relationship is. Now, the reality is there are some great resources. You know, online there are more and more proliferation of FDIC insured banks that are that don't have brick and mortar stores, their online banks there, as I say, they're FDIC insured, and you can easily move money back and forth between the online bank and your local bank or credit union.

Speaker 2 00:10:23 So all of those things are are easy to do. One good resource for that is bank rate. Again, Bankrate.com. It'll tell you kind of what's going on around the country with interest rates, CD rates, treasuries, borrowing rates on mortgages and things like that. So that's a good resource. But the bottom line is you just shouldn't have a lot of money sitting at a bank, not making any interest. But you should have emergency reserves. Now, what you want to avoid is that, you know, if there's a hardship or an unexpected expense, something that comes up and you need 8 or $10,000, that you don't have to cash in an investment at an inopportune time. So think of your emergency reserve as insurance. you know, you're protecting by having, let's say, 5% of your life savings in emergency cash reserves in retirement, or if you have, if you're still working six months of expenses, that money is protecting the rest of your money and allowing you to be more efficient because it's more unlikely you'll have something come up where you have to cash something in unexpectedly or unnecessarily.

Speaker 2 00:11:47 And when one of the fundamental rules of wealth management is you don't want to have to cash in an investment when markets are when it's substantially down and markets are unpredictable in the short term, then that's the that's the catch. With investing in the market for growth, it does protect you against inflation typically in the long term better than any other choice, especially stocks and the stock market in particular. But it exposes you to short term uncertainty. So you can create more short term certainty by having your cash reserves. so that money you you know, if you look at it as insurance, is there a cost? There's an opportunity cost. I mean, 4% interest is a good interest rate for high yield savings, but it's not, you know, the type of long term growth that will beat inflation over time after tax. so there is an opportunity cost. But again it's protecting the other 95% of your money. So that's very, very important. to understand how emergency funds work. A lot of people I see either have way, way too little or they don't have nearly enough, or they have way too much.

Speaker 2 00:13:04 Okay. you know, are you going to need 2 or $300,000 in cash reserves to be able to get your money hands on it at any time? I don't know why you would. There certainly can be extenuating circumstances if you own a business or you run rental properties and have rental income and things like that, but you know, it's not likely you're going to need 2 or $300,000 at one time. And market investments are liquid. But again, you don't want to have to sell them at the worst time. I'll tell you what. We're going to get to our first break. We're talking about planning for uncertainty. Many Americans, over half of Americans, feel like we're headed toward recession. I'm not so sure that we are. But the bottom line is markets are uncertain. The the the you know, where the economy is going, especially in the short term, is uncertain. How can you prepare for uncertainty? So when we come back, I want to talk about smart spending and debt management. And we'll particularly talk about debt management in your retirement as you approach retirement and in your retirement years.

Speaker 2 00:14:10 So stay with us. This is your living with Jim Brogan here on Newstalk 987 Sky.

Jim Brogan 00:14:17 Welcome back to Newstalk 98 Seven's Brogan Financial Studios, where Jim Brogan is coming to you live with important news and advice to help you achieve your dream retirement. Get ready to learn and live. Here's your host, Jim Brogan.

Speaker 2 00:14:32 Welcome back to More Living Here on Newstalk 987 Wlky. We're talking about economic uncertainty. How do you prepare for it? It is a reality of the world and market volatility is a reality of investing. Market investments also give us the best opportunity to fight inflation over time. So how do you plan for uncertainty? We've talked about the importance of your emergency fund and what is an appropriate emergency fund. We're certainly going to get into debt management. And how do you manage debt in retirement. But let's talk about a few more practical tips about your budgeting, and about some steps you can take with your investment portfolio to make sure you're more prepared for economic uncertainty. another is to really, I would say right size your budget.

Speaker 2 00:15:26 You know, interestingly enough, because more and more Americans are worried about some economic uncertainty over the coming next 9 or 10 months. Many people are doing the kinds of things that you see retirees do that are living on a fixed income. Tighten down the hatches. you know, I can't tell you how often I have people come into my office that are wanting to talk about transitioning into retirement and, you know, are they ready to retire? When will they be ready to retire? You know, we start talking about their income needs in retirement. How much income will you need? And many people don't really have a well defined budget in terms of how much are you spending. Just overall, I'm not talking about every single line item in a budget, but how much overall are you spending on a monthly basis? So I think, you know, practically, in order to tighten things up, to prepare for economic uncertainty, we have to know what we're spending. and I think that, that, that you should start tracking that if you're not already now, getting a it's not hard to get a quick idea of what you're spending, because if you simply look at what is with with your income, your earned income at work.

Speaker 2 00:16:47 If you're still working, you know how much income is actually hitting the bank. People make a mistake of thinking about their gross income. but you know, that doesn't, you know, in terms of what hits your bank. I mean, you've got income taxes that are taken out of your paycheck. you've got payroll tax. You know, you pay the 7.65% payroll tax that goes to Social Security. Figure Medicare, all those things. Unemployment, state unemployment. That's a big expense up to about. I don't have the exact number, but it's around $160,000 of income. And then it then it does go down to about 1.45%, but two but 7.65% is a lot. And that's a tax that goes away in retirement because it's only on earned income. So you know and then you got your payroll deductions, not just for insurance. And yes, you are going to have insurance and Medicare costs and retirement, but that includes your 401 contributions and things like that. Once you're retired, you're not going to be saving in a 401.

Speaker 2 00:17:56 So first, to be able to track your spending, look at how much is hitting your bank account. how often is it hitting that bank account? Is it every, you know, is it twice a month? Is it 26 per year? And you've got to be able to convert that to a monthly cash flow. And then how much of it's being spent. You know, you have a pretty good idea on your bank balances. Most people do have, you know, are those balances growing or shrinking or staying about the same month to month? So if you know how much money is actually hitting your bank account, and you know whether it's increasing the size of your account over time or decreasing it or maintaining it, you know, you have a pretty good idea about what you're spending. But then, as mentioned, you know, people that are retired on a fixed income typically have a pretty good idea also of where that money is going. And they've kind of started to fine tune things. What are they spending on various items that can be cut back on? And so one practical step is not only to understand how much you're spending, but where is that money going and where can it be conserved.

Speaker 2 00:19:03 So those kind of things are absolutely critical when it comes to recession readiness and preparing for economic uncertainty. And then I think you should be looking at things like the diversification of your investment mix. And so the last thing I want to talk about here, in terms of the emergency fund and, you know, I mentioned budgeting in a minute we'll get into debt management. But overall wealth management, one of the most critical components to understand is the time horizon of money. You know, if we go over long periods of time. If I were to take a ask a question today on the radio, what is a bigger risk to you, to your investment? Stocks or bonds? Most of you would probably say stocks are more risky and it depends on the time horizon we're looking at. You know, if we're looking at it over a period of 20 years, bonds are much more risky because bonds traditionally do not keep up with inflation over the long haul. So if you have $100,000 in bonds in 20 years, it won't really grow your wealth.

Speaker 2 00:20:24 In terms of what can you buy 20 years from now? Yeah, that money should grow if you have it invested in bonds, but it's only going to keep up with inflation. It's not going to beat it at a minimum. So you don't have more than $100,000 in today's dollars. So Bonds are riskier in the long term, but in the short term, stocks are far, far more risky. You know, if I have a CD or a Treasury that matures in six months, I know I'm going to have that money in six months if I need it. If if I have money in the stock market and I'm going to buy a car in six months and it's in the and it's in the S\&P 500 in an index fund. Well I mean I don't know where the S\&P 500 will be six months from now. I might as well go to Las Vegas. And if I don't want to have to cash it in when it's down, you know, it's okay to sell something when it's down and reinvest.

Speaker 2 00:21:18 You just never want to sell it when it's down and spend it. So in other words, money I'm going to need in the shorter term, emergency cash reserves a large purchase in the next three years. Those kinds of things need to be in things that are either protected or or very, very stable. But in the long term, those are those investments are riskier because they don't beat inflation. You're not growing wealth, you're not growing purchasing power. And and so but when we invest in the stock market, which has been the number one way to impede inflation in the long haul, we need time horizon on our side because we don't know where markets will be in a year or two. So you have to critically understand time horizon. And when you look at your current investments, how diversified are you? You know, your longer term investments that you're not going to touch for 10 or 15 years. Those moneys can be in a more stock heavy portfolio. As you start looking at monies you're going to be needing in the more interim or short term, you've got to have less stock exposure because you can less afford the inevitable short term risk of stock market investing.

Speaker 2 00:22:31 And you say, well, Jim, I'm getting ready to retire. I'm retired. I don't have any money in a 10 to 15 year horizon. Well, you need to create a financial plan that does that for you. You need to create a financial plan where you've got money that you're confident can be invested for 8 to 10 years from now. You're not going to need to touch it for short term income so you can get more long term growth. And you do that by think of them as buckets of money. That's money you're going to put in. Think of it as putting in a bucket that you're not going to touch it over the next seven or 8 or 10 years, and you're not worried about what it's going to be worth next year. Then you create another bucket for more short term income. And that's a critical way to being able to manage time horizon in retirement and income streams and create income certainty. When we have uncertain economic times, all those things are critically important. But back to my initial thought of time horizon is, again, the longer term your investment money is, the more you should have in more of a diversified stock market portfolio.

Speaker 2 00:23:41 the the sooner you'll need your money, the more you've got to have more diversification to to hedge the short term risk of stocks. And it's just very simple. Now we can talk about all the different ways to do that. And in today's show I'm not going to have time to get into all that. How do you build more diversification in your investment base so you don't have as much short term risk? you know, we talk about that off and on on this radio show and in my classes and all the education that I do. You can go to my website and get more information. If you go to Brogan Financial Comm and click on resources, you can get more information. But the bottom line is you've got to understand how to better diversify your portfolio. I do want to mention that's, of course, what we do at Brogan Financial. If you'd like to come in and talk to us, you know, we'd love to do. and by the way, the process for that, because I don't talk about that a lot on the show.

Speaker 2 00:24:36 But, you know, we'll start with a 15 minute phone call and just find out what are you trying to do? What are your concerns? What are your questions? And then we'll just kind of go from there. And if you want to come into the office, then we'll come in and you'll have you come in the office. We'll do a complimentary review. We'll take a look at your risk profile. We'll identify your diversification. These different buckets, the emergency fund, you know, short term income over the next 5 to 7 years, longer term investment reserves. It can take a little more risk. How do you how are you managing all this now and how should you be managing it in the future? We can do all that with a consultation. So give us a call 865862 6800. You can also go online Brogan Financial Dotcom and you can click to register for a complimentary consultation. today we're mainly talking about preparing for economic uncertainty. And when we come back I want to talk about smart borrowing.

Speaker 2 00:25:35 How do we manage debt approaching retirement and in retirement. Should you have a mortgage? Stay with us. This is more living with Jim Brogan here on Newstalk 987 Wookey.

Jim Brogan 00:25:46 Welcome back to Newstalk 98 Seven's Brogan Financial Studios, where Jim Brogan is coming to you live with important news and advice to help you achieve your dream retirement. Get ready to learn and live. Here's your host, Jim Brogan.

Speaker 2 00:26:02 Welcome back to More Living. We're. It's all about living the best years of your life your way. I'm Jim Brogan, I'm your host. You're listening to Newstalk 9087. We're with you every Saturday, 9 to 10 a.m.. Again from 3 to 4 p.m.. you can always catch our podcasts, at our website, Brogan financial.com. You can click on radio to stream and listen to all of our historical shows over the last couple of years. You can also listen to Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Just type in more. Living with Jim Brogan We're talking about preparing for uncertain economic times. and I want to talk about debt management.

Speaker 2 00:26:47 So the first question I get asked is often with people getting close to retirement, as Jim, should I have a mortgage in retirement? And it's easy to say, no, you should not have a mortgage in retirement. Let's look at it very, very practically. now, I will tell you this. As a rule of thumb, the the people we work with, the clients I see, the people I meet at the classes I teach, those kinds of things. As a rule, people do who do that, who do not have a mortgage payment, have simpler finances. And I don't want to say easier, but certainly simpler and very streamlined. if there's any potential cash flow concern in terms of retiring in terms of funding retirement income, there's no question that not having that mortgage payment will make things a lot cleaner and easier. and it has more to do. It has it's less to do with what is your interest rate on your mortgage, and more to do with the cash flow needed to support your mortgage payment.

Speaker 2 00:27:59 You know, you may have a low interest payment, but you're still having to pay off equity. And, you know, typically in retirement, unless you're going to move and downsize, you're not going to tap your home equity. So paying down your home equity, you know that's a good thing. You're creating more equity. But it's not something you're going to live on in retirement. So it's it's a cash flow expense when you're paying down home equity. And that's what you're doing with a mortgage payment. You know, you're not only paying the interest, you're having to pay down home equity. So, you know, think about it this way. If you have a $2,000 mortgage payment, just principal and interest, now you've got to subtract out the taxes and insurance. But just because you're still going to have taxes and insurance. Right. But the principal and interest, if you're paying 2000 a month and let's say you have a $200,000 mortgage, well, 2000 a month is $24,000 a year, right? You're paying 24,000 a year on a $200,000 mortgage.

Speaker 2 00:29:08 That's 12% cash flow. In other words, if you paid that mortgage off, it would save you. If you think of it in terms of cash flow, you invest $200,000 of cash flow, and it's going to save you 24,000 a year in expense. I mean, yeah, a good bit of that expense is going towards your home equity. But again, you're not going to. You're not going to turn around and live on your home equity unless you do a reverse mortgage later in life or sell your home, which is really another topic for another day. So it does dramatically improve cash flow when you have no mortgage payment. So I'm a big fan of paying off your mortgage by the time you retire, or early after you retire, if you can. I'm not as big a fan of paying off a low interest mortgage while you're still working. You know, if you have a mortgage at 3% interest and you're still working, you know you're getting the benefit of leverage. you know, you're not having to pay.

Speaker 2 00:30:17 You know, you can leave that money invested. Let it grow. You've got earned income to help you pay towards that mortgage cost. So, you know, do you take $200,000 and pay off the mortgage in one fell swoop when you're ten years from retirement. I don't think you need to do that. I think it's a good idea to try to have the mortgage paid by the time you retire. Now, we have plenty of retirees that are clients that have a mortgage payment and don't really have financial concerns. They have a tremendous amount of security in their financial plan and their income plan and their retirement plan and all those things. But as a rule of thumb, it's a good idea to have your mortgage paid for when you retire. Now, if you do have debt, you certainly need to be smart about managing that debt. and, you know, that's where, you know, you definitely should not be carrying consumer credit card debt. I'm not a fan of that in any way, shape or form, whether you're young or old, middle aged, somewhere in between.

Speaker 2 00:31:23 You just shouldn't have consumer debt. home equity loans currently average about 8.25%. That's where you're borrowing money against your home equity. they're at their lowest level that they have been, since before 2024, when they were in 2024. They were at eight, 8.5%. They're now at eight and a quarter. There are certainly potential tax benefits for using home equity lines. The average consumer credit card is is 28.67%. That is just a crazy, crazy number and amount of interest. Nobody should be carrying consumer debt. I talked in the first segment about having an emergency fund. An emergency fund prevents you from having consumer credit card debt. It is worth only making 4% on your emergency fund in a high yield savings. To not have something unexpected come up that would require you to then charge it to your credit card and be paying 28% interest. So again, it's just so critically important. And you can use home equity lines to consolidate high interest credit card loans. So I am a fan if you have consumer credit card debt.

Speaker 2 00:32:49 Of consolidating that into a home equity line, if you can afford to do that and you have good credit. Now I do hear people say, well, Jim, now it's against my house and I understand that. But debt is dead. You know, I mean it. Sure, if you are going to declare bankruptcy, there are advantages to home equity, you know, to some forms of debt versus other. But the bottom line is you don't want to go into bankruptcy. One way to avoid bankruptcy is to not have consumer debt. So, you know, these are we kind of know this, but you know, if you have debt to do it, do an inventory of your debt. That's the first step. Create a comprehensive debt inventory. That would be any installment loans you have. And then that would be any consumer debt that you have. And then, you know, there are a couple different ways to retire consumer debt. What if you already have consumer credit card debt? One is the snowball method.

Speaker 2 00:33:55 You know, where you, you know, make your minimum interest payments on your credit cards and then whatever your lowest balance is, put everything else on that until you pay it off. Then you can take all the money that's going to that and you can apply that to the next lowest balance. And so it creates a snowball effect. Now the other would be what we call an avalanche method method, which is where you make the minimum interest payment on your bill, your debts, and then whichever one has the highest interest rate, then applied all the extra money towards it. There are some wisdom to both strategies. Bottom line you need a strategy. if you can do a home equity line to consolidate that debt, I'd be a fan of that. But then you have to be paying that home equity line off. You don't want to just let it sit there. Because one of the dangers with home equity lines is, is, you know, you can they're usually interest only for some period of time, but then the principal is going to come due.

Speaker 2 00:34:57 And it is either going to have to be paid off over, you know, some amount of time or you're going to pay it off in a lump sum. So you have to be careful there too. But managing our debt is crucial. especially if you're approaching retirement. And having a plan to eliminate consumer credit cards is critical. as a rule, I would not be a fan of borrowing money for cars. certainly many car manufacturers provide these, you know, Incentives. 0% 1% 2% interest rate financing. You know, I think you can consider that if you have if you're very, very disciplined and you have good debt management and strict cash flow and you're consistently saving money. But you do have to be careful, because when we buy things based on what the monthly payment is, rather than how much we're going to have to eventually spend. It's easy to let things spiral out of control. Especially with things like automobiles. You know, if you have an automobile that you're paying $1,000 a month as an example, you know, and let's say that automobile is worth $40,000 and you owe $15,000 on it.

Speaker 2 00:36:15 Well, if you pay it off, if you buy a new car and your payment is the same $1,000 a month, you think, well, hey, that isn't really costing me any more money, but now the amount of debt you have instead of 15,000. Now it's 40 or 50,000. And it has to eventually be paid. So be careful buying everything on a monthly payment that can really get you into trouble if you're not very disciplined. So as a rule, it's great to spend money, you know? Most of our clients, when they're going to be buying a new car in retirement, you know, maybe not brand new. you know, we get into the best. What's the best way to maximize the value of a car? But new to them? Maybe it's a low mileage car or something like that. we usually advise our clients to spend cash, that, you know, and just pay for it. Even if they have to cash in an investment. as long as it's not sharply down in value, you do have to consider the income tax ramifications, because, you know, if most of your money is in your IRA or 401, you have to pay the income taxes to cash that in, and that complicates things.

Speaker 2 00:37:23 But if you have a healthy balance of non retirement account investments and money saved at the bank. We typically advise our clients to pay cash when they're acquiring a new vehicle for themselves and that kind of thing. But debt management can be critically important, especially as we approach and enter into more economic hard times. We don't know that we're going to have more economic uncertainty. But, you know, more and more people are worried about economic uncertainty. When we come back from our last break, we're going to talk about some keys to profitable tax planning. It's not how much you make, it's how much you get to keep. So stay with us. This is more living with Jim Brogan here on Newstalk 987 w Sky.

Jim Brogan 00:38:11 Welcome back to Newstalk 98 Seven's Brogan Financial Studios, where Jim Brogan is coming to you live with important news and advice to help you achieve your dream retirement. Get ready to learn and live. Here's your host, Jim Brogan.

Speaker 2 00:38:27 Thanks for tuning in. This is Moore living here on Newstalk 987 Wookey.

Speaker 2 00:38:31 I hope you're having a great, great weekend. As we get this our first summer weekend. Yesterday was the longest day of the year. It's hard to imagine. I always think about as we get into July, but it's actually June. The 20th was the longest day. First day of summer. Summer Equinox. it's going to be a hot one this week, so, you know, stay. Be careful. Stay very, very well hydrated. Try to keep cool, stay in the shade. Those kinds of things. We're talking about preparing for economic uncertainty. Economic uncertainty is a is a certainty if you will. so how do you prepare for that? we've talked about different strategies today. We've talked about your emergency fund. We've talked about understanding how much you're spending and how to fine tune that for economic tough times, how to live like a retiree on a fixed income, even if you're not retired, is a really, really good step. We've talked about debt management. Now I want to talk about tax planning.

Speaker 2 00:39:29 you know, it's not how much you make, it's how much you get to keep. And so I want to talk about being able to have a better budget and a more affordable budget when you're retired. You know, we really want to be doing tax planning before we retire. Now the the where we can take the greatest advantage of tax planning. And by the way, what is tax planning? It's simply being aware of the rules and the tax brackets and how taxes work, so that we can be somewhat intentional about the income taxes we pay in retirement. You know, we have a lot of control over the taxes we pay in retirement. You decide when you're going to draw Social Security income and where it is potentially going to be taxed when you need retirement income. You decide where to pull that money from. You know you don't have earned income. So do you pull it from the bank or from your IRA or 401? Do you sell a mutual fund with a long term capital gain? What? Where what do you pull from and what is the tax implication of that? Will you have more control of that typically in retirement than at any other time in your life? And I do often you've heard me talk about it on this show.

Speaker 2 00:40:47 I talk about the sweet spot of tax planning, which is the sweet spot is between retirement age and age 73 or 75 y 73 or 75. That's the age at which you have to start taking taxable distributions from your retirement accounts. Your 401 K, your 403 B, your IRAs. If you're born before 1960, you have to do that at in the year you turn 73. If you're born 1960 or later, you have to do that starting in the year you turn 75. So the sweet spot is when you don't have earned income, you're retired. You're determining where to pull your income from. That presents some tremendous tax planning opportunities, but really, you should be planning for that now, even if you're not retired. You know, right now, for example, you know, if you're still working, if you're within ten years of retirement, you're probably in your peak earning years. So your taxable income is probably higher than it's ever been in your life. And when you retire, it's probably going to go down some.

Speaker 2 00:41:57 Now be careful with that. It may not go down as much as you think, but it's probably going to go down some. But in other words, things like Roth conversion where you take part of your IRA and you convert it to Roth. You know, if you take $20,000 or $50,000 out of your IRA and convert it to Roth, you have to pay tax on that Roth conversion on that to $20,000, if you will. So you pay the tax upfront now and then. After five years, that money becomes income tax free. As long as you're over 59.5. But you may not want to do that right now. If you're in your peak earning years and your taxable income is higher than it's ever been. But when you retire in that sweet spot between retirement age and age 73 or 75, when you have those required minimum distributions from your retirement accounts might make a lot of sense to consider things like Roth conversion. Part of the biggest tax planning tips I can give you is Roth conversion planning and understanding our tax rates and capital gains, because long term capital gains are a tremendous incentive for income in our for for investors.

Speaker 2 00:43:18 They're much better than ordinary income brackets. That's so being able to understand how long term capital gains work and how you can plan for that, especially in those early years of retirement when your income taxes typically are going to be lower. If you're smart, can be very, very powerful. Now, the other thing I want to mention about tax planning is, you know, certainly, you know, we're looking right now at a world where in our tax cuts, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act is set to expire at the end of the year. Congress is currently talking about the big beautiful bill. And, you know, what are they going to get passed or are they going to get anything passed? Our taxes going to go up next year, and we don't know the answer to that in the short term. I do think it's highly unlikely that the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act will simply expire and tax rates go up at the same point. If I'm looking over the long term, I think we have to be very, very aware that when it comes to our income tax brackets Today.

Speaker 2 00:44:20 We're in a very low tax environment compared to where we've been historically. We have $37 trillion of federal debt. We have unfunded liabilities for Social Security, Medicare and prescription drugs. Understanding tax rates may be much higher in the future should be a fundamental component of your tax planning. Thank you for tuning in. This week we've discussed your finances because greater wealth provides for more living, so you can live the best years of your life your way. Thank you for tuning in. This is more living with Jim Brogan right here on Newstalk 987 W hockey.

Speaker 3 00:44:56 Expressed by Jim Brogan and his guests are not that of Cumulus Media. Any discussion of financial, legal and tax planning strategies is not intended to be individualized advice and is general in nature. Always consult with your advisor for advice specific to your needs. This program's content does not represent a recommendation of any particular security strategy or investment by Jim Brogan or Brogan Financial, Incorporated.

In this episode of More Living with Jim Brogan, host Jim Brogan welcomes Alicia Barnett, Senior Vice President of the Care Planning Department at Financial Independence Group, to discuss long-term care planning. With nearly 30 years of experience, Alicia explains what long-term care involves, common misconceptions, and its emotional impact on families. The conversation covers care costs, Medicare and Medicaid limitations, and planning options including asset-based policies. Both emphasize that proactive planning protects not only finances but also family relationships, with Alicia noting that long-term care can tear families apart rather than bring them together.

utomatically Transcribed With Podsqueeze

Jim Brogan 00:00:02 You're tuned into more Living with Jim Brogan, broadcast live from the Brogan Financial studios at Newstalk 987, where old fashioned values, expert knowledge and genuine understanding come together to give you the retirement straight talk you deserve. Jim's a former National Advisor of the year recipient and a financial educator, and he's here today to talk about how you can live out the best years of your life. Jim and the Brogan financial team have been helping retirees and retirees across the southeast for over 20 years in their pursuit of financial independence. You can reach them during the week at 865862 6800. So sit back, relax and get ready to learn because More living with Jim Brogan starts now.

Speaker 2 00:00:45 Hello East Tennessee, welcome to More Living with Jim Brogan, where it's all about living the best years of your life your way as you tune in to Newstalk 987. And today I'm going to talk about something that many families know they should plan for, but often we put it off until we forced. We're forced to deal with it, and that is having a true need for long term care.

Speaker 2 00:01:10 What is long term care? What? What qualifies as it? How much can it cost? Who pays for it? And most importantly, how can you prepare now rather than having to make difficult decisions during a crisis today? Joining me is a long time friend of mine, Alicia Barnett. Alicia is senior vice president and care planning department for Financial Independence Group, a national company over in Charlotte, North Carolina. she's actually been into our office to speak with our clients, for client events. And she brings valuable experience and insight into long term care and the options available to individuals and families. Really one of the best I've ever heard talking about the needs and how to how to plan for those needs. Alicia. Good morning. Welcome to More Living. It's great to have you with us again.

Alicia Barnett 00:02:02 Good morning Jim. Happy to be here.

Speaker 2 00:02:05 Hope everything's going well over in Charlotte. Are you in Charlotte right now?

Alicia Barnett 00:02:10 Sure am, yes, sir.

Speaker 2 00:02:11 Okay, great. Well, before we dive in, tell our listeners a little about yourself and what led you to kind of focus on and the long term care space?

Alicia Barnett 00:02:21 Absolutely, Jim, long term care is a passion of mine.

Alicia Barnett 00:02:24 I've been in the industry for 29 years. my dad was in the health insurance business, and I always said I would never follow in his footsteps. But here I am, 29 years later. I have seen, family members, my own personal family members go through unexpected care needs. And it really drove me to want to try to help other people, because most people aren't prepared for the unexpected health care needs and the unexpected long term care event. And it's really been my passion to go out and help clients and financial professionals really figure out how to mitigate the risk when it comes to long term care planning.

Speaker 2 00:03:04 You know, it's the landscape to me has changed a lot over the last 25 years, I know. And the reason I'm saying 25 years is that was when my parents were hitting 70. And back then, you know, a lot of people just wanted to avoid it, you know? My father was the same way it was. Well, Jim, I'm not I'm not going to need that.

Speaker 2 00:03:26 I think that we it's gotten to the point where we all have been impacted by somebody we know and love, that has been impacted by the need for long term care. So do you deal with that as much as more anymore? As much anymore? Or is it more, you know, how do we everybody understands it's a real risk. And how do we plan for this?

Speaker 4 00:03:47 I think a lot of people still think it won't happen to them, even though, certainly they've had experiences. And I think we're hearing more and more about long term care events within our own personal families, especially being in the sandwich generations. As an example, right now, my mom's 82, but I have 19 year old twin boys, so I'm seeing it firsthand with my mother. when you get old enough, you can sometimes become frail and need assistance. And I, you know, I'm in my prime working years. I'm sending my kids off to college and trying to, you know, manage both of those activities.

Speaker 4 00:04:24 And I think we're seeing that all across the country. and, of course, 70% of us are going to need some type of care, and 1 in 5 will need care for five or more years. So it's front and center right now. I truly believe people are seeing it, and more and more are trying to plan against that risk and make sure their families don't go through what I've experienced in my lifetime.

Speaker 2 00:04:46 Well, in our experience that as well, with both my parents, when my kids were right around, when my oldest child, was in middle school and then when my youngest child got into writers around high school and into college, each of them independently needed long term care. the 1 in 5 that need care for five or more years. I'm going to come back around to that because I think that's really worth diving into. But before we do, Alicia, when people hear the word or the term long term care, what exactly does that mean?

Speaker 4 00:05:21 Well, usually the first thing people think of as nursing home, but that's not it at all.

Speaker 4 00:05:25 It's it's about really needing assistance one day with your activities, a daily living. And that would be things like bathing and dressing and just getting around, transferring and moving one from one place to the other. Eating constant consonants and toileting. So it's really about having someone come in and help us when those things start to disappear, when we actually need care.

Speaker 2 00:05:50 We cannot do those functions all on our own.

Speaker 4 00:05:54 Oh absolutely not.

Speaker 2 00:05:55 So what are some of the most common misconceptions or myth that you see when it comes to long term care?

Speaker 4 00:06:02 I think the really the biggest myth or misconception is my family will take care of me. And I've always said this when I talk about long term care, as long term care doesn't bring families together at tears, families apart. And I say this jokingly when I talk about the myth of or misconception of my family will take care of me well. Do they? Do they know that? And again, it's kind of a joke, but. But it's not. Most people think that their family will step in.

Speaker 4 00:06:30 And we love our parents, right? So we probably will. But typically it's the oldest child and closest proximity. if you're married, your spouse may take care of you, or maybe they feel obligated to, or their financial situation will dictate it. And you know that's better than anyone. But taking care of the chronically ill can make you chronically ill. So my mother took care of my stepdad for eight months a few years ago, and it nearly put her in the hospital. And of course, now she's not married. My my dad passed away. And if she needs assistance, it's going to be me. I live an hour away. I have an older brother who's ten minutes away, a sister who lives in the mountains, and she's about 4.5 hours away, and a little brother who's around five hours. Well, she got sick. And of course, I went down every day for two weeks to make sure my mom was okay, to make sure, you know, she had food and I could put my arms around her and give her a big hug.

Speaker 4 00:07:27 Just, you know, be there for her during that illness. you know, ask me, Jim, how many times my older brother, who lived ten minutes away, went to go help mom? Zero times, you know, and I and I, you know, if he was here, he might throw a water bottle at me. But the truth is, typically one person takes on more more of the, the, the assistance than other. And it causes, it causes strife in the family. Right. You know, again, it doesn't bring families together. It tears families apart. what's what's it going to look like when we're sitting at the dinner table? When I'm actually taking care of mom? There might be some resentment there. It's really all about the family first and and the finances second, if that makes sense.

Speaker 2 00:08:09 Well, well. And you just said you're. You know what you said about your brother. You said he'd throw a bottle at you. Well, water bottle. I know you're tongue in cheek, but but it it can tear families apart.

Speaker 2 00:08:20 what typically causes someone to need. Like, does this usually happen from a major medical event, or does it usually happen gradually?

Speaker 4 00:08:30 I you know, that's a loaded question. I think most of us know that if we live long enough, we might become frail and need care. So yes, you have things like strokes and, you know, medical events that may cause you to need assistance. But really, what we're seeing is we're we're living longer. We're living longer, healthier lives. And what that means is, if we live long enough, Eventually our bodies are going to give out. So it's more of a gradual thing, in my opinion, and in the most part. And certainly we're seeing a lot more cognitive issues. And, you know, in fact, 12, 12.7 million Americans are living with Alzheimer's. So it's all about living long and really becoming frail and needing that assistance. So I would say it's more of a gradual thing, even though sometimes a medical event can cause you to need immediate care.

Speaker 2 00:09:21 I agree with that. I mean, that's what I've seen. I saw that with my own parents. What what are the different levels of care? Alicia, you mentioned a lot of people when they hear long term care, they think nursing home. But it's so much more than that. So talk about the different levels of care.

Speaker 4 00:09:35 Absolutely. Again, you're right. People immediately think nursing home. But if you know, if it were me, I would want to receive care in my home. That's where 95% of people start receiving care. And then they graduate into things like adult daycare, where, you know, if you're you're a working, caregiver and you need to take mom or dad somewhere, it's almost like daycare for adults. you've got assisted living. You've got, again, nursing home, you've got memory care units. There's a lot of different levels of care, and I truly believe in the future that may change. We don't know what care will look like. But I can tell you, it's not just nursing home, right? We don't.

Speaker 4 00:10:14 None of us want to go into a nursing home. We don't volunteer for that. I think more or less people would rather receive care in the home. And I think that's an important thing to be able to know that you can actually do that, and you can be in the comfort of your home and receive care.

Speaker 2 00:10:29 Alicia, how do how do family know? I think, you know, I think families, for the most part, have a good understanding of when somebody needs additional care. sometimes I think people are in denial. I think the bigger issue is the the the person themselves doesn't think they need that. Can you talk a little bit about that challenge?

Speaker 4 00:10:50 Oh, absolutely. And sometimes we don't see it until it's almost, you know, too late. And they're beyond, being able to take care of themselves. But most people, you know, when they start needing more than two of those activities of daily living, that's really when someone needs to come in and help. but, you know, people are in denial.

Speaker 4 00:11:10 They don't. And they don't want to have to to ask the family to help them because they know it's a burden on them. And the more that the more assistance you need with those activities of daily living, the more likely you are to have to bring someone in to help. And I think sometimes we see that when we go over to visit mom or dad, and maybe they look like they haven't had a shower in a few days, or they're starting to lose a little bit of weight and they're becoming frail. And really, they they just don't want to ask for that assistance. And it's financially a burden as well. So people wait and put that off until the last minute. And if you have a plan in place, certainly you can bring assistance in a lot faster and and and make sure I think it will help people live that longer, healthier life and again, not put that burden on your family.

Speaker 2 00:11:57 Absolutely. you know, they're obviously financial considerations here, but anyone who's watched a parent or spouse need care knows that money is really only part of the equation.

Speaker 2 00:12:09 And at least you you said to me years ago, and I'll never forget this. You said, you know, it's not just your life that changes forever when you need long term care, it's who else is, unfortunately, someone else's life. If you don't have the right kind of plan, someone else's life is going to change forever. A spouse, a child, whomever that may be. And so when we come back from our break, I want to talk about the impact these decisions can have on the entire family. So stay with us. This is your living with Jim Brogan here on Newstalk 987.

Jim Brogan 00:12:44 Welcome back to Newstalk 98, Seven's Brogan Financial Studios, where Jim Brogan is coming to you live with important news and advice to help you achieve your dream retirement. Get ready to learn and live. Here's your host, Jim Brogan.

Speaker 2 00:12:59 Welcome back. This is more living here on Newstalk 987 Wookey. I'm Jim Brogan and today we're talking about the impact of health care planning in retirement, especially the potential need for long term care.

Speaker 2 00:13:11 And we've got today a longtime friend of mine, Alicia Barnett. She is from Charlotte. She is senior vice president of the care planning department for Financial Independence Group, which is a national insurance marketing organization. Do they do great work all over the country? She's also come in and done client events for our for our clients. And she's just a just as good of an expert as I've ever heard on long term care. And let's before we talk about the impact on families. Alicia, talk about the numbers here. If for 65 year old married couple, how likely is it that someone will need long term care?

Speaker 4 00:13:51 Well, Jim, about 70% of people over the age of 65 are going to require some type of care. And as I mentioned before, 1 in 5 will need care for five or more years. Here's a here's a problem though. Everybody thinks they're in that 30%, right. Yeah. So a lot of us are going to need it. And and people are just kind of, in denial, as I like to call it.

Speaker 2 00:14:15 Well, and if it's a 50% that one of us is going to need care. That's about a 50 almost a 50% likelihood. We're both going to need care if we're married.

Speaker 4 00:14:25 That's right. Yeah, you got it. If we live long enough, we're the chances are we can become frail and we're going to need some type of assistance.

Speaker 2 00:14:34 So what do you see families struggle with the most when a loved one needs care, needs assistance.

Speaker 4 00:14:43 I think people really struggle with how to fund it, how to pay for that care and how to not involve their family. Because most of us. We love our our parents. So we're going to stop what we're doing and help. And spouses typically, again, will will feel obligated to take care of their their loved one. And if they can't do it, then certainly the family is going to step in. But I have seen so many married couples where one takes care of the other and the caregiver actually predeceased his.

Speaker 2 00:15:18 Right.

Speaker 4 00:15:19 Predeceased is the spouse.

Speaker 4 00:15:21 So it makes it tough. And then the rest of the family is going to step in and help. And that's what really is truly there. Who are impacted by the care need.

Speaker 2 00:15:31 How often does a spouse or adult child end up becoming the primary caregiver? And I guess it's primarily I mean, a lot of it is, do you have a plan in place ahead of time?

Speaker 4 00:15:41 That's correct. Most of the time, if you don't have a plan in place, more than likely your family is going to step in and help because it is expensive. and people do want to stay in the home so people will stop what they're doing, especially if it's, you know, typically what happens when someone needs care. It's the oldest daughter and closest proximity. and when you need care, you know, your life doesn't end someone else's, does. So often, you know, your oldest daughter will quit her job, move in with you, or maybe you'll move in with her because any decent child would feel obligated to do so.

Speaker 4 00:16:17 So it, really, it's the majority of what people do because Medicare and Medicaid, that's another misconception. They're not going to step in and help you. That's really there are a lot of stipulations that go along with that.

Speaker 2 00:16:30 Well, and we're going to get to in the last half of the show, we're going to talk about funding this, and we're going to talk about those misconceptions about Medicare and Medicaid as well. what are some of the emotional and practical challenges that come with being a primary caregiver?

Speaker 4 00:16:46 Well, we all know it's tough. when you're taking care of whether it's a child or a family, there's a lot of emotional, you know, problems or feelings that come along with that. And if you're taking care of mom or dad, you're watching them deteriorate in front of your eyes, and you have to do things that you never thought you would do. You know, for example, when you have a child, you have to change their diapers. Well, it's kind of a reverse role.

Speaker 4 00:17:12 And now maybe you're having to change your adult parent's diaper. It's emotionally traumatizing to watch your loved one go through, not being able to provide their own assistance and having to step in and do that for them. And practically, you know, it's it's tough to be able to, especially if you're in your working years and you've got kids yourself that you're taking care of to really stop what you're doing and go take care of mom or dad, you're going to do it. But what kind of disruption will that cause when Mom or dad actually needs care? And I know as a parent I don't want my child to ever go through that. I want them to be there, to love on me and supervise the care rather than provide the care and hopefully not stop what they're doing. Because depending on what stage of life they're in, they may have kids of their own. So it can really change the dynamics when mom or dad needs care.

Speaker 2 00:18:04 What what conversations Alicia should parents be having with their adult children before care is needed, do you think?

Speaker 4 00:18:11 I think the most important thing, and I talk about this every time I give a live presentation, is put a written plan of care in place, because it is so difficult to react when something happens and have to really find a place to to put mom or dad or find a caregiver, like really knowing who is going to provide that care.

Speaker 4 00:18:33 If you don't want your family to take care of you, you need to tell your family that if you want to go to ABC facility because it's the nicest one in town, they need to know that. They also need to know how you're going to pay for that. Whether you have a plan or not. Which asset are you going to liquidate to pay for that care? It's important to really have that written plan of care. Give that to your family so that they're not reactively doing it. It's almost like your when your house is on fire trying to buy, you know, homeowner's insurance. You don't you can't plan it in the rears. Right? You need to plan ahead and really tell your family what that care is going to look like when you need it otherwise. And I say this jokingly, you know, your kids might take you out back and hose off again. Just kidding. But you know, you really want to know you. You really want to be able to to express your needs.

Speaker 4 00:19:25 It's almost like having a long term care living will to be able to share with your family.

Speaker 2 00:19:31 That's a great word. You know, we plan for these things before they come up. It's like I talk about on the financial planning, especially on the investment world. Alicia, you know, we know markets are volatile. We know markets have downturns. We have bear markets. We have market corrections. That's one thing I feel certain about with the stock market is it's it's volatile and it's unpredictable. And we plan for the impact of that volatility and and those downturns before they happen. Not while they're happening. what if there's one thing you wish every family understood about long term care before they need it, I mean, you've covered some things already, but if there was one thing, what would it be?

Speaker 4 00:20:15 I think the most important thing are the unintended consequences of what a long term care event can do to your family. Again, and I might say this 3 or 4 more times, because I feel like it's so important as long term care doesn't bring families together.

Speaker 4 00:20:29 It tears families apart. Long term care solutions are really about keeping the family together. It's about love, you know, first is family and then finances. But I think that's the most important thing, is knowing the concept of what will happen if you actually need care. So I think that's the most important takeaway today, is really knowing what that's going to do to your family and how you can how you can take that risk off the table.

Speaker 2 00:20:53 Now, obviously, you know, long term care isn't simply a health care issue. It can quickly become a family issue, which we've talked about and also a financial issue. Alicia, give us an idea of what long term care can cost today, whether it's in-home care, assisted living or a nursing facility.

Speaker 4 00:21:13 Gosh, you know, people don't understand really how expensive it is. And that's another common misconception. So I'm glad we're talking about this. People think they can just use their savings. Well, it's very expensive. In fact, if you're listening today I would encourage you to go to Long-Term care.gov.

Speaker 4 00:21:32 It's going to talk a little bit about some of the care services that are available. And then there's a cost of care link. And you can research this on your own. you can it'll take you back if you click on the cost of care to a Care Scout Cost of Care survey, which brings up local cost, and you can type in any city or zip code in the country, but nationally right now. Believe it or not, it's running. And these are averages. So obviously we don't want to stay in an average nursing home or home health care services. We want above average, but it's running around $11,000 a month for a private nursing home room right now for assisted living, it's around $6,200 a month. Home health care is around $6,600. And that's just for for home health care. That's around three days on average. home health care services coming in to provide that care. If you want round the clock care right now, Jim, it's costing between 12,000 and $15,000 a month. That's today's dollars.

Speaker 4 00:22:33 What is it going to look like in 15, 20, 30 years when you need care? I think that's the important thing. Again, most people don't understand. It's expensive. And if you don't have a plan, your money is your plan.

Speaker 2 00:22:47 Well, and the inflation, the cost of living for long term care is increasing at about double the rate of inflation. Right. In the numbers that I've seen it.

Speaker 4 00:22:58 It's it's I believe it's on average about 5.2% maybe a little higher for home care. So it is definitely increasing. And I see I think we're going to see those numbers rise because I think we'll have a shortage of caregivers because everyone wants to stay in the home. Right. And if we don't have enough caregivers, that's going to drive those prices up. So we're going to just see that continuously go up. In fact, I looked out you can with that cost of care survey, you can look out 20 years. And this is based off of that in 3%. So this is this is going to be on the low side.

Speaker 4 00:23:31 I mean in 20 years we're talking $20,000 a month for nursing home and $12,000 a month for home health care. So that's I think in my opinion that's that's a shortfall. I think we're going to see that way higher.

Speaker 2 00:23:45 Yeah, it's going to be 5 to 6% increases. I mean you said 5.2% now. I mean that's almost double the rate of inflation. that's right. And and I know if I remember correctly and you can correct me if I'm wrong, but back when we had, you know, the runaway inflation and we had inflation at over 8%, I believe long term care costs went up 15, 16%.

Speaker 4 00:24:06 It sure did. You're exactly right. And I you know again shortage of caregivers is going to drive that number higher.

Speaker 2 00:24:12 Absolutely. We're visiting with Alicia Barnett. she is senior vice president in care planning for financial Independence Group out of Charlotte. And we're talking about the impact of planning for health care catastrophe. Later on in life. When we come back, we're going to dive into how do we actually plan for this? Can we self-fund it? do you need a plan that covers 11,000 a month? Probably not.

Speaker 2 00:24:41 So I really want to dive into more of how do you actually plan for this? We're also going to have our dollars and cents segment, where I'm going to step up a little bit to the to the higher view of health care planning in general. Health care planning is not an insurer. It is an insurance decision. But it's not just an insurance and a funding decision. It's also an asset manager and a tax planning decision. So stay with us. This is more living here on Newstalk 987 W Cokie.

Jim Brogan 00:25:12 Welcome back to Newstalk 98. Seven's Brogan Financial Studios or Jim Brogan is coming to you live with important news and advice to help you achieve your dream retirement. Get ready to learn and live. Here's your host, Jim Brogan.

Speaker 2 00:25:27 Welcome back and thank you for tuning in to More Living with Jim Brogan, where it's all about living the best years of your life your way. Today we're talking about the impact of health care catastrophe. One of the best experts I've ever heard in the entire country. Alicia Barnett is our expert.

Speaker 2 00:25:42 That is online with us from Charlotte, North Carolina. She's with Financial Independence Group. She's a senior vice president, and she really helps advisors and people all over the country plan for these risks. Before we get back to Alicia, it is time for dollars and cents.

Speaker 5 00:26:01 Want to be sure you are getting the most out of your retirement for all the years of your retirement? That's the primary goal of Moore living with Jim Brogan and our dollars and Cents segment, where we provide you with an important financial tip that will help positively impact the quality of your life in retirement. And now. Here's Jim with this week's dollars and cents tip.

Speaker 2 00:26:25 How do we fund long term? How do we fund health care in general in retirement? You know, you've probably seen numbers that the average 65 year old, how much will they spend on their health care for the rest of their life? It's over $300,000 now, pushing $350,000. Now, that does not include long term care. So long term care is on top of that.

Speaker 2 00:26:51 But how do you fund this? You know, you don't you don't get to on your health care in general. You don't get to to retirement. And they ask you to write a check for $330,000 to fund your health care, and then you have long term care on top of that. It's an asset management and a tax planning decision. So, you know, we need to understand the resources we we use for these things. And in what order do we use them. You know, you you we all have cash and short term cash reserves. You've got taxable investment accounts. And if you sell investments there are investment implications of selling those. There's also tax implications. And then are you taxed as ordinary income or long term capital gains. Because as you know from listening to this program Long term capital gains rates are so much more advantageous than ordinary income. What if most of your money is in retirement accounts? You have to fund with IRA distributions and those distributions are fully taxable. If you have a long term care event and you need 60 or $70,000 a year to help fund your long term care, well, you gotta pay all the income taxes on that money first if it's coming out of an IRA or 401.

Speaker 2 00:28:08 You know, do you have insurance? Long term care insurance. How do some of those plans work? Do you have home equity that you can tap? And what are the implications down the road if you tap. If you tap your home equity, if you eventually end up needing to qualify for Medicaid, what are the impacts to your estate? Do you have HSA funds? Because HSA funds can be tax free if they are used for qualified long term care expenses. So the order that we fund this is very it's enormously important. You know, pulling an extra 100,000 from an IRA to pay for care could create a huge taxable distribution, which could eventually then affect your Medicare premiums and change the tax picture for the surviving spouse. And when we retire, we don't you know, we don't have to write a check all at once. Medicare is and Medicare supplements are going to cover many of our basic health care needs. And then we need a plan for long term care. So it's really built into our income planning.

Speaker 2 00:29:14 It can be built into our income planning prior to retirement, which we're going to talk about with Alicia here in a bit. But we can fund our use our income planning prior to retirement to fund this risk. So long term care isn't just an insurance decision, it's an asset management and a tax planning decision.

Speaker 5 00:29:36 That's our dollars and cents segment for this week. You can find this week's dollars and Cents segment and others by visiting Brogan financial.com.

Speaker 2 00:29:49 Do please check us out at Brogan financial.com. We've got a wealth of resources. If you click on the resources tab you can find out about our upcoming classes you can follow. You can listen to our radio show. You can follow our e-newsletter that we put out every other week. And then we do a lot of blogs and posts to help you make informed and prudent decisions that can positively impact the quality of your life. I do want to mention my first class of the fall is coming up this Tuesday night income Planning and retirement. It is a one night class, one two hour session, that is.

Speaker 2 00:30:24 I'm going to talk as much as I can in two hours about all the major things you need to understand about income planning and retirement, which I believe is the most overlooked area in retirement planning. Today, how do you Social security election? How do you fund your income? We don't retire on on assets. We retire on income. What are the tax ramifications? There's just so many decisions to be made in those plans and that's through. We do this class through Pella City State Community College. It is Tuesday, August 25th at the Palace Happy State Hardin Valley Campus. To find out more information you can go to confidence with retirement.com. That's confidence with retirement com and you can find out more about the class. And you can click to register directly with Penn State. The course fee at Pella City is $39. I believe they offer a discount for the spouse, so hopefully if you're listening today, you can both attend. Today we're visiting with Alicia Barnett on More Living, and we're talking about the impact of health care catastrophe, specifically in long term care.

Speaker 2 00:31:29 And, Alicia, one assumption. Let's talk about funding this one assumption. You've talked about the costs very, very high. 11,000 a month for nursing home. I believe you said close to 6000 a month for assisted living. Is that right?

Speaker 4 00:31:44 Yes, sir. About 6200 a month.

Speaker 2 00:31:47 One assumption we hear frequently is Medicare will take care of me. How much does Medicare actually cover when it comes to long term care?

Speaker 4 00:31:56 That's a great question. And it's certainly one of the biggest misconceptions when it comes to long term care. So Medicare has a ton of stipulations that go along with it. You actually have to be hospitalized for three days. You have to be rehabilitating or getting better. And it typically covers up to 100 days of skilled care. So it's really short term care, not long term care.

Speaker 2 00:32:21 Yeah. And you mentioned it has to be skilled care. And many people that are that need long term care. It's really more custodial care right. I mean, can you talk about the differences in skilled care versus custodial care?

Speaker 4 00:32:32 Absolutely.

Speaker 4 00:32:33 So this is skilled care is going to, you know, require primarily you to use a rehabilitation facility or an assisted living, something like that. Whereas custodial care is more about home care and helping you with those activities of daily living, it's again, it's more for that longevity need and not that shorter term care. And we certainly again, we want to receive that care in the home and Medicaid. Medicare is typically going to cover just skilled care in a home. Sometimes they'll come in and help you, but it's really designed for that short term need. Not that long term care need.

Speaker 2 00:33:07 And Alicia, what about Medicaid? How is Medicaid different? What should families understand about qualifying for Medicaid?

Speaker 4 00:33:15 Absolutely. So Medicaid is certainly a great program for those that need it. But again, there are a ton of stipulations that go along with both Medicare and Medicaid. Medicaid is means tested. You have to spend down your hard earned assets. And it's different state. By state, your income needs have to be very low.

Speaker 4 00:33:35 So around $2,000 a month that's or $2,000. So that's not a, you know, a lot of assets and income to be able to really pay for your own care. And it's when the government steps in to pay for it. And it's typically going to only be in a facility. Most states don't pay for care in the home. And you literally have to, again, spend down those hard earned assets. There's lookback periods about giving your money away. So some people are under the assumption that you can just give your money to your kids, and then the government's going to come in and take care of you, and they're going to be the hero. Well, it's very difficult to qualify for Medicaid, and you have to give up your hard earned, hard earned assets and really, you lose control, and then you lose the ability to receive the care and a place that would be more comfortable, like your home and allow you to to really have the best care that you could receive. And if you're married, you could often, oftentimes leave your spouse impoverished.

Speaker 4 00:34:31 So again, a great program that for those that need it. But it certainly you don't want to be destitute to be able to qualify. And and nobody wants to volunteer to go into a medicaid facility.

Speaker 2 00:34:42 Yeah. And I'll just piggyback on, you know, people gifting assets away. there's a five year look back on that that would disqualify you. But then in addition to that, there are gift tax, ramifications. It doesn't necessarily mean you'd have to pay a tax, but you're supposed to file a return when you gift more than, certain limits of money to other people. You know, adding your child's name on your house as an example is considered a gift. And, you know, that's half the value of the house. You know, if it's you and your child and there are gift ramifications and you're supposed to file a return. And many people don't know that, it also could could expose you to creditors if your child got in a car accident and got sued. So, you know, I'm not a big fan of that.

Speaker 2 00:35:27 I'm certainly not an attorney, but you got to be very, very careful with that. you know, when it comes to Medicaid planning, there are attorneys in here in the Knoxville area that do that. one of the problems with positioning assets to qualify for Medicaid real very quickly, more quickly, is, number one, you lose control of where you receive care, as Alicia said. and then the rules are changing. So you might spend literally over $10,000 on a medicaid planning type thing, and then in 3 or 4 years, it may not be good anymore because the laws keep changing, because let's let's face it, Medicaid in Tennessee is TennCare. TennCare is not rife with cash. So the rules keep changing the goalposts. Keep moving. I want to get to our last break and we really come back. talk about how to plan for care. Do you need insurance? Do you need insurance that would pay 11,000 a month in a nursing home? I mean, the answer's probably no for most people listening.

Speaker 2 00:36:29 So let's really dive into how we can actually plan for this. This is more living with Jim Brogan here on Newstalk 987.

Jim Brogan 00:36:38 Welcome back to Newstalk 98, Seven's Brogan Financial Studios, where Jim Brogan is coming to you live with important news and advice to help you achieve your dream retirement. Get ready to learn and live. Here's your host, Jim Brogan.

Speaker 2 00:36:53 Welcome back. This is Moore living here on Newstalk 987 Wookey. We're with you every Saturday night at 10 a.m. and again from 3 to 4 p.m.. You can also stream our shows, at WLKY's website. You can also podcast all of our shows at Apple Podcast and Spotify. You can also stream our shows, on on my website. We'll have today show up. Probably Tuesday afternoon is usually when we get those up. I do have my first college class for those, you know, for through adult education and outreach at Pillar City State. If you're retired or getting close to retirement, this is a one night class. Income planning and retirement. It's on Tuesday, August 25th, 630 to 8:30 p.m. it's at Pella City State Hardin Valley.

Speaker 2 00:37:42 To get more information, go to. Confidence with retirement. Today we're visiting with Alicia Barnett. We're talking about the impact of health care catastrophe. And Alicia. you know, some people may choose to self-fund their care, and that is a strategy that can work. It's understanding the costs associated with it. But what should someone consider before deciding? I have enough money? I'll just pay for it.

Speaker 4 00:38:09 Well, I think that most people don't understand that. you can you can basically put an umbrella policy over your money. Self-funding is fine. But again, as I mentioned earlier, having a written plan of care is great, and knowing which asset you could liquidate first, is certainly a conversation you need to have with your family. But the government has allowed certain life insurance or annuity contracts to be accessed while alive. Tax free for expenses associated with needing care. And by using this option, you're just taking an asset or income, and you're repositioning that into a specific policy that's designed to provide a stream of money to pay for those long term care expenses.

Speaker 4 00:38:50 And that'll help you avoid pulling out money directly out of other investments. And it's going to help cover some or all of extended care needs. So you're really it's a better way to sell fun. And people understand tax free and they understand pennies on the dollar leverage. And I think that's important when you're looking at self-funding. Because again, if you don't have a plan, your money is your plan solution. Long term care solutions are just a better way to self-fund.

Speaker 2 00:39:18 I love your, you said an umbrella, and I think that's a great word because, you know, most people, at least most people that I work with. Alicia, I'm not as concerned financially about a two year or three year need. It's that five or more, five years or more need, which, as you said, is 1 in 5 people need care for more than five years. And I think, you know, typically if you're in a facility, if you're if you need care after four years, it's probably some sort of dimension in the care.

Speaker 2 00:39:49 The average is what, closer to 7 or 8 years. Is that right?

Speaker 4 00:39:53 It's 8.2 and I think that number is going up. Those are old numbers. I think it's more we're probably going to see about ten years on average in the next few.

Speaker 2 00:40:02 My dad was institutionalized for 11.5 years with vascular dementia. So I certainly have felt that myself. and, you know, and that doesn't mean if you're listening, that doesn't mean for those listening that you need care to cover the entire stay. You have income, you have an income plan for your retirement and all those things. So you have some resources that can go to it. That's why I like the term umbrella. And you mentioned Alicia. You know, there are annuities, life insurance that can help plan for this, with IRS code. that means we have an asset that can then be used for long term care. Now, how is that different than actually having traditional long term care insurance?

Speaker 4 00:40:45 So I like to use the analogy owning your contract versus renting it.

Speaker 4 00:40:50 So most of you listeners probably have heard of traditional long term care. Again, I like to use renting versus owning traditional long term care insurances like renting. It's the cheapest way to buy the most amount of long term care coverage. However, those rates can go up. I've seen, you know, in the 29 years I've been in the business, I've seen them go up anywhere from 15% to over to 300%. So, you've got the, you know, the rate increases, then if you die and don't use it, there's no death benefit and there's no exit strategy. These other alternatives, which I like to call asset based long term care. They're a little unique because if you live in a care, you have that tax efficient leverage. But if you die and don't need long term care, there's a death benefit associated with that. And I think people love being able to say, well, hey, I put my money into this vehicle, but if I die and don't use it, somebody is going to get something.

Speaker 4 00:41:45 And there's always an exit strategy with those. So again, you're owning your policy versus renting it. Listen I don't care which solution you have. The best solution is the one that's in place. But I think more people are going to gravitate towards these newer types of policies that are written on those life insurance or annuity policy contracts.

Speaker 2 00:42:06 Yeah, the ownership is a big thing. you know, it's like owning a house versus a renting house. If I rent a house for ten years and then move, I don't own anything. but then also the the the inability to control how much the policy is going to cost in the future if you have one of these insurance based contracts with annuities or life insurance that Alisha is talking about. Many times you're guaranteed to never have that. You know your cost. If you have, life insurance is guaranteed to never go up. Now, that may depend on your plan. And I do want to mention, if you know, if you have an old policy that's traditional policy, you probably don't need to get rid of that.

Speaker 2 00:42:43 You just need to incorporate that into your overall planning. And, you know, you probably need to manage the premium increases as those come along. Alicia, the long term care insurance has changed quite a bit over the years. When does somebody let's back up 30,000 foot view. When should somebody what age should somebody start really looking at a long term care plan, whether that's some mix of insurance and self-funding or whatever somebody's going to look at.

Speaker 4 00:43:17 Liz and Jim, you've never been younger and healthier than you are today. So I would encourage people to to start looking earlier. You can get long term care coverage on any chassis. Typically from ages 30 to age 85. Obviously, the younger you are, you're going to be healthier and it's going to be less expensive. So you hear people out saying, oh, you should get it at age 60. Well, that's that's not entirely true in my opinion, because, even if you can't afford a full, you know, comprehensive plan, a Cadillac, you can at least put something in force and you're guaranteeing that insurance because we don't know what can happen.

Speaker 4 00:43:54 Five, ten, 15 years, our health can change. So you're locking in those rates when you're younger, when it's less expensive, and you have coverage that's going to cover some of that cost. And then if you're younger and you buy a policy, you can layer on more in the future. But I would encourage you to start looking at it earlier rather than later, because as we age, we do begin having health issues, and that can cause the cost to go up. And it can limit the amount of coverage and the amount of solutions that are available out there.

Speaker 2 00:44:24 Absolutely. And I'll just add one of the great things about some of these asset base plans is you can fund it by the time you're retired, and then once you're retired, you don't have to worry about funding. It is completely funded at that point. Alicia, thank you so much. Time for being with us today. if you have more questions about long term care and how to plan for this risk, it is one of the core benefits that we plan for because it should be a core part of your financial plan.

Speaker 2 00:44:48 And we do that at Brogan Financial. Thanks for tuning in this week. You've been listening to More Living with Jim Brogan right here on Newstalk 987.

Speaker 6 00:44:56 Watch the views expressed by Jim Brogan and his guests are not that of Cumulus Media. Any discussion of financial, legal and tax planning strategies is not intended to be individualized advice and is general in nature. Always consult with your advisor for advice specific to your needs. This program's content does not represent a recommendation of any particular security strategy or investment by Jim Brogan or Brogan Financial, Incorporated.

In this episode of More Living with Jim Brogan, host Jim Brogan welcomes Andrew Henderson, owner of Fitness Together in Knoxville, to discuss practical fitness strategies for adults, particularly retirees. Andrew shares insights on building lasting fitness habits, debunking myths like needing hour-long workouts, and emphasizing strength training, consistent movement, and proper sleep. He encourages listeners to start small, find enjoyable activities, and prioritize internal health markers over scale numbers. The conversation highlights how physical fitness directly supports independence, confidence, and overall quality of life—reinforcing Jim's core message that good health is essential to truly enjoying retirement.

Automatically Transcribed With Podsqueeze

Jim Brogan 00:00:02 You're tuned into more Living with Jim Brogan, broadcast live from the Brogan Financial studios at Newstalk 9087, where old fashioned values, expert knowledge and genuine understanding come together to give you the retirement straight talk you deserve. Jim's a former National Advisor of the year recipient and a financial educator, and he's here today to talk about how you can live out the best years of your life. Jim and the Brogan financial team have been helping retirees and retirees across the southeast for over 20 years in their pursuit of financial independence. You can reach them during the week at 865862 6800. So sit back, relax and get ready to learn because More living with Jim Brogan starts now.

Jim Brogan 00:00:45 Hello East Tennessee, welcome to More Living with Jim Brogan, where it's all about living the best years of your life, your way. As you listen to Newstalk 987 w KCRW. You know, we all know we should exercise more. We should eat a little bit better, get more sleep, and take better care of ourselves. But knowing it and actually doing it are two very different things.

Jim Brogan 00:01:11 And you know, your health is your wealth. So today we're going to make fitness simple. No crazy diets, no impossible workout routines, and no guilt, just practical advice that can help you feel stronger, have more energy, stay active as you get older, and hopefully enjoy life a whole lot more, which is really the central theme of this show. Living the best years of your life your way. Our guest today is my good friend Andrew Henderson. He is the owner of Fitness Together here in Knoxville. We're going to talk about what really works when it comes to getting healthy, and just as importantly, how to make it last. Andrew, it's great to have you with us. Thank you for coming in for calling in today.

Andrew Henderson 00:01:55 Good morning Jim. Thanks for having me.

Jim Brogan 00:01:57 Yes, sir. Andrew. Tell us a little bit about your story and your background. How did you get into fitness and and talk about starting up fitness together? I guess it's been what, 20 years? Almost.

Andrew Henderson 00:02:10 Yeah. next year will be 20 years for the North Shore location. And the Farragut location was actually opened up 20 years, this year. So. Yep. It's been it's been a long ride. I can't believe it's been that that long, but, So, yeah, to answer your question, Jim, you know, I came to Knoxville, probably 30 years ago or so to start grad school, and, I was a starving graduate student and, took a little weekend class and personal training and started just by putting flyers up around campus and training people at the rec center or at apartment gyms and, you know, got hired on by a local gym and spent ten years there. I found that I really liked helping people. That's why I originally came to the sports psychology program, was to help others. But I found that personal training and fitness was really a way that I could do it in a hands on way for people who were already motivated to make a change. And so I've been the personal trainer for over 30 years now, and, it's about on how to do and, you know, I'm really fortunate.

Andrew Henderson 00:03:14 We've got four studios, close to 20 trainers, over 300 clients in Knoxville. And, it's been a blessing.

Jim Brogan 00:03:22 Well, you say it's the only thing you know how to do. I'd say you know how to run a business, too.

Andrew Henderson 00:03:27 Yeah, well, I learned I learned that along the way, for sure, with some help. so. Yeah, you know, but I think because I had the background in training, I kind of knew how to look for other talented trainers and helped them develop. And, so, yeah, it's all part of the package for sure.

Jim Brogan 00:03:45 So after working with so many different people over all these years, Andrew, what have you learned about why some people succeed at getting healthy while others struggle?

Andrew Henderson 00:03:56 Well, that's a great question. I think a lot of it has to do with how mentally committed they are to to truly becoming healthy and realizing that shortcuts don't work in the long run. and also, I think having the support system around them, you know, having a family that encourages them, having a accountability.

Andrew Henderson 00:04:18 Accountability. but but really understanding that, you know, the time and money that they spend in their fitness is truly an investment to add on quality and years to their lives. it's a certain mindset where if we can help them to create the habit of exercise and the discipline to do it on the days that they don't want to do it. those are the people who really get the most out of the program and who really are able to flip that switch and make that lifelong change.

Jim Brogan 00:04:46 Andrew, what do you think most people get wrong about fitness?

Multiple Speakers 00:04:53 I think some people.

Andrew Henderson 00:04:55 Think it's something that they, they, they need to. To do for a certain amount of time they need to lose £20. Rather than they need to become a healthier person who exercises for the rest of their life. I think they look at the short term goal rather than understanding. They have to change their who they are as a person. In some ways, they have to become a person who exercises and eats healthy in order to lose the £20 and not gain it.

Andrew Henderson 00:05:22 And more importantly, you know, be healthy for life. I think some people get fixated on on fads and gimmicks that come and go, rather than really buckling down and committing to to do the things that that we know work in the long run.

Jim Brogan 00:05:36 You know, you mentioned the scale. I want to lose X number of pounds. Should we stop making the scale? The star of the fitness conversation.

Andrew Henderson 00:05:45 Yeah, absolutely. I think, you know, there is an argument to be made that people who are overweight have higher risks for certain diseases, and we don't want that. But I think sometimes people get so hung up on the number on the scale that, they get discouraged too quickly if the number doesn't move. I think we look at things like blood pressure, body composition. blood lipid profiles, really true health indicators. Whereas the number on the scale can fluctuate up or down just 2 or £3 in a week due to water weight, due to, you know, time of the month for certain women.

Andrew Henderson 00:06:22 So, you know, the number moves up and down on the scale. but what what we really need to focus on is the internal health. lean muscle mass, strength, flexibility, your heart health, your lungs, all the things that are going to allow you to be a healthy weight, to have to come first before we worry about the weight itself.

Jim Brogan 00:06:42 I think that's extremely. Well. Say it. I mean, we know we have a in the United States. We have an obesity epidemic, but it's the other things. The focus just on the scale can really lead us and can lead to things like food disorders and all kinds of things. And and we'll get into fitness here before long, here in our next segment. But how do you know? How does someone know when being a little out of shape is actually starting to affect your quality of life?

Multiple Speakers 00:07:14 I think, you know.

Andrew Henderson 00:07:15 Because you're no longer able to do or no longer enjoy the things that you used to do. You know, for example, we have some clients who play tennis.

Andrew Henderson 00:07:25 And so, you know, when they're so sore that they can't play the store for a week after they play a couple of matches of tennis, that's not good because they're less likely to want to do it again. Or people who are out of breath now by going up and down the stairs. So those are little signs, you know, maybe maybe your jeans don't fit anymore. so you don't feel quite as good in your clothing, and I think it can kind of turn into I think sometimes people get discouraged by that. And they. And then it becomes a bigger problem. I think that the key is to hey, if you are an extra £10, let's let's nip that in the bud. If you are out of breath when you're going up and down the stairs and that's not normal, let's do something about it now before it becomes a bigger problem. Don't don't let don't let it snowball.

Jim Brogan 00:08:09 Andrew, when we talk about fitness, you know, the federal physical activity guidelines recommend that adults aim for 150 to 300 minutes of moderate aerobic activity per week, plus muscle strengthening activity at least two days per week.

Jim Brogan 00:08:25 And that sounds like a lot. But when you really break it down, 150 minutes is roughly 22 minutes a day. So, Andrew, if 20 or 25 minutes a day can make a meaningful difference, why do we get why do so many of us still believe we need an hour in the gym?

Multiple Speakers 00:08:45 I think I think people are.

Andrew Henderson 00:08:49 To their own fault, perfectionists. They feel like it has to be the perfect workout. They have to get everything done. I think part of it's that I think part of it is, education. People still don't do the math. They think 150 minutes a week, but they don't break it down like you just did in daily, daily amounts of exercise being 20 minutes a day. I think sometimes people use it as an excuse because, you know, for a lot of people, exercise is hard. It can be uncomfortable. and so that's their excuse. I think there's so many different reasons. is there to break it down, to get points to bring up, though?

Jim Brogan 00:09:26 Andrew, is there an age when it's too late to get stronger and significantly improve your fitness?

Andrew Henderson 00:09:33 No, absolutely.

Jim Brogan 00:09:36 Don't really need to say any more to you. yeah. And actually, and I know you're not a doctor, but, and I'm not either. but we've had we have doctors on the show, and, and I just attended a conference, in California. And it was for financial advisors. But the topic was your. One of the topics of the keynote speaker was your health is your wealth. And he was an expert on brain health. And, you know, we know from Doctor Jeff Johnson, who's been on our show that you can reverse cardiovascular disease. And this doctor says we can we can reverse we can make the brain younger as we age. That's so refreshing to know that at any phase in life we can make positive impact.

Andrew Henderson 00:10:24 Yeah, absolutely. We have a lot of clients who don't even start. Wait, they've never touched a wait before, and they're coming in in their 70s and sometimes even in their 80s, and they're still getting stronger. They're working on their balance. They're able to go out and do things that they weren't able to do, you know, for years.

Andrew Henderson 00:10:39 So no, you know, the the honest answer is, is the longer you wait, the harder it can get. Because we've got other ailments and, our hormone levels especially, you for men, we lose testosterone. It can be harder to build muscle, but it's not impossible. And you can still make a drastic improvement in the quality of your life at any age. If you're willing to, you know, just dedicate a few minutes a day towards it.

Jim Brogan 00:11:02 Absolutely. You know, I'm Andrew, Monday, two days from now, I will be 57. And I'm going to have to admit, over the last 3 or 4 years, the, the, the importance of health. And I've always I mean, I've been working out with, with you and, and with your trainers at fitness together for almost 20 years now. So I've always taken health seriously, but it's really starting to be driven home because, you know, you have ailments that come up and things here and there. So for those of you listening, you know, you may recognize yourself in this conversation and know it's time to make a change.

Jim Brogan 00:11:43 But where do you begin? So we're going to get to our first break. When we come back, we're going to dive in with Andrew about how we get started, if it's been a while or if you have been doing some but need to do more, how can you stay more disciplined? So stay with us. This is more living with Jim Brogan here on Newstalk 987.

Jim Brogan 00:12:05 Welcome back to Newstalk 98. Seven's Brogan Financial Studios or Jim Brogan is coming to you live with important news and advice to help you achieve your dream retirement. Get ready to learn and live. Here's your host, Jim Brogan.

Jim Brogan 00:12:19 Welcome back to More Living Here on Newstalk 987 Wookey I'm Jim Brogan, we're with you every Saturday, 9 to 10 a.m. and again from 3 to 4 p.m. and we're visiting with Andrew Henderson today. He is the owner of fitness Together. They have four workout studios here in Knoxville, one on one training and small group training. I've been I've known Andrew for almost 20 years. 19 years, I think it is.

Jim Brogan 00:12:45 And, he's become a friend over the years, does a great job at investing in the health of our community. And Andrew, if someone has not exercise regularly in, say, 5 or 10 years, what should they do first?

Andrew Henderson 00:13:01 I think, you know, I think the first thing is just to start with, you know, it depends if you have some health issues I always recommend go get a physical if you're dealing with some things and make sure that everything's, you know, working as it should. But then, you know, I think the starting easy, I think people try to do everything at once. And that can be a trap because you tend to get overwhelmed. And then why not not doing anything but find a routine that that's too easy to quit. So that might be walking, you know, around the block, start small. Maybe it's a push up every morning. maybe it's sitting up and down out of your chair five times. Just start to move. if you find that it's still a struggle, then, find a partner that you can do it with.

Andrew Henderson 00:13:45 I think accountability that you said earlier is really important, especially when you're getting started again. The goal is to create momentum. when you haven't done anything for 5 or 10 years, you've got inertia. That's a lot of inertia to overcome.

Jim Brogan 00:13:58 It is.

Andrew Henderson 00:13:58 You need to just get moving first, get the car back on the road, get the ball rolling, and so start small. Just any any movement will help create that momentum. And then, you know, gradually allow that to become more and more of a true workout routine. Obviously it's personal trainers. We specialize in working with people who have been sitting on the bench for for years for different reasons. and so what we like to do is do a full assessment first, just to make sure that we understand the body and that we don't put it in any positions that could that could hurt the body. it also allows us to show progress with the clients when they get started, but with or without personal training, my advice would be just find something that you enjoy doing or that you can at least tolerate doing.

Andrew Henderson 00:14:44 And start with that as your first habit.

Jim Brogan 00:14:47 Andrew, if I could only give you 20 minutes a day, what would you have me do?

Andrew Henderson 00:14:54 20 minutes a day. So three days a week we would do some kind of strength training exercise, probably a squat or a deadlift for your lower body, push up or some sort of a press for your upper body, shoulders and chest and some sort of a pulling exercise, like a row, a pull up or a pull down the strength in the back of your body. and I would do that every other day. On the days in between, we would do some sort of, cardiovascular exercise, biking, elliptical, walking at a brisk pace, and then, on the seventh day, I'd have me do just a nice, gentle stretching flexibility program to keep everything loose. So three days a week of strength, three days a week of cardio, and one day a week of stretching. that would be a that would be my first suggestion.

Jim Brogan 00:15:41 You know, you mentioned stretching.

Jim Brogan 00:15:44 you know, we look at strength. You mentioned resistance training. Certainly cardiovascular. You know, cardio, exercise, flexibility, balance. As we get older, does one thing become most important?

Andrew Henderson 00:15:58 Well, different people have different needs. We're all we're all unique. I feel like strength is really probably as we get older, the thing that becomes the biggest issue and strength can, can drive things like balance, strength can balance, drive things like flexibility. They really all work together. You know, we're designed as a system, not not individual parts, but a system of muscles, of of nerves, of health. It all works together. So it's really hard to separate one from the other. A stronger person will probably be a better balanced person. A better balanced person will probably be a more flexible person. So, I love exercises that address 2 or 3 of those things at once. So we're really covering a lot of ground.

Jim Brogan 00:16:43 Yeah, that was one of the things when I first came to see you years ago is you do a lot of functional training.

Jim Brogan 00:16:52 So it's not just how big can I make my bicep? It's functional training that mimic things you do in real life, bending over to pick things up, pushing things, things like that. And that's been very worthwhile for me. talk about the importance of sleep, because I think that gets undercooked in our health. And I'm learning as I get older and I'm exposed to more and more things and deal with more and more things. Sleep becomes more and more important. So can you talk a little bit about sleep?

Andrew Henderson 00:17:23 Yeah. And you know, I'm not too far behind you. I'm 54, so. And I noticed in the last five years sleep has been harder to get at least good quality sleep for me. so, you know, sleep really is when our body repairs itself. Both. Both mentally and physically. if you're not getting adequate sleep over time, I think you're really going to you're going to suffer. I think, you know, cognitive decline has been shown to be linked directly to poor sleep, being ill, feeling stressed.

Andrew Henderson 00:17:53 If sleep is really. I think you're right that that is the pillar of health that is most overlooked and might be the most important. If you're chronically tired, you're going to make poor nutritional decisions. More likely, you're not going to have the energy to exercise. You're going to have brain fog more likely to have accidents. It really, really has a huge impact on the rest of our life. so, you know, a couple of tips for sleep. I think exercise can help you with regular sleep. I think putting down the phone an hour before you go to bed and not looking at screens has been shown to be helpful. finding a meditation or a breathing technique that helps you kind of calm down and relax. I think Americans are more stressed than ever, and that can really impact our sleep. Things like alcohol become more detrimental to our sleep, so try not to drink before bed. Avoiding caffeine. You know, maybe after 12 or 1:00. All these little things can work together to either help us sleep better or worse.

Andrew Henderson 00:18:52 Dark rooms, cool rooms. We could have a whole episode just on sleep.

Jim Brogan 00:18:57 Yeah, I'm I and I've just learned recently that the screen time. iPad or something like that is actually more can disrupt us more than watching TV. That's a little bit of a distance away. And I learned from a doctor that I've spoken with recently that, you know, when we have the screen close to us like that, it almost makes the brain feel like the sun is coming up. So it's just it's just kind of one thing after another. But, you know, I just, I, I think sleep is one of the most important things we can focus on from the things that I've been learning. what are 2 or 3, Andrew. Simple exercises or activities that almost every adult would benefit from doing regularly, let's say weekly.

Andrew Henderson 00:19:47 I think first is walking. if you can jog, then jog. If you can walk them, walk if you like to hike. But just moving. You know, we were designed to move, not to sit at our desks.

Andrew Henderson 00:20:00 so that would be my first recommendation, I think some sort of a lower body exercise to help your legs stay strong. Squats, deadlifts. Lunges. Climbing up and down stairs. You can do those with no equipment, just body weight. Or maybe a light dumbbell. in some sort of an upper body exercise to give your arms and shoulders and your core strength. So push ups are really hard to beat because they do train the core. They train your chest, your shoulders, your triceps. If I can add a fourth one, then it would be some sort of a row. You could use even a resistance band anchored around the bedpost, but something where you're pulling back or using your upper back muscles. And that's really important for a lot of reasons. But to keep our back strong, to help with posture, with our shoulders, especially with the technology that we're exposed to all day and the positions that it puts us in.

Jim Brogan 00:20:51 You know, you're mentioning a lot of things that don't require a lot of fancy equipment.

Jim Brogan 00:20:55 Can you expand on that a little bit? Because I think that's sometimes where people get tricked up a little bit.

Andrew Henderson 00:21:01 Yeah. You don't need much. you can certainly invest thousands of dollars, but, you know, for about 100 to $200, you can have a nice, set of home equipment. And that's really all you need. you know, listen, gravity has been around forever. That's all we need. You know, we've had very fit people who never had all the machines that we've had access to. So it's simple, you know, there's about 6 or 7 different movements we should be able to do squatting hinging from the hips, which is like a deadlift, some sort of a lunging, pushing things, pulling things and then pushing and pulling things over our heads. If you do those things on a regular basis with light weights, resistance bands. that covers about 95% of what you need to do.

Jim Brogan 00:21:47 You mentioned sitting. You know, many Americans spend enormous portions of their day sitting, were at work in the car, watching television on our phones.

Jim Brogan 00:21:57 You know, someone can exercise in the morning and still spend most of their day remaining pretty sedentary. So if I work out for 30 minutes and then sit for 8 or 9 hours, what can I be doing throughout the day?

Andrew Henderson 00:22:11 I would definitely recommend getting up for walk breaks, for stretch breaks, you know, every 30 to 60 minutes if you're able to, you know, you can do squats from your chair. You can continue to do little mini workouts throughout the day. You know, do some arm circles, do shoulder shrugs, tap your toes as much as you can, you know, try to get, try to move, you know, however you're able to do it. We were designed to move, not to sit. Sitting is probably the number one cause of lower back pain because we're not we're not in the position we were designed to be in.

Jim Brogan 00:22:45 We're visiting with Andrew Henderson. He's the owner of fitness. Together they have four locations here in the Knoxville area. Become a good friend over the years.

Jim Brogan 00:22:53 We come back. You know, we know in many cases we know what to do. The problem is getting ourselves to do it. So when we come back, I want to talk about some of the excuses we use and how we can overcome those. I also have my dollars and cents segment. What is the most overlooked area in retirement planning today and what can you do about it? This is Jim Brogan. You're listening to More Living Here on Newstalk 987 W Cokie.

Jim Brogan 00:23:20 Welcome back to Newstalk 98. Seven's Brogan Financial Studios or Jim Brogan is coming to you live with important news and advice to help you achieve your dream retirement. Get ready to learn and live. Here's your host, Jim Brogan.

Jim Brogan 00:23:35 This is more living with Jim Brogan, where it's all about living the best years of your life, your way. And you know your health is your wealth. The number one thing we can invest in is ourselves and our health. We're visiting with Andrew Henderson today here on Newstalk 987. And we're talking about he's the owner of Fitness Together.

Jim Brogan 00:23:53 We're talking about how we can get over those hurdles. in a in a second. I want to get into motivation, myths, excuses, things like that. Before we get back to Andrew, however, it is time for dollars and cents.

Multiple Speakers 00:24:08 Want to be sure you are getting the most out of your retirement for all the years of your retirement. That's the primary goal of Moore living with Jim Brogan and our dollars and Cents segment, where we provide you with an important financial tip that will help positively impact the quality of your life and retirement. And now, here's Jim with this week's dollars and cents tip.

Jim Brogan 00:24:32 What is the most overlooked area in retirement planning today. And to me, in my opinion, it's no question it's income planning. And now why is that? When you retire and and what is income planning? I mean, income planning is or involves things like when should you be drawing your Social Security? How if you're married, how does the spousal election and spousal benefits and potential widow benefits down the road? How does that affect all that? How do you take your life savings and convert that into stable income? That doesn't depend on the stock market in the short term, but yet can grow in the long term? We know the market is the best way to keep up or beat inflation in the long term, but we get no short term stability.

Jim Brogan 00:25:23 So putting all this together can be very challenging. And if I could name one reason why, the biggest thing is we take on a new risk when we're retired, you know, a 62 year old who's going to work for eight more years and a 62 year old who's going to retire in a year. More than likely could not be any different in terms of what they need from their financial and wealth management plan, because one of them is about to enter a distribution and income phase of life where he or she's going to need to start withdrawing money from their life savings, whereas the other one's going to still wait eight more years. So, you know, the risk we take on when we retire and really when we get close to retirement is what I like to call market timing risk. In the industry, we call it sequence of return risk. You know, specifically when are the good years in the stock market and winter the bad years? When do they happen? What if they happen in that last year or two right before retirement? Do you still feel like you can retire? Actually, it's even more harmful if you get significant decline and realize that significant decline in the market in those first three or 4 or 5 years of retirement.

Jim Brogan 00:26:38 The problem is we don't have any control of those things. None. We don't know what the markets are going to do the two years before we retire. The first five years of retirement and markets are choppy and volatile. We know that given time over 15 or 20 years, markets have beaten inflation. But when we retire or get ready to retire, the timing of the good years and the bad years becomes much, much more critically important. And we don't have control. So we need a plan in order to manage that. How do we have some stable income in the short term? That does not depend on the stock market, yet have growth of income in the long term. So I want to invite you to my next class at Palace Happy State Community College. It's through there adult and community outreach and it is a one night class. Retirement income and in retirement. Excuse me. Retirement income planning. And it's a week from Tuesday. It's Tuesday, August the 25th. It's one night, two hours, 630 to 8:30 p.m..

Jim Brogan 00:27:46 It's at the Hardin Valley location. Easy parking, easy in and out. And I'm going to cover all the things that I think as much of the stuff as I think you need to know about income planning. in two hours, I'm going to talk about tax planning. I think our tax situation, is as important as it's ever been. You know what? How what do we make of the federal debt and the deficit spending? And what are the long term implications of that on on our paycheck, on inflation, all these things. So I'm going to get into all those ins and outs, including Social Security election, how to structure income. if you want more information. Again, it's Tuesday, August 25th, 630 8:30 p.m.. You can go to confidence with retirement confidence with retirement.com and you can click to register again. It is with Pelosi. State. Their course fee for the class is $39. You take care of all of that with Pelosi state I'd love to see you. Then again confidence with retirement.com Tuesday August the 25th at Pelosi State Community College.

Multiple Speakers 00:28:57 That's our dollars and cents segment for this week. You can find this week's dollars and cents segment and others by visiting Brogan Financial. Com.

Jim Brogan 00:29:10 Please check us out online. We've got a wealth of information there. You can follow us. You can. And when you follow us, what does that really mean? It means you're going to get our blogs. You're going to give our we send out a newsletter every two weeks with links to a lot of the content that we're creating at Brogan Financial, including many of our radio Much of our radio content. So do check us out at Brogan Financial Comm. We're visiting this week with Andrew Henderson. He is a fitness trainer. He owns Fitness Together of Knoxville. I've known Andrew for a long time. Your health is your wealth. And, Andrew, we a lot of times we know what to what to do or kind of what to do, but but the problem is getting ourselves to do it. So I'm going to give you four excuses, and I want you to give me the answer to my excuses.

Jim Brogan 00:29:59 Can we do that?

Andrew Henderson 00:30:01 I don't know, Jim, before is not many, but let's see what you got.

Jim Brogan 00:30:05 Let's see what I got. I don't have time.

Andrew Henderson 00:30:10 everybody gets 24 hours a day. that would be my first response. you have to make the time. You have to make it a priority. If it's important enough for you, you'll find the time.

Jim Brogan 00:30:22 Okay, here comes another one. I'm too tired.

Andrew Henderson 00:30:27 You'll be amazed at how much more energy you have if you just get into the habit of exercise. I guarantee you you'll feel better after you're done exercising and you'll sleep better, which will help you be less tired. You'll make better nutritional decisions, which will give you more energy, and you'll be efficient throughout the rest of your day, so you'll have more downtime to rest.

Jim Brogan 00:30:47 Yeah, there was a day. I gotta admit, Andrew, it was probably a week and a half, two weeks ago, and I had a workout scheduled with your trainer, one of your trainers, and man, I was so tired I did not want to go.

Jim Brogan 00:31:00 And I was like, I'm going to feel so much better. And I already had the session on the books, so I had that accountability. I went, and I mean, at the end of that session, I was so tired at the end of that day, and at the end of the session, I had so much more energy. Okay, here's another excuse. I'm too old.

Andrew Henderson 00:31:21 no, you're not, you're you're too old not to Not exercise would be my rebuttal.

Jim Brogan 00:31:27 That's a great rebuttal.

Andrew Henderson 00:31:29 Yeah. yeah. The older you get, the more important maintaining your strength is because we are going to naturally lose it. Otherwise we lose flexibility, we lose strength, we lose lung and heart capacity. So the older you get, the more serious this becomes. If you want to have a good life and enjoy the the hard work that you've put into your retirement planning, you have to have the health to do it. You're not going to walk around Europe if you're £100 overweight and have no leg strength.

Jim Brogan 00:31:59 All right, here's my last one. I hate working out.

Andrew Henderson 00:32:05 well, you're probably doing the wrong workout, then.

Jim Brogan 00:32:08 I think that's a great word.

Andrew Henderson 00:32:10 I think you need to find something you enjoy doing. Maybe it's pickleball, maybe it's hiking, maybe it's walking. I would change the word workout. I'd get rid of the word workout and maybe change it for movement. let's focus on movement. You know, For thousands of years, humans didn't go to a gym to work out. They moved, they gardened. They, they did their daily chores. Find things that get you moving first. And, once you start to be more open to the idea of doing some gentle strength training exercises to help complement that. But just focus on moving doesn't have to be complicated.

Jim Brogan 00:32:46 I love that because anybody can say I hate working out, but if you substitute the word moving in there, I mean, who's going to say I hate movement?

Andrew Henderson 00:32:56 Listen, I've been doing this for 30 years. I've been training for 30 years, and I don't love going to the gym and working out.

Andrew Henderson 00:33:02 It hurts. I'm sweating, I'm sore. But I do it because it's a discipline and because I know it's worth doing. But when you're first getting started in creating that habit, find something that you don't hate. Change yourself physically first, and then your brain will follow your body's lead. But you got to start moving.

Jim Brogan 00:33:20 All right, I'm going to have a couple things here I want you to tell me, are these fact or fiction okay, fact or fiction? You need to exercise for an hour for it to really count.

Andrew Henderson 00:33:31 Fiction. Any movement is better than no movement at all. In fact, it might be better to do a daily dose of 20 minutes a day than to do a 1 or 2 doses of an hour or two. I like the idea of consistency over perfection.

Jim Brogan 00:33:46 And we do know from Doctor Jeff Johnson, cardiologist, who's been on my radio show many times over the years, cumulative exercise matters. Parking further away at the grocery store. That accumulation through the day does matter.

Jim Brogan 00:34:02 Okay, fact or fiction? Walking is enough exercise to make a meaningful difference.

Andrew Henderson 00:34:09 That's complicated if you're not doing it, I thought that.

Jim Brogan 00:34:12 I thought you might say that when you heard that one.

Andrew Henderson 00:34:15 Yeah, that's not fair. If you're not doing anything, then walking is certainly a good step. If you're already walking, then I would challenge you to add on something more to work on. Your strength to work on, flexibility to increase the intensity of your cardiovascular exercise. But it's certainly a great start.

Jim Brogan 00:34:32 Andrew. How can we create consistency when life gets busy?

Andrew Henderson 00:34:40 schedule your exercise at a time when you're at least likely to be interrupted first thing in the morning. You know, maybe it's just ten squats and ten pushups in the morning. That takes literally a minute. But the key is to find a time and a plan that you can actually execute on. If the plan is too complicated or it takes too long, then you're not going to do it. So find something you can actually commit to.

Jim Brogan 00:35:02 that's a great word I want to finish with the bigger pictures. We visited with Andrew Henderson this morning because ultimately it's not just about looking better in the mirror, it's about living better and feeling better. So when we come back, building a body for a better life. So stay with us. This is more living with Jim Brogan here on Newstalk 987.

Jim Brogan 00:35:22 Welcome back to Newstalk 98 Seven's Brogan Financial Studios, where Jim Brogan is coming to you live with important news and advice to help you achieve your dream retirement. Get ready to learn and live. Here's your host, Jim Brogan.

Jim Brogan 00:35:37 Thanks for tuning in this week for more living here on Newstalk 987. Wookey. Do check us out online Brogan financial.com. Also my upcoming retirement planning. It's an income class. Income planning for retirement is a one night class at Pillow City. State is a week from Tuesday, August the 25th, 630 to 8:30 p.m.. Go to confidence with retirement.com for more information. You can also click the link to register. You can also call Pella City State directly at 5397169539716.

Jim Brogan 00:36:14 I'm sorry I said that wrong. 39617. We're visiting with Andrew Henderson. He is the owner of Fitness Together. Your health is Your wealth. And we're talking about fitness, nutrition, feeling better. Andrew, what is becoming physically stronger do for someone that has nothing to do with weight or appearance?

Andrew Henderson 00:36:38 Wow. So many things. I think injury prevention jumps to the top of the list for me. A strong body is an able body. a strong body is able to be independent for longer, rely on other people, rely on other people less. And as we age, that becomes important. a strong body is a confident body. you feel good about yourself? a strong person sets an example for their kids. For their grandkids.

Jim Brogan 00:37:09 Oh, yeah.

Andrew Henderson 00:37:11 You know, it's not just about you. You know, we want to be a good example for those that count on us and look up to us. And I think committing yourself to staying strong physically is really important. I think, you know, if you want to take it to the spiritual level, some people will.

Andrew Henderson 00:37:28 I think God gave us amazing bodies are incredibly intricate, and I think it's our duty to, you know, the body of the temple. It's our job to take care of our bodies. And so I think you're honoring your maker. If you want to believe in that, or you're honoring whatever it is that we came from, by taking care of your bodies. you know, it lets you feel when you're strength training, you're feeling the muscles that we were given to use. It really puts you back in touch with yourself. Rather than looking at a screen or just being bombarded with all the negative news. It focuses on what's most important, which is our own health.

Jim Brogan 00:38:05 Yeah. You know, you said your body is a temple. Amen to that. that's something that I needed to hear today. And I think many of us listening probably needed to hear. Andrew, how can exercise affect things that we deal with every day lets things like energy, sleep, stress and confidence. You've touched on it a little bit, but talk about how that affects us every day.

Andrew Henderson 00:38:27 I mean, exercise is one of the most powerful medicines you can get and it's free. exercise helps with cardiovascular health. It helps with skeletal health, bone density, strength. It helps psychologically so much, especially for younger people who are listening. If you have kids or grandkids, these kids are stressed out. the rate of suicide is higher than ever amongst teenagers. Exercise can help them relieve stress that can help them have confidence in themselves. it's it's amazing what regular exercise, nutrition and sleep can do for you. You know, I would argue that 80 to 90% of the medications out there are being prescribed because people are not exercising enough and are not eating properly and are not sleeping well.

Jim Brogan 00:39:19 Andrew. What is one thing, one habit that someone that's in their 40s or 50s today can start with? That their 75 year old self will thank them for.

Andrew Henderson 00:39:32 One habit. I think it depends on what I would say. just living a well-balanced life. I know it's not a habit, but finding 20 minutes a day to move, focusing on on sleep and hydration, eating healthy foods.

Andrew Henderson 00:39:51 You know, I forget the exact number. I believe it's every 60 to 90 days. Or many of our cells reproduce themselves. And the quality of that reproduction of the cell is based on the nutrition that we put in. Those are our building blocks. So, you know.

Jim Brogan 00:40:05 I think balance.

Andrew Henderson 00:40:07 Eating healthy now is literally an investment in your body's health in the future. But I think would be the key.

Jim Brogan 00:40:14 Yeah, I think balance I think that's a great answer. I mean, I believe in everything in moderation. It's hard to just completely eliminate things we love. I think balance is a great word. Andrew. You mentioned food, and I know we've just discussed this, this show. We've discussed fitness and really focused on that. But I heard a trainer years ago say once 70% of how you look, how you look and feel is what you eat. Can you touch on the importance of the food? and all these things?

Andrew Henderson 00:40:44 Absolutely. I think nutrition is vital. nutrition gives us the energy that we need to exercise.

Andrew Henderson 00:40:51 It gives us the building blocks to repair our muscles. and while we're, you know, recovering in between sessions. So I think a lot of people overcomplicate nutrition. You know, we've worked with our dietician, Heidi, and I like her philosophy quite a bit. It's, you know, fruits and vegetables should be part of every meal. focus on lean proteins, preferably. Or organic, especially if we're talking about animal proteins. alcohol and moderation. higher fiber. and keep it simple.

Jim Brogan 00:41:26 Absolutely. I'm all about, you know, people talk about lifespan. I'm more interested in health span. You know, I don't want to just live to 85 or 90. I want to be able to do things at 85 and enjoy life. And we know that our fitness and nutrition today has such an impact on that down the road. If you could convince every person listening today, Andrew, to make one change to improve their health, what would it be?

Andrew Henderson 00:41:54 I would encourage them to find an activity that they really enjoy doing that elevates their heart rate and that uses the muscles of their body.

Andrew Henderson 00:42:02 I think if you can find something that you enjoy doing and look forward to no longer feels like a chore. It feels like something you want to do. For me, that's bike riding. So today I want to do a bike ride because I enjoy doing it. It's fun. So find something that's fun for you to do. And create social networks and create a lifestyle that may include that.

Jim Brogan 00:42:23 Yeah. I think, doing physical activity that we enjoy, is a real key in all of this. Andrew, I know people know they should get started. It's like, oh, I'll start on Monday. I know the first step is often the hardest. What would you say to encourage people in terms of habits they can develop over? What is it, three weeks? You can develop new habits.

Andrew Henderson 00:42:51 You know, I'm going to recommend the book if I can. we've read this as a team and it's called Many Habits, Smaller Habits, Bigger Results written by Stephen Guys. And it's really helped to change the way I think about exercise motivation.

Andrew Henderson 00:43:04 And his point is, if you wait for motivation to come, you're going to be waiting for a long time because motivation comes and goes. To truly develop a habit you want to start with something that is so small that you can't fail. So for the author, it was literally doing one push up in the morning. That was it, one push up every morning. But then he turned into five push ups and then it didn't push up. So he created some momentum that that turned into a more, you know, complete exercise routine. So just find something that you can find a habit that's so small that you can't fail.

Jim Brogan 00:43:36 And then yeah, you mentioned motivation. There's a big difference in motivation and consistency right. You mentioned motivation can fail. But consistency is doing the hard things and B and creating consistency.

Andrew Henderson 00:43:47 You are not motivated to go to the gym. A few weeks ago after that long day where you.

Jim Brogan 00:43:52 Yeah.

Andrew Henderson 00:43:53 There was no motivation, but you had the accountability and you had the discipline, so you did it anyway.

Andrew Henderson 00:43:58 And that's that's the difference, right? There's getting to the point where this becomes like brushing your teeth at night. You do it even when you're exhausted.

Jim Brogan 00:44:08 Andrew, we are out of time. I've only got about 15 seconds here. How can people find out more about fitness together and get hold of you?

Andrew Henderson 00:44:15 Yeah, we'd love the chance to chat with you. Visit Knox. Pick the location and one of us will reach out to you as soon as possible.

Jim Brogan 00:44:24 Thank you. Andrew Henderson. He's with fitness together. Thanks so much, Tom, for taking time out of your busy schedule.

Andrew Henderson 00:44:30 Hey, I enjoyed it. Have a great weekend, Tennessee. Talk to you soon.

Jim Brogan 00:44:33 Thank you. Andrew. Today we've discussed your health because greater health provides for more living. So you can live the best years of your life your way. Thank you for tuning in. Have a great weekend. This is more Living Here on Newstalk 987 w Cokie.

Multiple Speakers 00:44:47 The views expressed by Jim Brogan and his guests are not that of Cumulus Media.

Multiple Speakers 00:44:51 Any discussion of financial, legal and tax planning strategies is not intended to be individualized advice and is general in nature. Always consult with your advisor for advice specific to your needs. This program's content does not represent a recommendation of any particular security strategy or investment by Jim Brogan or Brogan Financial, Incorporated.

In this episode of More Living with Jim Brogan, host Jim Brogan interviews outgoing Knox County Mayor Glenn Jacobs, who reflects on his eight-year tenure. Jacobs highlights key accomplishments, including job creation, major economic development projects, and maintaining low property taxes. He discusses priorities like infrastructure, smart growth through the Advance Knox initiative, school improvements, and balancing public safety with privacy concerns around Flock cameras. Jacobs also addresses fiscal challenges facing his successor. The episode concludes with Jim Brogan's financial advice segment, emphasizing the importance of long-term investing and not reacting to market volatility.

Automatically Transcribed With Podsqueeze

Jim Brogan 00:00:02 You're tuned into more Living with Jim Brogan, broadcast live from the Brogan Financial studios at Newstalk 9087, where old fashioned values, expert knowledge and genuine understanding come together to give you the retirement straight talk you deserve. Jim's a former National Advisor of the year recipient and a financial educator, and he's here today to talk about how you can live out the best years of your life. Jim and the Brogan financial team have been helping retirees and retirees across the southeast for over 20 years in their pursuit of financial independence. You can reach them during the week at 865862 6800. So sit back, relax and get ready to learn because More living with Jim Brogan starts now.

Speaker 2 00:00:45 Hello East Tennessee, welcome to More Living with Jim Brogan, where it's all about living the best years of your life your way. This is Newstalk 987, and I'm thrilled to be joined today by Knox County Mayor Glenn In Jacob's. We'll talk about the responsibility of the mayor's office as he finishes up his last month as Knox County mayor. We'll talk about his experiences, what's going on in Knox County, what many of the opportunities are, and many of the challenges that go with that as we move forward here in Knoxville.

Speaker 2 00:01:19 good morning, Mayor Jacobs. Welcome to More Living.

Glenn Jacobs 00:01:23 Good morning, Jen. Thanks for having me on.

Speaker 2 00:01:25 It's great to have you. Mayor Jacobs, what has been the most rewarding part of serving as Knox County mayor?

Glenn Jacobs 00:01:34 The most rewarding part is having that feeling that you've been a small part of something constructive. you know, I think about, for instance, the green heck deal with the biggest manufacturing economic development project in county history and being part of that, of keeping taxes low so that people can keep more money in their pocket. some of the stuff that has happened surrounding the school system. Education, literacy. Encouraging skilled trades. All of those things. it's give me that feeling that you've been part of something that's going to make a difference in people's lives. Obviously very small parts. There's a lot of other folks doing that work as well in a bigger way. But nevertheless, that's really cool.

Speaker 2 00:02:22 Yeah, I think that's a great word that you're recognizing other people. as we get into this interview, I do want to get into some of the things that are going on with growth and low taxation and things like that.

Speaker 2 00:02:32 First, I do want to ask you, mayor, what have you learned about leadership since becoming mayor?

Glenn Jacobs 00:02:41 You have to lead by example and also be a servant leader. something that struck me as one day I was in a bad mood, and I came to the office and I realized that everybody knew that I was in a bad mood. And they take their cues off of me, so I always have to have to, you know, be projected. I think things are good. and I can't show that I'm upset about something or mad about something or down about something, because that has an impact on everybody's mood and therefore their productivity. And also, I consider leadership, especially after this. Really, servant leadership is the only thing that works. And what I mean by that is not only am I a public service servant in a sense that I'm serving the people of Knox County, but, you know, as mayor, I don't go out and mow the grass. I don't fill the potholes. I don't do many of the things that we associate with local government.

Glenn Jacobs 00:03:32 It's the people on the ground that do that. And one of my primary responsibilities is to ensure that they have the tools and the ability to do their job.

Speaker 2 00:03:43 Mayor.

Glenn Jacobs 00:03:45 In a way, I'm serving them in that respect.

Speaker 2 00:03:48 Absolutely. How how would you how have you been able to stay connected to the needs and concerns of of Knox County residents in your tenure?

Glenn Jacobs 00:03:56 Yeah. for that's one of the really advantageous things about local government, I think when especially when you get to the federal government and your district is so big and you spend so much time saying, Washington, D.C., you know, it's it's a little bit more difficult because you just removed whereas in this case, I'm immersed, absolutely immersed in everything going on. So whether it's talking with people, whether it's looking at the news, whether it's folks calling in. All of those things keep you as mayor and as other local officials very much connected what's going on in the local community? In fact, that's for me personally. That's sort of been one of the things that's been most neat about this job is I've learned a lot of stuff that otherwise I never would have known if I hadn't been in this position.

Speaker 2 00:04:42 Knox County growth over your eight years, Mayor Jacobs has really been exceptional, and we've been able to do that without raising property taxes. Advance Knox has been one of your major legacy initiatives. What are some of the biggest priorities in Knoxville right now as we move forward?

Glenn Jacobs 00:05:00 Well, obviously infrastructure is a big one. The what we're trying to do is Advance Knox, and that will continue at the next mayor. We still have the Unified Development Ordinance, which is more down into the nuts and bolts of land use. But one of the one of the things that we're really trying to do is ensure that we're making better use of existing, existing infrastructure. What we've done in the past, because of our zoning and land use policies, it really encouraged urban sprawl, which results in higher infrastructure costs because it means more miles of road that we have to not only build, but also maintain. And all of those things. So what we're trying to do is really funnel residential growth into the arteries that already exist, the four lane state routes, so that we don't have to keep on building roads all over the place, like like we've done in the past, as well as encouraging Retail out in the county.

Glenn Jacobs 00:05:56 Our former zoning did not allow for retail businesses in many parts of the county. And so you look at a place like Hardin Valley where we have all this urban sprawl. But because of the zoning, we also couldn't have services out there that people like restaurants, just stores, all those sorts of things. So really, when I was talking about a town town center model, that's what it is, is having more out in the the county. not only do people have to not have to drive as much, which has an impact on congestion, but also it helps the county with sales tax receipts as well as higher property taxes from commercial businesses. So a lot of what went into advanced Knox is actually the thought of if we can utilize our infrastructure better, encourage retail out in areas of the county that currently can't, don't have it, that would have a big impact on our fiscal situation going forward. And we saw that with the consultants who we worked with to develop the advanced NOx plan, there was about a $8 million swing.

Glenn Jacobs 00:07:05 I think, between doing things that we currently are and doing things the way that we decided to do for the positive, by the way. So yeah, infrastructure, it's the biggest issue, I think, on everyone's mind. And that's not just in Knox County, that's really across the state and across the country. Another one is how do we take advantage of the innovation economy, all the things happening in Oak Ridge that has an impact on us, not only say with nuclear energy, but also things like computational science, just the entire innovation sector. One of the I mentioned greentech earlier, you know, the reason I'm so excited about greentech is that's going to provide economic opportunity for people on the east side of the county that didn't exist before. So it's the same thing that we look across the country. I think that everyone deals with. You know, everyone wants, they want safe neighborhoods. They want good roads, and they want good schools. And it's no different in Knox County.

Speaker 2 00:08:03 Is it kind of threading a needle a little bit between that line, between growth and expansion versus recognizing residential areas? And how do you walk that tightrope?

Glenn Jacobs 00:08:15 Well, yeah, that's what it is.

Glenn Jacobs 00:08:17 And that's what Vance Knox was all about, was really trying to ensure that we kept the character of our community intact, while also accommodating the growth that's happening here. that we're a great place to live. And that's why the growth is happening. You know, if no one's telling people, hey, or forcing folks to move here, they're doing it on their own accord because we're a great place. And as much as that can sometimes cause issues and challenges, I look at other parts of the country that have real problems, and those places in the country are the places that people are trying to get out of to come to places like Knox County, Tennessee.

Speaker 2 00:08:57 We're visiting with Knox County Mayor Glenn Jacobs as he wraps up his eight years in office. And we're talking about some of the great growth initiatives that are going on. It creates opportunities. It can also create challenges. In our next segment, we want to kind of dive into some of those. So stay with us. This is your living with Jim Brogan here on Newstalk 987 Waukee.

Jim Brogan 00:09:18 Welcome back to Newstalk 98 Seven's Brogan Financial Studios, where Jim Brogan is coming to you live with important news and advice to help you achieve your dream retirement. Get ready to learn and live. Here's your host, Jim Brogan.

Speaker 2 00:09:33 Welcome back to More Living Here on Newstalk 987. Watch as we visit with Knox County Mayor Glenn Jacobs. He's wrapping up his eight year tenure. Is it hard to believe? Mayor Jacobs, it's been eight years, and it's about to wrap up at the end of this month.

Glenn Jacobs 00:09:49 Yeah, it really is. I think as of today I have 31 days left in office. September 1st, 2018. You know you as soon you're going to get re-elected, so you assume you're going to have eight years and it seems like a long time and it has flown by and it's really kind of driven home to me. Yesterday I started packing up my, my office, to get ready for the transition. and want to do that. I want to put a get a jump on that.

Glenn Jacobs 00:10:16 Right. And I'm putting things in boxes thinking, man, where did the time go?

Speaker 2 00:10:21 Yeah, it really flies by. I, I would imagine in public office, I mean, we all as we get older, time flies even more and more and more I would imagine in public office that's even even a bigger, thing to deal with. Mayor Jacobs, under your leadership, we've really seen explosive growth the last eight years. We've added over 2500 jobs, I believe, seen over $200 million in capital investment. You've remained committed To creating opportunities for everyone to thrive in an engaged and vibrant community. You prioritize jobs, education, recreation. But we've been able to keep property taxes down. I know that you've been very committed to not raising property taxes. Can Knox County continue providing high quality services without increasing property taxes and other tax rates?

Glenn Jacobs 00:11:14 Yes we can. And we've been able to manage that through through organic growth. Frankly, every year we factor in about a 1.5% of property tax growth. That's just from just whether it's more whatever, more buildings, more homes, more businesses, or, you know, expansion of businesses and those sort of things.

Glenn Jacobs 00:11:39 Again, I think one of the most important aspects is to really increase our retail sales tax base and our commercial property tax. if we do that, certainly. You know. Yeah. That was that was one of the one of the drivers behind advanced knocks, was to offset residential property taxes by increasing the revenue stream of retail sales tax as well as commercial property tax, and not raising those taxes, obviously, but just getting more of that. so that's really the fine line, I think that mayors are going to have to walk. Going into the future is, you have to have growth in order to keep your property taxes low. at the same time, the growth does present issues safer and infrastructure and those sort of things. and I came into office and I followed Tim Burchett. And Tim Burchett is a true fiscal hawk. when I came into office, there really wasn't a whole lot that you could look at the budget and say, well, I can make these cuts. Here, here, here, here, here.

Glenn Jacobs 00:12:45 we did what we could, our spend per resident, adjusted for inflation, is actually a little lower than when Congressman Burchett was in office, which is really saying something because of what he did. so, yeah, you know, he has to make the decision that I'm not going to raise taxes. I'm going to figure out a way to get by. But at the same time, you know, the next mayor, whoever that is, is not going to, I don't think is going to be able to come in and say, we're going to be able to cut a bunch of stuff and cut the budget, in order to keep taxes low, because then you are starting to cut in some really essential services. so to me, it's it's just that formula of, of, of having the growth necessary to keep taxes low, but then also realizing that if you're not smart about it, and we've seen this in places like Nashville, not only does your infrastructure become overwhelmed, but also, you know, your, your growth, really causes tax increases.

Glenn Jacobs 00:13:48 And we've seen that there.

Speaker 2 00:13:50 Yeah there's a balance there that we've really got to manage. Knox County mayor has maintained a strong credit profile. Debt service obligations are expected to increase in the coming years. So talk about how important prioritization is for the next administration.

Glenn Jacobs 00:14:09 Yeah, sure. So years ago there was some interest only loans taken out which aren't now coming due. it was perfectly legal to do back when this happened. so. But now now we're. What we'll see is over the next several years is our debt service payments will go up. But, we've known that, and we've been putting money away. When I came into office, we had, I think, $15 million in the debt service fund. Reserve fund, which is specific for that. Okay, that's not the rainy day fund. This is this is a different reserve fund altogether. Now we have $34 million, which will get us through that increased, that time of increased debt service payments. But again, it's really prioritizing. You know, and we have to take out bonds to pay for certain things for new schools, sometimes for road projects.

Glenn Jacobs 00:15:05 That's just the nature of it. And unless we want to raise our property taxes exorbitantly, you know, we spread those out over years. That's just how it works. So you have to prioritize and say, yeah, we can do this project, but we have to wait on this project. We have to be phased in or all those sort of things. And look, if I had infinite amounts of money, there's a lot of stuff that I would have done, but we don't. And really, just like households, just like businesses you're dealing with, you have this much revenue and you have these many expenditures. How do you make that formula work?

Speaker 2 00:15:40 You know, I promise I won't go down this road, this rabbit hole, too much. Mayor Jacobs, but after you've run, helped run the county for eight years and fiscally conservative and and all those things. When you look at what our federal government's doing with their budget deficits and the spending and the amount of federal debt, how do you react to seeing that after being in public service for the last eight years?

Glenn Jacobs 00:16:06 Yeah.

Glenn Jacobs 00:16:06 It's breathtaking. We have nearly $40 trillion in national debt. you know, this new phrase has entered our vernacular. affordability. And what they're really talking about is inflation. And when you look at the real cause of inflation, it's not some mysterious phenomenon. It's the Federal Reserve prints money to support congressional spending. And as more and more and more money enters the system, it causes prices to go up because the value of each individual dollar goes down. It's really simple. And that is reaching a point now where it's becoming almost insurmountable. you look at the national debt. Look, it's probably never going to get completely paid off. And what I say by that is governments always build stuff. It's not like it's not like people where you buy one home and you're gonna have basically whether you stand at home, whether you sell it and move to another one, you know, we're always is. More people come in saying to the county or even the country as your as your population increases, you're always just building more stuff.

Glenn Jacobs 00:17:10 Okay. So what you really have to look at is your debt service payments. Okay. and when you look at the federal federal government's debt service payments, it's over $1 trillion a year now. So at some point, it's actually more than national defense. And at some point that overwhelms the budget. And then you get to the point to where you're just you're printing money like, Shelby County is taking out loans to cover their operational expenses. Well, it's one thing to take out a bond for capital expenditures. That's much like taking out a home loan. Something completely different when you're taking out money just for your year to year expenses, that's basically putting your groceries and all your other expenses on a credit card and not paying it off. That's what the federal government has done for many, many years. And frankly, if we don't turn that around, we're facing a monetary disaster at some point in the future.

Speaker 2 00:18:04 Yeah, I think a lot of things are going to have to change over the next ten years, but I promise you, we won't go too far down that rabbit hole.

Speaker 2 00:18:10 Let's get back to Knox County. seven. Oh, well, over half of the general fund supports Knox County schools. So what excites you about where we are in the school system and where and how can we improve?

Glenn Jacobs 00:18:25 Doctor John Ryswick has done an amazing job as superintendent, and it's really his philosophy that have taken our schools from, some of the not greatest in the state to some of the best in the state. You can see that with scores, you can just see that with everything that's happening. They started eight, six, five academies a few years ago. And and what that really does is it allows students to tailor their education, for the career pathway that they want to pursue by using electives. Certain schools offer certain electives. Those are the academies, right? And since that's gone into place, we've seen not only scores go up, but we've also seen behavior incidences go down. Because now I think a lot of kids can see the applicability of what they're learning in the textbook to real life.

Glenn Jacobs 00:19:18 so they've they've done a fantastic job. and they have more, more things coming. One of the things that I've been most excited about, is career technical education in the skilled trades. There's more emphasis on that now. on our side, we've done that as well. We have the Start Center, which is the Skilled Trades Academy and Regional Training Center, which is a collaboration with schools. So it's just been a really, really great time for Knox County schools. And a lot of the credit goes to Doctor Isaac and his team. Of course, all our great teachers and principals and the folks that make it happen. But I'm really proud of what they've done over the past several years.

Speaker 2 00:20:01 Mayor Jacobs, you know, you've got to talk about the flock cameras. I know that's a big thing right now. Where is the line between public safety and personal privacy? And and ultimately, give us your perspective on this.

Glenn Jacobs 00:20:14 You can have both. And I think we often get presented with the false choice.

Glenn Jacobs 00:20:18 We saw that during Covid where it was either health or freedom or health and the economy. in order to have healthy people, you have to have healthy economy. That's just the way it is. You can do both. And I would say it's the same here. the issue with the flock cameras is not not to get too far down that hole is it's completely new technology. when I first heard about them, I thought they were just, like, license plate readers. these are completely different. It's almost like comparing a smartphone to the old rotary dial landlines. and my biggest issue is there is no regulation surrounding those. In Tennessee, the laws for license plate readers were put in place in 2014. There was a very minor amendment in 2021 that really didn't have anything to do with the operation of the cameras. So and there's no federal regulation whatsoever at this point. So it really is the Wild West. And imagine you look at look at the advancements in technology since 2014. So I think we're putting everybody in a really bad spot by rolling these things out, but then not having regulation to ensure that they are not and cannot be used in the future.

Glenn Jacobs 00:21:36 for we saw what happened during Covid and I was mayor during Covid. And looking back, it's almost surreal to think about the amount of liberty and freedom that's taken away from individuals. And that's the bedrock of America is liberty and freedom. So certainly we want police to have every tool that they need to do their jobs. I think they can do that without infringing on personal liberty to the extent that these cameras currently could.

Speaker 2 00:22:10 Yeah. I mean, when you look at the issue on the surface, it's easy to say, well, it would be great to be able to use that technology to crack to catch child traffickers, people who've committed violent crime, even people who have stolen cars. The question is, where are the guardrails? What do you do with data? Where is the data served? Who audits the data? How long should that location data be retained? Am I kind of barking up the correct tree here?

Glenn Jacobs 00:22:36 Yeah, that's it is. There's just no regulation currently, and you've put police departments and local governments in a very difficult position of, you know, this isn't a port amendment.

Glenn Jacobs 00:22:51 I mean, we're talking about the Fourth Amendment here. You put them in the very, very difficult position of crafting their own policies when it comes to constitutional law, almost. So that should really be done at the state and federal level.

Speaker 2 00:23:04 Mayor Jacobs, kind of moving to future growth. How is Nassau County attracting new businesses while being sure to to support local ones that are already here?

Glenn Jacobs 00:23:17 Yeah. One of the biggest issues that the county has is we don't really have much developable flat land left at this point. So when we're talking about big manufacturing projects, that becomes very difficult for us just because of our topography. one of the things that our chamber really focuses on is a workforce that is conducive to 21st century global economy, which means concentrating on innovation and technology. folks would probably be surprised at how many engineering firms are either here expressing interest or expanding their operations. Again, you look at Oak Ridge, all the things happening in the nuclear industry. Most of the folks that actually work in Oak Ridge at the Doe, facility there live in Knox County.

Glenn Jacobs 00:24:11 So that has a big impact on us as well as any sort of really spin off industries, that that are going to take place because of the nuclear renaissance, where Oak Ridge is the heart of that in America. that gives us a tremendous opportunity. But it's really about thinking about the economy, where it's going. What we can do with the assets that we have and how we can minimize the challenges. And again, I would say the biggest challenge is our topography, how we can minimize the challenges. And I think our chamber has done a really good job of coming up with the strategy to address that.

Speaker 2 00:24:46 That's Knox County Mayor Glenn Jacobs. He's wrapping up his tenure here in the month of August. When we come back in our last segment with Mayor Jacobs, I do want to talk about moving forward. What's he excited about? What are some challenges we face? and what is ultimately does he want to leave us with, when it when he looks at, his legacy. So stay with us.

Speaker 2 00:25:07 This is your living with Jim Brogan here on Newstalk 987 Wookey.

Jim Brogan 00:25:13 Welcome back to Newstalk 98 Seven's Brogan Financial Studios, where Jim Brogan is coming to you live with important news and advice to help you achieve your dream retirement. Get ready to learn and live. Here's your host, Jim Brogan.

Speaker 2 00:25:28 This is more living with Jim Brogan where it's all about living the best years of your life your way. This is Newstalk 987. Wookey. We're with you every Saturday from 9 to 10 a.m. and again from 3 to 4 p.m. my upcoming class is Income Planning for retirement, and it's a one night class at Pelosi State Community College. It is on August the 25th. Tuesday, August 25th. It's a one night class for two hours at Pelosi State, Hardin Valley. You can find out more information go to. Confidence with retirement confidence with retirement.com and you can find out more information about the class and click to register directly with Pelosi State. Today we're visiting with Knox County Mayor Glenn Jacobs as he wraps up his tenure.

Speaker 2 00:26:14 And Mayor Jacobs, what are you most proud of after eight years as mayor?

Glenn Jacobs 00:26:20 I'm most proud that we haven't raised property taxes. I'm most proud that we've been able to, you know, before we come into office, I really wanted to thank man and be able to cut the ribbon on a project that creates lots of jobs for people. So that has happened as well. and also just the relationships that I've been able to build and the team that has come together. Again, it's not it's not me. It's everybody else who does all the work. I am part of that. But at the same time, the credit goes to so many other people. It's just really cool to be part of that.

Speaker 2 00:26:57 Yeah, that's refreshing perspective to hear that. What is the biggest challenge facing your successor on day one?

Glenn Jacobs 00:27:06 The biggest challenge will be infrastructure, land use, figuring out how to balance those things, figuring out how to have growth, which doesn't, impact your taxes, your tax rate, negatively, making sure that the infrastructure that's in place is doing what it should, as well as making decisions about new infrastructure to facilitate mobility and economic activity.

Glenn Jacobs 00:27:34 I don't think that that at this point that will be the biggest issue going forward. Some of the other stuff that other communities might face. I think that we're in a pretty good position and do a good job with. This is an ongoing challenge everywhere, but certainly it's top of mind for everyone across Knox County and Tennessee.

Speaker 2 00:27:53 You know, there's that old saying there's pain in progress. how should Knoxville balance growth while still preserving its character?

Glenn Jacobs 00:28:03 Sure. That's what Advanced Knox is all about. yeah. Ensuring that, you know, we're we're we're utilizing the existing infrastructure better, as well as saying, okay, you know, there are certain parts of the county, in certain areas that, you know, just is not it's not conducive to development. That's just the fact of the matter at this point. So it's just looking at the infrastructure and figuring out, okay, you know, what can happen here. And it's really, I guess, growing kind of from the inside out. And I'm looking at the the four lane highways.

Glenn Jacobs 00:28:41 That's where. That's where the development should be. Not to spread everywhere. Like and place like Hardin Valley, where it's just. That's that's a prime example of urban sprawl. You know, let's constrain that as much as possible while still ensuring that we have adequate housing stock. That's a big issue. ultimately, it comes down to supply and demand. we're above the national average when it comes to housing prices. We're an area that prides ourselves on the low cost of living. We have to figure that out as well. As, you know, things can happen with with regulation, with zoning that can help, but ultimately it's supply and demand that's driving that. So how do we how do we make sure that we have adequate supply but that it's not? it's not again, it's not overtaxing our infrastructure as well as just going everywhere, all across the county, which is something that people have strongly indicated they do not want.

Speaker 2 00:29:38 Yeah. You know, I've been here all my life, mayor. I was born in Knox County.

Speaker 2 00:29:42 I, I grew up in South Knoxville out of Alcoa Highway. I'm a South Knoxville boy. And, you know, Knoxville's a really, really attractive place. We're pushing. Seems like around 950,000 in our small area, statistical metropolitan area. And, you know, some of us worry about clicking over that million dollar threshold, because what that may do for future growth and preserving the character, of what makes Knoxville special. I do want to ask you on the housing stuff, it is becoming more and more difficult for young people to have home ownership. how can we balance the future growth of the county while still maintaining access to home ownership?

Glenn Jacobs 00:30:28 Yeah, that's a big question because really we're talking about economic development and workforce development. What we're seeing, these young people are being priced out of the housing market, so they're going other places. And that that's not a good thing for the future of our economy. we're we're seeing a lot of folks coming in from and a lot of this is actually factor out of our control.

Glenn Jacobs 00:30:51 And that is the fact that folks are moving here because we are a nice place to live because we have low taxes. They're moving from the high tax jurisdictions such as California, such as New York, and coming here to sell their home there for twice as much as a comparable home would be here. And then they just end up bidding up the price of housing. That's just how the system works. It's how the market works, you know? So part of it too, is nationally, is some of these places which have become basket cases, have a big effect on us because they're literally driving people away. And then those folks come here and again, because they're coming from an area where, for whatever reason, in many cases, it's it's because it's just the the way the high taxes, the way the government runs, things are more expensive there. So they can sell it for more there. And then they come here and then end up buying. Great. They come here. But then the the macro effect is our cost of living goes higher because of, frankly, Gavin Newsom in California and, you know, in New York and in those places.

Speaker 2 00:31:59 Yeah, there's a certainly economic reality, 101 there. It's a great place to live. You know, there was the old back even ten years ago, people in in more urban areas, you know, they would use a plan of retiring on the house, so to speak. They would sell their house in those urban areas or move to more affordable areas. But now that's both a blessing and a curse that we've got to manage as we move forward. what role do you think Knox County plays mayor in the overall future of all of East Tennessee. I mean, we're just seems like we're doing a lot of things right. We're fiscally conservative. Balanced budget seems like a low taxation. How do we lead all of East Tennessee?

Glenn Jacobs 00:32:41 Well, it's not just East Tennessee. It's the entire state. I can tell you that the rest of the state looks to Knox County because of the success that we've had. Being fiscally conservative while at the same time, all the things that we have going on that are very good things.

Glenn Jacobs 00:33:01 So it's not just East Tennessee, it's the entire state. and we are we are the capital of East Tennessee as far as economically and all those things that you think of, Knox County, is it? and that's something that I would tell the next mayor as well, is even though you're mayor of Knox County, the influence that you have and the effect that your decisions will have impact not only not only Knox County, but our entire MSA, the entirety of East Tennessee, and really the entirety of Tennessee. So it's even though you're you're mayor of one of one specific county, I think that your influence goes way, way, way beyond that.

Speaker 2 00:33:50 I completely agree with that. If you could leave listeners with one message about the future of Knox County, what would it be?

Glenn Jacobs 00:33:59 We are the best place to live and to work and to raise a family and the charges? To just keep charges, keep on making it better. Ultimately, that's what I had hoped to do while I was mayor, was to use the influence of this office to do what I could to make the best even better.

Glenn Jacobs 00:34:16 But ultimately, and it's really up to the people. it, you know, Knox County, Tennessee is a great place. Our government is a plays a role in that. I think that we're very, very good at what we do. But at the same time, ultimately it's the people that make a place a great place to live.

Speaker 2 00:34:37 Mayor, you've had such a fascinating career. You had a Hall of Fame career as a professional athlete, and then you decided to get into local politics. As you wrap up your term. What is next for Glenn Jacobs? Do you do you stay in? I mean, I notice you're you are supporting Marsha Blackburn in state government or are you looking at expanding your reach? What is next for for for Mayor Jacobs?

Glenn Jacobs 00:35:03 Well, I still have 31 days in office, and I will be working as hard on the last day as I was the first. and I really, I don't know yet, because, you know, I've never been the sort of person that plans my next step out, because life has a lot to say about that.

Glenn Jacobs 00:35:21 so, you know, it's just. I don't know, Jim. It's just a matter of seeing what opportunities might become available if I would like to do that. If I had my skill set, fits that or not. And we'll just have to see. I don't know any more than anyone else out there that's at this point.

Speaker 2 00:35:37 I think that's your sounds like letting things come to you and letting God direct our paths. There's a lot to that. Certainly. you got 30, 31 days. What? What goals? You you said you're going to be working as hard on August 31st as you did on day one. What goals do you still hope to accomplish as mayor?

Glenn Jacobs 00:35:55 Well, really, what I hope to do is get the next mayor off, ensure that they can be as successful as possible. and a lot of that is just helping them get a good start. And that will that will begin right after the general election. We know who the next mayor is going to be. in the meantime, just managing the day to day operations.

Glenn Jacobs 00:36:19 we're really happy operation Heroes Hill, which is our tiny home community, for homeless veterans. we'll be cutting the ribbon on that at the end of August. That will be the last like big initiative. And I think that's a great one to have as the last initiative. But mostly ensuring that the operations are smooth and not not leaving the next person with the mess that they have to clean up.

Speaker 2 00:36:43 Well, Mayor Jacobs, you've always been with us. You've always been very, very accessible. We've had you on just about every year you've been mayor. You've always been very, very transparent. So I just want to say thank you for your service. Thank you for your accessibility. And be willing to talk to Knox County residents through our platform and many, many others throughout the area.

Glenn Jacobs 00:37:04 Well, Jim, I appreciate that and it's always been a pleasure to come on the show. So thank you very much.

Speaker 2 00:37:08 Thank you. That's Knox County Mayor Glenn Jacobs. We thank him for his service. Certainly wish him the best in wrapping up his tenure and getting things in place for the next regime.

Speaker 2 00:37:19 When we come back, we're going to end with our dollars and cents segment. The market reminded us this week that headlines and long term investing are two different things. What can we learn from that? Stay with us. This is more living with Jim Brogan here on Newstalk 987.

Jim Brogan 00:37:37 Welcome back to Newstalk 98, Seven's Brogan Financial Studios, where Jim Brogan is coming to you live with important news and advice to help you achieve your dream retirement. Get ready to learn and live. Here's your host, Jim Brogan.

Speaker 2 00:37:53 Thanks for tuning in this week. It's more living with Jim Brogan. We're with you every Saturday here on Newstalk 987 Waukee from 9 to 10 a.m. and again from 3 to 4 p.m.. Check us out online at Brogan financial.com. You can click on radio. You can download or stream our shows from the last several years actually. You can also podcast us. You can go to Spotify or Apple Podcast to stay in tune. It is time now for dollars and cents.

Speaker 4 00:38:26 Want to be sure you are getting the most out of your retirement years of your retirement? That's the primary goal of more Living with Jim Brogan and our dollars and Cents segment, where we provide you with an important financial tip that will help positively impact the quality of your life and retirement.

Speaker 4 00:38:45 And now, here's Jim with this week's dollars and cents tip.

Speaker 2 00:38:51 The market is reminding us of the difference in headlines and actual long term investing, and that they are two very, very different things. So the month of July has been extremely choppy and volatile. Now, as we know, markets have continued to hit new highs. But it's interesting because in the month of July, a lot of the stocks, especially in the AI industry that have been leading a lot of the gains, have pulled back in the month of July. There's been more and more speculation about are we on an AI bubble? And we know that headlines, daily headlines are always focused on sensationalism to bring readers, to bring viewership, all of those kind of things. I know many of you are worried about interest rates. You're worried about inflation. Certainly worried about geopolitics, especially with Iran. But then strong earnings reports came out this week that really changed the entire conversation. And we saw I mean Microsoft this week. Well it was a 16 or 18% increase in one day when they announced their earnings.

Speaker 2 00:40:04 I mean, it's the largest increase in market capitalization for a single company in stock market history. And, you know, we've talked on this show about the fact that consumer sentiment has consistently been pretty low over the last year, year and a half, and has continued to, in many cases get worse. However, when we look at I would call that soft data. How do people feel about things? The hard data that comes in are people spending money. What is the profitability of US corporations? The actual hard data as it comes in has continued to be very favorable for the economy. I'm not saying we don't have challenges. We certainly we most certainly do. The main thing I'm trying to drive home today is that we don't want to let the daily headlines drive our investing in our decisions because, short term headlines can lead us to making big, big mistakes. You know, if there's several things, a couple things that I feel very, very confident about in today's market environment is that markets are completely unpredictable.

Speaker 2 00:41:18 They always have been. And I believe they will remain completely unpredictable and they can be very, very choppy and volatile. We never know when one cycle is going to end and another cycle is going to begin. And one of the real keys to being successful long term is one is to have a plan. two is to review that plan on a regular basis, at least annually and on your investment profile. That could mean, are you or are your funds in the right balance? You know, you may have picked your investments in your 401 or your IRA years ago and haven't really paid much attention to it. And you see it's continuing to go up and you feel good about it. But are you exposed to unnecessary risks? Have you rebalanced your portfolio? so it's keeping a very, very close eye on those things and not trying to time things. the key is not the timing of the market. The key is the amount of time that you're invested in the market, and that you have a plan for that.

Speaker 2 00:42:24 How can short term market volatility affect your plan? And the answer to that should be you have a plan to mitigate the impact of short term market volatility. How do you do that. You don't have a plan that that that depends on the stock market for short term results, because we never know what we're going to get in the short term. So, you know, if we are getting ready for retirement or already retired, our short term income needs should be we should not have to rely on the stock market for short term income needs. In other words, we should not be having to sell investments that can go up and down in order to generate income because inevitably the markets will be sharply down. And that means that when they are sharply down, you're going to have to sell investments while they're down and spend that money for income, and then that'll compound your loss. You'll never, ever come back. You know, it's okay to sell something when it's down and reinvest it, but you never want to sell it when it's down and spend it.

Speaker 2 00:43:32 So you've got to have a plan that doesn't depend on short term market results because it is a crapshoot. We don't know where the market's going to be a month from now or a year from now, but if I look out eight years, ten years, 12 years, the market's been the best way to fight inflation and not just in the segment with Glenn Jacobs. In one of our segments, we met Glenn Jacobs. We were talking about the issue with with the national debt and the amount of money the Federal Reserve is printed and flooded into our economy and the inflationary pressures that presents. You've got to have a plan long term to beat inflation, and that's market investment. But you got to be diversified. You got to take appropriate risk. You've got to measure your risk. But don't react too much to the big to the headlines, because the month of July has really reminded us that the daily and weekly headlines and long term investing are two very, very different things. Thank you for tuning in. This week we visited with Knox County Mayor Glenn Jacobs, and we talked about community because greater community provides for more living so you can live the best years of your life your way.

Speaker 2 00:44:43 Many thanks to Wayne for engineering the show and to Mary Caroline for helping produce the show. Have a very, very blessed week. You've been listening to More Living with Jim Brogan here on Newstalk 987.

Speaker 5 00:44:54 The views expressed by Jim Brogan and his guests are not that of Cumulus Media. Any discussion of financial, legal and tax planning strategies is not intended to be individualized advice and is general in nature. Always consult with your advisor for advice specific to your needs. This program's content does not represent a recommendation of any particular security strategy or investment by Jim Brogan or Brogan Financial, Incorporated.

In this episode of "More Living with Jim Brogan," host Jim Brogan welcomes Tamara Faye, owner of Aging Family Partners, to discuss the challenges of aging and caregiving. They cover physical and cognitive decline, legal preparedness, and care options ranging from assisted living to hospice. Tamara emphasizes the importance of family communication, caregiver self-care, and early planning. Local Knoxville resources, including senior centers and the Area Agency on Aging, are highlighted. Jim also addresses financial planning for retirement, empowering listeners to navigate aging with dignity and independence.

Automatically Transcribed With Podsqueeze

Jim Brogan 00:00:02 You're tuned into more Living with Jim Brogan, broadcast live from the Brogan Financial studios at Newstalk 9087, where old fashioned values, expert knowledge and genuine understanding come together to give you the retirement straight talk you deserve. Jim's a former National Advisor of the year recipient and a financial educator, and he's here today to talk about how you can live out the best years of your life. Jim and the Brogan financial team have been helping retirees and retirees across the southeast for over 20 years in their pursuit of financial independence. You can reach them during the week at 865862 6800. So sit back, relax and get ready to learn because more living with Jim Brogan starts now.

Speaker 2 00:00:46 Hello East Tennessee, welcome to More Living with Jim Brogan, where it's all about living the best years of your life your way. This is Newstalk 987 Waukee. Americans today are living longer than ever before. The average life expectancy. Is 80 years old. But now that's for a newborn. You know, if you're 65 today, it's it's more than likely you're going to live to be 90 or into your 90s.

Speaker 2 00:01:13 And as we age, we also have increased at health and self-care challenges. It's estimated that 70% of Americans 65 and older will need long term care at some point in their lives. That means a married couple has, right at a 50% likelihood that you'll both need long term care. And by definition, that means you need help. You cannot live independently for more than 90 days. Who's going to give this care? How long will we need it, and how are we going to pay for it? What do we need to do to prepare for care in our later years? What do we need to be looking at as we age? Our guest today is Tamara Faye. She is the owner of Aging Family Partners, which is a Knoxville agency that works with people to help find resources and develop plans to aid in caregiving as we age. Tamara started her career as a licensed physical therapist and went on to work in nursing homes as a licensed nursing home administrator and a certified dementia practitioner. Good morning, Tamara.

Speaker 2 00:02:16 It's great to have you with us. Thanks for coming on.

Tamara Faye 00:02:18 Good morning Jim. Good morning.

Speaker 2 00:02:21 Absolutely. Now that's interesting, your journey because you started as a physical therapist. So how did you transition into the elder care world? Like what led to that in your interest in pursuing elder care?

Tamara Faye 00:02:36 My grandmother, my grandmother, my maternal grandmother, I was 18 years old, and I said, I'm going to take on the world and I'm going to be a beautician. And she says, no, you're not. And she says, they work really long hours. They have to stand on their feet with their arms up in the air. She says you have to have your own following. And then she says, what if you ever get married? And heaven forbid, you have children and you and your husband divorced. Or maybe he passes away. How will you ever take care of your family with those long hours? So she says, I just had my first total knee replacement. I think you'd be great at getting people better after those type of surgeries.

Tamara Faye 00:03:16 And then I became a physical therapist assistant, which then led into becoming a physical therapist and on down the line. So it was my maternal grandmother that knew that when you're 18, you don't know everything. And I never left for years after that.

Speaker 2 00:03:33 Yeah, well, that's for sure. now, how did you eventually start aging family partners?

Tamara Faye 00:03:40 it was about almost four years ago. I'm middle aged. I'm 59 right now, but I started to have friends and family members who were calling me because their aging loved ones were starting to have falls and fractures, open heart surgeries, needing some type of care down the road that normally people don't really consider or know. And I always said to my husband, you know what? People are going to need me when there's some type of negative happening in their lives. And I hung up for my sister Amal, because her father was enduring a great deal of medical complications, and she was going to have to have him go to a nursing facility. And being a nursing home administrator, myself and a physical therapist, I was able to help her walk through those nuances that she needed to be aware of, to be best prepared on behalf of her family and her dad.

Tamara Faye 00:04:34 And as soon as I hung up the phone, my husband said, this is what you need to do is you need to help people navigate the complexities of aging because we don't know how to do that. And I said, well, I guess I don't fix my own car and I don't do my own taxes. I will be more than happy to help navigate families through this very challenging time called aging.

Speaker 2 00:04:55 Yeah. And it sounds like from here in your story and your interest and all that, it sounds like it truly is a passion and a and a life journey for you.

Tamara Faye 00:05:04 Yeah. Yes, yes. I always said the good Lord did not give me the ability to think beautifully like my mother or be able to dance. But I sure can love little old people. And I want everyone to know about as we age. We need to recognize that these people that are aging have never been 70 before. They've never been 80 before. We have never been middle aged before, and it's very hard to go through that, that aging journey and expect everyone to be perfect every time.

Tamara Faye 00:05:38 my my yearning for everyone to know is as you're sitting around a dinner table sometime in a very short period of time, you could be sitting around an assisted living table. You could be sitting around a table at a nursing home, at an activity. In a very quick moment, our life will change forever. And I want people to be prepared. That they have all that they need in order to live their best life now, and be planned for the future, so that they can still continue to live with their preferences and what they had dictated as their plan.

Speaker 2 00:06:11 That's a great word to merit a little bit about. Let's start with some of the physical limitations. of course, I've had you know, I'm good friends with Don Steiner, who used to be the host of around the House. And of course, she helped, you know, aging in place some of the things to have in place. But let's start with your physical limitations. And then, of course, I want to get into the mental.

Speaker 2 00:06:31 But can you start with how that starts to evolve and what we experience as we age?

Tamara Faye 00:06:37 Well, over time, we start to experience just a breakdown in all of our different systems. And whether it's the systems we can see, such as our ability to walk, our ability to lift, to carry, to drive a car. it's really the internal systems that also start to break down. So as we get older, we get stiffer. It's harder for us to move. We start to have arthritis. So our stability and walking and balancing and carrying groceries, getting up and down from a chair, being able to be reactionary because our reactions start to change. And so being able to press on the brake, being able to, you know, sit on the floor and play with a grandchild and get back up. We have weaker muscles. Our metabolism starts to slow down. Our blood flow isn't as strong as it used to be, so that can lead to more difficulty in being able to run and and play with our grandchildren, being able to even walk around the allotment.

Tamara Faye 00:07:39 So we have weaker bones. And so we need to be aware of fractures. currently, 1 in 4 people over the age of 65 will fall every year and 37% of those people will have some type of significant injury. So I want people to realize that as our bodies start to naturally break down, we need to be aware of what that impact will be.

Speaker 2 00:08:06 Now we can do some things to counter that, right as we still can. I mean, our movement is so important. What can we be doing before we get to that point?

Tamara Faye 00:08:15 I if I could say anything, it would be. Stay active. Not everybody is an exerciser, and I'm not here as a physical therapist to tell everybody they need to be exercising. But just moving the way that you would normally move. If you are sore some day, you have pain some day. Make sure you're getting up and you're moving. Whether you walk up and down your stairs at home, or whether you just walk around the block, do something that you love.

Tamara Faye 00:08:42 I have a very dear friend that loves pickleball. I know that's like a really, really big thing. just staying active if you like to swim. If you simply want to go walk around the mall. Anything that you normally do, whether you're lifting groceries, whether you're playing with grandchildren, the first thing is not an aggressive exercise program, but it is continuing to move and have a purpose to your movement every day. Many people volunteer. Many people go to church. Many people go visit other friends that are maybe unable to leave their home. Whatever it is, is leaving an active lifestyle. Doing something that gives you purpose and pleasure every day will help keep you going.

Speaker 2 00:09:25 Yeah, I couldn't agree more. You mentioned the. You know, we get stiffer, our bones get weaker. Movement to me with with people that I know to mirror. And it includes my father. I mean, once, you know, he had had an accident. He fell, hurt his hip. And at that point, he had to have a hip replacement.

Speaker 2 00:09:44 And he was pretty much wheelchair bound. And it was unbelievable how much, how fast he went downhill after he lost the ability to have that movement. So and I've seen that with, with, with several people that it's so important to, to make yourself get out and move. And as you say, you don't have to. It doesn't have to be intense exercise, just something that keeps you active for 30 to 45 minutes a day, even just just even walking through your neighborhood or whatever.

Tamara Faye 00:10:12 Absolutely, absolutely. And I know that that many times here in Tennessee, we have lots of hills and so forth. But just getting out and maybe making a date with a really good friend 2 or 3 days a week to go walk at the mall would be wonderful, because then you get the socialization. And I think that's very important that something that we learned really strongly through Covid was that we really isolated the seniors. And I was running an independent living assisted living in memory care at that time, and I had to keep my seniors in their apartment to help keep them safe.

Tamara Faye 00:10:46 We kept their families out and they really were isolated in their rooms. And I have to say that sometimes I think I may have lost more seniors to isolation, more than I did the Covid or any comorbidities that came along with the Covid. So if you can make an appointment with a very dear friend a couple of times a week, that gives you purpose, it gives you socialization, that gives you movement. And I think that would be the best thing that people can do is to connecting with somebody that they enjoy being around and doing something active.

Speaker 2 00:11:19 Yeah, I think that's a great word. Not only the movement, the socialization. One of the things I also is it creates routine. You know, I talk to some of that with, with retirees, Tamara, is that when you're really ready to retire, it's just important to develop routine in that first year of retirement because, you know, after a month or two, you know, if you don't have routine, it can. Sometimes people go downhill and don't thrive with that type of a of a lifestyle.

Tamara Faye 00:11:48 Absolutely. I think every day we still need structure. And I don't know if anybody remembers when we were raising our children. And it was summer break, and we all were so thrilled with summer break because we had no structure, we had no time frames. And then all of a sudden come July, we were like, oh my gosh, we need structure. We're just all awry. There's nothing, nothing predictable. And I think that that's really applicable in retirement as well. Is that getting yourself into a routine, into a structure is immensely important to keep you moving forward. Everybody think, oh, I'm just going to be lazy and sit on the couch and do nothing. Well, then that leads into, like you said, the mental decline, the the desire to want to go out and do more and to be an integral part of our society, which really keeps us healthy and moving.

Speaker 2 00:12:35 We're visiting with Tamara, for she is the owner of Aging Family Partners, and we're talking about the challenges of aging.

Speaker 2 00:12:41 When we come back, we'll really start diving into some of the other challenges we see, especially mental, and what we can be doing to put things in place to be able to age more gracefully. So stay with us. This is more living with Jim Brogan here on Newstalk 987 Wookey.

Jim Brogan 00:12:59 Welcome back to Newstalk 98 Seven's Brogan Financial Studios, where Jim Brogan is coming to you live with important news and advice to help you achieve your dream retirement. Get ready to learn and live. Here's your host, Jim Brogan.

Speaker 4 00:13:15 Welcome back to Mor living.

Speaker 2 00:13:17 Right here on Newstalk 987 WJR. I'm your host, Jim Brogan, and we're visiting with Tamara Fey today. She is an expert on the challenges of aging. She has her own company, Aging Family Partners. Tamara, you know, about 40%, believe it or not, it was kind of shocked to see this statistic that are 65 or older have age associated memory impairment in the United States. That's about 16 million people and about 1 in 9 people aged 65 and older has Alzheimer's, and almost two thirds of those are women.

Speaker 2 00:13:53 Talk, talk about memory care. We think about dementia, but just talk about what that statistic I just mentioned about just age associated memory impairment.

Tamara Faye 00:14:07 I have to be honest with you, I have not heard that statistic before. And so but what I can share with you is that it is, dementia and Alzheimer's is becoming extremely costly to us as, as a society. And I just want people to know that there are different avenues of support out there. there are medications, there are interventions, there are services, there are facilities. There are home health agencies that can help with wherever that person is experiencing those weaknesses and their cognitive ability. And I want to talk about cognitive for just a moment. A lot of people just think that the dementia is about their, their forgetfulness or their memory, but there is so much involved in the way that we think and rationalize. So when we have somebody that has memory impairment, as you were speaking, it starts to affect not only their memory, but their ability to process information, the ability to make safe decisions.

Tamara Faye 00:15:18 The ability to do risk versus, positive versus negative. It is all that makes us us and being able to enter straight with our everyday living. And I think that many times people, I think especially for you in the financial world, people start to see that bills are being paid twice or not being paid at all. There's maybe being large sums of money being transferred. There may be new people that are helping them make decisions. So I think many times you'll see a lot of those cognitive issues noticed in the financial decision and stability, along with forgetting to do everyday life of what I want to say. mobility? many times I would go, oh gosh, I forgot where I put my keys. It is when we start that our memory and our ability to function, think and integrate decision making into our lives starts to impede our safety and within our own everyday function, whether we are trying to just go to an appointment, whether we're forgetting that we're leaving a pot on the stove and it starts to burn.

Tamara Faye 00:16:33 There are so many areas that we notice that our thinking in our processing is off, not just our memory.

Speaker 2 00:16:41 Well, that leads me to a question. You know, conversations about care can be tough. And I know probably just about all of us have have seen this happen where we were dealing with an aging loved one. And it was a very difficult process. If someone you love is having a tough time caring for themselves, how do you approach a conversation with them about potential assistance for making a move?

Tamara Faye 00:17:07 I think the first is to always remember that they were an independent person, and I always want people to think, okay, if one of my loved ones was coming to have this conversation with me, how would I want to be approached with it? And I think many times the sandwich generation, who are most times going to be the ones that step up to help take care of mom or dad and or uncle.

Speaker 2 00:17:30 And that they'll talk just for a minute. They're about the family. You mentioned the sandwich generation.

Speaker 2 00:17:35 Can you just define that a little bit for anybody who may not know what that is?

Tamara Faye 00:17:39 Yeah. The sandwich generation. Are those individuals that have someone that came before them and someone that has come after them. So whether it would be a usually it is us middle aged individuals that have a mom or dad, an aunt and uncle, or even a grandparent still that maybe will need our assistance, and then also maybe children or grandchildren that we're still responsible for in some some capacity. So people find themselves in the sandwich generation trying to balance all of those hats and all of those responsibilities. And it becomes overwhelming many times. And so, what is best for them is to sit down and whether it's you or whoever maybe has the best relationship with that person, or maybe you bring a best friend in, you know, maybe your loved one has a best friend that is also seeing that maybe there is some decline in some capacity and maybe fitting just together to talk about what is it that they feel, how their day is going? Do they feel like they're struggling to achieve anything throughout the day and just being respectful of.

Tamara Faye 00:18:52 They were independent. They had worked. They had raised families. They paid taxes, they've gone on vacation. These are very independent people that now, over time, are starting to decline just by normal aging and maybe needing more support. So I would say the first introduction to someone is to get whoever maybe has the best rapport with that person, and maybe even a best friend or a spouse or another sibling, to sit down and just openly discuss on how they feel every day is going. Are they struggling in any way and letting them know that this is a safe conversation, that we're not rushing them off to a nursing home, to an assisted living, that we just want to have dialogue about them living safely in their own home, and when they share with us maybe what they are experiencing, say, mom, dad, aunt, uncle, grandma, we can help get support here in your home that you can stay safely at home. But first we want to know what those areas are that you're really struggling with, and we are here to support you in any way.

Tamara Faye 00:19:57 But just because you may feel that you are not able to do something that you used to be able to do, doesn't mean that we're going to fix it for you and ship you out. It just means we're having dialogue to find out how we can best give you the highest quality of life by whatever resources or abilities we as family members, can provide to you.

Speaker 2 00:20:17 It can be difficult, and as I said, I've dealt with that with my own family, especially my father. You know, they want to keep the complete independence. You know, it's hard to acknowledge, I think. I mean, I'm not there. I'm middle aged, I'm 55. But at least seeing my dad and my mom, you know, some people have a hard time accepting it and coming to grips with it so it can be challenging. Can you talk about in addition to that? The importance of having good legal documents, a good medical power of attorney, and a good financial power of attorney where you've named the right person, you have a fallback for that person if that person cannot serve.

Speaker 2 00:20:54 How important those documents are to take care of us while we're alive.

Tamara Faye 00:21:00 yes. I was just hoping that we would talk about that a little bit because, 50 to 70% of Americans, lack wills and estate plans. And that was something that I read the other day. And I have been amazed with this journey to find how many people over the age of 65 do not have those legal documents in place. And I must share with you that I had a gentleman not too long ago who did not have those documents in place, did not have anyone named, and before I know it, he was in assisted living had fallen and there was no one to call. And they were calling me and I said, I have. I have no legal authority over him. So you need to just make your best judgment, because this was his directive, was that he didn't have anybody. He didn't assign anybody. And I cannot tell you how crucial it is to make sure that those documents are in place. Both the wills and the powers of attorney, both financial and health care.

Tamara Faye 00:22:01 And I would recommend going. And I have, of course, I'm no attorney, but at least going through deep. I also had a gentleman that his wife was was killed in an accident which left him unable to care for himself due some other due to some memory issues that he had prior. He was involved in the accident as well, and this caused him to need representation because he wasn't able to make his own decisions. The next person in line was experiencing health concerns. And then there was no one after that.

Speaker 2 00:22:38 So yeah. So when you say for me.

Tamara Faye 00:22:40 You at least be.

Speaker 2 00:22:41 Yeah. So when you're saying three D if you're saying have your primary then have a fallback to that and another fallback to that, which I completely agree with. That's one of the major things I talk about when I talk about mistakes people make with their legal documents, that is, one of them is not having enough fallbacks, you know? So a lot of people don't even have a singular fallback. A lot of times people are like, well, it would be one of my kids, but I don't want to single out one child over another.

Speaker 2 00:23:06 And so they don't aim anybody. Yes.

Tamara Faye 00:23:09 Yeah, absolutely.

Speaker 2 00:23:10 All the time that.

Tamara Faye 00:23:12 Yeah, I bet you do. And I and if I can even make one other recommendation, my husband and I redid ours last year and we always had our siblings as those that would be stepping forward and speaking on our behalf. And I want to share with people not to be afraid to go to the next generation as we get to a certain age, because it really becomes the next generation that we're going to fall back on to help us make those decisions, as opposed to our siblings who are also aging like we are. That if you have a next generation below to maybe if that person is in that ability of age group to be in that capacity to make that decision, to at least have one of those fallbacks being in the next generation for you.

Speaker 2 00:23:58 Absolutely. That's a great word to we're visiting with Tamara Fisch. We're talking about the challenges of aging. When we come back, I want to talk about the different types of care options.

Speaker 2 00:24:06 It doesn't necessarily, as she said, it's not necessarily going into a facility. I do want to ask her opinion on some of these graduated retirement facilities. We'll also have our dollars and cents segment. What is an overlooked thing you might not understand about your Power of Attorney document and the different types of power of attorney. Are you giving up control when you name your power of attorney? So stay with us. This is more living with Jim Brogan right here on Newstalk 987 Wookey.

Jim Brogan 00:24:38 Welcome back to Newstalk 98 Seven's Brogan Financial Studios, where Jim Brogan is coming to you live with important news and advice to help you achieve your dream retirement. Get ready to learn and live. Here's your host, Jim Brogan.

Speaker 4 00:24:53 Thanks for tuning in. This is my living with Jim Brogan, where.

Speaker 2 00:24:56 It's.

Speaker 4 00:24:56 All about living the best.

Speaker 2 00:24:57 Years of your life your way. This is Newstalk 987 Sky. We're talking with Tamara Fay and we're talking about the challenges of aging. In a moment, we're going to visit a little bit more with her about different care options.

Speaker 2 00:25:10 We're going to talk about the stress and how we can provide relief for primary care givers. Before we get back to Tamara, however, it is time for dollars and cents.

Jim Brogan 00:25:20 Want to be sure you are getting the most out of your retirement? For all the years of your retirement. That's the primary goal of more living with Jim Brogan and our Dollars in Sin segment, where we provide you with an important financial tip that will help positively impact the quality of your life and retirement. And now here's Jim with this week's dollars and cents tip.

Speaker 2 00:25:46 Understanding the Power of Attorney document and what it does and what it does not do. First off, there are two primary main main power of attorney documents. There's the medical power of attorney, which is for someone to make your medical decisions when you cannot. And then there's the financial power of attorney, which is for someone to pay your bills and administer your affairs when you cannot. Many people are not aware, like on a financial power of attorney. You know, there are some accounts you have that are in your name.

Speaker 2 00:26:16 If you have retirement accounts, IRAs 401, you know it's an individual retirement account. It's just in your name. You may think that if something happens to you and you're temporarily incapacitated, your spouse can act for you on that. not without the proper legal documentation, because your spouse is not on that. They're not a co-owner of an IRA. And with all the privacy laws and things, it can get hairy. Some same things can happen with the medical power of attorney. The main thing I want to cover is that there are two main kinds of powers of attorney. Not that there aren't more, but there's two main ones. One is what's called a durable power of attorney, and the other is what's called a springing power of attorney. Let's start with the durable. The durable power of attorney. You know, if I have if I've named my wife as my durable financial power of attorney, she is my power of attorney both now and in the future. The word durable actually means the power of attorney is durable upon my incapacity.

Speaker 2 00:27:16 In other words, yeah, she can make decisions for me and pay my bills when I'm incapacitated. So she can do that now, too. So if I name her as my financial power of attorney, she could actually go clean out my bank account. Now we're a first marriage. I'm not at all worried about that. The other kind of power of attorney is a springing power of attorney. A springing power of attorney. Springs to life upon your incapacity. So if I named her my springing power of attorney, then she has to show my the fact that I cannot act for myself. And if I want, I can have my day in court. Now, you can do this with a medical or a financial power of attorney. And when I tell folks about the differences people, their initial reaction is, well, why wouldn't everybody do a springing power of attorney? Well, there's challenges with that too. My father had a springing medical power of attorney, and so he he had to be proven incompetent or having lack of capacity for us to, to make his decisions.

Speaker 2 00:28:21 And we went through a phase where he didn't want to give that up. And for us to do that, he was a former lawyer in his working career. He would have had his day in court. He would have been able to challenge us taking over his medical decisions, and he would have done it. And he could have cleaned himself up, gotten himself into court first thing in the morning. He had vascular dementia. also dealing with some ongoing alcohol issues. And he could have gotten in front of a judge, I think had cleaned himself up and made a compelling case. But the the hardest thing for us is we would have had to sit there and tell the judge, my dad is in incapable he's incompetent now to make his own medical decisions. And that can be very, very difficult. it can even be difficult with a spouse. So what I typically see is with first marriages, people do name their spouses their durable, their regular power of attorney. They don't do a springing power of attorney where we see springing powers of attorney.

Speaker 2 00:29:20 More frequently is when it's a second marriage. Maybe you have a blended family, or maybe you've named your child or your children in a specific order. You may not want them to just be able to act. You may want, you know, some sort of an event to trigger that. But that can get challenging, too. When you start to start paying bills and doing things like that. So the bottom line is when you work with an attorney to draft these documents, and I'm not an attorney, but I think it's important that they either educate you on these different options and what they mean so you can make an informed and prudent decision, or they ask you the right types of questions so that they can make the proper recommendation. But if you go, the only way that's going to happen either way, though, is if the attorney spends time getting to know you and your family needs a ten minute interview or even a 30 minute interview with an attorney, he's probably not going to be enough for them to truly understand your needs to make the appropriate recommendation.

Speaker 2 00:30:21 So when you're working with an attorney, work with someone who is thorough, complete and real understands you and takes the time to get to know your needs.

Jim Brogan 00:30:32 That's our dollars and cents segment for this week. You can find this week's dollars and Cents segment and others by visiting Brogan financial.com.

Speaker 2 00:30:44 You check us out online@financial.com. We've got a world of resources, a plethora of resources there. You can click on radio and listen to our shows, podcast and all our dollars and cents segments. You can also use Apple, Apple, YouTube, Spotify, whatever your favorite streaming or podcast station is. You can use that to listen to our shows. We've also got our resources page. One thing I'll mention is I've got a class in March on the 25th, so a little bit of over a month away. And it's on tax planning specifically, and it's through Pelosi State Community College. It's through their adult outreach and community development. So it's for people that are retired or getting ready to retire. and it's a class specifically on tax planning.

Speaker 2 00:31:32 Tax planning and your retirement. And it's again March 25th, 6:30 p.m.. So it's one two hour class one night, where in that class, I'm going to cover as many things as I can really dive deep. How does our tax system work? How can you use that tax system to try to minimize your tax bill across the rest of your lifetime? Not just now, not just in 2025, but for the rest of your life? What happens when you turn 73 and you have to start taking those distributions taxable from your retirement accounts? What can you be doing now? Understanding the history of our income tax rates gives us a better understanding of where we may be going in the future. So if you want more information, you can go to city Tax planning.com again. Tuesday, March 25th 630 to 8:30 p.m. go to tax planning.com and you can get more information. Today we're visiting with Tamara Faye. We're talking about the challenges of aging. And Tamara, you mentioned in that last segment kind of what are some of the types of care options as people start to need assistance?

Tamara Faye 00:32:42 Absolutely.

Tamara Faye 00:32:43 There are multiple and there are about nine that people traditionally are aware of. And it's independent living, assisted living, memory care, nursing homes, home health services, hospice services. And then there's also something called inpatient hospice care, along with adult day care and respite days. And all of them play an intricate role based on different levels of what type of help that client may need. And many people think that they're all the same, but they truly are not. And there are reasons that being able to enter those type of services, when they're needed, are very critical to help reduce any type of further decline or issues. For that, for that aging loved one along the line. So if I could just briefly describe a little bit about each one, just so people have an understanding that an independent living environment is basically for any of those people that are independent with their self care, but just do not want the hassle of having to care for a home or the home. Maintenance and assisted living is maybe somebody for somebody that needs a little help with bathing or dressing, maybe with some meals.

Tamara Faye 00:33:57 But other than that, with a vibrant type of living environment that has socialization, memory, care communities, and there are many of them out there that help really concentrate on the deficit of that person that is struggling with either behaviors or cognitive impairment, but gives them that specialized care because they have specially trained caregivers. Nursing homes, of course, everyone is very familiar with it. That's usually for someone that needs 24 hour support for medical reasons as well as mobility issues. Home health services cover a plethora of of interventions, of whether they're going there for therapy or nursing, or they just need someone there as a personal care provider to help them with some bathing, dressing or homemaking skills. Inpatient hospice care is really for those people. We have a lovely facility in northern Knoxville for this. If they have really intense symptoms as they are starting to decline and actively passing, but they do a beautiful job helping to keep that person comfortable and working with the family and regular hospice services, which really can be provided wherever that person is, whether they're in a nursing home, whether they're home, whether they're in assisted living to help provide comfort and pain management.

Tamara Faye 00:35:14 Adult daycare centers are excellent opportunity. We have many in our local area That a caregiver who still has that person at home that has some type of cognitive impairment either needs respite time away or are still working, can go for socialization, care, and intervention for adult day care centers. And the last one are respite stays, and some insurance companies will pay for that. Some long term care insurances will pay for that. But that's really for those people that whether they are the injured person maybe having surgery and can't go straight home from their rehab, can go to an assisted living to help continue their rehab and get stronger, or for that person that really wants to take a break or go on vacation, but they're a full time caregiver, so they place their aging loved one there, whether it's the nursing home or assisted living, to help get that care while they are gone.

Speaker 2 00:36:08 Yeah. And you mentioned the caregiver. I think sometimes we maybe underestimate the primary caregiver when it's a spouse especially or even a child.

Speaker 2 00:36:19 What a weight that can be, both physically, emotionally, mentally, all of the things and how often. Oftentimes the healthy spouse that's doing the caregiving oftentimes passes away before the the the spouse that needs to care.

Tamara Faye 00:36:35 Yes. That's correct.

Speaker 2 00:36:37 So the respite care for the caregiver is so critically important.

Tamara Faye 00:36:42 Yes it is. And many times they feel guilty upon using that because they're like, oh, I should be able to handle it. And oh, I have strangers caring for my loved one. And there's just so many emotions tied to that. But the overwhelm and the exhaustion and the burnout of caregivers are very apparent. And I just want people to know that those services are out there for them, and to never feel bad that they have time to get refueled for themselves.

Speaker 2 00:37:08 Absolutely. We're visiting with Tamara Faye. We're talking about the challenges of aging when we come back for our final segment. I do want to talk about some of the resources available right here in Knoxville. And when should you start creating a plan for this? So stay with us.

Speaker 2 00:37:22 This is your living with Jim Brogan here on Newstalk 987 Wookey.

Jim Brogan 00:37:28 Welcome back to Newstalk 98 Seven's Brogan Financial Studios, where Jim Brogan is coming to you live with important news and advice to help you achieve your dream retirement. Get ready to learn and live. Here's your host, Jim Brogan.

Speaker 4 00:37:43 Welcome back. Thanks for tuning in to More Living Here on Newstalk 987.

Speaker 2 00:37:46 Walker, we're with you every Saturday, 9 to 10 a.m. and again from 3 to 4 p.m. you can also podcast our shows on my website, brogan.com or through Apple Podcast and Spotify. Today we're visiting with Tim Murphy about the challenges of aging. And one thing I want to cover, Tamara, is, you know, as as the as one begins receiving care, there's a lot of emotion around being a burden, a loss and giving up a sense of independence. Up to 35% of residents in long term care facilities may experience either major depression or clinically significant depressive symptoms. What can we be doing to help our loved ones with the emotional side of these kinds of transitions.

Tamara Faye 00:38:33 And is professional intervention? I think that families do their very best at supporting mom and dad, but sometimes we end up taking over for them, which then leaves them in a more dependent state. I believe that if they had someone that is experienced in speaking with them about those challenges of aging and helping them work through that psyche, I think that's instrumental in helping them move forward. And I think that many of us have kind of situational type depressions when we get into different chapters of our life where we really feel that we're out of control and we're not able to have and live the life that we're wanting. That especially when you have to grieve the loss of independence, the loss of abilities, the loss of maybe friendships, the loss of being the monarch of the family. It is crucial to get that intervention. And many times I think that needs to come from a professional. And I know that there are so many out there that really specialize in the senior elderly geriatric population to be able to help them.

Tamara Faye 00:39:38 And I think as family members, being able to give them grace and understanding that they are literally fighting for their life and their independence, no one's ever had to get permission to do what they wanted to do. They could always get up and go. They can always drive themselves, but now they're in a position, whether they're in a facility or even at home, requiring assistance at home, that we offer them grace and understanding and not try to fix all of their issues, but to be there as they walk through decision making and having some of that autonomy still there for them.

Speaker 2 00:40:16 Tamara, we also hear, of course, you know, a lot of stories very, very bad about elder care abuse. first off, Tamara, what is elder abuse?

Tamara Faye 00:40:27 Well, there's there's multiple definitions of abuse, but traditionally it is someone that has purposefully and intentionally abused a person. And that could be an elderly person which is traditionally 65 or older. It could be something that's financial. It could be something that is verbal, it could be something that's physical and even sexual in nature.

Tamara Faye 00:40:53 And most times, believe it or not, it is due to someone that they know that this abuse happens. and it is, overwhelming to me that anyone would look at a precious elderly person and take advantage of them and any of those circumstances that I just read.

Speaker 2 00:41:13 And, you know, in our in our industry. You know, Tamara, we have to be very, very in tune to our clients mental acuity. You know, we're dealing with their financial savings. But you mentioned several different areas where you can see elder abuse. If, if someone is concerned that a friend and neighbor or a loved one is experiencing elder abuse, what should what should we do?

Tamara Faye 00:41:37 I would contact the local authorities on a non-emergency line. And there's also something called the Adult Protective Agency, and that is I help seniors throughout the United States. And so to anyone listening outside of our local area, there are always adult protective services. And I would reach out to them with your concerns, and they will be more than happy to look into that situation for you.

Speaker 2 00:41:59 Tamara. Almost 15% of Knoxville residents are over age 65. What are some local community resources for aging adults when it comes to things like hot meals, rides to appointments or, as you said, just socialization.

Tamara Faye 00:42:15 there is something called CAC, which is our Office on Aging, and it's a community action committee. And they are really kind of the hub for everything, all the services, all in one place. And they will help with employment information, benefits, nutritional support and other resources. And if they are, people are able to go online, they can simply look up CAC Knoxville and they would be able to locate that. We also have six local senior centers here in Knox County that have sale programs, which are staying active and independent for life, which are exercise programs that people can partake. They also have the Area Agency on Aging and called Astra here. And that's for people that are 60 or over. And they have the greatest economic and social need. And in that group of individuals they help with getting home delivered meals, homemaker services, personal care services.

Tamara Faye 00:43:13 Legal services and ombudsman services, and so much more. So Esra ETI HRA is the best place for them to start. And then lastly, there's actually a free. If people are able to log on to the computer, there's a senior services directory here from the Office on Aging. And they have, I don't even know, 50 different links, if not more of every type of guidance and education that people will need just to get started on locating those types of services for their loved ones.

Speaker 2 00:43:47 Tamia, we just have about 15 or 20s. How can people get more, get reach you and find out more about what you offer?

Tamara Faye 00:43:54 Absolutely. Well, they are happy to reach out via phone and my phone number is 865630 2800. Again 865630 2800. And then I also have a website Aging family partners with an F. Dot com, and they are able to schedule time for a free consultation. And just for them to be able to feel free to share what's on their mind. I always say with people, it doesn't have to make sense.

Tamara Faye 00:44:23 It's just their time to share with me what's heavy on their mind, and we will share how we can help from there.

Speaker 2 00:44:29 Well, Tamara, thank you so much for taking time out of your schedule. Thank you for tuning in this week to More Living with Jim Brogan. Thank you to Wayne for engineering the show and to Jill for helping produce the show. You've been listening to More Living with Jim Brogan only on Newstalk 9087.

Speaker 5 00:44:45 The views expressed by Jim Brogan and his guests are not that of Cumulus Media. Any discussion of financial, legal and tax planning strategies is not intended to be individualized advice and is general in nature. Always consult with your advisor for advice specific to your needs. This program's content does not represent a recommendation of any particular security strategy or investment by Jim Brogan or Brogan Financial, Incorporated.

In this episode of More Living with Jim Brogan, host Jim Brogan welcomes Dr. Lynne Parker, AI expert and former White House science policy official, to discuss artificial intelligence's growing impact on everyday life. They explore AI's real capabilities versus common misconceptions, its role in healthcare and education, job transformation concerns, privacy risks, and the importance of human oversight. The episode also features a "Dollars and Cents" segment warning retirees about sequence-of-returns risk, illustrated through a story of two brothers with vastly different retirement outcomes despite identical savings strategies.

Automatically Transcribed With Podsqueeze

Jim Brogan 00:00:03 You're tuned into more Living with Jim Brogan, broadcast live from the Brogan Financial studios at Newstalk 987, where old fashioned values, expert knowledge and genuine understanding come together to give you the retirement straight talk you deserve. Jim's a former National Advisor of the year recipient and a financial educator, and he's here today to talk about how you can live out the best years of your life. Jim and the Brogan financial team have been helping retirees and retirees across the southeast for over 20 years in their pursuit of financial independence. You can reach them during the week at 865862 6800. So sit back, relax and get ready to learn because more living with Jim Brogan starts now.

Speaker 2 00:00:45 Hello East Tennessee, welcome to More Living with Jim Brogan, where it's all about living the best years of your life your way. This is Newstalk 987 Waukee. And today we're going to discuss the rapid growth of artificial intelligence, how it's already changing the way we live. The opportunities and the challenges it presents. We're welcoming into the studio Doctor Lynne Parker.

Speaker 2 00:01:09 She is associate vice chancellor at the University of Tennessee. She's also a globally recognized leader in artificial intelligence and robotics. She previously, just until recently, served as principal deputy director of the white House Office of Science and Technology Policy. Good morning, Doctor Parker.

Lynne Parker 00:01:29 Good morning. It's a pleasure to be here.

Speaker 2 00:01:31 It's great to have you with us. Now, how did you evolve into an expert on artificial intelligence? I guess when you. You got your PhD at, I saw that earlier at MIT. MIT? That's right. And it was in robotics stuff.

Lynne Parker 00:01:48 That's right. Robotics and AI.

Speaker 2 00:01:50 And then, so so how did you become so fascinated in the world of artificial intelligence?

Lynne Parker 00:01:57 You know, I've been working in AI really since I graduated from my undergraduate degree. For me, it's all about how can you solve fascinating problems in ways that humans would solve them, but using software so that it's much more efficient? Or maybe it solves the problems in a much better way. And so I started when I was working on my master's degree at UT, and I had a robotics in AI class, and it was my first introduction.

Lynne Parker 00:02:25 And I'm just I love to see how you can create software that can be smart, like people, and it's an incredibly challenging task, but it's created a whole career for me, and it's certainly been moving in a very fast area.

Speaker 2 00:02:43 Well, and we had you on a few years ago, and I guess the best way to probably summarize the change between now and then is there's been a lot of change.

Lynne Parker 00:02:53 Yeah, absolutely. They're AI almost every week. There's some new tools, some new capability that we're all talking about very fast moving.

Speaker 2 00:03:02 So let's let's start with the basics. For for those that are just really not terribly familiar. First off, define artificial intelligence for us.

Lynne Parker 00:03:13 So artificial intelligence is software that can do tasks that traditionally we've always thought of as requiring human capabilities. That's a very short definition that most people will agree on.

Speaker 2 00:03:27 That's interesting. The software part of that, but kind of along those lines, what are some ways that AI is affecting our everyday lives in ways that most people maybe don't even realize?

Lynne Parker 00:03:41 Yeah.

Lynne Parker 00:03:42 So AI has been around for many decades, and it's only in the last, say, 3 or 4 years that it has become commonplace for your everyday person. And the big difference there was back in 2022 when you know ChatGPT was released, and that then gave people the recognition that you could actually use these AI technologies to solve almost any kind of practical problem in almost any domain. And so this is now impacting nearly every sector of our society, from health care to education to manufacturing. in retail, you can just name any kind of discipline. And it's something that AI is is impacting.

Speaker 2 00:04:30 You know, that's one of the things that I was thinking you mentioned, it's it's for decades because we think of AI as somewhat of a recent thing. And that was what jumped out at me when we were just discussing your you got your PhD at MIT. That was in 1994, and you said it was in robotics and artificial intelligence, and we don't think of AI as being around in 1994.

Lynne Parker 00:04:56 That's right.

Lynne Parker 00:04:56 So the early foundations for what we call algorithms, or how these AI systems think, those have been around a very long time. What has changed is that in the last decade or so, we have become a very data intensive economy. That means we're keeping records of lots of data, and that's what drives these AI systems. To be able to solve problems is that they are looking at data of past systems. They're looking for patterns. That's what AI is really good at is pattern recognition. And because we now have fast computers and we have lots of data, we've effectively digitized the world. We've now given those algorithms that have been around for decades that computation and the information they need to find those patterns, and then those patterns can be used by us people solving important problems in ways that that are very efficient.

Speaker 2 00:05:52 What has surprised you the most about the public's response to AI.

Lynne Parker 00:05:57 You know, I think early on. in terms of the more recent capabilities with the chat bots and these new tools that have been coming out since 2022, I think, people have responded initially with surprise that AI could be so capable.

Lynne Parker 00:06:14 You have a conversation with a chat bot, and it really does sound like a person, and it really does seem very smart. That conversation has evolved over the last few years, and and now there is more of a conversation about fear and.

Speaker 2 00:06:30 Well, that was a nice question. I mean, it's kind of scary.

Lynne Parker 00:06:33 Yeah, a lot of people are afraid of it. I think part of it is a fear of the unknown. There is a lot of hype, though. And and so now, you know, we have a lot of conversations about data centers, for instance. And let's put a moratorium on data centers for a while. But, the AI tools that we all use, even on our phone, are, driven by the need to process data. And so there are a lot of complicating factors that make it a complex conversation around AI. You know, the fear of having a noisy data center or the fear of AI, knowing too much about me invading my privacy, or the hype around AI, getting rid of all the jobs or taking over the world.

Speaker 2 00:07:18 So it's all.

Speaker 4 00:07:19 Of those things.

Speaker 2 00:07:20 Yeah it is. AI today is intelligent, as people often assume. Or is there still a gap between perception and reality?

Lynne Parker 00:07:29 There's really a gap. I think there is the perception that AI understands in the way that humans understand, but it really doesn't. It really doesn't understand. It's looking at statistics, it's looking at patterns. It's repeating in very good English or very good language skills, information that it has discovered through those patterns. but it doesn't have a real understanding of how the world works in a way that you and I do. And so that gives people the perception that AI is as smart as a human, but that deep understanding is still not there.

Speaker 2 00:08:06 Yeah, I mean AI. and we'll get into this in our next segment, I want to talk about some of the opportunities, but also some of the challenges with it. It needs human my view it needs human. It needs human oversight very, very much. Is that a safe thing to say?

Lynne Parker 00:08:21 It is.

Lynne Parker 00:08:22 And I think if AI as a tool to help people.

Speaker 2 00:08:25 I think that's a great.

Speaker 4 00:08:26 Way to talk about it.

Lynne Parker 00:08:27 So it's not us necessarily just overseeing AI, but it's us using AI in an appropriate way to help us do what we want to do.

Speaker 2 00:08:35 Yeah, you see more and more we see it in the medical community with doctor appointments. we use digital note takers. A lot of people now in business use digital note takers. But, you know, it's not perfect. It doesn't get everything dead on. It can't. There are certain types of emotion or feelings and things that just cannot quite capture, like the tone of a conversation. Is that right?

Lynne Parker 00:08:59 That's that's exactly right. And I think the phase that we're in right now with using AI is understanding what it's really good at and making sure that we're leveraging it in those areas, that it does a very good job, but then being cautious in those areas where AI is not really ready for prime.

Speaker 2 00:09:18 Time understanding where the limitations are.

Speaker 4 00:09:20 Right.

Speaker 2 00:09:21 So what excites you the most about the future possibilities of AI?

Lynne Parker 00:09:26 Well, as I mentioned, it is touching every sector, but I think the sector that makes me the most excited is in healthcare. I think there are many discoveries that are going to be made, are being made, but will continue to be made. on how AI can help understand maybe or discover the causes of diseases or the best treatment options in in tandem of course with the human medical professionals. But I think there's a lot of potential for personalized medicine, personalized treatment. Again, looking at the combination of the expertise of the human doctor and what the AI can discover by understanding and exploring and digging into lots of data.

Speaker 2 00:10:09 Pretty exciting things that are on the horizon, which we want to talk about. So when we come back, I want to get into some of the opportunities. Also some of the challenges. I also do want to ask you a little bit about serving on the white House Office of Science and Technology Policy.

Speaker 2 00:10:24 I think we'd love to hear about that. So stay with us. This is we're visiting with Doctor Lynne Parker. She's the associate vice chancellor at the University of Tennessee. Stay with us. This is your living with Jim Brogan here on Newstalk 987 W Cokie.

Jim Brogan 00:10:39 Welcome back to Newstalk 98, Seven's Brogan Studios, where Jim Brogan is coming to you live with important news and advice to help you achieve your dream retirement. Get ready to learn and live. Here's your host, Jim Brogan.

Speaker 2 00:10:53 Welcome back to More Living. I'm Jim Brogan. You're listening to Newstalk 987 and we're visiting with Doctor Lynne Parker. We're talking about the impact of artificial intelligence. And Doctor Parker, you had served as principal deputy director of the white House Office of Science and Technology Policy. Tell us about that role and what that was all up. That was just until recently.

Speaker 4 00:11:16 That's right.

Speaker 2 00:11:17 So tell us about that role and what that was all about. What does that organization do?

Lynne Parker 00:11:22 Yes, I served, cumulatively five years across three different administrations in the Office of Science and Technology Policy at the white House.

Lynne Parker 00:11:31 That is a role that or an office that is not that well known, but it's an office that oversees and moves forward. The science and technology agenda, if you say, of the nation. And so what we did as an office and in my role was to oversee how the whole of the federal government can move forward to make sure that the United States is a leader in science and technology through policymaking. And my emphasis in particular was on AI and how we can set policies for the nation that ensure that the nation continues to lead. One of the the biggest accomplishments that we did early on in my time was to create the AI Action plan, the White House's AI action plan that came out last summer. And that really is a whole of government approach to how we can take action to make sure that, in the education space or in the research and development space, or in the regulation space or in the collaboration space that we're all moving forward to address these fast moving technologies to help the nation.

Speaker 2 00:12:38 So one of the things that makes me think about is how other countries are maybe using AI.

Speaker 2 00:12:43 Did you get into any of that stuff, or was it mainly focused on how we use it here.

Lynne Parker 00:12:48 Well, of course, we look at it in terms of the global perspective, and very much we look at what other nations are doing. And you can think about.

Speaker 2 00:12:57 Some of that can be good and some of that can be very bad.

Lynne Parker 00:12:59 That's right. You know, the idea is if there are good things happening in other parts of the world, we might want to see if there are ways that we can leverage and build on those ideas. But I think in the AI space, it's an area that the United States has been leading for for many years. But now we have competition. And so you want to see what the competition has done, what you're doing, what your adversaries are doing, and try to make sure that as a country, we remain in the lead.

Speaker 2 00:13:26 So we talk about the different things that AI can improve. You mentioned the health care is being particularly significant. We've also briefly mentioned education, transportation, countless other industries.

Speaker 2 00:13:39 So outside of health care, where do you see the some of the other greatest opportunities, in our future.

Lynne Parker 00:13:47 Well, we have touched on education and I think that's an area. Also, I mentioned personalized medicine. You can also have personalized education. I think you can look at students that struggle in school, and they may struggle for a couple of reasons. One is that maybe they're not as prepared as they need to be, but there could also be at the other end of the spectrum, students that are are very well prepared and they actually are bored at school. And either situation you can have AI that personalizes the kind of education that those students receive based on what they already know. So a student that already knows something doesn't want to have to go through lessons that are trying to teach the material they already understand, but if there's some aspects of that material that they don't understand, well, AI can pick up on that and provide exercises or training or lessons that dig into those areas that the students aren't understanding well, so that now they can focus on what they need to focus on in a very personalized way, and I think there's so much potential there to help build up each individual in the way that they they need to and want to to learn.

Speaker 2 00:14:57 Now, many people believe AI will replace their jobs. You know, you've warned that AI will replace jobs where human tasks can be performed, can be performed more efficiently by computers. So should we think of AI as replacing workers or as a tool that helps us work more effectively? I mean, you've already mentioned we should look at it as a tool. do you think can it end up replacing workers?

Lynne Parker 00:15:22 So I think what is happening and we are we are observing this across the board with AI is that AI is transforming most jobs, meaning that the way that you do that job is now somewhat different because you have an AI tool that can assist you in some way with some piece of that job. The entire job, though, can't be replaced by AI typically. And so what we're seeing is that people in their jobs are leveraging AI tools, or have the opportunity to leverage those AI tools to do some pieces of their job more efficiently or with a higher quality. But by and large, the evidence is not showing that AI is replacing whole scale jobs.

Lynne Parker 00:16:06 Now, there may be some jobs, yes, that are replaced, but relatively few have a collection of tasks that AI can do all of those tasks. And so what we're finding is that everyone is being impacted by AI, almost everyone in that it's changing something about their job, but it doesn't mean their jobs are going to go away.

Speaker 2 00:16:27 Yeah, I think anytime and I view this as a really a paradigm shift of of how we work. And, you know, when we've had that in the past as a country, you know, it's just our skill sets have to evolve, right. So, if our skill sets don't evolve, then we might find ourselves out of a job. But. But we have to evolve our skill sets to embrace AI and what it can do. Is that a reasonable way to say that it is?

Lynne Parker 00:16:55 I think of it as AI literacy for each type of job that you have. And what that means is that you understand what AI tools are relevant for your profession, how to use those tools, how to evaluate the output of those tools, and then whether or not there are some broader implications of those tools within the context of your work.

Lynne Parker 00:17:16 And I think everyone needs to do that for their own job. So that means that AI literacy won't look the same for every individual, because you'll be in a different job. If you're a nurse, then the kind of tools you might use are clearly going to be different if you're in the broadcasting industry. So but there are those kinds of tools that are across all sectors, and now's the time for people to be learning about those tools.

Speaker 2 00:17:41 So it's exciting the innovation. It is a little bit scary. You mentioned fear. You mentioned privacy and security. So how can we encourage innovation while also protecting our privacy and security.

Speaker 4 00:17:55 So it it's.

Lynne Parker 00:17:56 Different for different kinds of AI tools that you might be using. I think your your everyday individual might be using some chat bots or some tools to create images, or maybe some sort of video or some something, depending on what they want to do. Many of these commercial tools that people use do have settings that allow you to turn off the sharing of your data with the company that provided those tools.

Lynne Parker 00:18:24 It's probably more likely that tools that you paid for give you the option of not sharing your data. And that's one of the big privacy concerns that people have, is when you use these tools, all of your data is going back to the company to retrain the AI. And that's good in the sense that you want the AI to get better, but it's bad in the sense that if your data is now somehow discoverable by other people, then yeah.

Speaker 2 00:18:49 I went to a conference. it was over a year ago, about about a year, 15 or 16 months ago. And they said, don't put anything into ChatGPT if you don't want it on a billboard in Times Square.

Lynne Parker 00:19:02 That's a good policy.

Speaker 4 00:19:04 Yes.

Lynne Parker 00:19:05 you know.

Speaker 4 00:19:06 Or.

Lynne Parker 00:19:07 On the front page of the newspaper or whatever. You know, it's, it's true that you have to be very careful about what you enter. And so if there's some.

Speaker 4 00:19:15 Intellectual.

Speaker 2 00:19:16 You're using the free paid version or the free public version.

Lynne Parker 00:19:19 Exactly. again, many of the paid versions give you that kind of a firewall, effective so that you don't have to share your data with the company in order to use those tools.

Lynne Parker 00:19:30 So I think it's important for everyone to look at the fine print, look at how your data is being used to make sure you're comfortable with it.

Speaker 2 00:19:39 How can businesses adopt AI without losing the human element.

Speaker 4 00:19:44 Well.

Lynne Parker 00:19:45 I think the human element is becoming more and more important because we recognize that areas like judgment or decision making or empathy or customer service, those kinds of skills are not skills that an AI system is good at. And so.

Speaker 4 00:20:01 What.

Speaker 2 00:20:01 We mentioned earlier can't necessarily pick up tone.

Speaker 4 00:20:03 Right? Right. Right.

Lynne Parker 00:20:05 And so what we have to do in the business world is to really understand how those tools can be integrated as a complement to the to the people, using them in a way that makes your, your business enterprise successful. depending upon what what you're, who you're serving or what your product is. And so I think you very much have to, to consider those human skills as even more important now as we are able to take some kinds of menial task and let AI do those kinds of menial tasks.

Lynne Parker 00:20:42 We're moving those menial kinds of things away from what people have to do, and now people can do the higher level skills.

Speaker 2 00:20:50 Yeah. You know, I mentioned digital note takers, just as an example, because we're seeing that in a lot of different industries, and we use them some in our office. But we have a very firm, rule in our office, that, particularly if it's a client meeting that the notes have to be edited and finalized by the advisor, the financial advisor that was in the room, because it may miss things or not pick up on things. It just it's got to have that human finishing, I think.

Lynne Parker 00:21:22 Well, it does both from just a from a human perspective. You know, we want to treat each other as humans and that's the right thing to do, obviously. But we also must take responsibility for our work product, whether or not it was something that we wrote down from our own memory or whether we used an AI tool to help us. And so there is, a tendency to having a bit of laziness, of presuming the AI is capturing everything exactly accurately and not wanting to review it.

Lynne Parker 00:21:51 And I think that's a mistake. So we need to make sure that we're carefully reviewing how the AI is doing its work, its product, and making sure that we are taking responsibility.

Speaker 2 00:22:02 We have to review that output and make sure it's dead on. That's exactly right. What advice would you give business leaders who feel uncertain about incorporating AI into their organizations?

Speaker 4 00:22:13 Well, I would.

Lynne Parker 00:22:14 Say a couple of things. One is to start small, you could have kind of a brainstorming workshop with your workers and think through what are the kinds of tasks that we're doing that maybe cause some friction or are not easy, or things people wish they didn't have to do? And you could begin thinking, those kinds of tasks that that AI could actually help address, so that now we're doing those things that we need to do as a business, but that the workers don't particularly want to do. And you could workshop some ideas and test out some AI on a small scale and see how you can begin to implement that into your workflow.

Speaker 2 00:22:55 We're visiting with Doctor Lynn Parker. She is associate vice chancellor emerita at the University of Tennessee, recently retired. And when we come back, I want to talk about AI in everyday life. Misconceptions about it, how we can utilize it effectively. I'm also going to talk about in our dollars and cents segment, coming up, the the risk you take on financially in retirement that you do not face at any other time in your life, and how you have to have a plan, in my view, to deal with that risk. So stay with us. This is more living here on Newstalk 987. Wookey.

Jim Brogan 00:23:33 Welcome back to Newstalk 98 Seven's broken financial Studios, where Jim Brogan is coming to you live with important news and advice to help you achieve your dream retirement. Get ready to learn and live. Here's your host, Jim Brogan.

Speaker 2 00:23:49 Thanks for tuning in. This is more living with Jim Brogan where it's all about living the best years of your life, your way as you listen wherever. Every Saturday here on Newstalk 987 Waukee from 9 to 10 a.m. and again to three for 3 to 4 p.m..

Speaker 2 00:24:06 we're visiting this morning with Doctor Lynn Parker. we're talking about the impact of artificial intelligence, how things are evolving, how they how we can embrace it, how it's even how it's changed our perspective over the last several years. However, before we get back to Doctor Parker, it is time for dollars and cents.

Speaker 4 00:24:25 What?

Speaker 5 00:24:25 To be sure, you are getting the most out of your retirement for all the years of your retirement. That's the primary goal of Moore living with Jim Brogan and our Dollars and Cents segment, where we provide you with an important financial tip that will help positively impact the quality of your life and retirement. And now, here's Jim with this week's dollars and cents tip.

Speaker 2 00:24:50 I want to tell you a story about two brothers. Both brothers retired at the same age, age 62. They both retired with the same amount of money. They had the same income needs. So let's for sake of this, let's say they retired with $1 million. We'll use round numbers. they need they needed to take 50,000 a year of income from that million dollars.

Speaker 2 00:25:15 Okay. So that's a that's a 5% distribution rate. In today's world that would be considered a little high. This is the example. so both brothers retired at 62 with $1 million. They needed $50,000 a year of income. They needed that income to increase every year for inflation, right. Cost of living. And they had the same investment plan. That kind of traditional 6040 stock bond, mixed stock and bond mutual funds is normally what we see. and they, they got two very, very different results. Brother number one retired in 1962. Brother number two retired in 1965. Brother number one died. A wealthy old man left a significant estate to his family. Brother Number two ran out of money, financially destitute and broke in his early 80s. Same amount of money. Retired at the same age. Same investment plan, same income. Need everything. The only difference in these two brothers is the year that they retired. See it? Put another way, market timing was the only difference. So we take on a new risk.

Speaker 2 00:26:25 When we move into that income distribution phase of our lives, we're no longer saving and accumulating money. We're withdrawing and spending it, and it puts a different set of pressures on the nest egg. And that extra risk is market timing risk. When are the good years? When are the bad years? We know that over periods of 15, 20, 25 years, you know, people, it's been very much in vogue lately. Jim, what's the best way to fight inflation. And there can be different asset classes that can do that in different environments. But over time, over a 20 or 30 year retirement, the stock market has proven historically, if you're diversified in the stock market to be the best way to fight inflation, but we take on this additional risk. Winter, the good years, winter the bad years, and in short, windows of time that can be devastating. See, Brother Number One retired in 1962. There was a big run up in the stock market in 63 and 64.

Speaker 2 00:27:23 He made a lot more money than he needed for income. In the 70s was a tough decade. We had the bear market of 7374. We had hyperinflation of the late 70s, so the income need was skyrocketing. The life savings was decreasing and the bet had decreased in the bear market. And so brother number two had done so well when he first retired, it didn't impact his him materially. But brother number two wasn't so fortunate because there was no subsequent run up in the market after he retired prior to that tough decade of the 70s. Now we don't know what the next 5 to 10 years looks like, right? But but the first 5 to 10 years of your retirement are the most critical. And if we go through challenging market environments, you have to have a plan to deal with that risk. And the best way to do that is with your income plan. And I'm a big proponent, if you've listened to me on this show, is that in the short term, you you structure income from stable holdings that don't go up and down in the market because they're if you're living on money that's going up and down in the market.

Speaker 2 00:28:32 Inevitably, it will be sharply down. And that means when it's down, you got to withdraw it and spend it. You know, it's okay to sell something when it's down and reinvest it, but you don't ever want to sell it when it's sharply down and then spend it, because then you'll compound your losses. The the money. You'll never, ever come back. So you've got to have a plan that deals an income plan that deals with this new market, this new risk, market timing risk or sequence of return risk. When are the good years? When are the bad years? That's the risk you inherit when you retire. And you've got to have a plan to deal with that risk.

Speaker 5 00:29:08 That's our dollars and cents segment for this week. You can find this week's dollars and cents segment and others by visiting Brogan Financial Comm.

Speaker 2 00:29:21 Check us out Brogan financial.com. We've got a lot of information and resources. You can click on our resources tab and see all kinds of special reports. You can. You can read our blogs and you can follow us electronically.

Speaker 2 00:29:34 We send out a newsletter every an e-newsletter every couple of weeks. We'd love for you to subscribe to that so we can give you a great education, so you can make informed and prudent decisions that can impact the quality of your life. We are visiting this morning with Doctor Lynne Parker. She is recently retired from the University of Tennessee as associate vice chancellor. She also served as principal deputy director of the white House Office of Science and Technology Policy. We're talking about opportunities and challenges and the impact of AI on everyday life. Artificial intelligence, of course. And, Doctor Parker, what are some misconceptions about AI that you wish more people understood better?

Speaker 4 00:30:19 Well, I.

Lynne Parker 00:30:19 Think we've touched on one of them. I think the idea that AI is going to take away all of our jobs, I think that is, is just not proving to be the case. As I said earlier, it is impacting our jobs. I think another sort of along that lines, you know, continues to be many of these fears.

Lynne Parker 00:30:36 So the fears that AI is going to take over the world, I think those kinds of fears are just not well grounded. And and so.

Speaker 2 00:30:44 So you're not too worried about.

Lynne Parker 00:30:45 I don't lose sleep over it. No, I definitely don't. I think it's something that, requires some fundamental breakthroughs in AI technologies, the foundational technology itself. And those are always hard to predict. And so it's possible that there could be some foundational breakthroughs that really change the course of how AI is moving. But I think that is something that is not not not predictable. And most scientists, I think, don't think that this is happening anytime soon.

Speaker 2 00:31:16 And on the security and privacy part, we talked about understanding how public that information is when we're using the free AI tools.

Lynne Parker 00:31:24 That's right.

Speaker 2 00:31:25 Like ChatGPT and other tools like it.

Lynne Parker 00:31:27 Right. So you had to be cautious about sharing your private data and making sure that that you're not releasing information that, as you said earlier, that you wouldn't want to be a public knowledge.

Speaker 2 00:31:41 So, you know, when I, when I asked that question. Doctor Parker, common misconceptions. one of the things that made me think about is that I think a lot of people don't understand how much they're already impacted by the AI, and I think we have to embrace it because it's everywhere around us, even if we don't necessarily see it. First off, is that fair to say that that way?

Lynne Parker 00:32:05 Yeah, that's a great point. We've as a society been using AI for for many years. Things like recommendations on what next movie to watch or your smartphone is full of AI like Google Maps is AI. the voice assistants that we have been using, Siri and Alexa, and.

Speaker 2 00:32:24 All of that's artificial.

Lynne Parker 00:32:25 That is AI or your driver assist on your car so that you can, you know, follow the car in front of you at a safe distance. those that's based on AI as well. So there are a lot of consumer tools that we use that are just full of AI.

Speaker 2 00:32:41 So what advice would you give to individuals listening who want to learn more about AI without feeling overwhelmed?

Lynne Parker 00:32:48 Well, I would say just be curious.

Lynne Parker 00:32:51 There are so many free tools out there that you can pick one and just explore it. You know, it's not like you're going to push a button and and, you know, have a meltdown of your computer or anything like that. A lot of people are afraid to get started. I think, you know, some people are early technology adopters and others are late technology adopters. And I think there are some people that feel like maybe this is just a fad. AI will go away. It'll fizzle in the background. It's not happening.

Speaker 2 00:33:19 Yeah.

Lynne Parker 00:33:19 No. So now is the time. It's it's it's too late to be a late adopter. You know, you need to go ahead and start. Be curious, be thinking about just some small things that you can do and just explore. You're not going to do anything terrible if you just explore some of these free AI tools and just get a sense of how the kinds of things they can do, and then you can see how you might incorporate them into some some kinds of tasks that you want to to do.

Speaker 2 00:33:46 For those listening that are parents or grandparents. You know, it's exciting, but it can be kind of scary. What should especially when we think about kids growing up in today's AI world? What what what should parents know about their children grow up in an AI powered world?

Lynne Parker 00:34:06 So it certainly depends on the age of the child. I think for younger children, there is scientific evidence that's showing that young children cannot distinguish between a human, an actual human, maybe talking through a speaker and an AI that is talking through a speaker like a chat bot. and so often they are wanting to treat the AI as actually human. And and children need to learn that, hey, this is software. This these are not real people. And so it requires a lot of parental oversight to make sure that these tools that children a child might be using are, are being treated or are in the child's mind appropriately. And they can make a distinction between what's what's a person and what's not a person. I think that's very important for younger ages.

Lynne Parker 00:34:59 I think as you think about older children and, and maybe the education process, it's important that just as when the calculator was introduced, we had to learn how to teach students in ways that incorporated a calculator. But you could still learn math. It's kind of a similar analogy now with writing and as as students are using AI maybe for classwork or to to to do some research. I think we again need to have proper oversight as parents to make sure that students aren't just putting their learning to these tools, but in fact, they're using them in appropriate ways. And that's something that the whole educational community is really still grappling with what the right process is for that.

Speaker 2 00:35:48 You know, you mentioned young kids don't know the difference in a chat bot and a real person, but the reality is, are scams going on that affect adults? And, you know, in my industry, being that we're in the financial advice and planning and, investments and all the different security protocols that are necessary in that industry. You know, we have to be aware in my industry of the types of scams that are going on, and many of them are involved.

Speaker 2 00:36:14 I guess they're chat bots calling people up, but they can take your voice, create scripts. It sounds like it's you, right? I mean, how how can individuals tell when AI generated information is accurate or when they should be skeptical?

Lynne Parker 00:36:29 Well, I think what this has taught us all is that we have to be able to know how to verify whatever we're looking at, whether it's it's an email that we're receiving or even a news article, something we see in social media. We have to really grow that skill of verifying the information. And one sense, it's kind of sad that we're in a world now where you can't believe much of anything. But on the other hand, I think it's a it's a positive in the sense that it is. Now, we recognize that we have to be able to not take anything at just face value, but we have to to verify. So there aren't any just tried and true provable ways to guarantee that something is real versus AI. But there are things that you can do.

Speaker 2 00:37:18 Well, like in a family, we can have code words.

Lynne Parker 00:37:20 Yes.

Speaker 2 00:37:21 Right. That if I get a call from my daughter and she's in a pickle. I can ask her for a code word to make sure that it's really my daughter on the right.

Lynne Parker 00:37:30 Exactly. Or you get an email. Well, you can. You never click a link, but it sounds real. So you go independently. Maybe you have a phone number.

Speaker 2 00:37:38 For that email phishing and that kind of stuff. But that's happening more and more with phone calls.

Lynne Parker 00:37:42 It is, it is. But if you initiate it and you have a phone number that you know is really your friend, then you can just call them up and say, hey, did you send me this? So we have to be much more almost like detectives these days. But but that's kind of the world that we're in now. And I think we just have to constantly be aware that there are these scams, that things are fake and do our part to, to verify.

Speaker 2 00:38:07 We're visiting with Doctor Linn Parker, formerly of the University of Tennessee. We're talking about the impact of artificial intelligence and how it has evolved in our need to embrace it, and how we can evolve our skill sets, and that the signs are it's not replacing jobs, it's merely changing how we do our jobs. So when we come back, we'll finalize our discussion with her by talking about looking ahead. What might this look in five? Or how might this look in five or 10 or 15 years? So stay with us. This is more living with Jim Brogan here on Newstalk 987. Waqa.

Jim Brogan 00:38:42 Welcome back to Newstalk 98. Seven's Brogan Financial Studios or Jim Brogan is coming to you live with important news and advice to help you achieve your dream retirement. Get ready to learn and live. Here's your host, Jim Brogan.

Speaker 2 00:38:57 Welcome back to More Living Here on Newstalk 987 Wookey and we're with you every Saturday, 3 to 4 p.m.. Excuse me, 9 to 10 a.m. and then again 3 to 4 p.m. check out our podcast, Spotify and Apple podcast we'll have today show up, usually Tuesday afternoon.

Speaker 2 00:39:15 if you want to catch that and any of the other shows we've had in the last few years. Today we're visiting with Doctor Lynn Parker, and we're talking about the impact of AI and artificial intelligence and how it's really evolving and changing, how we work, how we interface, how we socialize everything. And Doctor Parker is someone who really has helped shape the future of technology policy. What gives you the most optimism about where we're headed with AI?

Lynne Parker 00:39:44 Well, I think again, some of these application areas and areas like health care and education, advanced manufacturing and the business world in general, we are seeing progress and success and using these tools to really improve the quality of the output. And I think that then gives a very good trend for what will continue to happen with these tools. So I think it will it will continue to have very positive societal.

Speaker 2 00:40:12 Yeah. One of the things you mentioned that I don't know, that I was ready that I was going to hear today and it makes sense. I just had not had it verbally expressed quite so concretely is that over the last few years we've as it's developed, we've learned it more and more.

Speaker 2 00:40:29 It needs that human, that human side. Right. So looking ahead, what are you personally the most excited about continuing to work on for for you?

Lynne Parker 00:40:39 Well, I think, you know, I'm right now.

Speaker 2 00:40:42 Very kind of retired, but you're a professor emeritus, so. Right. So what are you working on now that you're excited about?

Lynne Parker 00:40:48 One of the things that I am focused on is very much trying to address this AI literacy challenge for your everyday person. So I'm doing a number of speaking engagements, of thinking about how just your everyday person that has a lot of fear around AI can change that mindset and begin looking at AI a little more productively and thinking about how they can use it in a positive way. And so that broad societal literacy around AI is something that I'm I'm very much devoted to.

Speaker 2 00:41:20 What do you think AR look like in 5 or 10 years? By the way, I was going to ask 10 or 20 years. That almost seems like a moot point, right? I mean, can we we can't probably even imagine.

Speaker 2 00:41:30 Can we even imagine where we be in ten years?

Lynne Parker 00:41:32 I think it's very hard. I mean, if you look ten years back and the changes that have happened in those ten years, it's pretty dramatic. One thing that is beginning now to be used much more often with AI, and I think it will be much more commonplace in five to, let's say, five years, is the ability of AI to do multi-task kinds of activities. I think we are sort of in the the mode for most kind of consumer uses of AI, of doing one thing like write a summary of this article or, do a search for us. But what AI is now capable of doing it? They call it a genetic AI or agent. A agent based AI is able to do a multi-step kind of task. So let's say you want to go out with some friends next week to a restaurant that everybody's going to like, and some people have some food, diet limitations. And so, let's now have AI pick, a good restaurant for us that meets those dietary restrictions and schedule it for us and make the reservations and, send the reminders to everyone's calendars as a simple example.

Lynne Parker 00:42:45 So it can do multiple tasks. So you can just say, hey, plan a dinner night with these friends next week, and AI will take care of all of that for you. It's like a personal assistant, and I think we will get in the habit of using AI's personal assistants.

Speaker 2 00:42:59 So just here at the very end, we just got a few, you know, 30 40s but you've you've served a lot of interesting roles. You professor at University of Tennessee, you've been principal deputy director of the white House Office of Science and Technology. You've been executive director of the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology. When you look back, Is there a moment you're especially proud of?

Lynne Parker 00:43:20 Well, I think for me, I don't look at it as a moment. I look at it as kind of a trajectory. And I've been very blessed to to be able to continue to build on AI interest over a number of years and a number of different roles to really see and develop these technologies and the policies around the technologies.

Lynne Parker 00:43:38 So I think for me, it's the career trajectory that I'm most proud of.

Speaker 2 00:43:43 Yeah, I think there's a lot of wisdom in what you just said there that it's not a moment, but it's the it's the totality of that trajectory and how it's evolved over time.

Speaker 6 00:43:52 Yeah, exactly.

Speaker 2 00:43:53 Well, that's Doctor Lynn Parker, formerly of the University of Tennessee. just tremendous to speak with her about. We'd had her you on, what, three years ago? I think you said, I think amazing how time flies and how much things have changed just since then. So thank you so much for taking time out of your busy schedule.

Lynne Parker 00:44:10 My pleasure.

Speaker 2 00:44:10 Thank you. Absolutely. That's Doctor Lynn Parker today we've discussed the impact of artificial intelligence and how does it continue to continuing to evolve and impact our lives, and how we are embracing it and how we're learning that it is not replacing the need for humans, it's just merely changing how we interface and use AI. But it needs that, that human interface. So today we've talked about the impact of AI, because it can make a greater world that can impact the quality of our lives.

Speaker 2 00:44:41 Thank you for tuning in this week. Thank you to Wayne engineering the show to Mary Caroline helping produce the show you've been listening to More Living with Jim Brogan right here on Newstalk 987 Wookey.

Speaker 7 00:44:52 The views expressed by Jim Brogan and his guests are not that of Cumulus Media. Any discussion of financial, legal and tax planning strategies is not intended to be individualized advice and is general in nature. Always consult with your advisor for advice specific to your needs. This program's content does not represent a recommendation of any particular security strategy or investment by Jim Brogan or Brogan Financial, Incorporated.

In this episode of More Living with Jim Brogan, broadcast on Newstalk 987 WOKI, financial educator Jim Brogan explores the challenges and opportunities of sudden wealth, including lottery winnings, inheritances, and business sales. He discusses the $124 trillion Great Wealth Transfer expected over the next 22 years and highlights common pitfalls such as overspending, poor tax planning, and family conflicts. Jim emphasizes assembling a trusted team of professionals, understanding the three stages of wealth—creating, protecting, and transferring—and the importance of comprehensive financial planning to ensure wealth creates freedom, security, and a lasting legacy.

Automatically Transcribed With Podsqueeze

Jim Brogan 00:00:02 You're tuned into more Living with Jim Brogan, broadcast live from the Brogan Financial studios at Newstalk 987, where old fashioned values, expert knowledge and genuine understanding come together to give you the retirement straight talk you deserve. Jim's a former National Advisor of the year recipient and a financial educator, and he's here today to talk about how you can live out the best years of your life. Jim and the Brogan financial team have been helping retirees and retirees across the southeast for over 20 years in their pursuit of financial independence. You can reach them during the week at 865862 6800. So sit back, relax and get ready to learn because More living with Jim Brogan starts now.

Speaker 2 00:00:45 Hello East Tennessee, welcome to More Living with Jim Brogan, where it's all about living the best years of your life your way. This is Newstalk 987. 98.7 W Oki and the great wealth transfer is one of the biggest financial stories of our generation. Approximately $124 trillion is expected to change hands in the United States between now and 2048, so that's 22 years, $124 trillion.

Speaker 2 00:01:20 105 trillion of that is expected to pass to heirs, and almost 19 trillion is expected to go to charities. Meanwhile, the power Paul Jackpot, as of a couple of days ago was at 457 million. and the Mega millions jackpot was at 604 million. And on the 604 million, the cash value option is 266 million. A lot of wealth. And we also hear stories about how people earn millions and still end up going broke, while others quietly build wealth at last for generations. You know, the difference isn't how they made the money, it's how they managed it. So growing wealth, growing money requires opportunity and discipline. Keeping money requires even more discipline. Income and wealth are not the same things. And that's why you hear about many professional athletes, entertainers and entrepreneurs that earn enormous incomes. But they fail to preserve wealth. Retirement marks a major shift from accumulation to stewardship. So I think, you know, it's it's kind of fun to think about. Let's talk about in this first segment, let's talk about the lottery stuff.

Speaker 2 00:02:48 It's kind of fun to talk about. you know, when we think of the lottery or we think about inheriting wealth from our parents, or we think about selling a business or cashing in some stock options. Sudden wealth can create unexpected challenges. Many people who come into wealth suddenly have struggled with taxes, with overspending, money, strained relationships. That's one of the biggest lawsuits, poor investments and financial mismanagement. Some have even declared bankruptcy after either earning or inheriting or winning millions of dollars. So, you know, experts consistently recommend resisting the urge to make immediate decisions. So we just need to understand when we're dealing with wealth, we need a trusted team of professionals. We need an attorney. We need a CPA. We need a financial advisor. We need somebody to be a financial quarterback of all that, to create a comprehensive strategy. Now, when it comes to the lottery, we have decisions about lump sum versus annuity payments. We have tax planning, charitable giving or you how can you protect your privacy? We have estate planning, long term investing.

Speaker 2 00:04:11 All of these things deserve careful consideration, as does inheriting significant wealth. So let's just talk a little bit about this. there's a widely there's a widely quoted statistic that 70% of lottery winners go broke. And again, I'm going to draw a parallel with this great wealth transfer of $124 trillion over the next 22 years. because there are a lot of similarities. the 70% of lottery winners do not go broke. That that is not the correct Statistic. now what we do see is when we look at family wealth, 70% of family wealth disappears by the second generation. So if my parents have family wealth and it's significant and, and and then I inherit that the statistics say 70% of the time, by the time it gets to my kids, the second generation, down from my parents, it's going to disappear and 90% disappears by the third generation, which would be my kids or my parents grandchildren or. Yeah, their, their or excuse me, my grandkids. And the reason isn't necessarily bad investing. It's poor preparation.

Speaker 2 00:05:40 You know, money doesn't solve money problems if the habits that created those problems stay the same. And so we have to think about things like lifestyle inflation. How do we manage our expenses? You know, this is a big thing when we're creating and growing wealth is not letting lifestyle inflation creep in too much. And I deal with this when I meet with people in their 40s and 50s quite often because they they start making very, very good amounts of money. But if they allow themselves to significantly increase their lifestyle, then it creates a situation where they need that much more money to be able to be financially secure. Likewise, if you come into a good bit of money, whether it's through an inheritance, selling stock options, a lottery, whatever it is, it's dealing with that money and creating a sound plan for how to deal with that. We also see a lot of emotional spending, I think. Family conflict is a big issue that that many people deal with when they inherit wealth or receive wealth.

Speaker 2 00:06:58 there's there's a big lack of financial education. So if you think about the mistakes people make. I think one is you've got to assemble professional team. And I really think you need a point person that can coordinate everything. You've got to think about tax planning. You know, if you're inheriting a lot of wealth or it might not be a lot, it may just be. So what are the tax implications? You know, if if you if I'm inheriting an investment account that my parents owned. You know, there's a step up in tax basis at death. So in other words, I don't have to worry about capital gains tax. when my parents pass away, my kids don't have to worry about capital gains tax on assets I own when I pass away. If I have a piece of property that I paid $300,000 for it, for it, it's worth a million. they don't have to pay tax on the gain from 300,000 to 1 million. Their tax basis steps up to a million at my death under current law.

Speaker 2 00:08:04 Now, may that change in the future. It might. Congress has talked about that with some of our budget shortfalls that step up in tax basis may change, but as of right now, that's an important consideration when you do tax planning and estate planning. Likewise. If I inherit an IRA from my parents, IRAs 401 is 403 BES. Those are monies that largely have never been taxed for income tax. And if you don't pay the income tax on that money, somebody is going to have to pay the income tax. And that would be the beneficiary. And the beneficiary is taxed at their rate as ordinary income coming out of a retirement account. So understanding how to deal with the tax ramifications if you're getting winnings. I mentioned the Powerball and the Mega million. You know those monies are taxed. And it's it's interesting that let's use Mega million as an example. And nobody won last night. I did look that up this morning as I was preparing for the show. But going into last night, the jackpot was 604 million.

Speaker 2 00:09:14 But that's if you take the annuity over 30 years. If you take a lump sum instead of 604 million, it's 266 million. So it's less than half. And then, of course, that 266 million would be taxed for federal income tax. if you took all of that money. certainly if you did additional charitable planning, you know, maybe you could set up, you know, with that kind of wealth, you could set up a a charitable trust. You could set up a family foundation. There's all kinds of things you could do to shelter some of that wealth. But the biggest issue here is understanding the tax ramifications of receiving a windfall of any sort. And then how much? Or excuse me, how should you handle requests from family and friends? Too often we see relationships between family and friends deteriorate when there's a sudden windfall. We know the stories. We hear the stories of it tearing families apart. When there's a decent amount of wealth that's being inherited, if things are not planned carefully, and if you're not communicating those plans and involving everyone in those plans, to some degree, at least, with education and knowledge, you know, to involve your kids in estate planning conversations does not mean that you have to tell them exactly how much you own, where it is, all those things.

Speaker 2 00:10:49 You can talk in generalities. You can talk about the difference in inheriting a retirement account asset that's going to be fully taxed as ordinary income versus a capital asset like a house, real estate, a stock, a mutual fund that's that's grown, that's not in a retirement account that has no tax implications from an income or capital gains tax perspective. Now, with the estate tax the exemption now being over 15 million per person, you know, we don't see that affecting a lot of people and a married couple. You know, if you have a pretty nice size to state, if you if you're a married couple, you know, if you file the right forms, tax forms within nine months of the first spouse's death, then you automatically get 30 million. That makes sense, right? If I get 15 million and my wife gets 15 million. Together we should get 30 million. Now, I'll back up for a second. I know I'm talking about. About really big figures. But the bottom line is, whether you're inheriting $300,000 or $500,000 or $1 million or substantial wealth, there are a lot of lessons that we need to learn about tax planning, about preparation, about communication with the people that we love.

Speaker 2 00:12:12 So when we come back, we're going to kind of dive into this. We're going to talk about the three stages of wealth. We we we we save and grow wealth. Then we have to protect it and then we have to transfer it. And where do we see people make mistakes? And what can you be doing? What lessons can we be learning, whether we have a little bit or a modest amount or a lot? How can we be structuring this to benefit not only our lives, but the lives of the people we love and the things that are important with us and to us, churches and charities. So stay with us. This is more living with Jim Brogan right here on Newstalk 987 Wookey.

Jim Brogan 00:12:55 Welcome back to Newstalk 98 Seven's Brogan Financial Studios, where Jim Brogan is coming to you live with important news and advice to help you achieve your dream retirement. Get ready to learn and live. Here's your host, Jim Brogan.

Speaker 2 00:13:10 Welcome back to More Living Here on Newstalk 987 Wookey. I'm Jim Brogan and financial windfalls can create opportunities, but they can also create challenges and big problems.

Speaker 2 00:13:24 And so while lottery jackpots dominate headlines and I did talk a little bit about that in our first segment, most significant financial windfalls come from far more common life events an inheritance selling a business employer stock compensation. Stock options such as real estate appreciation. You know, we see that more and more and more now with the way real estate values have escalated. you know, we've got many stories of clients that have come into our office and have inherited a real estate asset in another state years ago, and now it's time to sell it. And it's a huge capital gain. Likewise, insurance settlements, retirement account distributions are even receiving a large bonus can dramatically change a family's financial picture. And unlike lottery winnings, you know these events are often somewhat predictable, allowing families to prepare in advance. But they still present difficult questions surrounding taxation, investing, estate planning, charitable giving, debt repayment and debt management, and long term financial security. And so many recipients make the mistake of treating these windfalls as, quote, extra money, end quote, rather than integrating them into an overall financial plan.

Speaker 2 00:14:47 So while most people don't win the lottery, many of you will experience some other type of financial windfall at some point in your life. And as I mentioned in the first segment, we're going to see the great wealth transfer $124 trillion over the next 22 years, most of which is coming from baby boomers. And we're already seeing some of that wealth transfer. So we have to understand, you know, when we get a windfall, especially when it's an inheritance, it can create different emotional decisions because that life savings that we leave to our heirs represents our life. And, you know, this is an important consideration when we think about estate planning. You know, when we look at the process of estate planning and by the way, you know, people ask me all the time, Jim, do I need an estate plan? And a lot of people feel like, you know, estate planning is for people that have a lot of money. Well, that's a lot of money. Everybody has a different definition.

Speaker 2 00:15:49 But the bottom line is, if you own something and you love somebody, you need an estate plan. And estate planning helps take care of you while you're alive to, you know, your powers of attorney allow other people to make decisions for you. There's the medical, financial. There's the medical power of attorney to make your medical decisions. And then there's the financial power of attorney to manage your affairs and administer your affairs when you cannot. And these take care of you while you're alive. And just as an example. You know, if you have an IRA or a 401 or other retirement account and you're temporarily incapacitated, your spouse, if you're married, cannot do anything on that account without a power of attorney and people. So most people need an estate plan. but in estate planning, you know, we think about attorneys and we think about that entire process. For some reason, the the discussion always centers around the assets. It always centers around money, real estate, things like that. And to me, in a state plan should be about legacy.

Speaker 2 00:17:01 What is your legacy and how can you position your assets to create a legacy of your life? Because, you know, if I think about all the different experiences and all the different assets, I can leave my kids, I mean, you know, I'm going to have financial assets. Certainly I'm going to have let's, let's say, educational assets, all the different things that I've learned over all the years, life experiences. You think about spiritual assets? What type of values? What type of spiritual foundation have I raised my kids? Where are they in their lives? Putting priorities in the right place. And then there's our values, our entire value system, which of course many times is driven by our spiritual assets. But if you think about all of those things I just went through, you know, if I told you you could leave all but one of those things to your kids, what one thing would you choose not to leave to your kids? You know, I think most of you would say I would not leave the financial assets I want to I want to leave my the things I've learned over all these years, my value systems, my spiritual, foundation, those things are much more important to leave to my kids than financial assets.

Speaker 2 00:18:25 And and that's perfectly illustrated by this statistic that 70% of people who who received significant wealth by the time it gets to the second generation, to your kids. If you inherit it, then it goes to your kids. Then. Then. Then it's gone. Or 90% by the third generation. And it's because too much focus is on the financial asset. But dealing with the financial assets still creates a need for discipline. It creates a need for comprehensive planning and strategic management. Some of these things are very, very important. They're all very important, you know. Should you pay off debt immediately? Should you invest first? Are there any tax surprises that accompanies any kind of financial windfall? people that receive wealth often underestimate the importance of estate planning of their own when they receive that wealth. And then kind of along the same lines, how can you honor purpose behind inherited wealth while still using it wisely. Now, there's a lot of lessons to learn here, not only from a financial windfall, but also if you really look at the three stages of money in our lifetime.

Speaker 2 00:19:41 So let's back up for a second. There's there's three definitive stages of wealth. Stage one is to grow, create it and grow it. So that's saving money. Invest aggressively. That's investing that money consistently. It's going to be, say, spending less than you have. You know, rule number one, a wealth management. You can't create and grow wealth if you don't. You have to spend less than you than you earn. And then over time, you build wealth. Now then stage two is protecting wealth and protecting wealth. What does that mean? It's things like protecting from taxation. You know, for many of us, our income taxes are the largest expense will ever pay in over our lifetimes. It's lawsuits. We gotta be creditor proof. We need to have proper insurance coverages and all those things. It's if we if we have rental property, we need to think about. Do we have proper insurance coverages? Do we need some sort of corporate entity to provide us with those protections? Then there's inflation.

Speaker 2 00:20:50 Inflation is the silent killer of wealth. And you know my next on my list is market volatility. Losing a lot of money in a down market. When we look at inflation and market volatility together you know market volatility is the more sudden thing that we think about. You know and with a big stock market downturn you can lose a lot of wealth very quickly in the short term. But that's if you sell and spend the money. inflation by contrast is a silent killer. It kind of slips up on you. I like to call it the cholesterol of retirement income and retirement wealth, because it kind of sneaks up on you. You don't. It doesn't happen overnight. You don't see it happen in a week or a month or three months in a stock market decline. You see it just slowly erode savings. And I think many more and more of us are feeling that over the last 6 or 7 years with what we're experiencing in today's market, with the cost of living. And you know what I think? I think costs are going to continue to escalate over the next ten years.

Speaker 2 00:21:57 I really think they are. I don't think we're going to see inflation of six, seven, 8%, but I think the Fed's going to have a really hard time getting inflation down to 2%. The reality is, even if it's at two and a half or 3%, you're you're compounding that inflation on top of the big increases over the last five years. It's not coming down. Prices aren't coming down. Except I mean I know fuel costs sometimes used cars, things like that, but as a rule, costs are not coming down. They're continuing to go up. And then so we got taxes, we got lawsuits, we've got inflation, we've got market decline. We've got long term care medical costs. Now then stage three of money is transferring it. That's your estate planning. A big part of your estate planning is going to be your beneficiary designations. Family communication is so critically important when it comes to transferring wealth and preparing heirs, which of course kind of goes along with that same thing. So if if you look at these three stages of wealth and money creating and growing wealth, stage one protecting wealth, stage two and transferring wealth efficiently and wisely.

Speaker 2 00:23:16 Stage three if you think about it, most people spend decades learning stage one creating and growing wealth and spend almost no time preparing for stage two or for stage three. And this creates a tremendous problem now. It also creates tremendous opportunity. And that's why we talk on this show about, you know, when let's just talk about financial independence in general. Financial independence to me is you're not depending on someone else or for a job or for your labor to earn a paycheck. So you have enough wealth that you can live on your own. And so that's what retirement is, right? But it creates a different pressure on the nest egg, because now instead of creating, instead of saving it and growing it, I'm withdrawing it and spending it. And so things like taxation, market decline, inflation those create new challenges. We need to grow. We need to continue to grow our wealth and our income over time in retirement. You know, people are living longer and longer lives. A married couple, age 65 today is expected to live 28, 29 years before the second spouse dies.

Speaker 2 00:24:34 In other words, the average couple age 65, it's likely that one spouse will live to 93 or 94. Those are the current actuarial numbers, and you're 25% likelihood one of you lives to 98. So you need with costs increasing and asset prices continuing to go up. You need to have your what your nest egg and more importantly, your income continue to grow to offset the power of inflation. But you also need stability of income. And if you know, if you've got all your money invested into into risk assets in the stock market, we go through short term market declines. And the last thing I want you to do is have to sell your investments when they're sharply down and then spend that money because you need it for income, because then you're going to compound your losses and it'll never, ever come back. It's okay to sell something when it's down and reinvest it, but you don't ever want to sell it and spend it. So you need a plan for stability of income in the short term now.

Speaker 2 00:25:36 Dividend yield that could be one approach is investing in stocks and instruments that can pay dividends, real estate assets that can provide income. But you know that can be part of a strategy. But I wouldn't want that to be the entire strategy, because if I'm looking for stocks and assets that only create yield, I could miss out on some really nice investments. You know, the last five or 6 or 7 years, I wouldn't have been invested very much in companies like Nvidia, Apple, you know, if I was if I wanted a 3 or 4% yield. They're not yielding that. And again I don't want to sell shares of stock when they're sharply down. And and and and they are sharply down at times. So, you know, it just creates a different set of pressures on the nest egg. And keeping wealth is much harder than building it. It's a different skill than accumulating it. So when we come back we're going to dive into that. We're going to talk a little bit about how our behavior and our emotional behavioral finances can make such a, such a, an impact on how we manage our wealth.

Speaker 2 00:26:49 So stay with us. This is more living with Jim Brogan here at Newstalk 987. Waqa.

Jim Brogan 00:26:56 Welcome back to Newstalk 98 Seven's Brogan Financial Studios, where Jim Brogan is coming to you live with important news and advice to help you achieve your dream retirement. Get ready to learn and live. Here's your host, Jim Brogan.

Speaker 2 00:27:13 Welcome back to More Living with Jim Brogan. We're all about living the best years of your life your way. We're with you every Saturday here at Newstalk 987 Waukee from 9 to 10 a.m. and again from 3 to 4 p.m.. You can stream us at at WKBW Newstalk 987 website. You can also, podcast our shows. we we we, we, we catalog all of our shows at both Apple Podcast and Spotify on their top end Mor living with Jim Brogan. Also check us out online Brogan financial.com. And you can follow our goal with our website. And with this radio show and everything we do that we do is to equip you to make informed and prudent decisions that can impact the quality of your life.

Speaker 2 00:28:03 And so we have a lot of resources. We've got special guides, we've got blogs, you can follow us. We put out a weekly e-newsletter. And in that E! Newsletter, we're basically giving you links to other content that we're creating to help you make informed and prudent financial decisions. Now, research consistently shows that preserving wealth requires different skills than accumulating wealth. And as I said earlier, we spend almost all of our life focusing on creating and growing wealth. But then those next two stages protecting wealth in stage three grow. Transferring wealth. We spent almost no time preparing for that. Behavioral finance teaches us that people often make emotional decisions, especially when they have when when they have a financial windfall, which, of course, I talked about in the first half of the show. We see lifestyle inflation. We see impulse purchases, we see poor investment decisions, excessive generosity. I think generosity is very or no generosity. We should be spend very intentionally and we should allow time, not emotion, to drive our investment decisions.

Speaker 2 00:29:21 So the conversation shifts whether we get a windfall or we build for retirement. It shifts the discussion from getting money and growing money to keeping money. Now, keeping money doesn't mean you bury it all and you put it all in the bank with guaranteed principle. That is not what I'm saying at all. Because keeping wealth means if I have $100,000 today, then in ten years that $100,000 grows enough that I can a minimum in ten years by as much in ten years as what I could buy today. Right? So if in ten years I have 130,000 $130,000 in ten years is more than likely not going to buy what $100,000 buys today. So we need real return on our investment. Real return is, you know, our nominal return. And it's very important to understand the difference in nominal return and real return. Nominal return is what you make on the investment. Jim. I made 15% last year in the market. That's the nominal return. That's not how in because we had inflation. If inflation is 3%, you know next year in or or you cannot buy 15% more things today than you could buy a year ago.

Speaker 2 00:30:48 But for two big reasons. One, things cost more. If we have 3% inflation, your real return is 12%, right? If you have a 15% return, inflation is 3%. Your money effectively has grown at 12% in terms of what you can buy. But then you also have to look at the tax burden. So now you may be down to seven, 8 or 9%. So it's very, very important to look at both real return and after tax returns. So when I talk about the shift from getting money to keeping money, it's it's in addition to keeping money is preserving purchasing power. Now in many cases a financial windfall changes people's behaviour. And we have to manage all that. And you know as I said earlier, you know, it compounds our behaviour when we come into a windfall. It kind of compounds the behaviour we've learned rather than helping us learn new behaviour. So we start by applying good true financial concepts, things like not letting lifestyle inflation creep in. If you get a windfall, the first thing you need to do is to prepare for it, not to Talk.

Speaker 2 00:32:10 Think about what you want. How many things you want to spend or buy with it. You know what is the income tax liability? How do you manage any existing debt? Do you pay off a mortgage that's currently at 3% interest rate? Do you pay off a car that's at 5% interest? Do you pay off a mortgage? It's at 6%. These are all very, very important questions. and then using that to help you get ahead in life. Because if you have a larger foundation of wealth, you have a greater likelihood of financial independence. If you spend a lot of that money, you don't have the foundation of nearly as much financial independence. Now, at the same point, I think people like to scratch an itch. If you receive a windfall. You probably want to do something right. You probably if you receive an inheritance. you know, in this great wealth transfer that's currently happening and will be happening for the next 20 to 25 years. Then, you know, you you might want to do something and you might want to buy something with some of that money.

Speaker 2 00:33:17 And I think the best way to look at it is how can you honor the people who left you that inheritance? Now, I don't necessarily mean it has to be a charitable gift, although I think a charitable gift can be extremely powerful when you do that in memory of a loved one. But it also could mean. You know, you acquire an asset that can appreciate in value, and you remember your parents with that. It could be like, you know, I'm gonna give you an example. I have a colleague in California who was one of 12 kids. I know it's a lot of kids, and they all inherited stock from their grandfather years ago. This was probably 20, 25 years ago. And it wasn't a lot of stock, you know. By the time it was divided up all the different ways. But, you know, my friend, his name's Jack. Most of his siblings cashed in the stock and spent it. Jack did not. He kept the stock. And it's not a lot of money, but every six months, he gets a dividend from the stock.

Speaker 2 00:34:32 And every six months he thinks about his grandfather. What a legacy of his grandfather. You know, you can write a great love letter to your kids. Jack got a letter from his grandfather when he received that stock. And the letter said, dear Jack, I'm leaving you a hundred shares of Bristol-Myers. Every time you get a dividend, I want you to think of the great times we had on the front porch playing the guitar. This is my legacy to you now. His grandfather wrote a different letter to all the grandchildren. And I said, kids, by the way, I said that wrong. He was one of 13 grandkids. He wrote a he wrote a letter like that to all 13 grandkids. And, but most of them ended up selling the stock and spending the money, but not Jack. So every time he gets a dividend every six months for the last 20 years, he's thought of his grandfather. So, you know, if you receive a cash asset, you could buy a sound stock investment that produces dividends.

Speaker 2 00:35:43 What a great opportunity. Create legacy. It could be a keepsake. It could be a memorial. It could be all kinds of different things. And then do you have an investment plan in place before you spend that money? The first thing we should do when we get a windfall is create a plan. How are we going to handle it? The last thing you need to do is go out and make a rash purchase or a rash Decision. People often regret those kinds of decisions. And then how does generosity fit into your financial plan? I've said many, many times on this radio program that I'm a big believer in giving as a fundamental element of a financial plan. And I think, Number one, I fundamentally believe in, in giving to people who are not as, who don't have the blessings I have. And no matter where you are in life, almost all of us, almost all of you listening to this show know people and and in situations that are more difficult than what you're in. And we can all be giving.

Speaker 2 00:36:41 Most of us, maybe not all of us, but most of us. And it could be just actually, we can all be giving our time. It's not just our money, it's our time. But I think what it does is we live in such a materialistic society. We're bound. We're we're inundated with all of these images of things, stuff, material and it's easy to get out of life. Money balance, you know. J.D. Rockefeller was asked, how much money is enough? And you know what? His answer was a little bit more. And that's the problem is, if the money is the goal, then it'll never be enough. And that was his point in saying a little bit more. So when we give and we have giving as part of our financial plan, then it it teaches us a lot about life money balance because it gets us out of our outside of ourselves and help us focus on others that have needs, because there are others that have bigger needs than us, just about all of us.

Speaker 2 00:37:48 So I think giving is a very important of a financial plan, generosity, especially if you come into windfall. But it's also important to manage that responsibly. I've seen some people that come into a windfall. That give too much away. They are too charitable. Make sure you take care of yourself. I have I have met people in my office that that you know, I have to caution them about not giving too much of their money away to their kids. You know, they're there. They're not spending their money. They feel like they don't need it. On the one hand, I think giving some money to your kids and or your grandkids while you're alive is a very great thing, because you can see the impact of those gifts. Now, while you're alive. So I think that's very important, but it's also very important not to give up too much control, you know, and not to put yourself in a bind, that if you have unexpected things happen later in life, then you're not in a financial distress.

Speaker 2 00:38:51 Whether it's inflation, changes in income tax rates, medical costs, long term care, whatever it is now. Are there habits that separate successful people who manage wealth that has been created from those who lose it or don't know how to manage it? And I do think there are some important habits. A lot of it is spending habits, but a lot of it is understanding the difference in the phases of life, and that the different way I need to manage wealth when I'm spending it and it's creating income, then when I'm saving it and growing it. So when we come back, we're going to talk about how we should be doing comprehensive financial planning before any kind of a windfall and before retirement. And then how can we manage it appropriately? Because managing it is so much more difficult than simply creating and growing it. So stay with us. This is more living here on Newstalk 987.

Jim Brogan 00:39:58 Welcome back to Newstalk 98, Seven's Broken Financial Studios, where Jim Brogan is coming to you live with important news and advice to help you achieve your dream retirement.

Jim Brogan 00:40:08 Get ready to learn and live. Here's your host, Jim Brogan.

Speaker 2 00:40:14 Thanks for tuning in this week to more living here on Newstalk 987 Wookey. Check us out online Brogan financial.com. Today we've talked about things like financial windfalls, whether it's an inheritance. We've talked about the great wealth transfer $124 trillion over the next 22 years. It's pretty remarkable. We've already seen some of that start to happen with baby boomers passing away. we even talked about the lottery. Had a little bit of fun with that. it could be selling stock gifts or stock units, you know, or issues, things like that from our employer. But managing wealth is a is is a completely different set of skills than creating and growing wealth. We spend most of our life and our time focusing on how to grow our investment base. We don't spend hardly any time planning to distribute it, protect it, transfer it, all those things. The greatest financial legacy is not leaving money. It's leaving wisdom. Right? So I want to talk a little bit about the difference between stewardship and ownership.

Speaker 2 00:41:26 You know, a comprehensive financial plan coordinates retirement income. Income taxes. Investing money wisely to grow income over time while preserving income security in the short term. Insurance planning, medical costs, estate planning. Charitable giving. Legacy goals. So rather than asking what should I do with this money, let's reframe the question how can this money help me accomplish what's most important in my life? Money should create freedom. It should create opportunity. It should create security, and it should create generosity. You know, I think generosity should be a part of who we are right now, today. Even if we do not have a financial windfall or for that we are not financially independent. But the point is, money is not about entitlement. Money should not create conflict. And too many times inheritance in particular creates conflict. Money should not create dependence. We have to be careful how we handle our kids and grandkids, and that we we don't create dependence, that they know how to handle money. You know, I'm a generation Xer and many of us Generation Xers, I have noticed, you know, we have a tendency with our kids.

Speaker 2 00:42:54 We now have most Generation Xers. We have adult kids now, or maybe kids that are teenagers, but we want to insulate our kids from and keep them from making a lot of the same mistakes that we made. But you know, the mistakes that that we made, that I made, that my wife made and that we made together. They helped create the people we are today. And so we have to be careful that we don't try to insulate our kids too much from making those mistakes, because that's how we learn and grow. Now we do need to do financial planning, but before we receive money and we should be doing retirement planning before we retire, ideally, and we should be speaking with our family about wealth and about passing wealth to children. Again, you don't have to disclose exactly what you own in order to talk about money. But, you know, let's talk about, as I mentioned, the difference in owning money versus being a steward. The money isn't just for me. It's something I'm responsible for managing wisely.

Speaker 2 00:44:03 That's what stewardship is. Now, it may be you may have a level of spiritual stewardship as well that you put in there. But but even just understanding it's not just for me. Every family should be asking, what is this money for? How much money is enough? Now here's what's important. What values do we want this money to represent? And finally, have you prepared your children to receive the money? You know, the greatest inheritance is not the assets you leave behind. It's the financial character you leave in the people you love. So dealing with retirement, dealing with financial independence, dealing with wealth, dealing with financial Twin Falls. We've got to have a foundational structure of in of the value systems we have and what we want that money to accomplish and who who to benefit. We're out of time today. Today we've discussed wealth because greater wealth provides for more living. So you can live the best years of your life your way. Thanks to Mary Caroline for helping produce the show. Many thanks to Wayne for helping engineer and running the board.

Speaker 2 00:45:17 Thank you. Listening this morning. Have a great week. You've been listening to More Living with Jim Brogan only on Newstalk 987 w Sky.

Speaker 3 00:45:25 The views expressed by Jim Brogan and his guests are not that of Cumulus Media. Any discussion of financial, legal and tax planning strategies is not intended to be individualized advice and is general in nature. Always consult with your advisor for advice specific to your needs. This program's content does not represent a recommendation of any particular security strategy or investment by Jim Brogan or Brogan Financial, Incorporated.

In this episode of More Living with Jim Brogan, host Jim Brogan welcomes Dr. Kelsey Ellis, a climatologist from the University of Tennessee, to discuss summer weather hazards affecting East Tennessee. Dr. Ellis highlights heat, flash flooding, severe thunderstorms, and strong winds as key concerns, offering practical safety tips like monitoring forecasts, maintaining trees, and never driving through floodwaters. She also discusses her Institute for Climate and Community Resilience and its AI flood forecasting research. Jim additionally covers retirement planning basics, emphasizing income sources, tax planning, and market volatility preparedness.

Automatically Transcribed With Podsqueeze

Jim Brogan 00:00:02 You're tuned into more Living with Jim Brogan, broadcast live from the Brogan Financial studios at Newstalk 987, where old fashioned values, expert knowledge and genuine understanding come together to give you the retirement straight talk you deserve. Jim's a former National Advisor of the year recipient and a financial educator, and he's here today to talk about how you can live out the best years of your life. Jim and the Brogan financial team have been helping retirees and retirees across the southeast for over 20 years in their pursuit of financial independence. You can reach them during the week at 865862 6800. So sit back, relax and get ready to learn, because More living with Jim Brogan starts now.

Speaker 2 00:00:45 Hello, East Tennessee, welcome to More Living with Jim Brogan, where it's all about living the best years of your life, your way as you listen to Newstalk 987. I have to tell you, I just love East Tennessee. I love everything about it. I love the climate. and, you know, it's been kind of a cool June, right? It's been a little cooler than normal.

Speaker 2 00:01:08 Although my wife and I walked outside this morning as I was getting ready to drive down here to the radio show, and I could not believe how hot and muggy it was becoming. So I guess the true dog days of summer are ahead. but you know, as great as the climate is here, we can also have real challenges. Summer is a season many of us look forward to, but it brings hazards that can affect your health, your safety, your travel plans, and your daily routines. So whether you're planning summer vacations, spending time outdoors, or wanting simply wanting to protect your family and home. Today we're joined by climatologist doctor Kelsey Ellis. She has spent her career studying weather patterns, climate trends, and the hazards that impact communities across the country. good morning, Doctor Ellis. Welcome to More Living.

Kelsey Ellis 00:01:57 Thank you. Jim. Happy to be here.

Speaker 2 00:01:58 Yes. So it's climatology, but you understand, you really study weather hazards. You kind of focus on the intersection of climate hazards and society.

Speaker 2 00:02:09 So first off, what drew you to studying how weather itself, but then specifically how it affects people and communities?

Kelsey Ellis 00:02:17 Yeah, I've been interested in studying the weather for a long time. I think most kids grow up with an interest in storms. You know, you play in the water as you splash around after a small flood in your neighborhood or something like that, and or you love thunderstorms. And so just like most people that go into meteorology, I had that love of the weather for a long time. But then as I started studying it as a scientist, as a professor, I realized that to really make a difference, I had to study how it intersected with people. And so that's really where my work is now. I focus a lot on hazards and early warning systems. So how people learn about those hazards when they're about to happen, and then also how they can respond to them. Do they have the resources to stay safe?

Speaker 2 00:02:54 I think that's fantastic about how it interacts with people. it's interesting, different parts of the world.

Speaker 2 00:03:01 And I'm just thinking about this because, and I mentioned to you off here, my son in law moved here from New Zealand when he married my daughter last year, and his dad and his brother came here for the World Cup, and they're leaving to go back home to New Zealand today. but it was kind of interesting because, they're originally from England, and, his father was like, we don't get thunderstorms in England. so it was kind of a new thing when we were getting some thunderstorms a couple of weeks ago. So Tennessee's beautiful, but it can create some challenges. I know we don't get a whole lot of tornado type stuff, but what weather hazards do you think people in East Tennessee should be most concerned about as we head into the in these summer months?

Kelsey Ellis 00:03:48 In the summer, we really need to start focusing on heat. we have had a cooler start to the summer, which has been fantastic and enjoyable. My garden is still green and happy, but that's all really about to change.

Kelsey Ellis 00:04:00 I don't know if you notice, but the heat is coming this coming week.

Speaker 2 00:04:03 Like I say, I walked outside this morning. I was like, oh my gosh, it's muggy.

Kelsey Ellis 00:04:06 Yeah, it's coming our way and it's going to stick around for a little while. So for 4th of July, we're expecting across the eastern half of the US heat indices up to 115 degrees. So a really hot holiday is expected. And so people that are planning to be outside during these types of weather events really need to be prepared to handle the heat.

Speaker 2 00:04:26 Are there certain weather risks that you believe people tend to underestimate until they experience them firsthand?

Kelsey Ellis 00:04:33 Yes, definitely. And a lot of my work is in severe thunderstorms. And so in East Tennessee, we may get fewer tornadoes than our partners in West and Middle Tennessee, but we definitely get them. And the mountains do not protect us once they're here, right? If a tornado forms a hill that you're on is not going to stop it. But also we get a lot of those severe winds from thunderstorms.

Kelsey Ellis 00:04:53 We call them straight line winds. And those have called fatalities from knocking down trees onto homes or cars and just really recognizing that a severe thunderstorm warning means something severe and can impact you.

Speaker 2 00:05:06 When we look at our houses in our homes. You mentioned trees falling and things like that. What should be aware? We'd be really cognizant and aware of. I don't know that until we experience something like that, it's really not on our radar of how our layout is at our home. Can you just expand on that a little bit?

Kelsey Ellis 00:05:24 Yeah, definitely. For a tornado specifically, you want to find a space where you can put as many wars between you and the storm as possible, but you can also really think about that for some of these strong severe storms we have come through without rotating tornadoes. Right. So we have these strong straight line winds that can drop a tree on any home or car. And so you need to find the safest place in your home and just have that in your mind. And so when you get a severe thunderstorm warning, hang out in that safe space if you can.

Speaker 2 00:05:50 And then we probably need to just be aware of the trees in our yard. And are they all alive or some of them towards the end of their life? Right? I mean, how are they likely to fall?

Kelsey Ellis 00:06:02 Yes, because those really are the biggest problem that you're going to have here with severe storms is tree fall. So yes, taking care of your trees, getting rid of the young, healthy ones near your home is a really great first step.

Speaker 2 00:06:12 Now you're at the University of Tennessee. You went to Florida State University and you were talking about that. What brought you to the University of Tennessee?

Kelsey Ellis 00:06:20 I was really excited to join their geography program. geography is a cool field. That's the department I'm in, and we study everything. And as a geographer, I was able to actually continue to do my weather and climate research, but have that focus on society. And we thrive in studying the intersections of human and the environment. And so that's why I was excited to join that department.

Speaker 2 00:06:41 So you're training up students? Yes. Do you teach in the PhD program? Do you teach mainly in graduate school? Tell me what your focus is over at University of Tennessee.

Kelsey Ellis 00:06:49 Yeah, all of it. So we teach from undergrads their first year in really big lecture halls. Teaching them their first things to learn about weather and climate at the collegiate level, all the way up to I graduate PhD students.

Speaker 2 00:07:02 When we look at East Tennessee, what communities in East Tennessee tend to be the most vulnerable when we have severe weather events?

Kelsey Ellis 00:07:11 So for severe storms, it'll be places that are low lying. You really want to look out for places that can flood. We have a lot of flooding in East Tennessee when we get heavy rainfall. And another problem that's happening is in Knoxville, we are growing quickly, and I live in Hardin Valley, where we are constantly wiping out farms and replacing them with subdivisions, and it's causing a lot more flooding issues than we've seen in the past. And so it's not just the weather, but.

Speaker 2 00:07:36 It's because of how the lands graded or.

Kelsey Ellis 00:07:38 Yes, and and replacing grass with concrete and other surfaces where the water can't sink in. And so not not only can we get these severe storms in the summertime, but when you add in the fact that we're replacing places where the water used to run with concrete. It's all running to one location, and then it's flooding out homes and streets.

Speaker 2 00:07:57 It seems like the worst storms are usually in the spring, but then again, late summer it seems like we also see some storms.

Kelsey Ellis 00:08:04 yeah. Yeah, the severe storms like tornadic. You're going to expect those more in the spring. Summer ones are very rare. Although we had a summer tornado here a couple of years ago hit West Knoxville. but heavy rainfall is definitely going to happen in the summer in those pop up thunderstorms. And I think what's interesting about that is they may not be warned, and it may only be a small area, but that small area can get a few inches of rainfall and cause flooding downstream.

Kelsey Ellis 00:08:26 And so that's what you want to look out for, is if you live in a floodplain or in a valley, you can be at risk just from what seems like a casual thunderstorm hitting an area away from you, but it drops enough rainfall to affect your area.

Speaker 2 00:08:38 Well, I've been in Knoxville my whole life, practically. I mean, I grew up here, spent most of my time here other than a few summers here and there, especially when I was working as a as a college kid. But, you know, as you drive around Knoxville, you know, if you grow up here and you live here, you learn where those areas are that can really get hit with the flash flooding. And you have to really be careful. Can you talk about tips for people when they're driving on the road and they see potential hazardous conditions?

Kelsey Ellis 00:09:09 Yeah. You know, the saying goes, turn around, don't drown. And that is you should take that so seriously. Do not drive through standing water. It only takes a few inches that can move your car and get you in danger.

Kelsey Ellis 00:09:20 And so always turn around and trust your gut and take the safer approach.

Speaker 2 00:09:24 Yeah. And you've been here in Knoxville community. Tell me how long?

Kelsey Ellis 00:09:28 About 13 years.

Speaker 2 00:09:29 13 years. So you let's see. Does that go back? I think those big, big storms, the hailstorms and all we had was 2011, 2012.

Kelsey Ellis 00:09:37 Yeah, that was 2011. And so when we moved here, there were still tons of cars on the roads with all of the hail dents, but you don't see those anymore. Those cars are off the roads now. I love looking around like those are 2011, you know, April 2011 cars.

Speaker 2 00:09:48 We were out and about when that happened. And Doctor Ellis, we were at a restaurant in West Knox, out near Farragut. And the level of noise and I it really it literally is the biggest hailstorm I've been a part of. And it almost sounded like a, you know, you were like, is this a tornado? I mean, it's unbelievable how big. And then the amount of roof damages and all those things that happened.

Speaker 2 00:10:15 luckily we haven't had anything like that quite like that sense. but then again, on the hailstorms. But it's still something we got to be very, very careful about. Talk about the impact you saw, though, from the the flooding from the hurricane a couple of years ago. And I guess, you know, the worst damage was a little bit east of here in Newport, but talked to us about the impact on the communities that you saw there.

Kelsey Ellis 00:10:39 Yeah. Those communities are still, they have a long way to go on their recovery because not only are single homes impacted, but also the infrastructure that they rely on, including the health infrastructure. And we saw specifically that hospital in East Tennessee get destroyed. You know, people were on the roof trying to evacuate. And so I think just recognizing that it's going to be a long time before these communities recover, and there's a lot of really interesting research that shows that these hazards, these disasters that happen, impact people for decades to come because it impacts their income and their communities, and they're just unable to ever recover from it.

Kelsey Ellis 00:11:16 And so I think helping in any way that you can, looking out for ways to help these communities, even five, ten years from now is something great that you could do.

Speaker 2 00:11:23 Yeah. I think it's important that we don't lose perspective of they're still going to be struggling and and dealing with the aftermath of that for years. We're visiting with doctor Kelsey Ellis. She is a climatologist and atmospheric scientist over at the University of Tennessee. And we're talking about the impact of weather patterns on our communities. We come back, we'll talk about summer hazards close to home here in East Tennessee. So stay with us. This is more living here on Newstalk 987 Woking.

Jim Brogan 00:11:52 Welcome back to Newstalk 98 Seven's Brogan Financial Studios where Jim Brogan is coming to you live with important news and advice to help you achieve your dream retirement. Get ready to learn and live. Here's your host, Jim Brogan.

Speaker 2 00:12:06 Welcome back to More Living Here on Newstalk 987. Walker. I'm Jim Brogan and we're visiting with Doctor Kelsey Ellis. She is a climatologist and atmospheric scientist.

Speaker 2 00:12:17 And we talk about I love her focus in climatology on how to fix people and communities. I think that's just wonderful. let's talk about close to home. Flash flooding can occur very quickly with our mountainous terrain. we got the hills, we got flood plains. We got all kinds of stuff. Why is flash flooding such a concern in East Tennessee?

Speaker 4 00:12:40 It's a big concern because it's so localized.

Kelsey Ellis 00:12:43 And so they can put out a warning, but it's over a big area, and yet people have to figure out if their specific spot is going to flood. And the models really struggle to do that right now. So I'm working with a a guy in engineering at UT. He's developing this AI flood forecast model to get like this high resolution forecasting so communities can know specifically like is the valley they're in going to flood. And then they know to be proactive. Because otherwise if you keep getting these warnings over and over and it doesn't affect you, you may not respond. But it affected like a community nearby.

Kelsey Ellis 00:13:15 And they needed that warning. And so really getting like localized warnings will be helpful. But until then we have to pay attention to the broader ones.

Speaker 2 00:13:22 You know, we're a we're a lakefront community, right? A lake community, Tennessee River runs right through Knoxville. And when they dammed it up, it created just miles and miles and miles of shoreline. we seem to be very fortunate in that TVA is just such a tremendous energy provider. it doesn't seem like we deal with the flooding issues the way they control the dams. can you touch on that at all? I mean, I just think it's unbelievable. You know, I know that TVA has those flood lines, and I almost never does the water get higher than that. It just seems like they do a great job. So many lakefront and river communities deal with much more flooding issues. Can you just comment on that a little bit from what you see from your perspective?

Speaker 4 00:14:10 Yeah.

Kelsey Ellis 00:14:10 So TVA actually invited our students to come visit to show us what they were doing, because they do they have great technology there for forecasting the flow of the river and when to release water and when not to.

Kelsey Ellis 00:14:21 So it is a pretty remarkable thing that they're doing.

Speaker 2 00:14:24 Yeah, I mean, it's just a tremendous thing, I don't think I think sometimes we take for granted. You know, I have family in other parts of the country, and I think we take for granted how good TVA is at providing energy and controlling those kinds of things. Yeah. summer, summer thunderstorms. We've talked about them. Very common here. What are some dangers that these storms present beyond just lightning and heavy rain?

Kelsey Ellis 00:14:51 So with the summer thunderstorms, like I said, well, the tornado season is kind of over, but you should always pay attention if we get a tornado warning. Right. But otherwise we're really focusing on the wind, the hail and the and the flooding.

Speaker 2 00:15:06 So I guess wind would be the other major thing to really think about. We spend a lot of time here in East Tennessee, on the lakes and on rivers and hiking trails and in the Smokies during the summer. what are some weather related risk we should really be watching for when we're outdoors?

Kelsey Ellis 00:15:22 When you're outdoors, it gets a lot harder.

Kelsey Ellis 00:15:24 Right. Because you may not even have an alert that can reach you. And so especially if you don't have a cell phone signal when you're hiking or something like that. So I think at that point you're paying attention to the forecast. You need to make sure you, you know, if there's a risk of storms, because if you get caught, you can get caught somewhere, right? You're on a trail. There can be landslides, there can be flooding, or you actually can't even get back to where you were. So really paying attention to that forecast and making sure you know your risks before you go. And then in summertime, we're also really focused on that heat risk. And so making certain that you have water and you're wearing the right clothing, and maybe you're not going out in the middle of the day and really paying attention to when it's going to be hot, especially if you're in a more vulnerable population where you can be more affected by heat. Older and younger individuals, things like that.

Speaker 2 00:16:06 I guess if we, you know, seems like when we're in the mountain areas, especially in the Smokies, things can come on you really, really fast. So we can look at forecasts all we want. But I think that we've just got to be very, very aware, at least from my perspective. You can comment on this, but just very, very aware of our surroundings and what's going on atmospherically when we're out doing things.

Kelsey Ellis 00:16:25 Yeah, I couldn't agree more. Wherever you're going, whether it's hiking in the Smokies or you're traveling to Europe, or you need to understand like what the risk usually is and what the forecast is, but good as local information as you can. So maybe the Park Service if you're going into the Smokies to really understand what you're going into and that's going to be take you, that's going to require you being a little bit proactive, right. Like seeking that information because it may not naturally get to you. So wherever you're traveling, just making sure you're really paying attention to what's happening there.

Speaker 2 00:16:55 Now here in East Tennessee, we certainly get a good bit of rainfall. And it's so green and lush here. I know there can be some dry periods, especially in the late summer. But drought can play a role in this area, and I think we've seen some of that even this year. Talk about the role of drought in East Tennessee.

Kelsey Ellis 00:17:15 Yeah, drought can happen as well as forest fires. So there's often a result of drought. If then the weather conditions are fire type conditions. And there you also have to be careful. And once again I mean that's something that can happen very quickly. So you really need to know what's going to happen in your area and what the forecast is calling for.

Speaker 2 00:17:35 How important is it for people to monitor weather conditions before they really venture outside.

Kelsey Ellis 00:17:41 Obviously in my field, I think it's very important. I'm all about making sure people get as much information as possible, because you can really protect yourself just by checking and making certain that the weather conditions are something that you can handle.

Kelsey Ellis 00:17:54 I was talking to my mom the other day because she's planning on taking my niece to Europe next year, and I was like, just please don't go in the summer, right? Because you're seeing what's happening right now with Europe, with the heat. Lots of people are dying. They do not have the ability to handle these 100 degree temperatures. And next summer is probably going to be worse due to the El Nino. And so looking at conditions like that and being like, maybe I shouldn't even go there, maybe I shouldn't plan on being outside when I'm vulnerable and those conditions persist.

Speaker 2 00:18:21 How accurate can we be thinking things like next summer is likely to be even hotter. And then you think about El Nino. We think about, I don't know, I still think about Farmer's Almanac. It seems like they're good at predicting things. I mean, how accurate and reliable is stuff like that?

Kelsey Ellis 00:18:36 I would say it's pretty good for broad forecasts, and El Nino can be tricky though. You know, in the past you'd be like, I think an El Nino is coming, and then it doesn't, but this one is coming.

Kelsey Ellis 00:18:45 They're pretty certain of that. And it's going to help us out this year with fewer hurricanes affecting the US, most likely. But then next summer, we can expect even more heat waves in some areas.

Speaker 2 00:18:56 We're visiting with Doctor Kelsey Ellis, and we're talking about the impact on communities of climatology and weather and disasters and things like that. What are some tools that we can be sure we have with us? I mean, I guess the main tool we think about is our cell phone, right? But sometimes that's not reliable. So if we're really venturing out, especially if we're going on a hike or something like that, what are the top 1 or 2 tools, resources that we should have with us at all times?

Kelsey Ellis 00:19:23 Yeah, obviously. Definitely the cell phone and making sure that you have your wireless emergency alerts on so that you do get those weather alerts should they happen. if it's, you know, going to be a hot day making sure you have that water, you're wearing the appropriate clothing, and then just making sure that you really get that information before you go.

Kelsey Ellis 00:19:41 I think that's the most important part, is knowing what you're going out into.

Speaker 2 00:19:45 If we look at some easy steps families can take in East Tennessee that we can take now to prepare for potential summer weather emergencies, what would be some easy steps that we can take now?

Kelsey Ellis 00:19:58 Like you said, one thing is taking care of the trees around your home so that you're ready for those thunderstorms as they come through, because we're going to continue to get lots of afternoon thunderstorms throughout East Tennessee. And then I think making sure you have an emergency plan in your house, it only takes a minute to look around and figure out what you should do in different situations. And if you're not sure what you should do, you can find an expert that can help you with that. The National Weather Service has a lot of resources that says what you should do. They even have people that are willing to talk to you about it. So preparing is so important because then you'll be able to react very quickly. Like you said, when the weather change is really fast.

Speaker 2 00:20:34 Yeah. And I'll just kind of chime in. One of the things I talk about with emergency preparedness is having cash at home. I'm a big believer in having at least some emergency cash in smaller bills. And that's one thing people overlook is they might keep a stack of $100 bills, but a lot of times a lot of especially in disaster, a lot of people won't accept $100 bills. So I believe we should keep a couple thousand dollars around just to be able to handle things when when we had emergencies. what are some things every household should have on hand in case severe weather causes power outages or road closures?

Kelsey Ellis 00:21:12 You should always have an emergency kit. So some water, some food. we always recommend people have a NOAA weather radio. So that way you can tune in and hear about what's happening and also get your warnings, through the weather radio during severe weather and then the the household plan.

Speaker 2 00:21:30 We're visiting with Doctor Kelsey Ellis. She's with the University of Tennessee. She is a climatologist and atmospheric scientist.

Speaker 2 00:21:36 When we come back, we're going to talk more about preparedness and also resilience and life lessons. We'll also have our dollars and cents segment. Three questions you need to be able to answer if you're planning to retire or are already retired. So stay with us. This is your living with Jim Brogan here on Newstalk 987 w Sky.

Jim Brogan 00:21:57 Welcome back to Newstalk 98 Seven's Brogan Financial Studios, where Jim Brogan is coming to you live with important news and advice to help you achieve your dream retirement. Get ready to learn and live. Here's your host, Jim Brogan.

Speaker 2 00:22:12 Thanks for tuning in. This is more living with Jim Brogan where it's all about living the best years of your life your way. We're with you every Saturday from 9 to 10 a.m. and again from 3 to 4 p.m. you can also catch us online Brogan financial.com. You can click on radio. You can stream our shows through the W.K., W.K. website. And then we also podcast on Apple Podcast and Spotify. Today we're visiting with doctor Kelsey Ellis from the University of Tennessee.

Speaker 2 00:22:40 She is a climatologist and atmospheric scientist, and we're talking about weather patterns and their impacts on communities. Before we get back to Doctor Ellis, it is time for dollars and cents.

Speaker 5 00:22:52 Want to be sure you are getting the most out of your retirement? For all the years of your retirement. That's the primary goal of Moore living with Jim Brogan and our dollars and cents segment, where we provide you with an important financial tip that will help positively impact the quality of your life in retirement. And now. Here's Jim with this week's dollars and cents tip.

Speaker 2 00:23:17 Three questions that every retiree should be able to answer. Or maybe better put. If you're even thinking within the next 8 to 10 years of retiring. Number one, where is my income coming from, you know, you've got to replace your paycheck. one thing I like to say, you're replacing your paycheck with paychecks. But, you know, we don't retire on assets. We retire on income. So where is it coming from? What is your Social Security election look like? How do you structure investments to provide stability of income in the short term? Markets are very, very unpredictable.

Speaker 2 00:23:54 You need some predictability in the short term. But yet in the long term you've got to have growth to fight inflation. And people are living longer and longer lives. So where is my income coming from. Number two how much tax will I pay. And this is a big one. I think people don't really understand what their true tax burden is now and what it may be in retirement. and one of the big reasons for that is we look at our paychecks and we have so many things withheld from our paychecks. So what? You actually have hit your bank account doesn't look anything like your gross income. And one of the big, big impacts. It's not only employee benefits and health insurance and things like that. It's payroll tax. You know, the first roughly $160,000, you make 7.65% in payroll tax, not income tax. Payroll tax gets taken out of that. Well in retirement passive income which is investment income, IRA distributions, pension income, Social security, those are not subject to payroll tax.

Speaker 2 00:25:01 So you might be surprised at what your tax burden actually is. And then we also have to look to the future where tax rates are likely to be in five or 10 or 15 years. We know we owe, what, $39 trillion in debt. Our deficit spending is crazy. Our income taxes in the long haul are likely to go up. And what can you be doing today to save on your income taxes tomorrow? And then question number three, what happens if the stock market drops 30%? Maybe I should ask that a different way. What happens when the stock market drops 30%? You know, the stock market is the number one way historically to fight inflation over time. And with people living longer and longer lives, you know, over long periods of time, you more than likely most retirees need to have stock market investment. But what happens when we have those bear markets? Because they do happen. I went back to 1900 about every seven day years. We have a market, a bear market, and that means the market goes down more than 20%.

Speaker 2 00:26:12 More than 20 a 17% correction is not a bear market. So every 7 or 8 years it goes down more than 20 and the average is pushing a 40% decline. So next time the market drops 30%, how is that likely to impact your portfolio. What type of risks are you likely to take, and how will you continue to generate steady income without selling investments that are sharply down? Because what you don't want to do is spend a significant investment loss where you sell something and then have to use that money for income. You know, it's okay to sell something and reinvest it when it's down, but you don't want to sell it and spend it. That's kind of a wealth management 101. So you've got to have a plan. We're going to have bull markets in my opinion in the future. We're also going to have bear markets. And we never know when one cycle is going to stop and another is going to begin. And so we got to have tools and things in place to protect us from the impacts of those things in the short term.

Speaker 2 00:27:10 So if you cannot confidently answer these three questions, your retirement plan may need attention.

Speaker 5 00:27:17 That's our dollars and cents segment for this week. You can find this week's dollars and Cents segment and others by visiting Brogan financial.com.

Speaker 2 00:27:29 And check us out on Brogan financial.com. I start teaching the classes again this fall at university at Pella State Community College. Adult education, community outreach. you can see our whole schedule. I think a first class starts in August. we've got a two night class. We've got a couple of one night classes. But if you go to Brogan Financial Comm and click on classes, you can pull up all the information on all the upcoming classes. And then we have links there to find out more and to register directly with city, state, through their adult education. Today we're spending time with Doctor Kelsey Ellis. She is a climatologist and atmospheric scientist at the University of Tennessee. We're talking about weather patterns and how it affects communities and people. what are some steps, Doctor Ellis, that people can take to better protect their homes from flooding and storm damage?

Kelsey Ellis 00:28:22 I think one, one, I was just at a workshop in Denver called the Natural Hazards Workshop, and someone said, please raise your hand if you understand your flood insurance.

Kelsey Ellis 00:28:33 And this was a room of people that study.

Speaker 2 00:28:35 That's a great word.

Kelsey Ellis 00:28:36 There were so few people I did not raise my hand. I don't know. Luckily, I live on a hill. I think I'm okay, but like most people do not know if they have flood insurance or what it even.

Speaker 2 00:28:45 Most people do not have flood insurance. Go ahead, keep that.

Kelsey Ellis 00:28:49 Yeah. So that's kind of all I had to say is like, make sure you understand your insurance policy, whether you're protected during a flood, and figure out how you can get protected, especially if you're in a low lying area.

Speaker 2 00:29:00 what about the way we've got things around our house? How much attention? I mean, we should be paying attention to water drainage and all those kinds of things. What are some danger signs we can be looking for around our homes?

Kelsey Ellis 00:29:13 Yes. Making sure you're clearing your gutters and your drains is a great step to protecting your home. we already talked about for the wind taking care of the trees.

Speaker 2 00:29:23 I walked outside a few months ago. My wife got so mad at me, Doctor Ellis, because I looked up at one of our gutters and there was something growing out of it. So I was like, okay, we need to clean out our gutters.

Kelsey Ellis 00:29:35 I mean, and some of them are tough to get to our old home. The roof was so high and I felt so. I was scared when my husband would clean them, but it was something we had to do because otherwise we were risking our home.

Speaker 2 00:29:45 Yeah. East Tennessee is known for very strong communities. How important are neighbors and local networks when we see weather emergencies?

Kelsey Ellis 00:29:57 It is so important and I can't stress it enough. I'm spending a lot of time right now post Halloween, learning about how it was really the communities and the neighborhoods that got things done for people when other people couldn't step in. Right. And so people were looking out for each other and they formed these informal groups. And what we're doing right now out of my institute at UT is we're trying to formalize those groups and create a network that will persist because once they form, we don't want to let it go, right? So then these groups will be ready to take on the next disaster and help their communities.

Kelsey Ellis 00:30:30 So the local communities are so important. Your churches can play a really big role. I've done a little research on that. So really, the better network you are in your community, those groups are really going to be able to help you out.

Speaker 2 00:30:41 Now, when you say my institute at UT, tell us about that.

Kelsey Ellis 00:30:45 Yeah, about two years ago, I founded the Institute for Climate and Community Resilience at UT. Part of the goal is to get UT researchers together so that they're not doing siloed research that doesn't help communities, and instead they're thinking like, for example, that AI flood model I mentioned, how can I make that model operational so that communities are using it? And so I'm helping this engineer work with the East Tennessee Development District to get it operational and in the hands of planners and managers, so that they can have this better flood forecasting tool.

Speaker 2 00:31:16 Do you provide informational outreach?

Kelsey Ellis 00:31:18 We do. We're doing it all. So we're doing anything we can. It's a it's a it's really a passion project as much as it is my job.

Kelsey Ellis 00:31:25 And so anything we can to improve community resilience from a lot of different ways. But we do a lot of community engagement.

Speaker 2 00:31:31 So how do you get the word out and and how can people follow this great information?

Kelsey Ellis 00:31:36 so we just got a website because we're brand new and you're welcome to go to ICA. Edu I believe it is, but you can just Google you really can look at mine, look at my name and see what I'm doing and find all the links you need. Kelsey Ellis at UT geography. and feel free to even shoot me an email if you know that there's a group that we can speak with. We're really interested in building relationships with people interested in climate and community resilience in East Tennessee and beyond.

Speaker 2 00:32:02 So how can people shoot you an email?

Kelsey Ellis 00:32:04 Yeah. So it's Ellis at UT Edu. I've got a really simple one.

Speaker 2 00:32:08 LCLLIS at edu. or. Excuse me UK.

Kelsey Ellis 00:32:13 At UT edu. And. Yeah, we're, we're looking to partner with people who are interested in long term planning for disasters.

Kelsey Ellis 00:32:21 If there's churches and other groups that actually want to learn more about local hazards and how to help protect their congregations and their communities, how to be an epicenter for during a disaster, we are more than happy to talk with them and start building relationships.

Speaker 2 00:32:36 Well, and I think in the United States, the spirit of the American people, when we see disasters and it seems like in East Tennessee, it's just a whole different level. It's amazing how people rally and help each other. I mean, they don't call us the Volunteer State for nothing.

Kelsey Ellis 00:32:50 It is, it is. And hearing the stories out of, you know, after Halloween, it's really it's really remarkable what people are doing for each other.

Speaker 2 00:32:57 Absolutely. From your research, Doctor Ellis, what are some of the traits that separate communities that recover quickly from those that really struggle after a major weather event?

Kelsey Ellis 00:33:08 Yeah, there's obviously a resource disparity issue. Some people just have more resources to respond than others, and it has a lot to do with income and socioeconomic, socioeconomic Demographics of an area, but also the preparation.

Kelsey Ellis 00:33:22 And so I think part of it is when we see a hazard that is infrequent and we're not prepared for it, then we're going to have a lot of trouble responding to it. But once it happens, we're like, okay, so this is actually something that happens here. Let's plan for the next one. And so we are planning now in western North Carolina for an eventual strong tropical system to come through and drop a bunch of rainfall. Right. Because people are like, oh, this can happen here. And so now they're like, okay, how can we plan for future flooding that we weren't prepared for this time? So until it happens, sometimes communities aren't ready and then it's too late. And so what we're trying to do, the researchers I work with, is learn from what happened in East Tennessee and Western Carolina, North Carolina during Halloween, and figure out how to protect other communities before it happens to them. And so really, what we're trying to do is work on better early warning systems.

Kelsey Ellis 00:34:12 So how can we make sure people are knowing when their area is about to flood, and they'll find out about it and they'll know where to go. And so all that preparation, like I've said, that a ton of time, just like having people prepared for it, will keep people safe.

Speaker 2 00:34:25 All those are great words. That's doctor Kelsey Ellis. She's a professor over at the University of Tennessee. She's a climatologist and atmospheric scientist. When we come back, we'll talk about resilience and life lessons and what we can learn from that. With her studies of how weather patterns affect people and communities. So stay with us. This is more living with Jim Brogan here on Newstalk 987 w Sky.

Jim Brogan 00:34:47 Welcome back to Newstalk 98 Seven's Brogan Studios, where Jim Brogan is coming to you live with important news and advice to help you achieve your dream retirement. Get ready to learn and live. Here's your host, Jim Brogan.

Speaker 2 00:35:02 Thanks for listening this week. For more living here on Newstalk 987. Walker. We've been discussing climatology and atmospheric conditions and how they affect people and communities.

Speaker 2 00:35:14 With Doctor Kelsey Ellis over at the University of Tennessee And, you know, Doctor Ellis, you've spent much of your career studying how people and communities respond to hazards. What does that taught you about human nature in general, especially here in the southeast?

Kelsey Ellis 00:35:31 It's really it really shows that people want to help each other when they need it. and, and I think the the more we can try to work together as a community, the more resilient we will be, because you can't always rely, like I said before, on outside resources. And sometimes it really has to come from within. And so knowing that we can work together to make a difference is really important with all of this. And I really think, you know, when you were talking about the retirement resources and really a lot of it, what you talk about is people have to be proactive and they have to like, look at what's going on and plan for their future. And I feel like so much of that is happening in the hazards world as well.

Kelsey Ellis 00:36:10 There's a good like analogy there.

Speaker 2 00:36:12 Absolutely.

Kelsey Ellis 00:36:13 Where people need to think like, how can we help ourselves? How can we prepare? How can we be more resilient from within? And so seeing we can do that, and we just need to be proactive and make sure we're taking those measures.

Speaker 2 00:36:27 Now you have studied some of the most challenging situation communities face that are weather related especially. What are some examples of resilience, of resilience that kind of stand out or inspired you?

Kelsey Ellis 00:36:41 I think right now and this is sorry, this isn't exactly answering your question right now. I'm super inspired by some of the researchers I'm working with who have are connecting with communities and hearing their needs and working with them to make them safer. And so I have a friend in Ohio, so I really work a lot in Appalachia. And so I have a friend in Ohio who's working with a community that doesn't have a weather station, and so they do not know how much rain they got and where they can expect flooding. And so she and I are trying to figure out ways to get the weather information there.

Kelsey Ellis 00:37:16 But also it's like, okay, so if they find out they get this much rain, how do they figure out where it's going to flood and how do people get that info. And so basically we're trying to grassroots an early warning system for them and figure out how can we keep them safe, how can we figure out the exact needs of this community because all communities are so different? How can we figure out their needs and how to make sure they get this information when they're at risk? And so I think I'm really inspired because I'm working with researchers right now with my institute and, and how the relationships they're building with these community leaders and how so many people are working together to try to resolve some of these problems before they happen.

Speaker 2 00:37:52 Yeah, that's a great word. I guess you've been you've spent quite a bit of time now in the southeast. You're not originally from the southeast?

Kelsey Ellis 00:37:59 No, I'm from Baltimore. So if you're from the north, you call me southern. If you're from the South, you call me northern.

Kelsey Ellis 00:38:03 So it depends where you're from.

Speaker 2 00:38:05 But you went to. Where'd you go to undergraduate school?

Kelsey Ellis 00:38:08 small school in Maryland. Salisbury University on the Eastern shore.

Speaker 2 00:38:11 So are you, is East Tennessee your hometown now?

Kelsey Ellis 00:38:14 It is. It is. I went from Maryland to Mississippi. And so since then I've been I've been in I've been in the South. So. Yeah, I feel like I belong here.

Speaker 2 00:38:21 Yeah. We were talking. Tallahassee's really more like deep South is Florida.

Kelsey Ellis 00:38:24 Yeah. We used to call it South Georgia.

Speaker 2 00:38:25 So yeah, it is beautiful there. Weather events can remind us of so many things in life. and one thing it reminds us of is that so many things are beyond our control. Right. Has your work changed the way you personally approach uncertainty?

Kelsey Ellis 00:38:40 It definitely has. And I feel like the fact that I have to pay so much attention to weather events makes me think very differently about them. One that impacted me most recently was the camp mystic flooding in Florida, where there were all those fatalities of the young girls.

Kelsey Ellis 00:38:57 And it's probably the age of my children. And the fact that, like, I saw a picture and it was a stuffy sitting in the floodwaters, a stuffed animal, one that my daughter had, and I was like, man. Like it was so deep, right? Such a big, terrible thing that happened there. And I think the, the big lesson was that, like they were at summer camp, right? We all would send our kids to the summer camp and think, well, they're looking out for them, but they weren't necessarily looking out for the girl's best interests. And I think the uncertainty there is, just like you're not certain that places have your best interest really in the front of their mind and knowing that, like, you're in charge of that and you have to figure out if you're going into a safe situation or not, it's really that proactivity. And you need to know what you're walking into.

Speaker 2 00:39:41 Well, and as we learn from Helene, you know, it caused some flooding that nobody ever imagined.

Speaker 2 00:39:47 Yeah. And wiped out. And there's just nobody was prepared for that. Right.

Kelsey Ellis 00:39:52 Yeah. And then I think, you know, one thing I can preach on is, is really actually trusting official sources on weather information. I think there's this idea that it's sensationalized and, oh, they want to scare you. Like, I can promise you, that's not the case. Both on radio, on television and through the National Weather Service. They're really if they're hyping something up, it's because it's big. It's because the models are pointing to something that can be problematic. And so I would actually pay attention to that. There's a lot of fake news on like social media and stuff like that. But if you're listening to a trusted source like the weather service or local media, you can trust that they're not sensationalizing it. They're trying to keep you safe.

Speaker 2 00:40:32 Yeah. And I will send out props to Mike Witcher, East Tennessee weather. Great guy. Great great resource. hurricane season starts. I guess we're technically does it start June 1st or July 1st? I guess June 1st.

Speaker 2 00:40:45 But you said it's not forecast to be that bad of a season. How much do you all study hurricane patterns, and what can we expect as we head into the deeper summer and into the fall?

Kelsey Ellis 00:40:56 Yeah, the El Nino is really going to help out the Atlantic hurricane season. It's it causes wind shear that actually breaks up the storms and then doesn't allow them to strengthen. It's going to cause a worse Pacific season. So if you have friends out in the that would be affected by the Western Pacific hurricanes. It will be worse there. But we can expect a smaller, less active hurricane season. But I will say it only takes one, right? Like, even if just Helene happened, if it was an A, if Helene was an a storm was the only storm of the year to affect the US. It would have been very traumatic still for our region. And so you still have to pay attention and know what's coming your way. But overall it should be less impacts than you.

Speaker 2 00:41:36 Yes, but that.

Speaker 2 00:41:36 But never underestimate the potential impact of one storm. Exactly right. Some people can become overwhelmed by the possibility of disasters, and then others just kind of ignore it entirely. I know my eye won't pick on my mother in law, but oh my gosh, there, there. TV at home is always on the Weather Channel. how how do we find a healthy balance between being aware and worrying too much?

Kelsey Ellis 00:42:02 I think if you if you note your trusted sources and you follow those, you know, you can follow them on social media. When I get my weather forecast, I just go to weather.com. Gov. You pay $4 a year for your weather service forecast, so use it. Use those $4 wisely and and use them as a trusted source for your weather forecast. And I think if you if you know where your trusted sources are and you follow what they're saying, you have just the right amount of information because they're not going to scare you into something that's not going to happen, but they're going to let you know when you're at risk.

Speaker 2 00:42:32 That's a good word. as you reflect on your work and experience, this is Doctor Kelsey Ellis from the University of Tennessee. what message would you like to leave our listeners with today?

Kelsey Ellis 00:42:43 I would love everyone to know how to get weather information in a timely way, and know how they're going to respond to it. I think, you know, we underestimate how quickly the weather changes and and how quickly you have to be able to respond. So I just recommend that everyone really pays attention. Take the warnings seriously. Protect yourself and your family and only takes, you know, 15 minutes to shelter in a basement during a tornado warning. Why not do it even if it. Oh, it didn't happen last time. That's okay. Why not keep yourself?

Speaker 2 00:43:16 Always be prepared.

Kelsey Ellis 00:43:17 Yeah. So always be prepared and take it seriously. It's. It's really not that bad just to respond to the warnings continuously and just make sure you're keeping your family safe.

Speaker 2 00:43:25 Doctor Kelsey Ellis and it's Kelsey with K. People can Google you if they want to find your institute.

Speaker 2 00:43:32 The actual institute is I think ICC or Edu.

Kelsey Ellis 00:43:37 Yes.

Speaker 2 00:43:38 Well thank you Doctor Ellis so much for taking time out of your busy schedule. It's fascinating to talk about this stuff. And I love the specialty that you have of how, I mean, you took this love of climatology and weather patterns and all these things, but you're looking at how it impacts people and communities. I think that's great.

Kelsey Ellis 00:43:55 Thanks so much, Jim. It's good to be here.

Speaker 2 00:43:56 Thank you so much for being with us. That's Doctor Kelsey Ellis with the University of Tennessee. Today. We've discussed weather patterns and impact on the community because a greater community provides more living so you can live the best years of your life your way. Check us out online. Brogan financial.com. I mentioned my classes coming up this fall. We actually don't have those up yet. And the reason for that is because the state is not open for registration yet. Stay tuned. We will have that fairly shortly. You can also sign up for our e-newsletter weekly, where we'll certainly be announcing that class schedule as they become available for registration.

Speaker 2 00:44:31 Thank you to Wayne for engineering the show. Thank you to Mary Caroline for helping produce the show. You've been listening to More Living with Jim Brogan only on Newstalk 9087. What are the views.

Speaker 6 00:44:41 Expressed by Jim Brogan and his guests are not that of Cumulus Media. Any discussion of financial, legal and tax planning strategies is not intended to be individualized advice and is general in nature. Always consult with your advisor for advice specific to your needs. This program's content does not represent a recommendation of any particular security strategy or investment by Jim Brogan or Brogan Financial, Incorporated.

In this episode of More Living with Jim Brogan, host Jim Brogan welcomes Russell Bevan, former WBIR anchor and current digital marketing director at Hackney Brands. Russell shares his journey from CNN sports broadcasting to Knoxville television, discussing how faith guided his career transitions. He reflects on memorable stories, including reuniting a Katrina-separated family live on air, and emphasizes authenticity, punctuality, and servant leadership. Russell highlights that identity shouldn't be tied solely to career. Jim also delivers a Dollars and Cents segment stressing the importance of reliable retirement income over simply growing a portfolio.

Automatically Transcribed With Podsqueeze

Jim Brogan 00:00:02 You're tuned into more Living with Jim Brogan, broadcast live from the Brogan Financial studios at Newstalk 9087, where old fashioned values, expert knowledge and genuine understanding come together to give you the retirement straight talk you deserve. Jim's a former National Advisor of the year recipient and a financial educator, and he's here today to talk about how you can live out the best years of your life. Jim and the Brogan financial team have been helping retirees and retirees across the southeast for over 20 years in their pursuit of financial independence. You can reach them during the week at 865862 6800. So sit back, relax and get ready to learn because more living with Jim Brogan starts now.

Jim Brogan 00:00:45 Hello. This is Jim Brogan. So sorry about that. Thank you for tuning in. This is more living where it's all about living the best years of your life your way. And today, we really want to welcome a very special guest, Russell Bevan. He is a former WBur anchor. Many of us know him from the news, really a stalwart in the East Tennessee area, and he's currently digital marketing director at Hackney Brands.

Jim Brogan 00:01:10 And on today's show, we were going to we're going to discuss journalism, leadership, community development, career reinvention, and lessons, lessons learned from a life very, very well spent. So stay tuned. You definitely want to hear this inspirational conversation. Good morning Russell. Welcome to More Living. It's great to have you on with us.

Russell Bevan 00:01:33 Hey Jim. It's great to be on as well. I II listen to the show. And when you said we're going to be teaching a lot of stuff today, I thought, my gosh, maybe I'm the wrong guy today. I'm maybe I'm next Saturday or something. I think we.

Jim Brogan 00:01:46 Had the wrong thing cued up in the in the queue. That's no problem though. But, Hey, Russell, you spent so much of your career helping tell other people's stories. What sparked your interest in journalism and broadcast.

Russell Bevan 00:02:00 Well, that's a great question, Jim. You know, I originally started as a sports broadcaster and, it kind of morphed into the the news and feature side of it.

Russell Bevan 00:02:10 But I started my career at CNN, producing NFL and NBA and Major League Baseball. And then I started, they put me on air at a really young age. And, you know, the next step was they wanted me to be on air more and more like every single day. I was doing international sports. And so, they knew Bob Kiessling was going to become the voice of the Vols. And so they knew there was an opening at, going to be an opening at channel ten in Knoxville. And, Margie Nichols was the news director at the time, and and Jeff Lee was the general manager. So I came over here, was supposed to be here three years and go back and and we fell in love with it and kind of the rest is history and now still broadcasting. I'm now with channel eight WVLT doing high school football and some feature shows, Christmas shows, things like that. But, just always loved it. Just always loved it. So I'm glad I still get to do it.

Jim Brogan 00:03:10 Absolutely. With the international focus, you know, I have to bring this up. With the World Cup going on, it's been quite exciting here in the United States. But with your international sports focus early on, did you did you follow world football, American soccer, as we call it?

Russell Bevan 00:03:26 Yeah. You know, I was forced to and I think I've told you the story before because you and I had a conversation before you were going to the to watch a World Cup match, that you did this week or last week. But, yeah, I was kind of forced to and and things like cricket. I had to go buy a book, Cricket for Dummies at Barnes and Noble. But, you know, those sports are so huge over there. I liken it to the NFL here, but almost on steroids. I mean, it's just, you know, cricket will go for days and people will stay there for days, but, yeah. So every year, you know, we'd get a big book that had the pronunciations of all the players in it.

Russell Bevan 00:04:06 And, so yeah, but I really kind of started enjoying it because that's what you're covering all the time. So it was, it was a lot of fun. And to see what's going on.

Jim Brogan 00:04:19 Oh, it's been exciting for me too, because my son in law, which. Yeah, which, as you know, you know, he's he's from England and he's spent most of his life in New Zealand. And, you know, he's just an avid soccer fan. And so it's just gotten me really pulled into it. It's just been really exciting. And seeing the United States do well.

Russell Bevan 00:04:38 Yeah. And hopefully this isn't too personal, but how was how was the game?

Jim Brogan 00:04:43 It was unbelievable. Yeah, we were there Wednesday in Dallas. I had been planning that for months. As soon as they announced the pool play, I wanted to go in England. We knew Croatia would probably be the best match in their pool, and so we scheduled to do that. And then the days leading up to the match, because we went down on Sunday.

Jim Brogan 00:05:02 But the international, just the sense of communities and the celebrations and then of course, seeing all the stuff online with the Scottish, then it was I just and then the day of the game, before and after the game, just the whole scene, it was just electric.

Russell Bevan 00:05:19 You know what? I've loved Jim. I've loved all these Europeans that have come over and said how great America is when we have Americans over here saying how bad it is, and these people are loving it over here.

Jim Brogan 00:05:31 I know it's it's really funny. So looking back, Russell, at your early career, what was the biggest challenge you faced early on that maybe people wouldn't have been aware of?

Russell Bevan 00:05:43 Oh let's see. The biggest challenge early on, I'll tell you, all of our family is from Atlanta. born and raised in Atlanta. My father worked at Georgia Tech. My mother was a teacher. My father in law was a Delta pilot. We were really ingrained in the city of Atlanta. And, you know, that's where I wanted to be.

Russell Bevan 00:06:05 I wanted to be in Atlanta, Georgia. And when I found out I had to to move. That was tough. It really was. but when I came over to Knoxville for the interview, God made it very clear that this is where he wanted me. He made it very clear. And so it was either I stay in Atlanta and I'm disobedient to to the God that I serve, or I go and I'm obedient. And so it would have been a lot harder to been disobedient. So we we came over and, you know, just like God does. it has turned out to be just a wonderful thing. But I think honestly, leaving all of our family coming to Knoxville, not not because it was Knoxville, because we believe this is the best city on Earth. It could have been anywhere but just leaving everybody, in the place where I wanted to be, I think was really, really tough. Rhonda was pregnant with our first, so, you know, she got over and didn't know anybody.

Russell Bevan 00:07:12 And so that was really hard. But, the Lord was faithful.

Jim Brogan 00:07:17 Yeah. In Knoxville, I guess you've just fallen in love. But you've been here. How long have you been in Knoxville now? Was it 25 years here in that lady?

Russell Bevan 00:07:23 We moved here in 99, so. 20. Oh. Oh, wow. So, yeah.

Jim Brogan 00:07:29 27.

Russell Bevan 00:07:30 Years. Yeah. Yeah.

Jim Brogan 00:07:32 25 really gets in your blood. So the transition. So you were in sports then? How did you you know, you were talking about all that coverage and then. And then how did you end up in Brock moving over to the news desk and then in your career? Yeah.

Russell Bevan 00:07:49 So I got here and almost a weekend sports anchor and worked for the Fall Network. And, I started filling in on Live at Five because Ted Hall would fill in for Bill Williams on the six. And then Bill Williams decided that, he was just going to do the 6:00 news and not do the 11. And so Ted slowly moved into that role.

Russell Bevan 00:08:12 And so they asked me to do live at five, eight months after I had gotten there. And, that's pretty big jump to, you know, you're doing sports going into a feature show where you're talking about bird feeders and, and cooking, but, we, you know, we prayed about it and, and we decided, you know, this was something we wanted to do. I don't think CNN was real happy about it, but that's what we did. So I was here eight months as the weekend sports guy, and then I got the live at five job.

Jim Brogan 00:08:45 Now. Your career has now evolved from journalism into business and marketing leadership. What does that transition taught you, Russell, about embracing new opportunities?

Russell Bevan 00:08:56 Well, I think that that as long as for me, you know, faith is the most important thing in my life. As long as I'm doing what I feel God wants me to do, then I know it's going to be it's going to be fine. I say that God's will is not always easy, but it's always right.

Russell Bevan 00:09:11 And so, he led me to AC Hackney and it has been a great experience. And if anybody out there is going through that or considering it, you know, I think that, you just look at it as another chapter of, of a book and it can be a great chapter. It really can. No matter what age you are. I mean, I've never done anything like this, you know, I knew it was time to leave WBur and we left on great terms. It was my decision. But I knew, you know, it was time and this opened up and just kind of embraced it. And and they have absolutely been unbelievable over there. Absolutely incredible. Yeah. And so it's been it's just a huge blessing. And and then to still allow me to, to do television and and speak. it's just I'm just so thankful.

Jim Brogan 00:10:04 Yeah. It's great. Well, obviously your faith was a huge part of that. And I'm sure there was a lot of prayer involved in that move, too.

Jim Brogan 00:10:10 But there's a great, great word there to always be open to God's calling, no matter how entrenched we are in our career. We're visiting with Russell Bevan this morning on living. And when we come back, I do want to talk about life in the newsroom, some of the the hours and the challenges that he faced, and then more as we get into life beyond television and things we can learn from Russell and the stories he's told over the years. So stay with us as we visit with Russell Bevan. This is Moore living with Jim Brogan here on Newstalk 987 Wookey.

Jim Brogan 00:10:42 Welcome back to Newstalk 98 Seven's Brogan Financial Studios, where Jim Brogan is coming to you live with important news and advice to help you achieve your dream retirement. Get ready to learn and live. Here's your host, Jim Brogan.

Multiple Speakers 00:10:57 Welcome back to More Living Here on Newstalk 987 Wapi.

Jim Brogan 00:11:02 I'm Jim Brogan and you can catch us every Saturday, 9 to 10 a.m. and again from 3:04 p.m.. Check us out online Brogan financial.com. You can click on radio and listen to all of our shows that are podcasts there.

Jim Brogan 00:11:15 today we're visiting with Russell Bevan and we're just learning from his career. of course, he was such a stalwart in the area with WBur for over 20 years. He has now transitioned into marketing and business leadership. So we're just kind of talking about like life lessons and legacy and things like that. And Russell, you know, if we talk about life in the newsroom itself, you know, broadcasting, I imagine, often demands very long hours and unusual schedules. What does that teach you about discipline and commitment?

Russell Bevan 00:11:50 Well, the first thing is you have to be on at a certain time so you're not there. It's going on. So you know you're late to a meeting maybe, and people will wait a little bit at times, you know, that kind of thing. Or if you're late to a breakfast, people will let you know, will wait a few minutes for you before they leave. But in broadcasting, you have to be there on time. So, you know, that got me on time in other parts of my life for sure.

Russell Bevan 00:12:18 you know, I'm not on Lombardi time. You know, Vince Lombardi said 15 minutes early, but I'm definitely a few minutes early to everything. because of that, you know, because broadcasting, man, you had to be there. You just had to be there.

Jim Brogan 00:12:32 What are some things that viewers never saw about the work that happened behind the scenes?

Russell Bevan 00:12:38 you know, I think the, the work that other people did. the people who are on television get a lot of the credit, a lot of the blame. But there are so many people behind the scenes who do just incredibly hard work and really good work to photographers, producers, writers, but, you know, photographers, in general. I mean, you know, they're, you know, you help them carry equipment, but, you know, 10 to 15 years ago, that equipment was a lot bigger than it is now. And they were lugging around that stuff. And, you know, if you're in the, let's say, the Gatlinburg wildfires and you're covering that and they're lugging that stuff around for hours and, you know, you're an emotional situation.

Russell Bevan 00:13:20 You're talking to emotional people. So those stories affect you too and your coworkers because you know, you're human. And so not just tough stories, but having to do the tough work to tell the stories is pretty incredible. So I would definitely say the people behind the scenes, It's unbelievable. And they're just kind of selfless. Jim really don't want any of the credit. In fact, if you mention them, they're kind of like, hey, don't do that anymore, you know? And, I'd say to them, them for sure.

Jim Brogan 00:13:52 Yeah, I think that's a great word. It takes a village, right? And,

Russell Bevan 00:13:57 You know.

Jim Brogan 00:13:57 We see the faces on the TV, but there's so much that's going on behind the scenes. Russell, you've covered everything from breaking news to inspiring stories about everyday people. Are there any stories over the years that have really stuck with you over time?

Russell Bevan 00:14:15 Gosh. Yeah, definitely. there was one little boy that when Katrina happened, you know, a lot of families were flown out to different cities.

Russell Bevan 00:14:29 Dallas was one of them. I think Columbia, South Carolina was one of them. And there was a little boy who got separated from his dad. And somehow we got word of it, and I took just an interest in it. And so I just started calling. Actually, a family was in Dallas from Knoxville, and they kind of were with this little boy who couldn't find his dad. And we found this dad, and he was at a hotel in Columbia, South Carolina, and we ended up reuniting them live in our studio. We flew them both in. Wow, man, that was powerful. That was really powerful. I don't think there was a dry eye in the in the place that was, That was something.

Jim Brogan 00:15:16 That's incredible to hear that. Yeah, yeah. That's incredible.

Russell Bevan 00:15:21 I'll tell you, this is just a small thing. Just a small thing is I was on the Mississippi coast when, covering Katrina in a little town down there, Bay Saint Louis and the National Guard led us through to go meet the mayor.

Russell Bevan 00:15:37 And there was an auto zone there and everything. The windows were blown out, everything was blown out. And I got on the news vehicle, just walked over not to do a story. I was just looking and I noticed that on the shelves people had taken gas tanks, people had taken oil, that they had left a little note with their name and number so that they could make sure they were charged. And I thought, right, here is the spirit of America in the midst of this storm, you still have people with a moral compass enough to say, hey, make sure you charge me for this, because I don't want your business to have to pay for this because you see all this looting stuff, you know, that goes on across the country. And when I saw that, I thought, man, this is this is pretty cool.

Jim Brogan 00:16:27 That is really cool. And it is a great testimony to the spirit of the American people. That's very, very heartwarming. Do you, From the different scenes and all the different things that you've covered? I imagine it could really shape a different perspective.

Jim Brogan 00:16:43 I mean, how do those experiences change or really your overall view on life?

Russell Bevan 00:16:50 Yeah. You know, when it's something like the Katrina or, or tornadoes that are really deadly or the Gatlinburg wildfires? I was in I went to Haiti after the earthquake. There, you know, when you get back, it takes you a few days. And just to be completely transparent, you know, after about two days, I just I just have to cry for, you know, a few hours, just get in the shower and just cry for a few hours. But it really, it lets you realize how blessed you are, but it also lets you realize that everybody is given a platform. Big or small, it doesn't matter because they're all just as important. and you ought to use it for good. Because you can use a platform for bad. But there are so many people during those situations that step up to help. But you might not hear about that are using their platform to do something to better our community, to better someone they don't even know.

Russell Bevan 00:17:49 And so those are the two things that just, you know, things can change fast in life. so the good days.

Jim Brogan 00:17:57 Enjoy reading?

Russell Bevan 00:17:59 yeah.

Jim Brogan 00:18:01 Absolutely. I've been reading a book. The day the world came to town. I don't know if you're familiar with it, but it's about 911. It's about in Gander and Newfoundland. all these airlines, international flight lanes had to be landed in Newfoundland and were there for several days. And it it hearing you tell the stories of some of your experiences, it just it just really brings that home because it just the spirit of the people in the West and the American people. The Canadian people. It's just unbelievable how people rally. is there a moment or. Go ahead.

Russell Bevan 00:18:38 Well, I was going to say, speaking of nine over 11, you know, I often say September 11th was was the worst modern day in our country since since I've been alive. September 12th was one of the best, because on September 12th, you could go to the grocery store, you could walk down the street and you would.

Russell Bevan 00:19:00 How are you doing? Hey, you. You doing all right? But you didn't even know people, and you were talking to them. Yeah, man. Everybody was together on September 12th, you know, and people were starting to rally then, and that was amazing. You wouldn't believe how many people from East Tennessee went to, Manhattan, lower Manhattan, and got right in the midst of it. From sheriffs, chaplains to forensics experts and and a lot of these chaplains were just up there just to pray for the first responders, pray for the first responders. I remember there was a a chaplain from a Baptist church that went up there, and he was walking around different people, and he said, a big hand got his shoulder and he turned around and it was a firefighter. His face was completely black. He looked like he had just been just worn out, just ashes all over him. And he said, I see you're a Baptist pastor. And he said, yes, I am. And he said, I'm Catholic.

Russell Bevan 00:19:56 Will you still pray for me? He said, absolutely, I will. And he said, they just prayed right there at Ground Zero. You know, just a lot of people did a lot of great things in the midst of a horrible situation, kind of like you're talking about. I'm interested in reading this book because I have a feeling I know where it's going.

Jim Brogan 00:20:12 Yeah. I mean, it really is a great book. is there a moment or podcast on there that you're especially proud of? Russell, over the years?

Russell Bevan 00:20:21 Oh. Let's see.

Jim Brogan 00:20:23 I know I'm kind of putting you on the spot here with some of these questions.

Russell Bevan 00:20:27 Gosh. You know, when we hang up, I'll probably think of a million of them. But, you know, I think I think that, channel ten had asked me during Covid to do, commentaries. And I said, I'll do commentaries if they're not edited. and if I can talk about my faith. And to their credit, they agreed and they didn't edit them.

Russell Bevan 00:20:51 And there were times where I would talk about my faith and talk about Jesus. I think I think that, is important to me. I think there was a story that Coach Barnes and I did, about the fact that, you know, they have a team chaplain and they do power talks, before games. and they, they talk about Scripture. It's all voluntary, all, all kinds of things like that. And that went all over the place. You know, that really went viral. But I think that was a big one. Coach. Coach is like I always say, he's like a much older, older brother to me. But, but that one was that one was special because, you know, the group of guys he gets in there just unbelievable. So that was I'd say that was a good one, too.

Jim Brogan 00:21:43 We're visiting with Russell and we're talking, and when we come back, we're going to talk about life on television in that transition. we'll also have our dollars and cents segment.

Jim Brogan 00:21:53 How do you turn your when the paycheck stops? How do you create more paychecks out of your current asset base? Because it's not about your portfolio at that point. It's about how you can generate dependable, increasing income. So stay with us. This is more living with Jim Brogan right here on Newstalk 987.

Jim Brogan 00:22:16 Welcome back to Newstalk 98. Seven's Brogan Financial Studios or Jim Brogan is coming to you. Live with important news and advice to help you achieve your dream retirement. Get ready to learn and live. Here's your host, Jim Brogan.

Multiple Speakers 00:22:32 Welcome back to More Living with Jim Brogan, where it's all about living the best years of your life your way.

Jim Brogan 00:22:38 We're visiting with Russell Bevan this morning here on Newstalk 987, Waukee, and we're learning from his career and some of the experiences and perspectives that he brings. spent his whole career, in media. many of those years talking about other people's stories and the perspective that that brings, is pretty extraordinary. before we get back to Russell, however, it is time for dollars and cents.

Multiple Speakers 00:23:06 What? To be sure, you are getting the most out of your retirement for all the years of your retirement. That's the primary goal of Moore living with Jim Brogan and our dollars and cents segment where we provide you with an important financial tip that will help positively impact the quality of your life in retirement. And now. Here's Jim with this week's dollars and cents tip.

Multiple Speakers 00:23:34 Focus on your future paycheck.

Jim Brogan 00:23:36 And retirement and not just your portfolio. You know the paychecks are going to stop when you when you stop earning income, and you need to be able to replace those. Let's call them with play checks for the retirement phase. And one of the biggest mistakes I think people make is measuring retirement success based on looking at the size of your nest egg in your portfolio and while saving investing certainly critical to get to that point. Retirement is not about the we don't retire on an asset. It's about creating a dependable income stream that supports your lifestyle for the rest of your life. So think about it this way during your working years, you are relying on a paycheck.

Jim Brogan 00:24:19 And in retirement, that paycheck must come from a combination of Social Security. Maybe you're still getting your, you know, getting attention. more and more of us younger folks. Even in your 50s, we're not going to get pensions. But some of you may. You've got to then take your investment accounts and create income, and then you may have other income producing assets. The challenge is making sure that income continues regardless of market fluctuations, market uncertainties, inflation and unexpected expenses. A successful retirement income strategy doesn't just answer how much do I have? It answers how much can I safely spend? And will my income keep up with rising costs? And that's why coordinating withdrawals, tax planning and guaranteed income sources are just as important as investment performance. So many retirees who focused exclusively on growth can find themselves vulnerable during market downturns. How can we create stability in our income and in our paychecks when the markets are volatile now? Likewise, if we. We have to be very careful that we don't underestimate the impact of inflation and over and growth over time.

Jim Brogan 00:25:41 And you know, it's interesting with the fed fed recently meeting under the new chairman, you know, it's looking more and more like, you know, we may actually get a get a rate increase later this year is kind of a new speculation. The point is that people are concerned about inflation. And I think in the coming decade, prices are going to continue to go up. You've got to have growth in your asset base to support income. Five, ten, 15, 20 years from now. What you don't want is you don't want short term market volatility driving your ability to generate stable income. So a retirement plan without an income strategy is only half a plan. Your goal shouldn't be to die with the most money. It should be to create a reliable, tax efficient paycheck that allows you to enjoy retirement with confidence and peace of mind.

Multiple Speakers 00:26:42 That's our dollars and cents segment for this week. You can find this week's dollars and Cents segment and others by visiting Brogan Financial Comm.

Multiple Speakers 00:26:56 Check us out at Brogan financial.com.

Jim Brogan 00:26:58 We got a lot of resources there. If you click on our resources tab, we've got you can follow our blogs. We've got white papers. Our goal with both this program and on our website is to equip you to make informed and prudent decisions that can impact the quality of your life in retirement and beyond. So take advantage of those resources. Go to Brogan financial.com. You can also click on radio. You can follow all of our podcasts on Apple Podcasts and Spotify as well. We're visiting this morning with Russell Bevan, who of course was years on WBur live at five. At four, I guess, is where most of us know him. He started his career in sportscasting. Actually, as we have learned today. and of course, now life is beyond television for Russell Russell leaving WBur. As we've discussed, was a major life transition for you? what was it like to close that chapter of your life and begin something?

Russell Bevan 00:28:00 well, it was it wasn't easy because, you know, there's a lot of people at WBur.

Russell Bevan 00:28:05 I was very close with Still Close with today, but going from something I was doing every single day for years to something totally different was tough. But you know, you have to embrace it and have a great attitude about it. Pat. You know, Pat Summitt would say that's one thing you can you can, control every day as your attitude. And so I try to go in with a positive attitude. And I knew that's where God wanted me. And so that made it a lot easier. But it's been a lot of fun to, to get into the business world and a lot of learning, that's for sure. But I'm around a lot of great, great people with a lot of great, with high integrity for sure. And by the way, one thing I failed to mention, Jim, one of the one of the highlights was interviewing you every week talking about finances. So I got to learn a lot. And then when we get off the air, folks, I'd always I probably drove Jim crazy because I'd ask him extra questions.

Russell Bevan 00:29:01 You know, during commercials, I'd say, well, what about on what if this happens? What? And you'd sit there patiently and you'd answer all the questions. So I always appreciated that and had fun with you.

Jim Brogan 00:29:11 It was fun. Although man, I'll tell you what I get. As you mentioned, you have to always be on time. Some of those interviews in the 6:00 hour and I was like, how did he go on it for? And how did he go on it for in the morning? Brutal.

Russell Bevan 00:29:24 Brutal.

Jim Brogan 00:29:26 Yeah.

Russell Bevan 00:29:26 And I felt for you when you come in there because I was getting up earlier. But I knew getting up that early just to be on air at six. And you got to act like you've been awake, you know, so. So we always appreciated you.

Jim Brogan 00:29:38 Well, I got I had plenty of coffee. Now, you've now worked in media and corporate world. What have you learned about communication and building trust that applies across every industry communication and trust.

Russell Bevan 00:29:51 I think authenticity and sincerity is the is really the key, at least for me, as to you can't be somebody else. They're already taken, right? So you just got to be yourself and hopefully that is enough. But you're true to yourself and you're honest with the other people when you do that. And honesty and sincerity, I think to me is the key, because you do what you say you're going to do and the other person can can trust that they, you know, over time, they realize that you are sincere and and hopefully care about people and, and want to take care of them. So I think sincerity is you can do that across the board. Be authentic and be trustworthy. we'll get you a lot of places no matter what you do.

Jim Brogan 00:30:38 That is an absolutely great word. authenticity is a thing. You know, I speak at conferences all over the country or, and had in the past especially. And the number one thing that I really try to drive home is the is the need to be authentic and real and be sincere.

Jim Brogan 00:30:59 And I think that's an absolute great word. Today you're serving Russell as digital marketing director for Hackney Brands, a division of HCC. Hackney. which is as you mentioned. Great great people, great great corporate, you know, been involved in this community for years and years with Bill Sansom, Elizabeth Sansom and their whole family. now, as you train in in that particular role, how has storytelling remained central to your work even though your platform has changed?

Russell Bevan 00:31:29 Yeah, that's that's a wonderful question, Jim, because it really is, marketing a storytelling. And so what I did for so many years, I'm just doing now in the business world, it's just telling stories of different brands that H.T. Hackney owns. And it could be about coworkers. I mean, a, you know, there's a lady at Family Brands who has been there. We own Family Brands, which says Elm Hill Hot Dogs and, Elm Hill Baloney and things like that. Other other brands as well. Cades Cove, there's a lady who's been there 75 years, you know, and you tell her story and it tells a little bit about the brand, too.

Russell Bevan 00:32:11 But so that's been a lot of fun. And, and we also have, Elm Hill Bologna, which, we just had the ultimate Bologna showdown with Joey Chestnut, which was a ton of fun. We did that with Dead End Barbecue, and we had the top eaters in the country come in, and that's all part of marketing, too. but across the globe, whether it be on television or in a newspaper or on social media or in digital platforms, 1.1 billion views. People saw something about the ultimate Bologna showdown in 2026, which we broke a record, which was pretty neat. With it too. Yeah, but you're right. I used to love it. Just in a different environment.

Jim Brogan 00:33:04 Yeah. It's funny when you mentioned Neyland helmets because, you know, I'm good friends with Chris Wampler and Harry Wampler and, Oh, yeah. You know, I used to work for Chris back in the 90s, and I loved it when they had those pre-packaged hot dogs at the at the ball games, at the UT football games.

Jim Brogan 00:33:20 I always loved those. They'd be nice and hot. They'd have the relish. And anyway, they were so good. when, when, you know, many people reach a point in life, wrestle where they need to reinvent themselves professionally. which, of course, you've, you've had to do in your transition. what advice would you give someone facing that career transition? I mean, you talked certainly about the importance of your faith and prayer. what are some of the other things that you would really impress upon people to help them with those kinds of transitions?

Russell Bevan 00:33:55 Well, I think probably the most important thing is, is if your identity is solely in your work, right? If your identity is what you do and your job title, it's going to be tough. It's going to be really tough because that's who you are. That you've created a situation where your job is who you are, and then it's tough to do anything else. For me, it's my identity is not found in my work, it's found in my faith.

Russell Bevan 00:34:27 And so I'm able to transition to something else. Yeah, it can be emotional leaving something that you love for so many years, but then it's exciting to move on to something else because my identity isn't in work. So it makes it a lot easier, in my opinion, that that's probably the easiest, way to transition is to not find yourself identified by what you do, because what you do is not who you are. When my father passed away, he was at Georgia Tech for 36 years. He was on the athletic board with everybody from Bobby Dodd to Bobby Crimmins, and people came from all over the world to his funeral. And I told them my dad was a great professor. He was great for Georgia Tech. That's what he did. That's not who he was. This is who he was. He was a great father. He was a great friend. You know, those types of things. So when your identity is not found solely in your work, it allows you the flexibility to do other things in your life and to transition a whole lot easier.

Jim Brogan 00:35:34 That's a great word. I think a lot of that, Russell too, is when we get out of ourselves and invest in other people. I mean, your entire career, you've invested in other people.

Russell Bevan 00:35:43 Great point, great point. And it's funny you say that. A great friend of mine, he lives in Georgia. We're still friends. We've been friends since we were two years old. And we were discussing, you know, empty nesting and all that kind of thing, and what. And and he said serving is the best thing you can do. Serving. Serving. And you're right. Investing in other people. I mean, you're exactly right.

Jim Brogan 00:36:08 This is Russell Bevan that is joining us this morning. It's been great having him on. When we come back, I just want to close off with other life lessons and legacy. What's next for Russell and his career? So stay with us. This is your living with Jim Brogan right here on Newstalk 987.

Jim Brogan 00:36:27 Welcome back to Newstalk 98. Seven's Brogan Financial Studios or Jim Brogan is coming to you live with important news and advice to help you achieve your dream retirement.

Jim Brogan 00:36:36 Get ready to learn and live. Here's your host, Jim Brogan.

Multiple Speakers 00:36:43 Thanks for listening this week to More Living Here on Newstalk 987. Okay.

Jim Brogan 00:36:49 We're visiting with Russell Bevan and learning from his stories over all these years. Russell there before the break we were talking about serving others. And, you know, one of the things I talk about a lot is the power of giving. And it's not just our resources. It's our time, our talents. You work with countless nonprofits and charities over the years. what are some important lessons that those experiences have taught you?

Russell Bevan 00:37:13 Gosh, that's a that's a great question. you're good at this, Jim. I got to tell you, I'm used to interviewing you. You really are. You're good at this. Oh. Thank you. Yeah, that, you know, when you work for a nonprofit, it's. It seems to me like it's it's it's constant. You know, when I've worked with these people, it's constant. Constant. You know, we've got to raise money.

Russell Bevan 00:37:36 We've got to. But it's all to help other people. You know, it's not just to benefit themselves. So I think just the selflessness that goes into that. You know, when I was a little boy, my mom always said, if you're not living for others, you're not living. So what are you on this planet to do? And that's to serve. And my mother opened one of the first desegregated restaurants in the South that was right in the middle of Atlanta. And Doctor King was her first guest. And so I used to live in a house with with a dad, you know, who was he gave his life to, to serving students and a mom who changed the city of Atlanta literally in the 60s. And so they ingrained in us what you're talking about and what you preach and what you do for a living. I mean, what you do for a living, Jim, is amazing. How you affect the lives of other people in a positive way is incredible. And you talk about, you know, I've heard you say this before, you want peace of mind and you want stability and retirement, and that's what you're able to do, which is so noble.

Russell Bevan 00:38:35 but the nonprofits, you know, the ones that go to rural Appalachia. Mission of Hope, there's so many of different ones I can name. Young Life that does so much in the, in the with Young People and Emerald and McNabb center. Yeah. Just it's just Remarkable. And I do think East Tennessee is a unique place in the fact that it supports nonprofits. Like no other place I've seen. people just have a heart for other people in East Tennessee, and I hope that continues. You know, we have a lot of people moving into our area, from other places. And I think, you know, that's a good thing, but I hope that it continues to be the giving. caring about your neighbor, you know, old school type place that it's always been.

Jim Brogan 00:39:24 Yeah, I think it will. I mean, it's just it's such a culture in East Tennessee. And the thing that's so powerful to me is, you know, we live in such a materialistic society now. And, you know, it's it's it's it's it's not about the money.

Jim Brogan 00:39:41 And so when you get outside yourself and get involved in causes, that and helping serve people that aren't as blessed as we are, it helps put a great perspective on money and life balance in my view. your career has included broadcasting Russell community leadership now leadership role in business. talk about what that's taught you about personal growth over all these years.

Russell Bevan 00:40:09 That it never stops. It never stops unless you stop it. You know, it never stops. And and that's kind of the fun part about it is that when you jump into something new, if you allow it to happen, you're going to grow. It's just if you are open to the idea, you are going to grow. And that can only be a good thing because you don't just grow in the areas of of your work life, but it it helps you grow in areas of your other life. And then if you have children, we have three children, you're able to help them, give them guidance as they are doing similar things in their own lives.

Russell Bevan 00:40:45 And so I would just say you always you always grow and never stops.

Jim Brogan 00:40:51 And if we're not growing, we're declining. And that's something that, you know, most of our clients, you know, working with, helping people prepare for and be successful in retirement. You know, most of our clients really thrive in retirement, and they continue to grow. you know, occasionally, you know, you see somebody that doesn't thrive and they're not growing. And they were too identified with their job rather than who they were. And, those are all very, very important lessons. We gotta always be growing and pursuing growth and relationships and connections and all those things. When people think most about your life and career, Russell, what is something that you hope they remember the most?

Russell Bevan 00:41:32 Oh, gosh. Well, I hope they remember my faith. Honestly, Jim, if they remember that and nothing else, even even if they don't remember my name, that'll be okay with me. But, I think my faith that I was, bold enough to talk about it, and then, my wife and I met in the eighth grade, and.

Russell Bevan 00:41:52 And we have a wonderful marriage, and three wonderful children. So.

Jim Brogan 00:41:58 So you were high school sweethearts?

Russell Bevan 00:42:00 Oh, yeah. Yeah, yeah, both.

Jim Brogan 00:42:04 What are some of the things you in this last phase of life, Russell? What are the last phase? The next phase. Let me say that.

Russell Bevan 00:42:12 You know something.

Jim Brogan 00:42:14 You know I don't. Sorry. I've definitely misspoke there. What are some things you're still hoping to accomplish? And. Yeah, what are some things you're still hoping to accomplish in the years ahead?

Russell Bevan 00:42:25 Oh, gosh. you know, I think there's there's still a lot of things, obviously, in the business world, that hack me, I'd like to accomplish, there's still television things I'd like to accomplish. You know, we started, three years ago doing a Christmas show on channel eight, and I went to them and said, listen, I think there should be an old school family. Truly family. You hear family friendly all the time. You turn off not family friendly like an old school, family friendly Christmas show where we.

Russell Bevan 00:42:57 You talk about faith too. And they said, let's do it. And we called up Dolly Parton and said, this is what we want to do. We want to go back to the, you know, family and faith. She said, I'm in. I'm in called Coach Barn. I'm in. Call all these people. They were like, I'm in, I'm in. And so for three years in a row, we've done that. And that has been so wonderful just to do it airs on Christmas Eve, airs multiple times on Christmas Day, and it's been something that I've really wanted to do for many years, many years. And channel eight gave us the opportunity to do it. And it's been so much fun. And in high school, football and television is like nothing else, to me. But, you know, those are things that I, you know, want to improve on to. And, I really enjoy speaking in the in the community and a different whether it's a business or my favorite place as a church.

Russell Bevan 00:43:52 just to keep doing that and keep growing and, and finish writing the book. Yeah.

Jim Brogan 00:44:00 It will. Russell, I hate we're out of time. Thank you so much for taking time in your busy schedule. It's just been a real pleasure to learn from you this morning.

Russell Bevan 00:44:07 Oh, gosh. Always an honor to be with you, Jim, and your family.

Jim Brogan 00:44:10 Thank you. Russell, that's Russell Bevan. You've been listening to More Living with Jim Brogan here on Newstalk 987. We have a very, very blessed weekend.

Multiple Speakers 00:44:18 The views expressed by Jim Brogan and his guests are not that of Cumulus Media. Any discussion of financial, legal and tax planning strategies is not intended to be individualized advice and is general in nature. Always consult with your advisor for advice specific to your needs. This program's content does not represent a recommendation of any particular security strategy or investment by Jim Brogan or Brogan Financial, Incorporated.

In this episode of More Living with Jim Brogan on Newstalk 98.7 WOKI, financial advisor Jim Brogan covers key topics shaping retirement planning. He explores how increasing lifespans demand longer-term financial strategies, emphasizing early saving, balanced investing, and managing rising healthcare costs. Jim also discusses how artificial intelligence is transforming wealth management while stressing the continued importance of human judgment. Additionally, he addresses today's housing market challenges, real estate investment options, and the critical need to teach younger generations sound financial habits to counter unrealistic expectations fueled by social media.

Automatically Transcribed With Podsqueeze

Jim Brogan 00:00:01 Welcome back to Newstalk 98 Seven's Brogan Financial Studios, where Jim Brogan is coming to you live with important news and advice to help you achieve your dream retirement. Get ready to learn and live. Here's your host, Jim Brogan.

Jim Brogan 00:00:17 Welcome back to More Living Here on Newstalk 987. Walker. I'm Jim Brogan, and we're talking today about the next decade, in the coming years and how to embrace embrace technology, artificial intelligence. I do want to ask you a quick a very important question. What do you think is the number one risk to your money in retirement? I ask that question a lot, especially with the classes that I teach at the University of Tennessee and Pell City state classes, adult education, people that are getting close to retirement in their community outreach, those schools. And I get, you know, the most common answers I get are things like inflation, which is certainly one of the biggest risks, medical costs, Definitely one of the biggest risks, market decline, volatility of markets. That's absolutely a big risk.

Jim Brogan 00:01:09 The number one risk that there's a mother of all risk. And it drives all retirement risks to your money and it's longevity. People are living longer and longer lives. You know medical advances are pushing the boundaries of the human lifespan. Many experts now suggest that living to 100 or beyond could become increasingly common. And we do know that octogenarians are the fastest growing segment of the demographic. People turning a hundred or older. So today we're going to explore how this longevity revolution may impact your retirement planning, and what steps you can take to ensure your finances can support a potentially much longer life. And you know, when I talk about this, We all. I think we have to be very careful. We don't underestimate the impact of our life expectancies. You know, if you when you look at the different risks to your money, some of those things I mentioned bear markets, volatility of markets. You know, the longer you live, the more you're going to see the impact of bear markets. You're going to see more of them.

Jim Brogan 00:02:20 Inflation is certainly a risk that's driven by longevity of life. You know health care costs which I mentioned you know, but with people aging we're getting more and more medical stress to the to the markets and to our health, which requires more and more dollars that have to be budgeted for our health care needs. That also produces a tremendous strain on our financial system, as we know, with unfunded liabilities for Medicare, Social Security and prescription drugs. So scientific advances are making living beyond 100 increasingly realistic. You know, people talk about the biological limit of 120 to 150 years. If that's the case, and we're getting more and more medical advances, it makes sense. We're going to see us pushing those limits more. now, there's a there's currently a gap between lifespan and health span. In other words, how long are you going to live? What's the average lifespan of a 65 year old? You know, for a man that's to live to about 89, for a woman, it's to live to about 92.

Jim Brogan 00:03:29 That's once you're already 65. Because, you know, as you get older, your lifespan is going to continue to increase. So the longer you live, the longer you're expected to live, which which makes complete sense, right? But then there's the the health span. How long? How many of those years are you living vibrantly and healthy. And that's something I get a lot in meeting with our clients is, you know, when we talk about longevity, many of our clients, they don't want to live to 95. But part of that is because they're looking at the context of how our parents and our aunts and our uncles, how did they become when they got to be 85 or 90? You know, we're using that reference point. And I think we sometimes can underestimate what it would mean for us because people are living longer and longer lives. And that's going to put a much bigger financial strain, on our finances. So first off, we certainly want to be investing in lifestyle and in health factors.

Jim Brogan 00:04:38 You know, according to the data, genetics account for only 25% of our lifespan. Lifestyle factors make up 75%. So we certainly want to invest in physical, mental and emotional well-being. Number one, because what we want is we don't want this general decline in the last 20, 25 years of our life where we just decline, decline, decline, decline, and then at the end and then we come to the end. What we want is to live vibrantly and not decline much as long as possible. And then that gap between our health span and our lifespan is not very long, so we just kind of decline rapidly at the very, very end. That's what we all want. We want to live vibrant, healthy retirements, but the longer we live, the more stress it does put on our finances. And so how do you plan for that? One is should you change your savings rate? and I'm going to kind of say what I would always say about things like that. The more money you can be saving, the better off you're going to be.

Jim Brogan 00:05:49 And the earlier the age you can do that, the better off you'll be. You know, in this last segment today in this show, I'm going to talk about teaching our young people about money. One of the most important things that we can do for our young folks is to get them to start saving right out of the gate with their first job. You know, I like to say pay yourself first. What does pay yourself mean? It means not buying a new iPad or a new computer or a new car. It means investing 10% of your income into your future. And that's going to be, you know, proven things like an emergency fund, a long term investment plan. All of those kinds of things. But saving at an early age is so critically important because of the power of compound interest. so I think we also need to balance the need for growth with the needs for security in retirement. And that's where the financial plan comes into place because we, you know, if if we're living longer and longer lives, we need our money to last us for a lot longer period of time.

Jim Brogan 00:06:59 Right. And that means inflation is going to we we run the risk of inflation eroding our savings and our subsequent income over a long period of time. And so we need growth of investment. You know, that that that old strategy that you hear of subtract your age from 100. And that's how much you should have in bonds. that's so antiquated and outdated. It's kind of crazy. Now some people say now with longer life expectancies, subtract your age from 120. But, you know, I think somebody probably came up with that on a napkin 50 years ago. And those types of things just are not very effective in today's world. We've got to have growth, orientation to our money to be able to pay for things as we age and fight the battle of inflation. now, at the same point, we know markets are completely unpredictable in the short term. And so we want that security of short term income when we're retired. But we need the growth of investment over the long haul to be able to fight inflation with our income.

Jim Brogan 00:08:10 So we've got to have a good financial plan that can can provide stability in the short term with the money you use for income. You know, you don't want to be selling investments that are volatile and going up and down all the time, because then when they're sharply down, you're selling them off when they're down. But to generate income and you don't want to sell money and spend it when it's down because you can compound your losses. So you need to have more secure investments that can provide income in the short term. And then your monies that take risk, you can truly focus on long term investing that long term. It doesn't have to mean 20 or 30 years, yet. It needs to provide income for 20 or 30 years because of longevity. but, you know, you need at least to be able to go a good six, seven, eight years without depending on your risk investments for short term income. Now for career planning could end up changing, you know, if we're if we're living longer and longer lives.

Jim Brogan 00:09:05 Does that mean it's reasonable that that more and more people are going to work longer? And I think the answer is yes. When we do financial modeling in our office and we look at the difference in, say, retiring at 65 versus 67 or 67 versus 69, just adding two years of work to the equation makes a tremendous impact on our financial models in terms of how it affects your future income and your and how long your money may last in retirement. So I think, you know, we're seeing more and more people work part time when they retire. They don't want to cut back completely. And that makes a big impact on the financial plan. Because when we model that, you know, when you work part time, that means you need less income from your investments. Adding just 2 or 3 or four years of part time income can have a profound impact on our modeling that we do. So I think, you know, now, now mention about health care costs. How does that impact things? And I think we have to be careful how we digest data about health care costs.

Jim Brogan 00:10:16 You know, I think the numbers say will spend between 3 and 350,000 in our retirement on health care costs. But the reality is we don't have to come up with that as a lump sum payment when we retire in our mid or late 60s or early 70s or whenever we retire, we don't have to come up with $330,000 to pay for our health care. We pay for health care out of our income on an annual basis, and we have safety nets in place. We have Medicare. We have Medicare supplements we can add with insurance that can help cover the big, big costs. You know, if you get a rich Medicare supplement, you're out of pocket. Your premiums are going to be more, but your utilization costs are going to be less. If you get a less expensive insurance plan to supplement your Medicare, your insurance costs are going to be lower. Your utilization costs could end up being higher later on. But it's it's something we plan for in our in our with our income planning. So that should be built into your financial plan.

Jim Brogan 00:11:20 That's simply a core part of understanding. What are the annual health care costs you're likely to face? You know, a healthy 60 year old, 65 year old you're looking at when you include Medicare premiums and supplements and utilization costs. You're about pushing $6,000 a year per person. So for a married couple, 12,000 a year, that's 1000 a month. Well, that's that needs to be budgeted for in your income plan. But you know, then when you're in your 80s, that medical cost is going to roughly double. You're going to be up to about $12,000 a year per person. So 2000 a month for a married couple. So it's just got to be built into your financial plan of how you're going to plan for those increasing costs. But ultimately, we don't want to underestimate our need for income when our in our when we're in our late 80s or even in our 90s. And I hear people say all the time, Jim, we want to spend money now while we're in our 70s and even in our 60s, we don't want to, you know, we're going to slow down our spending once we get into our 80s.

Jim Brogan 00:12:21 And while the data shows that you will to slow down your discretionary spending, your medical costs will increase. And so while you're spending will gradually decrease over time, your income needs are not going to go down to the extent that you may be thinking they will. So again, it's important to understand these risks and these threats. It's important for us to be able to do financial modeling. I mentioned artificial intelligence in the first segment. There are some great things that help us model things, and look at various scenarios to see how longevity of life can impact your finances for the rest of your life. You don't want to have life left at the end of the money, right? So you've got to have a good financial plan. You have to be able to understand little things, like two years of part time income and how that might affect your long term finances. Now, coming up in our next segment, we're going to explore the shifting housing and real estate market. And what does that mean for buyers and sellers? What does it mean for investors in today's economy? Stay with us.

Jim Brogan 00:13:22 This is your living with Jim Brogan here on Newstalk 987 Wookey.

Jim Brogan 00:13:29 You're tuned in to More Living with Jim Brogan, broadcast live from the Brogan Financial studios at Newstalk 9087, where old fashioned values, expert knowledge and genuine understanding come together to give you the retirement straight talk you deserve. Jim's a former National Advisor of the year recipient and a financial educator. And he's here today to talk about how you can live out the best years of your life. Jim and the Broken financial team have been helping retirees and retirees across the southeast for over 20 years in their pursuit of financial independence. You can reach them during the week at 865862 6800. So sit back, relax and get ready to learn because More living with Jim Brogan starts now.

Jim Brogan 00:14:13 Hello East Tennessee, welcome to More Living with Jim Brogan, where it's all about living the best years of your life your way. This is Newstalk 987. And you know, our financial landscape is evolving faster than we can even think. You know, there's first off, artificial intelligence is reshaping investing.

Jim Brogan 00:14:34 We have extended lifespans that changes. Retirement planning can be a real game changer when we look at life expectancies and the next day promises unprecedented shifts in how we manage our wealth. While these changes bring exciting opportunities, they also create new challenges for investors and retirees alike. So whether you're just starting your financial journey or looking to protect your wealth you've built over decades. Understanding emerging trends is crucial and how those emerging trends may affect your future finances. So today we're going to explore the technological, the demographic and market forces that will shape your financial future and provide actionable strategies to help you not just survive, but thrive in the coming decade. So if you have questions about navigating the changing financial landscape and preparing for the decade ahead, you're in the right place. So today we're going to talk about artificial intelligence and investing. How is automation shaping the future of wealth management, and does it go too far? Do we? Do we have to be careful? We're not too reliant on artificial intelligence. Longevity and financial and financial planning.

Jim Brogan 00:15:51 Are you financially prepared to live to 100? Because more and more, that's what the science is telling us. There's also a shift in housing in real estate. So we'll talk about buying, selling and investing in today's market and also financial lessons for the next generation, teaching our kids and grandkids about wealth. So we're hopefully we'll answer some common questions you may have about emerging trends. And we'll discuss practical strategies to help you adapt. Artificial intelligence is no longer just a buzzword. It's radically transforming everything in our lives. And that includes how we invest in manage wealth. Today, we'll explore how AI is changing the financial landscape, what it means for your investments, and how you can leverage these technologies to potentially improve your financial outcomes. You know, it's hard to believe it's been right at about three years in terms of the way artificial intelligence has really exploded. And we have seen growth of artificial intelligence and wealth management. You know, AI managed assets are projected by 2027 to reach nearly $6 trillion. Artificial intelligence is delivering up to $1 trillion in additional annual revenue for global banking, and AI solutions are reducing costs by 20 to 30% through automation of routine tasks.

Jim Brogan 00:17:23 You know, we have machine learning algorithms that are analyzing market trends. They're analyzing client behavior. Can we really eliminate human emotion and client behavior from our investing and financial planning? natural language processing is powering 24 over seven client communication. There are more personalized investment strategies based on goals and risk tolerance that can be driven by artificial intelligence. They can certainly AI can certainly enhance fraud detection. You know, it can provide us with better data analysis, which can lead to more informed investment decisions. But there are limitations. You know, I think with artificial intelligence, we have to have the human element to sort through all of that. I mean, we hear these stories about the accuracy of AI. It is it is amazingly accurate, but it's not 100% accurate. And it is a tool. And I think that's the best way we can look at AI. I think investors right now have misconceptions, about how AI may affect wealth management. So certainly, you know, there's really been pieces of artificial intelligence that have impact our analytical skills for a long time.

Jim Brogan 00:18:51 It's just becoming pretty amazing what you can ask artificial intelligence to do for you in terms of projecting future costs, projecting inflation, projecting various market scenarios and how it may affect your money. But, you know, we've had a lot of those tools at our disposal for a while. Believe it or not, you know, one of the most common things that we see, you know, in terms of some of the data analytics is what we call Monte Carlo simulations, where we can look at a thousand market conditions back to the 1970s, and we can look at good bad, we can look at market timing, we can look at the correlation between stocks and bonds. We can look at all of these things and we can kind of use that to then say, well, moving forward, what is your likelihood of success? And I've always felt like with things like that, we have to take that with a grain of salt. for example, when we look back to the 1970s, you know, where our interest rates in the 1970s, because that's what Monte Carlo typically is looking at, is it looks at all these market scenarios back 50 years.

Jim Brogan 00:20:05 The problem with that is, if you look at the interest rate environment over the last 50 years, interest rates in the late 1970s, as you know, were at all time highs. I mean, many of our clients remember the days you could get a 17% rate on a CD, but inflation was double digits at that time. So we've had this historic drop in interest rates. And I know interest rates have risen since the pandemic in 2020. But in the context of history, We've had an historic drop in interest rates over a period that happened over a period of 30 years. Coming out of the late 1970s, and the way that's the reason that's important is because you may know that bond values and interest rates move in an opposite direction. When interest rates go up, bond values go down. But when interest rates go down, bond values go up. So what happened from the 1970s until, you know, 20809 going into the financial crisis, we had an historic drop in interest rates, which means bond values went up.

Jim Brogan 00:21:20 So we had an historic bond market over that 30 year period. And then when you look at equities and you look at the stock market. You could you could argue that the 20th century we were an emerging market especially for the first 6070 years. So where are we now? What is the 21st century likely to look like as compared to the 20th century? The point in all that is that automation, and in many ways, artificial intelligence, can be a wonderful tool to help us analyze data, make recommendations, do all those things. But I think that you still have to have human involvement in decisions. Technology to me enhances it or excuse me, enhances our capabilities. It doesn't replace them. And we all know as well it's hard to remove human emotion from investing. Human emotion is one of the biggest enemies of success in wealth management. You know, typically when things go on sale and markets are down, that's when we many investors Typically want to flee their investments and sale is when they're down. They don't want to buy when they're down because of the emotion of it.

Jim Brogan 00:22:44 as Warren Buffett said, something to the effect of the stock market's the only thing where prices go on sale and people flee from the store. And there's a lot of wisdom in that. so, you know, AI can help us with analytics and decisions. it can hopefully help us reduce the impact of human emotion or on our decisions. But ultimately, we have to create and understand a comprehensive financial plan in order to not allow human emotion to get in the way. So as an example, have you measured the risk in your portfolio? Do you have an expectation of what may happen when markets go down 30 or 35%? Because about every 7 to 8 years the market goes down about 35 to 40%. so we never know when that may happen or why it may happen. But if when it does have not, if when it does happen, what can you expect from your investments? You know, typically when the market gets down over 20%, that's when it starts to get really people really start to feel pain with that.

Jim Brogan 00:24:00 So have you tested the the risk in your portfolio so you can know what to expect when markets are sharply down now? Likewise, you know, if you have tools, if you have diversification, if you have ways you're invested that can help diversify and reduce that downside risk in bad markets. You know, does it stand to reason that you may not be able to make as much in a booming market? You know, if you want a portfolio that resists those 35 to 40% downturns, that means you might have to sacrifice a little bit of the upside when markets are good and we're going to have booming markets. So the reason I'm bringing this up is because when we look at human emotion, understanding your plan and how it may perform in certain markets is crucial because you don't want to get a big surprise. You also want to understand how your plan has been created to mitigate the impact of short term volatility, because markets in the short term are extremely volatile. When you understand how your plan has been crafted along those lines, then it's less and less likely you're going to make a poor emotional decision to buy sell at the wrong moment.

Jim Brogan 00:25:13 And you know, if we look at the last month, in the month of April, markets were unbelievably volatile because of this terror situation. You know, if you had just if you had been trying to buy and sell investments into the teeth of that volatility, you could have really gotten burned. I mean, we look at that Wednesday when when Donald Trump announced a pause in the reciprocal tariffs. That was, I believe I saw the fifth best day in stock market history since 1950. In terms of the percentage gain in the market, you could have been out of the market for one hour and missed out on significant gains. And that's where you have to be very, very careful about human emotion. So when we look at artificial intelligence to kind of bring this full circle, it's a tool and it is a tool that can maybe help us with our emotion, but it can't. I don't think the human element in the soft skills needed to make important financial decisions can come completely from artificial intelligence, so we've got to have human involvement.

Jim Brogan 00:26:20 as I said earlier, technology only can enhance our capabilities, but it cannot replace them. At the same point, we should embrace the tool and use it to be able to make more wise and prudent decisions that can impact the quality of our lives. Now we're going to go to our first break. When we come back, I want to discuss longevity in financial planning and explore. Are you financially prepared to live to 100? Stay with us. This is more living with Jim Brogan here on Newstalk 987 Woking.

Jim Brogan 00:26:54 Welcome back to Newstalk 98 Seven's Broken Financial Studios, where Jim Brogan is coming to you live with important news and advice to help you achieve your dream retirement. Get ready to learn and live. Here's your host, Jim Brogan.

Jim Brogan 00:27:09 Thanks for tuning in this week. This is your living with Jim Brogan here on Newstalk 987 Wookey. Check us out online. We've got a wealth of resources for you to study and learn, so you can make informed and prudent decisions to impact the quality of your life.

Jim Brogan 00:27:23 If you go to Brogan financial.com, you can click on resources. We've got we've also you can you can read our blogs. You can follow us with our weekly e-newsletter. Also see our upcoming classes starting back in the fall. So do check us out there. And then we podcast that's Broken Financial Comm. And then we podcast all our shows on Spotify, Apple Podcasts. you can also go to Brogan Financial Comm and click on radio. And you can stream our shows right there. We'll have today's show up, sometime around Tuesday afternoon. Let's talk about the shifting in housing and real estate buying, selling and investing in today's market. You know, the housing market, we've seen significant changes in recent years. We've got right. We've had rising interest rates. We most certainly have had fluctuating inventory levels, evolving buyer demands. So today, let's explore the current state of real estate and what experts are predicting for the months ahead, the years ahead, and helping you navigate. Is it time to buy, sell or hold on to your property investment.

Jim Brogan 00:28:29 First let's look at let's look at interest rate trends. 30 year mortgage rates have stabilized for 2025 right around 6.5%. Now they peaked in October of 2023. They got up to about 7.8%. Now they're in the mid to upper sixes. Now I'm asked often GM do you expect rates to come down. Experts do not expect significant further decreases in mortgage rates. I think it's likely they'll come down some. I think the world of 3% interest rates on a mortgage are more than likely in the history books. You know, might we see that 20 years from now? Who knows? But I think in the foreseeable future, we're just not going to see that kind of an interest rate environment. Now, in the meantime, housing prices have continued to skyrocket. And in East Tennessee, when I talked to realtors, experts in the real estate industry, you know, we've seen an occurrence, a continued expansion in real estate prices and in spite of interest rates being where they are. And that's because home inventories have been so low.

Jim Brogan 00:29:39 You know, it's ultimately it's all about supply and demand. That's always going to be the driver. The main driver of housing prices is supply and demand. So why? While interest rates are up and make housing less affordable. Inventory is still pretty low. We are seeing some increased inventory around the country. If I look at the entire real estate market in the United States now, I'm talking residential housing. Of course, we are seeing some increase in inventory, but demand is still very, very high. But you know, when I was looking at this, getting ready for this segment today and we look at current housing markets and I look at the median home sales price in the United States, His $419,000. That's a big number and we are seeing more and more. It's difficult, especially for young people to to get that first house because of those prices. Now, in spite of that, and in spite of the interest rate environment, that there is not an expectation that the housing market would expect to crash.

Jim Brogan 00:30:51 Prices are predicted to continue growing. Now there's their rate of growth may slow and have been slowing a little bit, but we expect housing prices more than likely to continue to grow. You never know for sure. We have seen increases in inventory, as I mentioned, over the last 15 months. but despite that, the inventory of homes for sale remains below pre-COVID levels pre pre 2020 and almost a quarter over 22%, almost a fourth of all homes are still selling above their selling price. So despite improving inventory, it's very much still a seller's market. Demand has remained steady. Foreclosures were down 10% in 2024 and expected to continue to decline. You know what? What is the new administration in. You know, you look at local politics how how might zoning rules and infrastructure and land policies affect future real estate values? So so how should you be reacting to this? Of course, you know, one of the reasons inventories are not real high right now, and even though they are going up, is people don't want to sell their homes if they have a three, three and a half or even a 2.75% mortgage, because if they can't pay cash for their new home, you know, you don't want to go from a house with a 3% mortgage to a house with a 6.5% mortgage.

Jim Brogan 00:32:28 So people tend to hold on to their homes. So it could it could preclude you from moving and doing that standard, moving up as you get older. Now for retirees, though, if you own your home, it provides opportunities to maybe downsize, live on the equity in your home, you know, downsize, get a get a different home with smaller, less expensive. You've got a little bit of extra money you put in your pocket for income. So it works great for people that can pay cash. It does not work great for people who need a mortgage on their primary residence. But let's talk a little bit more about investing. you know, we can we consider it broken financial? We consider real estate a fundamental asset class that you should invest in, real estate over time. Believe it or not, is not as correlated to the US stock market as you may think. You know, it's not one of those things where stocks and real estate are always moving up and down together. Many times when stocks zig, real estate zags.

Jim Brogan 00:33:33 So it does provide an extra layer of diversification with an asset that's growth oriented because real estate is growth oriented. So in real estate investment is a very important thing. Now I get asked you know there's obviously there's passive real estate investment which we can do through financial products and tools. You know exchange traded funds, mutual funds, public real estate trust, private real estate trusts, they're all kinds of ways to invest passively in real estate. But what I get more and more now is people that want to actively invest in real estate. They want to buy homes, fix them up and flip them, and they want to do that as an investment, or they want to buy rental homes and produce income. I think we have to be very, very careful how we pursue things like active investment. You know, how how long will it take you to become an expert in the real estate market that you're going to invest in? If you're going to invest in vacation rentals in Pigeon Forge, how how long will it take you to really become an expert in that market? Now, you're probably going to need a professional as well, which would be a realtor, somebody who really specializes in that market.

Jim Brogan 00:34:51 But you're going to have to spend time to really, really study that market. and so and with housing prices where they are, you know, returns on rental properties, especially long term rentals, meaning you're renting a house for a year at a time. not short term rentals, which would be a vacation rental. You know, you're renting your property for three, four or 5 to 7 days at a time. Long term rentals. You have a tenant. They're in there they go year to year. because of current real estate values, it's hard to get the same return on income that you could have maybe gotten 7 or 8 years ago. So, you know, if you look at your gross rents ten years ago, you might have been able to get a 12% return on your property. In other words, if you had a $300,000 property, you know, 12% of that would be 36,000 a year, right? 3000 a month. So if you had a $300,000 property, you could generate 3000 a month of income.

Jim Brogan 00:35:57 Well, now you might be fortunate to get 8% of income on a $300,000 property, which would be 2000 a month. That's a big difference, isn't it? That's a third less income. So that makes your margins go down. And then do you have to finance the house? What about your debt costs? You know owning rental property is not as cashflow friendly as you may expect. So just be careful. I very, very much believe in passive investment in real estate, in passive investment. You should expect the same type of return that you would in active investment. If you're the one that's doing the managing. You know, if you have rental properties and you're managing the properties, you have sweat equity involved. Well, you should get a return on that sweat equity. If you hire a management company to do that for you, you're not going to make as much money because you're going to be more of a passive owner. Same thing goes with passive real estate investment. If you own part of an apartment complex in West Knoxville, but you passively own it, you know you're not going to get the same kind of return as if you actively own something.

Jim Brogan 00:37:07 And, you know, and actively manage it. So just be careful. I think for real estate, we're getting more and more questions from clients about real estate investment. We've even done town halls at our new life center at Brogan Financial. To discuss how to actively invest in real estate, we've also done. Town halls on passive real estate investment. And of course, we include that as a fundamental tool in how we help our clients. But it is something you have to be very, very educated on, especially if you're going to get into active real estate management. Tell you what, when we're going, we're going to get to our last break. When we come back, financial lessons for the next generation, teaching our kids and grandkids about wealth. Stay tuned. This is more living with Jim Brogan here on Newstalk 987 Wookey.

Jim Brogan 00:37:54 Welcome back to Newstalk 98 Seven's Brogan Financial Studios, where Jim Brogan is coming to you live with important news and advice to help you achieve your dream retirement. Get ready to learn and live.

Jim Brogan 00:38:05 Here's your host, Jim Brogan.

Jim Brogan 00:38:10 Happy weekend. It's more living with Jim Brogan here on Newstalk 987 Wookey. Today we've been discussing the coming decades and how to be successful in a changing world. We're always changing and evolving, and we always have to be applying the new tools that are available to us. Understanding impacts of life expectancy, all these things. Now, in an age where social media influencers flaunt their luxury lifestyles and promote get rich quick mentalities, teaching our children and grandchildren healthy financial habits has never been more challenging or important. When you look at young people today, number one, there is a very distorted view of wealth among young people. According to The Cut, we talk about generation Z post millennials. These are going to be people, I guess, right around, you know, their late teens to mid 20s. They have very unrealistic financial expectations. They consider generation Z consider success to be an annual salary of $587,000. That's what generation Z expects is success. social media influencers, I do think, create false impressions about wealth acquisition, and it creates a wealth mindset among young people that displaces practical financial literacy.

Jim Brogan 00:39:40 There is a need in our media to distinguish between fantasy and reality. So I think when we look at our kids and our grandkids, there's an importance of establishing the connection between work and money. Fundamentally, we have to teach our children to navigate an increasingly exploitive labor market. We want to help young people find dignity and meaning and meaning and work beyond financial rewards. It's not just about the finances and also help young people understand not every job is going to be their perfect job. And especially in those early years. I mean, you know, you have to fight through things that to get where you want to be. And so we've got to understand sacrifices have to be made. We need to teach resilience and patience with our kids and understanding fundamental markets. You know, one of our good, one of our my good friends is a professor over at the University of Tennessee. she she runs the financial learning center for the university. And when students start their financial classes and she asks what is a reasonable return to expect on investment? Students say things like 30 and 40% per year, but we know that's not practical over time.

Jim Brogan 00:41:01 So we've got to help our kids understand again the connection between work and money, the importance of saving early and starting at a young age. The number one investment for our young people. Today is a savings account at the bank. And while you certainly should have an emergency fund of savings at the bank, you're just not going to make any money saving at the bank. You're not going to beat inflation as we know yet. That is the number one investment vehicle for young people today. So it's just fundamentally important financial literacy you know. So how do you do this. Can you rely on schools to do it? The answer is no. Schools are not very good in financial education. I think that parents have to take the lead. If you have grandkids and they're young folks, teenagers, whatever, this is a great opportunity for you to teach them about money. It is one of the most important gifts you can give your grandkids or your kids, you know, without the proper education. As I as I mentioned, children could develop very unrealistic expectations.

Jim Brogan 00:42:15 They could develop very poor money habits or anxiety about finances that can follow and throughout their lives. And you look at our culture today, it's it's so materialistic. I mentioned the social influencers and it can be create a very, very distorted view of money. So, you know, when you're whether you're wondering how to talk to your kids about money or you're looking for age appropriate financial activities, or you're hoping to establish a legacy of financial wisdom for future generations, we're here to help. Again, we do many financial 100 ones and town halls for our clients. we've we've we've got one coming up about women in investing. We've done several about younger generation. We've done things for for formerly married and divorced and widowed spouses. so our my my goal is to equip you again to make informed and prudent decisions. And so please check us out online. Brogan financial comm. We've got a wealth of resources. First off you can click on the resources tab. We've got blogs. You can follow us through our e-newsletter.

Jim Brogan 00:43:27 you can also download we got several guides that you can download. one of the, one of the most important guides would be the five critical critical pillars of financial planning. for 2025 and beyond. So again, go to our website Brogan financial.com. You can click on resources to find more information. today we've discussed your wealth because greater wealth provides for more living. So you can live the best years of your life your way. I want to thank Wayne for, engineering the show today. Jill, thank you for producing the show. again, check us out online. Brogan. financial.com. You can click on resources for more information. We we're not going to have any more classes at the University of Tennessee or Pell City State until August, but you can go to our website at Brogan financial.com, and you can click on classes to get more information about that entire class schedule. As it's announced, we've got one of the universities. We've got our classes lined up at the University of Tennessee. We're in in.

Jim Brogan 00:44:29 We're currently finishing up establishing those classes in those dates at the State Community College, so you can sign up to get updated when those things are announced. So have a great weekend. This is more Living with Jim Brogan only on Newstalk 987 Wookey.

Multiple Speakers 00:44:46 The views expressed by Jim Brogan and his guests are not that of Cumulus Media. Any discussion of financial, legal and tax planning strategies is not intended to be individualized advice and is general in nature. Always consult with your advisor for advice specific to your needs. This program's content does not represent a recommendation of any particular security strategy or investment by Jim Brogan or Brogan Financial, Incorporated.

In this episode of More Living with Jim Brogan, host Jim Brogan welcomes Dr. Jerry Punch, a physician and renowned sports broadcaster known for his work with ESPN and ABC covering NASCAR and college football. Dr. Punch shares his remarkable journey from a small North Carolina town to dual careers in medicine and broadcasting, inspired by a beloved local doctor and a passion for racing. He discusses unforgettable moments on pit road and sidelines, leadership lessons from elite coaches, and offers timeless advice: pursue education, find mentors, and pause to appreciate life's moments.

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Jim Brogan 00:00:02 You're tuned into more Living with Jim Brogan, broadcast live from the Brogan Financial studios at Newstalk 9087, where old fashioned values, expert knowledge and genuine understanding come together to give you the retirement straight talk you deserve. Jim's a former National Advisor of the year recipient and a financial educator, and he's here today to talk about how you can live out the best years of your life. Jim and the Brogan financial team have been helping retirees and retirees across the southeast for over 20 years in their pursuit of financial independence. You can reach them during the week at 865862 6800. So sit back, relax and get ready to learn because More living with Jim Brogan starts now.

Speaker 2 00:00:46 Hello, East Tennessee, and welcome to More Living with Jim Brogan, where it's all about living the best years of your life your way. And you know, as you listen to us here on Newstalk 987 Wookey we in the 20 years on the radio, the one of the things I've really learned is how much we can learn from the lives and stories of others.

Speaker 2 00:01:08 They really can inform and inspire us. And today we welcome a very special guest, doctor Jerry punch. many know doctor Jerry punch is one of the most trusted and recognizable voices in sports broadcasting, especially from his years covering NASCAR, college football, and other major sporting events for both ESPN and ABC. his story, however, does go far beyond the broadcast booth. Doctor punch is also a physician whose life has taken him from the emergency room to pit road, from caring to patients, to covering some of the most unforgettable moments in sports history. And so today's show, I'm on to talk with doctor Jerry about medicine, about motor sports media, and the lessons learned from a remarkable career that he has spent helping people, telling stories and living life at full speed. Good morning, doctor Jerry. Welcome to More Living. It's great to have you back with us.

Jerry Punch 00:02:05 Hey, it's great to be be here, Jim, thank you so much. Thank you for the kind introduction.

Speaker 2 00:02:10 Absolutely. You built a remarkable career.

Speaker 2 00:02:13 Well, careers really, both medicine and broadcasting. And for those that don't know a lot about you, your background, doctor Jerry, what first inspired you to do these two paths parallel to each other? How did that come about?

Jerry Punch 00:02:29 Well, it's funny, I grew up in a in a small, small town in western North Carolina, and there really was only one general practitioner physician in that town, and Doctor Sinnett. And he had a small he had a house, you know, with a white picket fence on the corner and near downtown Newton, North Carolina. And people would go in and sit, you know, in his on his porch or, you know, that his waiting room or in the living room and, and he would see people. And I remember when I was, just a child, he. He would come. He made house calls. He'd come out at night when I had croup. One time I was running a fever and had croup. He came out and put me in a tepid water tub on the back porch in the wintertime.

Jerry Punch 00:03:09 And I went to break my fever. And I always thought, you know, you know, everybody in town loved this guy. You know, he was the original Marcus Welby kind of guy. But everybody loved him because he just cared so much. And, you know, and it wasn't about the fact that he made a lot of money. It's the fact that he was so respected and so appreciated by the community. And he gave back. He was always, I don't know how much time he ever had with his family, but he was always seeing patients or making calls coming to people's homes. And I said, boy, wouldn't it be great to be someone like that. And that was really a role model. In fact, I told that I told that story when I did a feature for one of the networks a few years ago about my interest in medicine, and about two months later, I heard from a a relative of his, a grandson of his who's living outside of Charlotte and said, we heard your story and it all made us tear up thinking about my grandpa and how much of a difference he made in your life and others.

Jerry Punch 00:04:06 And so thank you for telling people about him. But that's really, really where the the medicine part started. And sports have always loved. And I grew up in, in that same town and we had a driver there, a NASCAR champion I named Bobby Isaac. We called him Uncle Bobby. He really wasn't my uncle. He was related to one of our dear friends in the community. And so I would I would go with my friend and we would go to the track, and Bobby would get us the NASCAR credentials, and we'd go watch him race. And he was sensational. so then we started. And so that was that was part of the big time racing. But my grandfather, my grandfather was a gate guard at a local short track, Hickory Speedway. And the reason he became a gate guard is because the guy who who was a promoter of the track, He hired the local local deacons of the churches in the area to to work on Saturday afternoon Saturday night, and he and he would not only pay them, but he would donate money to the church funds.

Jerry Punch 00:05:08 And so and he also knew that these people worked for the local churches, weren't going to steal from and weren't going to slip people in the gate without paying that they were going to be honest and they were going to be, you know, have character and integrity, going to be treating people the way they should be. So my grandfather would, would have had to turn for gate, the biggest gate. My grandfather was a big guy, and my grandmother and I would sit on the upper steps of the concrete there every Saturday night and watch, watch these guys race. Some guy named Ralph Earnhardt would be racing, and all the local guys in jalopy would be racing. And and in the early years, you know, the junior Johnsons of the world. And so and then, and also the other the other part was most of these times, most of the time that he would hire the women of the churches in the area would run the two concession stands there, so everything they made, the concession stand was homemade.

Jerry Punch 00:06:00 So if you wanted a good place to eat, you just came to the racetrack and went there and everything you bought at the concession stand, not many places you could go and buy, buy Salisbury steak or meatloaf, you know, at a at a racetrack concession stand. But it was all it was all homemade and delicious. and so yeah, that was my so the racing started there. And then I grew up and I started working on race cars, in the community as a teenager and in barns and local garages behind people's houses when I was a kid. and then that sort of then my involvement just continued to blossom from there on.

Speaker 2 00:06:35 Those are great stories. I really like the impact of the doctor role model and hearing about that. It's just it still is so interesting hearing about these parallel paths. Now, in terms of your broadcasting that was born out of in high school, is that right?

Jerry Punch 00:06:52 Well, it was a little bit. It was a little bit. There was a radio station in high school that I would go by intermittently.

Jerry Punch 00:06:59 But the real, the real broadcasting thing, because when I, when I, you know, I ran local, some local short tracks, driving a hobby stock class and then a limited sportsman class and a bunch of us, you know, we're really good friends. You know, Dale Earnhardt would come there and race some and, and all the local guys that I got to know so well. I worked for Tommy Houston for a while, and Harry Gant, some of those guys that were there, were local short track legends in the Carolinas, and they would come run Kingsport. They'd run, you know, Lonesome Pine Speedway, they'd run Asheville and Asheboro and Hickory. That was sort of a little circuit. Everyone ran sometimes South Boston, Virginia. But I would, And then when I went to college, I couldn't really race much. and then I went to medical school at Wake Forest, which is about an hour from Hickory and in Wake Forest. The irony is, is this is I think this is back in the mid 70s.

Jerry Punch 00:07:53 And Wake Forest University said there's a growing trend of of mental illness among the stress stress of physicians, especially physicians and training. There's so much stress on you, so many hours. You don't get sleep, you don't eat well. and so we want to mandate that every week, every medical student takes a few hours off, preferably like on a Saturday afternoon. You're not in lab. You're not in a library, you're not in on the classroom studying. So those few hours off, I said, well, you know what? I can't race anymore. But. So the local promoter at Hickory Speedway was a dear friend of mine. His name was Ned Jarrett. And Ned, said, well, why don't you come up here, you can sit in the tower, beside me and and Ned, Ned on the track. and everyone loved it. And he worked every Saturday night as the announcer there on top of the being the promoter. And on Sunday mornings, he would leave and go wherever the Cup race was.

Jerry Punch 00:08:49 Back then it was called Grand National Racing, and he would do radio for Universal Racing Network or Motor Racing Network. But anyway, so I was sitting up there in a booth beside Ned, and I ran the scoreboard, and did all the electronics. And because my major in college was math and chemistry. So I loved the, you know, the numbers was a good thing with me. I could do scoring. And and beside me were two NASCAR officials that ran the ran the event. So there was four of us in the tower one night. Ned had to be in Darlington on a Saturday night and to be inducted into the Hall of Fame. And he had hired. He knew it was a special ladies night. It was going to be a packed house, you know, standing room only crowd. So he hired one of his buddies from the motor Racing Network, the legendary Barney Hall, who lived in Elkin, North Carolina, to come down and be the announcer for this big night. And so, and and so I get there an hour and alone with the two NASCAR officials, and there's no announcer.

Jerry Punch 00:09:40 And the place is packed, and we need to start the program. And Ned's youngest son, Dale Jarrett, comes running up the steps. And Dale was only a few years younger than me. and he back then he was really shy. I imagine that day was one of the best broadcasters now in motorsports. But back then he was really shy and he comes running up in the air and he said, I guess there's a mix up, but there's no announcer here. Barney didn't show, so he said, Jerry, you got to do it. You sit beside that every Saturday night. You know what he says and how he does it and how he runs the programs and blah, blah, blah. He said, you got to. So basically, out of necessity, there was no choice. And so I picked up the microphone and I did the show that night. and now, you know, two, four hours away in Darlington, South Carolina. Ned walks into the room that night for the Hall of Fame event, to sit down at the head table to be inducted.

Jerry Punch 00:10:30 Looks up and there's Barney Hall, emcee in the event, and he says, oh my gosh, we're in trouble because the guy is supposed to be at Hickory. And Barney had gotten the dates mixed up. Well, anyway, man gets back the next day. Hickory, early next week. And he gets, I guess he gets good feedback from the people in the crowd and people that were at the event and said, hey, this kid did a great job. And Ned says, hey, why am I killing my voice on a Saturday night every week? And then I have to go do broadcasting on Sunday, when I could be sharing this with you. So from now on, you and I are going to share the mic. and, and then Ned, Ned, you know, he said okay. And then he talked to Motor Racing Network and he said, I got a I got a young man who's who knows the sport. He built race cars, he built engines. He, he built, you know, he, he worked in garages and barns, welding frames and cars together and raced the short tracks.

Jerry Punch 00:11:21 And you know, a lot of these guys here racing are his buddies. You know, he needs to be on pit road with me. So I started as a runner for Ned, and then next thing you know, I'm also doing the pits for with Ned. so here's a guy who was one of my heroes growing up. And the irony is, is that when I was a kid growing up in Newton and loved racing, there was no racing on television, very little, maybe a few minutes every now and then on Wide World of Sports. But most of it was on radio, And so my family would sit home after church on Sundays, and we'd go on the back porch with a radio and sit and listen to the races, and that's. But. And so I heard Ned racing back then, and I got to hear him, but he was one of my heroes when he suddenly, not only had I met my hero who runs the local track, I'm sitting beside him and I'm working with him, and he becomes, you know, almost like a second father to me.

Jerry Punch 00:12:12 So, Yeah, that's how I started. Ned. Ned was so instrumental. and they were weekends. I couldn't get away when I started doing medical rotations at Wake Forest. My commitment was, and funny. The funniest part is that back then, they had little bitty pocket transistor radios. We didn't have the really high tech stuff we had today, and I had a wire run up through my white coat with an earpiece in my ear and a radio in my pocket, and I'm walking around the medical center, you know, making rounds on weekends. And and all these attendings thought I was listening to to medical programs and trying to learn on top of and in reality, I was listening to the race. That's it. So, Yeah, it's it's, But Ned was special in so many ways. And that's really how the how the broadcasting thing. Thing started in radio.

Speaker 2 00:12:59 Well that's interesting. So many careers, mine included. I mean, my undergraduate degree was music education. And here I am in the world of finance.

Speaker 2 00:13:08 And that's a long story, too. But, I just it's amazing how God directs our paths. What would you say for young people today, doctor Jerry punch that are trying to choose a career path? What advice would you give them about pursuing multiple passions?

Jerry Punch 00:13:26 Well, I think diversity is so important in terms of what you want to do in life. I mean, and I think that sometimes you don't choose a path, sometimes many times the path chooses you. And and I think that, you know, it's it's you. You have to be open minded. And, my mom, my mother always, always said to me, you know, if when you decide what you want to do and where you want to do it and and it's the key ingredient to help you would be your education. And, and so I'll get as much education as you can get. And she always likened it because I was a little boy who loved to eat and still do. But she said, it's like you're going to a buffet.

Jerry Punch 00:14:11 You eat, eat and, you know, eat what you want to eat and, and and absorb it as much as you can, you know, without overeating. But that's why that education is when people when teachers come into classroom and want to teach, coaches come in a gym or a weight room and want to teach you, you absorb it all. You'd be a sponge and so, you know, get as much, you know, and we we, my mom and dad each worked two jobs in a small town, to make ends meet. And my, my dad worked in a furniture plant and and and my. And then he worked at night and little shed up behind our house, Real plastering and building furniture for people in the community. They love my dad because he was. He was quite a craftsman and doing that. My mom worked at the and she ran the elementary school cafeteria. Miss Betty, Miss Betty Jo and everybody, all the kids loved her. They would come through the lunch line every day and hug her.

Jerry Punch 00:15:01 And then she. And in the evening, she worked. you know, she did other things, helping cook and cater in the community. So they each worked really hard. And I saw that. I saw firsthand how hard my parents worked. And I said to myself, my mom's telling me, you know, to get as much education and I get my my mom said, go out and borrow money if you have to, you know, whatever to get, to get your education because no one can ever repossess your education. So that's important if you want to choose or choose a route. you know, and also look around you and find role models.

Speaker 4 00:15:36 Find people that.

Jerry Punch 00:15:37 Find people that are, that, that have that have worked from nothing to be, you know, to do, you know. And I've made it. My dad, my dad, my dad didn't have a lot of formal education, but he told me, he said, when you have to make those really serious decisions in life, he says, sit down and think about someone you respect.

Jerry Punch 00:15:57 You may not even know him that well. Someone you respect, someone you appreciate, someone that's been there and been successful because they have a strong work ethic and a strong ethic. And then see what you can do, see if you can get with them and have a cup of coffee or lunch and then ask them a question or two and then shut up and listen. So when I moved to Knoxville and I, and I, I was thinking, you know, do I, you know, I had some decisions to make with regard I still still doing some medical stuff. I'd sold the er group that I was a part of, and I'm working for ESPN and ABC and I wasn't sure if I was going to, you know, they were getting out of motorsports and I had I was blessed to have offers from the top people at Fox and top people at NBC called me And I really didn't know what to do. And I thought, well, maybe I just got out of broadcasting altogether. And I love sports.

Jerry Punch 00:16:47 Maybe I get into some kind of athletic, you know, situation because I had a a university in North Carolina call me about possibly one and one. And if I put my name in as an athletic director, because I've been around sports all these years in travel and spoken and done, and I knew, quite a bit about athletics and having been an athlete in school, in college. So my dad's advice was, he said, find somebody that can give you great advice. Find the smartest man you know, invite him a lunch and then ask him questions and shut up and listen. So I called Jim Haslam in Knoxville, Big Jim Haslam, and I asked him kindly because I met him when I'd come to speak at a few events at the convention center, and he couldn't have been nicer. And he said, absolutely, doc, we'll go have lunch. So he met me at Cherokee. We said at his table we had lunch and, and, and I just asked him a couple of questions, and I just sat and listened to his wisdom and his advice.

Jerry Punch 00:17:41 so I was fortunate that I had someone that was kind enough. And, you know, his story was is one of hard work and dedication. And obviously, he's been incredibly, incredibly successful with him and his family. So, if you if you're going to choose a path, find someone that's been there and done that, you know, keep an open mind. But take. Take advice, listen to advice, get as much education as you can get. because all of that will help you help, help you choose a path and more importantly, help a path. Choose you.

Speaker 2 00:18:13 Yeah, those are great words I have always wanted to search out. Hey, who is where, who is done, what I want to do and go listen to them, ask them questions. And I think young people would be surprised at how receptive other professionals are that have that have achieved what you want to achieve, how receptive they are to having those conversations. We're visiting with doctor Jerry punch. When we come back, we'll talk about some of the real special stories over the years, some of the unique experiences that he's had both on pit road and also on college sidelines.

Speaker 2 00:18:44 So stay with us. This is more living with Jim Brogan here on Newstalk 987.

Jim Brogan 00:18:51 Welcome back to Newstalk 98. Seven's Brogan Financial Studios or Jim Brogan is coming to you live with important news and advice to help you achieve your dream retirement. Get ready to learn and live. Here's your host, Jim Brogan.

Speaker 5 00:19:06 Welcome back to the warm.

Speaker 2 00:19:08 Welcome back to More Living Here on Newstalk 987. Wookey, we're with you every Saturday from 9 to 10 a.m. and again from 3 to 4 p.m. and we're visiting this morning with doctor Jerry punch. What a just fascinating story and things we can learn from visiting with doctor Jerry. And, Doctor Punch. You've witnessed some very unique things. probably covered some of the most dramatic moments in NASCAR history. Or is there any race or event that really stands out to you as the most unforgettable.

Jerry Punch 00:19:41 Well, I mean, there's there's so many. Every week, as you said, I was blessed to go to the racetrack and go to these college football contests and do the major rivalry games over the years, every major rivalry in college football, I actually did live at least once, and I, I, I don't know, I learned so much.

Jerry Punch 00:20:02 The best part about doing those games wasn't going on television or wasn't the best part was developing is meeting the players and getting to visit with them at practice and then meeting the coaches. And so you become friends with coaches and coaches. What had my cell number? And I've kept my same cell number I had many, many years ago because those coaches and friends have it, and if they're on vacation or they're coming through Knoxville, they'll call or, or coaches would just simply call me for a question. And the interesting part is some of them, knowing that I was physician and I got to be so close to the medical staff at these schools that, that they'd call me, ask my opinion. you know, I think it's I think it's okay now to mention that, you know, you know, as you, you grow closer to coaches and their assistance and then, you know, the players. I had a situation where the University of Nebraska had a had a Heisman Trophy candidate quarterback, and I had done 2 or 3 Nebraska games, and coach Tom Osborne had become a friend and and and so, so did some of his assistant coaches and one assistant he had that had recruited.

Jerry Punch 00:21:10 This young man was named Kevin Steele, who actually played at Tennessee. And so, the quarterback had a medical problem. the mom was living in Bradenton, Florida. They called me and said, doctor Punch, would you help us? Because she knows you from television. She knows you're a doctor and you come across, you know, with, with, you know, credible and honest and said, if we can put you on the phone with her and Coach Osborne and me and let's discuss. Tell her what's going on with her son and tell her what we're going to try to do. And I wasn't. You know, I said, well, we got to be honest. I said, if we're going to talk to the mom. I said, oh yeah, yeah, yeah, we got. And so I got all the information I got on the phone and with the mom and tried to make her understand that what was going on and, and, and, you know, trying to help out, you know, which which is wonderful.

Jerry Punch 00:21:57 I mean, I remember one night I was doing a, I was doing a, an Auburn at Florida football game, and there was a running back at Auburn named Carnell Cadillac Williams. And he was a great running back and and early right before about five minutes before halftime, he ran a sweep and got hit from the side and came and couldn't put weight on his lower leg. And he came to the sidelines and, and they took him in the locker room and did an X-ray. I'm standing there on the sidelines, and one of the doctors, the doctors for Auburn, Alabama, were where Jimmy Andrews, the orthopedic surgeon, and Larry Lemak. They were the two. Two great ortho orthopedics that did suffer Alabama and Auburn. Larry was there that day, so he comes out of the lock out of the locker room. And I'm it's about a minute and a half, two minutes before halftime. And he walks over to me and he says, hey, he said, can I. Can I borrow you a second? And I said, sure.

Jerry Punch 00:22:53 And I walked over with him and we walked in the edge of the tunnel, and he had these X-rays, and he's playing these very crude X-rays that they had there in the stadium at Florida. And he said, there's no view box where I can really see these in the in the locker room really very well. And he said, you E.R. doctors are accustomed to looking at these things. Looking at these things are flashlights. How about taking a look and tell me what you see? And so he had already looked at the X-ray and quite honestly. So I'm, I'm in the tunnel with the with the ESPN microphone in my pocket. And we're holding this thing up to a light bulb. And I see that he's got a spiral fracture of the fibula, the non weight bearing bone in the lower leg. And so I said that's what I see. So yep that's what I see too. I wanted to make sure he said hey can you not say anything for a few minutes until I can tell coach? Coach Tuberville, who was the head coach at Auburn at that time, and I said, sure, no problem.

Jerry Punch 00:23:43 So I walked back out to the sidelines. What halftime happens. They start to run off, and I and I stopped to interview Tuberville and just ask him a couple of generic questions and then asked to do the interview. He's walk. He walks over toward me again and says, hey, have you said anything? about about our running back. I said, you mean, you know Cadillac? He said. I said, I have not. He said, you know what's going on with him? I said, yeah. He said, how do you know? I said, because I read the X-ray. And he laughed. He said, well, do me a favor and don't give a report until we can reach his mom and let her know, because she saw him go down and us help him off. And so anyway, second half comes out, they come out of the locker room and, and and Cadillac and the and the coach comes over to me. Tuberville comes over and said, okay, we talk to the mom.

Jerry Punch 00:24:27 She's scared. She's petrified, but she knows what's going on. Thanks for holding up and giving a report, he said, when are you going to tell it? I said. Right after the kickoff. I'm going to go down to the end zone because you have time after kickoff and I'm going to I'm going to give a report. So he said, okay, great. Well, then the doctor comes over to me that the team doctor for Auburn says the mom is petrified. She is so afraid that her son is. Not only is he hurt and he has a broken leg, but that may impact the rest of his college career and he may never be able to play pro ball again. And I told him, I said, you tell mom to watch television in the next five minutes after kickoff, I'm going to do a report and she needs to watch it. And so I get on the end zone and they kick it off. They come to me and I knew where the fracture was, and I knew it was minimal and a little, little hairline fracture of the fibula.

Jerry Punch 00:25:13 And so I kneeled down and took a Sharpie, pulled my sock down, pulled my pant leg up, and I drew a little line on the outside of my leg. I said, here's what Cadillac Williams got, folks. He's got a little hairline non displaced fracture of the non weight bearing bone in the lower leg. He's not going to play today. He's done. It'll heal but it's going to heal from not going to impact his career. It should not impact the rest of his college career. Once his heels, and should not have any impact on whether he plays and has has a rewarding career in the NFL. So, so, you know, he's he's done for the night, but and it could have been a lot worse. Fortunately it's not. And so the guys up in the booth, Ron Franklin and Mike Gottfried are saying okay thanks, doc. Well, what a great report. Because they knew they had no idea that I had seen the X-ray. And I didn't tell anybody. Nobody, nobody's business at that time because I was just doing a favor of sure for an orthopedic guy.

Jerry Punch 00:26:04 So as I'm walking back to the Auburn sidelines, here comes the team doctor jogging toward me. And, and and I thought something was wrong. And he stops right in front of me, and I said, I'm about the 20 yard line. He hands me his cell phone. He says, listen to this. And he said, it's his mom. And I said, hello. She says, Doctor Punch, thank you so much. I feel so much better. Thank you. My boy is going to be okay. I said, well, you're very welcome, ma'am. You're very, very welcome. So people even today had no idea why I did the report the way I did it. But I wanted her to know that he was going to be okay and she didn't have to worry. But so the relationship you have, you can't do that really today because there's a lot of things that would intervene or interfere. Somebody would be all over you about HIPAA or this or that and the other.

Jerry Punch 00:26:52 but back then, in those days, you did what you did to try to help people and to make a difference. And people didn't realize why you were doing it. I didn't realize my involvement in that. But that's why I did what I did on the sidelines. And obviously I intervened a lot more times as a broadcaster at the racetrack, as a physician slash broadcaster, when I was at the racetrack as well.

Speaker 2 00:27:13 That's doctor Jerry punch. When we come back, I want to talk about life lessons, leadership and legacy and what we can learn from his many, many experiences. So stay with us. This is more living with Jim Brogan here on Newstalk 987 W.

Jim Brogan 00:27:29 Welcome back to Newstalk 98 Seven's Brogan Financial Studios, where Jim Brogan is coming to you live with important news and advice to help you achieve your dream retirement. Get ready to learn and live. Here's your host, Jim Brogan.

Speaker 2 00:27:44 This is more living with Jim Brogan where it's all about living the best years of your life your way.

Speaker 2 00:27:50 Today we're talking about life leaders, leadership, legacy, life lessons. What can we learn from the remarkable experiences of Doctor Gerry Punch, who is a physician, was in retirement, excuse me, emergency medicine for so many years. And then also, with parallel tracking, brought sports broadcasting very, very ingrained in the NASCAR culture, but also college sports, especially football. And, as we kind of move along here, doctor Gerry, I do want to ask you about the Indy 500. You know, I've never been to an Indy car race. I've been to a couple of NASCAR races. talk about that experience of the Indy 500. Because I'm trying to decide, I feel like that needs to be on my bucket list.

Jerry Punch 00:28:41 Well, I can I can tell you that that race. That event needs to be on everyone's bucket list. And I'm from from. From the early announcers. From the from the from the Brent Musburger to the to the, you know, to the Chris Mackey's to Keith Jackson, all those guys that I worked with over the years.

Jerry Punch 00:28:59 Jim Simpson, I mean, all those people at ABC sports will tell you that you don't have to be a motorsports fan. You don't even have to be a sports fan, but you owe it to yourself at some time in your life to to go and just see that. What? That it's the largest single day sporting event in the world. There is nothing, that compares. You know, I grew up going to Daytona. Daytona 500. Darlington. Charlotte, you know, you name it. Texas. But. But in Indianapolis Motor Speedway. And I started doing the race. The first race that I saw at Indianapolis. The first race I actually saw in person was 1989, because I had listened on the radio and watched a little bit on television. But the first race I saw live, I was actually broadcasting for ABC. So you talk about intimidating, but you walk into that place, you know, and it's 350,000 people plus in one place. And one day, they do a remarkable job.

Jerry Punch 00:29:59 Yet it's traffic. But they do a great job getting people in and getting people out. It is a a you look everywhere and there's just a a wall of people in the grandstands. They'll get on the front straightaway. And it's just like this ribbon of asphalt with these tidal waves of grandstands on both sides full of people. And, and it's, it's it it's emotional and sensory overload. I remember standing there, you know, and I did 28,500 live. I think I still hold the record by about six by 28,500 live on ABC starting 1989. And I remember I would always get the opportunity to interview the celebrity, the grand marshal or whatever during the right before the green flag and legends and sports and broadcasting presidents, vice presidents, you name it. But but one year I had we had Joe Montana there who had just won the MVP, the Super Bowl against, I think, for the third time. And so we're in a commercial right before we're coming back and they're on the pace lap. And I look over and it's an overcast day in May in Indianapolis which is typical.

Jerry Punch 00:31:01 It looks like it's going to rain, but it was a little breezy and overcast and and he's standing there and his his arms are quivering and shaking. And I said, Joe, I've got a I've got a rain jacket here and ABC Jack Oliver if he won't, if you're cold. He looked at me and said, doc, he said, this is not this is not temperature. He said, I'm shivering just from pure emotion. He said, Holy cow, look at this. So I look down the straightaway and there's there's people everywhere, he said. You realize I played in five Super Bowls and there's more people here right now than in all five Super Bowls combined, he said. Over 300,000 people. And he said, this is unbelievable. This is absolutely unbelievable. And he said, so it was pure emotion. Here's a Super Bowl MVP that's shaking from the emotion of of what he's seeing. It is absolutely amazing. Cars coming by you at 240 miles an hour. The legends in sports I mean that race is a day you can be nothing.

Jerry Punch 00:31:58 You can be you can literally not have made anything. And then you go there and you win that race. I had a young driver who had raced a few races in Formula One and, and he had a, his dad had quite a bit of money in California and bought him an opportunity to race for him with the one he went over there and raised 3 or 4 races. He didn't do very well, could barely get get in the race, much less pass anybody. And so they came back and he was out of money. He had a little bit of money. So they came to me the week of the opening week of May and the dad said, hey, my son's got, we bought, we had enough money. You have to get him in one of the Andretti cars here for the for the Indy 500. But after this we're done and I have a little bit of money left because you helped me get the NASCAR and I told him, he said, he said, he said, he said, I know Jack.

Jerry Punch 00:32:41 Jack Roush has some cars that run in what was then called the Busch Series or the or the. And I said, sure, I'll call. I'll call Jack and set up a meeting you guys can meet. I think with what you've got left, you can get him in for half or almost a whole season in NASCAR compared to what you're paying here for the month of May, he said. Oh my gosh, if I don't do something like that, I don't think I think his racing career is over. And the kid was, I mean, really young. Well, guess what? Things happened. And that kid won the Indy 500 that day. And the rest of his rest of his story, you know, is, you know, is history. So I'm in victory lane. And the dad looks at me and said, you might want to go ahead and cancel the appointment with Mr. Roush. I think we're going to be okay here.

Speaker 4 00:33:20 So that's great.

Jerry Punch 00:33:21 So It's a day that can change your life forever.

Jerry Punch 00:33:26 you know, in the meeting, people that come there being a part of that program. I rode in a car with Muhammad Ali a couple of times. I've ridden with chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. I've interviewed in countless. And people get to know you and, David Letterman and I got to be friends, and. And David would come down. I didn't even see he come and tap me on the shoulder. And we'd be talking and and visiting and hanging and just all the people you get to know up there, because of what you do. And, you know, it's it was it's pretty doggone special. But I encourage you, if you've never been to Indy, you don't have to really get get by a seat, sit in the stands if you want to get there early, because and and just watch what happens.

Speaker 4 00:34:10 As you get on the.

Jerry Punch 00:34:10 Straightaway. The pre-race. Yeah. The pre-race. The back home again in Indiana. It's amazingly patriotic. It is Memorial Day. They pay tribute to all the men and women and their families who sacrificed for our freedoms, because we all know that freedom is not free, and that and that pay the ultimate price for sacrifice.

Jerry Punch 00:34:27 So much of their lives and themselves to be able to to defend peace around the world and for us. So it's it's special. The military bands, the tributes, the taps, the back home again, the national anthem. I remember, you know, I used to love it when Jim Nabors sang Back Home Again in Indiana. You know, Gomer Pyle. and Jim, Jim Nabors would do that because he had an incredible voice. And then every every year on Saturday there was a huge on the on Friday there was a huge fashion show downtown that at the convention center where all the drivers would be in it with their wives. And, and it was also the day when they. So we're, we're at the track and the carb day is over, and they got a big bus surrounded by police cars to escort the drivers and, and the three broadcasters down to the convention center so we can change and put our tuxedos on. And our wives are down there already dressed and and, you know, you know, in the big gowns.

Jerry Punch 00:35:20 And we walk out on the fashion show and people. It's sold out. People. It's for raising money for local charities. So we get down there and here's all the drivers in the Indy 500. Jim Nabors and some other celebrities are there, myself and Paul Paige and and and Bobby Unser. That's on our board. Danny Sullivan's on our broadcast team. And we walk in to this big dressing room to get ready, and nobody has pants. We've all got shirts, jackets and our bow tie, but there's no pants for our tuxedos. They've got to put them in the bags. So we're all sitting there, sitting there at this big table, and different drivers are laughing, saying, what if we can't walk out on the runway with our wives without pants on first? It wouldn't bother any of them or any of us, but it probably wouldn't be a good look for the Indy 500 to have 33 drivers strolling out with panelists, you know, in front of a convention center full of people. So they so the pant that was panic in this in this place.

Jerry Punch 00:36:11 And they were they were running back to find the pants. They had them all. They just didn't make it in the bags. So we had to sit there and delay for like an hour. So I'm sitting at a table with 3 or 4 drivers and Jim Nabors, and we all got our shirts on in our jackets and just no pants. So we decided I grew up watching Andy Griffith and Gomer Pyle, those shows. You know, when I was a kid growing up, The Andy Griffith Show and with, you know, with, with Don Knotts and Jim Nabors etc. and then Gomer Pyle. So we're sitting at this table doing Andy Griffith trivia. Do it playing the Andy Griffith trivia game, just, you know, asking questions and answering with Jim Nabors. How cool is that. That's amazing. He's looking at me. He said, doc, how do you know all this stuff? I said, man, I grew up watching it. I'm watching that show. He said, how'd you did you not go to school when you were a kid? I said, I went to school, but I come home and be on the afternoon, and I watched that show.

Jerry Punch 00:37:00 But just things that things that just happen in life, it just that you just wouldn't believe occur the way they occur.

Speaker 2 00:37:07 Doctor. Jerry, before we get just briefly before we get to our last break, you spent decades in your life around elite athletes, coaches, team leaders, just all kinds of a fascinating but also very successful people in your view. Doctor punch, what separates those who achieve long term success from those who do not?

Jerry Punch 00:37:30 a lot of it is, you know, I I've been around a lot of coaches, some coaches who like to yell and scream and intimidate and and others who didn't. And I never thought that threat and intimidation was a leadership style. The leaders I saw who did so well, the the, the Bobby Mountains of the world, that I was around in Lavell Edwards at BYU. you know, you know, all these guys over the years, Nebraska, Penn State, the guys who were really successful in coaching. they led by example, and they and, you know, Joe Gibbs was one of my one of my neighbors.

Jerry Punch 00:38:13 And I lived in the Carolinas. And Joe, you know, won three Super Bowls with the Washington Redskins. And Joe led. LED by example. And he didn't micromanage. He hired good coaches and let him coach. Now he was the head coach with the buck stops with him. But most of those guys said, I trust my coaches and I'm going to lead by example. And and if you if your players know how much you care, you know, they'll say, no one cares how much you know until they know how much you care. the players need to know how much you care, how much you're invested. Tom Osborne at Nebraska, how much he was invested in those players. He's on the phone with one player, his mom. Now, how about he cared about everybody and he was involved with that. and so, that, you know, I think the important part of, of life is these coaches that I know, the Bobby Bones at Joe Paterno's over the years, the Joe Gibbs is et cetera that I you know, those people really, really.

Jerry Punch 00:39:09 They lived. They lived it and they and they were honest with their players, you know, and I got I was I be in the locker room. Because of my friendship with so many coaches, they let me be in the locker room at halftime. I'd hand the microphone off so it wasn't. There were no microphones in there, but with an ESPN mic. But I was staying on the wall. All back in there. I'd go back in with the doctors, but I would listen to so many halftime speeches and, and, and I saw teams that were heavily favored, ranked number one in the nation who were behind at halftime, and the coach would get in there. I remember Bobby Bowden stood up on it, was in a visitor's locker room, and he took a bunch of bags of laundry and piled them up so he could climb up on top of these bags of laundry and stand where everybody could see him. And he delivered a message. you know, I saw coaches do that. You know, Lou Holtz, you name it, that delivered.

Jerry Punch 00:40:00 And what they said and how they said it, those were different difference makers. And you know, that coach isn't going to make a tackle. He isn't going to isn't going to score a touchdown. But he's going to make you believe enough in yourself. And that's the key. Not only do you believe in them? Do you want to help them believe in themselves and help them believe how important it is to be to be a part of something bigger? And and you know, the Lou Holtz thing, not everyone can be first team, but everyone can put the team first. and I heard that time and time again, and those players have come roaring out of the locker room and find a way to win. Find a way to claw back from three touchdowns or four or whatever. And, and and that's what you do. And you know, it's funny part I got to coach middle school football for a couple of years in Knoxville, Tennessee. And every every day before practice and every day at the end of practice, I would talk to our team and a lot of the parents would gather around and listen.

Jerry Punch 00:40:55 But they wonder, why are you doing this? Because it was my opportunity to share some of the things I had heard and and we were blessed. We went on we didn't lose the game the whole year. And, and so, you know, but it wasn't because of coaching. It was because of kids that, that, that wanted to play for each other and wanted to believe in themselves. We had 15 players and we won every game, including the championship game. And those same 15 players went on to a local high school and won a state championship. and and in, in for a, for a five a football. And it's funny and I see those kids today that have been out of college and in business. Some are very successful, some are car dealers in town, some are lawyers and business people. They still call me coach and I. That's the most proud moment I can have. Not someone call me doctor, but someone call me coach because of maybe the impact I had on them when they were younger.

Speaker 2 00:41:47 That's a great, great word. We've got one final break. When we come back, I want to ask doctor Jerry punch, what is the legacy he wants to leave behind and what he wants people to remember. So stay with us. This is Moore living here on Newstalk 987 Woking.

Jim Brogan 00:42:02 Welcome back to Newstalk 98. Seven's Brogan Financial Studios or Jim Brogan is coming to you live with important news and advice to help you achieve your dream retirement. Get ready to learn and live. Here's your host, Jim Brogan.

Speaker 2 00:42:17 Thank you for tuning in this week, doctor Jerry punch. We're about out of time. I've only got about 30s. So instead of asking you a big, big, powerful question like what legacy do you want to leave behind? Let me ask this question. If you could sit down with your younger self and offer one piece of advice, what would it be?

Jerry Punch 00:42:36 Maybe take a minute and pause and enjoy the moment. sometimes I think I was too focused on trying to do something tomorrow or the next day that I didn't enjoy what was happening today.

Jerry Punch 00:42:48 Enjoy every moment. Inhale it. And hopefully by doing that, you can make even a bigger difference, with the people and for the people that are around you.

Speaker 2 00:42:58 That's a great word. I'm 56 years old, and certainly as I have age, that has become, a more and more important consideration. Doctor Jerry punch. It's so great having you on. I wanted to I was hoping we would be able to get into time to talk about what you're doing with medical research. Maybe we can have you back another time for that.

Jerry Punch 00:43:18 I'd love to. There's some incredible things happening, and I'm blessed to be a part of it again with the doctor Smith and Amr Clinical in Knoxville. We're doing clinical trials, new antibiotics, new drugs, new treatments, Alzheimer's, you name it. And it's pretty cool. All those years trying to save people's lives, keeping them alive for the next 20s in the E.R.. And now my job is to try to keep people alive for the next 20 years by developing new drugs through working with some really, really smart physicians.

Jerry Punch 00:43:44 And I'm blessed to do that.

Speaker 2 00:43:46 Well, we'll have you on sometime in the coming months, and we'll talk about all the great things you all are doing over there. So thank you so much, doctor Jerry punch. You've been generous with your time. It was just a real pleasure having you on the air with us to share many of your stories, and some of the wisdom you've learned over those those stories.

Jerry Punch 00:44:02 Well, Jim, thank you so much for having me. It's always a pleasure to get on with the financial experts, but be able to talk a little bit about life.

Speaker 2 00:44:09 Absolutely. That's doctor Jerry Punch, physician and also sportscaster. Just just unbelievable. The experiences. I could listen to him just talk all day long. We could talk about. He could probably tell experiences that would just. We just sit there and listen for hours at a time. Today we've discussed life lessons and leadership and legacy because a greater life provides for more living. So you can live the best years of your life your way.

Speaker 2 00:44:35 Many thanks to Wayne for engineering the show and to Mary Caroline for helping to produce the show. Have a great weekend! This is more Living with Jim Brogan right here on Newstalk 987.

Speaker 6 00:44:46 The views expressed by Jim Brogan and his guests are not that of Cumulus Media. Any discussion of financial, legal and tax planning strategies is not intended to be individualized advice and is general in nature. Always consult with your advisor for advice specific to your needs. This program's content does not represent a recommendation of any particular security strategy or investment by Jim Brogan or Brogan Financial, Incorporated.

In this episode of More Living with Jim Brogan, host Jim Brogan welcomes Morgan Vance from the Pat Summitt Foundation to discuss Coach Pat Summitt's enduring legacy and the foundation's mission to fight Alzheimer's disease. They cover early warning signs, misconceptions about dementia, the importance of early diagnosis, and brain-healthy lifestyle choices. Morgan highlights the caregiver crisis and introduces Pat's Game Plan, a resource reaching over 500,000 people nationwide. Jim also addresses retirement planning challenges, emphasizing longevity risk and inflation. Listeners are encouraged to visit patsummitt.org and broganfinancial.com for resources.

Automatically Transcribed With Podsqueeze

Jim Brogan 00:00:03 You're tuned into more Living with Jim Brogan, broadcast live from the Brogan Financial studios at Newstalk 987, where old fashioned values, expert knowledge and genuine understanding come together to give you the retirement straight talk you deserve. Jim's a former National Advisor of the year recipient and a financial educator, and he's here today to talk about how you can live out the best years of your life. Jim and the Brogan financial team have been helping retirees and retirees across the southeast for over 20 years in their pursuit of financial independence. You can reach them during the week at 865862 6800. So sit back, relax and get ready to learn because more living with Jim Brogan starts now.

Jim Brogan 00:00:47 Hello, East Tennessee, welcome to More Living with Jim Brogan. Where we help you live the very best years of your life with purpose, confidence and clarity. Today we're joined by very special guests, Morgan Vance from the Summit Foundation. We'll discuss the incredible legacy of Coach Summitt, the foundation's mission to fight Alzheimer's disease, and how their work continues to impact families and communities across Tennessee and beyond.

Jim Brogan 00:01:17 So, Morgan, it's great to have you back with us. Good morning.

Morgan Vance 00:01:21 Good morning. Thank you so much for having me.

Jim Brogan 00:01:25 Absolutely. Tell us a little bit, Morgan. it's been a while since we've had you on the show. Tell us a little bit about your background and how you came to the Pass Summitt Foundation.

Morgan Vance 00:01:36 Yes. well, I took a very windy road. My background was in fundraising, and so I spent several years in pediatric health care, working with corporate partners and family foundations, and then landed at UT Athletics. I'm still working in the fundraising world and but working with donors and an opportunity came up to move to the Pat Summitt Foundation. And it was the perfect blend of, you know, my background with athletics, but also in the healthcare setting. healthcare is is one of the areas where I think you can see the impact, like, truly see the impact of your dollars and your philanthropic giving, and so have the opportunity to come over in August of 2021.

Morgan Vance 00:02:27 And it I have absolutely loved every second of it.

Jim Brogan 00:02:33 Well, of course, many of our listeners, you know, we all know about Pat Summitt is legendary basketball coach. Talk to us a little bit about the deep leadership legacy that she left behind that went really beyond sports.

Morgan Vance 00:02:47 Oh, absolutely. So she was, I think, one of the greatest leaders of our time. she recognized that she had for years to change someone's life. I mean, truly changed their life. Make sure they got a college degree. Help them learn what it meant to be a good leader. Not just on the on the court, but off the court as well. How to be successful in life? you know, at the end of her life, the thing that she was most proud of was that every player that played for her at the University of Tennessee received their their college degree. They graduated and she just everything that she did. She I think she saw that she had an opportunity to make a difference. She could use her platform, to change lives and open doors.

Morgan Vance 00:03:41 And it's the same thing that she did when she was faced with this diagnosis. She did not retreat. She did not just simply retire, she said, I mean, almost immediately, I have this disease. I'm going to face it head on, but then I'm going to use my platform to make a difference for those who are also battling it.

Jim Brogan 00:04:04 And I would even say, Morgan, that that really her legacy extended the opportunity for her diagnosis with everything that she did for women and, and the leaders that she helped bring up, with her, with her mentorship. She was diagnosed publicly in 2011, I believe it was. And it did kind of affect the national conversation. Talk to us a little bit about, in your view, why that that moment in time was so significant, both medically, nationally, but also culturally?

Morgan Vance 00:04:40 Yes. So, I'll tell you a story that I was told. So, Pat received her diagnosis, and then she went to the Mayo Clinic and, to get a second opinion.

Morgan Vance 00:04:52 And when she was there, she walked into the room and there were several doctors and nurses, and they started applauding. And, she thought, well, some of the people with her thought, oh, they're applauding because it's Pat. I mean, Pat Summitt just walked into the room and afterwards she, the woman that was accompanying her, said, we found out she wasn't applauding. They weren't applauding because she was Coach Summit. They were applauding because they were so proud of her for standing up and putting a face to the disease. that, you know, this disease can be very isolating. So a lot of times when people receive the diagnosis, they start retreating because, you know, when you think about the stress of a public setting, what if they don't remember someone's name? What if they can't track the conversation? What if they get lost? And so they naturally try to pull back, and Coach Summitt did quite the opposite. She received the diagnosis. She had a public press conference and publicly stated, I have this and we're going to fight it.

Morgan Vance 00:06:04 And then she continued to coach. She did not, you know, step out of the spotlight. She did not step back. She did not retreat. She she continued to live her life. And I think culturally that was a huge shift.

Jim Brogan 00:06:22 Now the Pat Summitt Foundation carries enormous emotional weight, both in Tennessee and really beyond all over the country. So how do you balance honoring Coach Summit's legacy while also evolving the organization for today's challenges?

Morgan Vance 00:06:40 Yes. I think for us, it's it's having to remember that Alzheimer's disease is not just a Tennessee disease. We have over 7 million Americans nationwide that are that have been diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease. We have almost, I think, 13 million caregivers providing full time unpaid care for their for those loved ones. And so that's first and foremost, recognizing that there's there are so many people that are battling this disease. Pat's goal or her hope with this, with founding the Foundation was that we would that one day no family would have to hear that their loved one had been diagnosed.

Morgan Vance 00:07:23 And she wanted to make sure that we we took care of the patient and we got them the best care possible, because we also took care of the caregivers and the stress and the impact of providing care for a loved one with Alzheimer's disease. Those things are also universal. It's not just things that are are folks in Tennessee are dealing with and experiencing. It's it's those 13 million Americans nationwide. And so we, you know, Pat. yes. She was. She was the Lady Vols basketball coach that she impacted. So more than just the Lady Vols program. She impacted so much more than just women's basketball. She impacted athletics as a whole. And how you lead and how you coached these young people. And and that's it's that mentality, that mindset that we have to keep it the foundation that we are part of a bigger picture.

Jim Brogan 00:08:18 Morgan are there leadership principles from Pat Summitt that that specifically still shape the foundation's work and decision making every day?

Morgan Vance 00:08:28 I think all of them do. you know, some days I think more than others.

Morgan Vance 00:08:34 but for us, I think the one that shapes me the most is, you know, leading this foundation. I think the one that that really shapes me is, Take responsibility. Take full responsibility. Pat gave us a charge. She gave us her marching orders. And now it is up to us to get it done. but just Pat's mindset as a whole, you know, all all of her leadership principles are so important. And and I think actually, I spoke to a group not too long ago, and I was trying to pick out just one to highlight for this group, and I couldn't because they are all so important. And they, they really all to all together. you need them to be a great leader and to make a difference. And, it's just her mindset that we have an opportunity. We have a platform, we have the ability to make the difference. And now that we need to. So every day our goal is to to advance the fight just a little bit further.

Jim Brogan 00:09:38 Well, I know you've seen firsthand how people still respond emotionally to pat story, you know, 20,000 to 20, 11, 15 years ago. I imagine that her embracing the Alzheimer's back then, it would resonate just as deeply with families facing Alzheimer's today. Is that right?

Morgan Vance 00:10:00 Yes, absolutely.

Jim Brogan 00:10:01 Yeah. That's fantastic. Her legacy. Tell you what. We're going to get to our first break. We come back. We want to really kind of dive into understanding Alzheimer's and brain health. Well, are there things that we can be doing to stay healthier to prevent for with prevention. What's the latest with Alzheimer's research. So stay with us. We're visiting with Morgan Vance, with the Pat Summitt Foundation here on Moore living with Jim Brogan only on Newstalk 987. Rocky.

Jim Brogan 00:10:30 Welcome back to Newstalk 98. Seven's Brogan Financial Studios or Jim Brogan is coming to you live with important news and advice to help you achieve your dream retirement. Get ready to learn and live. Here's your host, Jim Brogan.

Jim Brogan 00:10:46 Welcome back to More Living Here on Newstalk 987 Wookey I'm Jim Brogan, we're visiting with Morgan Vance.

Jim Brogan 00:10:53 She is with the Pat Summitt Foundation. And I think there's still a lot of misconceptions, Morgan, about Alzheimer's to you from from what you see, what are the biggest misconceptions that you still encounter today?

Multiple Speakers 00:11:08 Yeah, I think.

Morgan Vance 00:11:10 For the families that have experienced it, they understand exactly what it is and how it impacts someone's life. For those who've maybe just heard the disease, I think the biggest misconception is they think, well, okay, so they're going to forget my name or they're going to, you know, forget their memories or, what they maybe had for breakfast yesterday. And, it is so much bigger than that.

Jim Brogan 00:11:40 How do you think it's changed over the last year in terms of the conversation around Alzheimer's, with all the research and all the things we've learned.

Multiple Speakers 00:11:49 Yeah, I.

Morgan Vance 00:11:50 Think in the last, several years, I think we're we're starting at the conversations are happening a little bit more mainstream. so we're starting to realize that or I think the public is starting to realize that it's not just, oh, they got lost.

Morgan Vance 00:12:09 There's more conversations around how it fully impacts someone once they've been diagnosed. I think there have been a lot more conversations and more understanding about how it impacts the caregivers and the family unit as a whole. And I think that is very important because when we can start recognizing the impact, then we can start doing something to hopefully change it and make it better to make a difference. And I think there's Definitely with, I was I was just going to say I think there's also been changes to in conversations around diagnosis and, and access, and I think that's equally as important.

Jim Brogan 00:12:56 Yeah. And the impact on caregivers is, is is a tremendous. And and we're going to dive into that to kind of along those lines. What are some early warning signs, Morgan, that families should pay attention to that often get overlooked or dismissed?

Multiple Speakers 00:13:13 Yeah.

Morgan Vance 00:13:14 So there's normal signs of aging and then there's not normal signs of aging. So, you know, big changes in what would have been typical decisions. So for a lot of families, financial decisions are what clues? The clues a man is, you know, mom's never had problem paying her bills.

Morgan Vance 00:13:33 But now I came to visit and she has four past due notices on her kitchen counter or, you know, dad never would have made this decision to try to sell this property, but now he's saying it just big, you know, financial decisions that are kind of out of the norm. and, and then we've had a physician say before, and I think this is a great way to explain that it's not oh, I can't find my keys. It's I have these things in my hand and I don't know what I'm supposed to do with them. it can be things. Simple things like repeating themselves, you know, over and over and over again the same thing, or asking the same question over and over again. At the end of the day, you know your loved one. And so you want to look for those signs that you know.

Multiple Speakers 00:14:25 That.

Morgan Vance 00:14:26 They're not quite themselves.

Jim Brogan 00:14:31 You know, there are different types of dementia. I know Morgan, my dad suffered from vascular Dementia, which is basically caused by a series of mini strokes over a long period of time.

Jim Brogan 00:14:44 does the Pat Summitt Foundation get involved with all types of dementia? Does it focus exclusively on Alzheimer's? I would imagine sometimes you have people come into the clinic and they get maybe re diagnosed. Can you touch on that a little bit?

Morgan Vance 00:14:59 Yeah. So, today there are over 100 different forms and causes of dementia. but the most common form is Alzheimer's disease. we the Pat Summitt clinic, and we are a separate entity, but we have a phenomenal relationship with them. That was a dream of Pat's. To see that in Knoxville to the Pat Summitt clinic does not treat only Alzheimer's disease. They treat all forms of dementia. and to your point, yes, vascular dementia is a form of dementia. and that can be from, you know, strokes, damaged blood vessels, heart conditions so that we don't just treat or focus on Alzheimer's disease.

Jim Brogan 00:15:47 With everything all the research over the last ten years in particular, there's been more and more discussion about both prevention and lifestyle factors. Morgan, what is the latest research suggest about protecting our long term brain health?

Morgan Vance 00:16:03 Yes.

Morgan Vance 00:16:03 So I would say that has been a huge shift, even in the five years that I have been, in this in this work. There's a huge shift from, okay, how do we treat and cure to okay, how do we prevent, how do we preserve cognitive health. And so you've seen this, this kind of trend or more conversations around overall brain health and brain health education. I think the simplest rule of thumb for people to, to keep in mind is what's good for your heart is good for your brain. So if you follow a heart healthy diet, you're going to help your cognitive health. If you are active, let's say 30 minutes. of of physical activity, of, you know, whether that be vigorous walk or like run or Pilates, you know, 30 minutes a day, you're going to reduce your risk of vascular dementia. About 30 to 40% is what some studies suggest. So what's good for your heart is good for your brain. And then you think about all the other things.

Morgan Vance 00:17:03 Sleep very important. That's what helps our brain kind of rest and clean out the bad, the quote unquote bad toxins. to sleep, making sure you, you're getting adequate and deep sleep every night. Your diet is very important. Your stress is very important. Managing stress is very important. And then specifically for Alzheimer's disease, that socialization piece is very important as well, making sure that you are staying engaged and active, whether that be going to a book club or going to church or taking part in a small group. You know, staying active is very important and socially engaged.

Jim Brogan 00:17:48 We know a lot of medical things. Early diagnosis is so important. Morgan. Yeah, touch a little bit on with Alzheimer's, the importance of early diagnosis and not only medically but emotionally and financially for families.

Morgan Vance 00:18:04 Absolutely. So, so for medically, so, early diagnosis. So we've had some huge, just advancements over the last few years and that we have some new medications that can now be used in some with someone who has been diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease or dementia, but those are really researching into clinical trials that happen.

Morgan Vance 00:18:30 They really should. They are the most Effective when used for a patient who has been diagnosed early. For how they work. so that's key. You know, you're opening yourself up to more treatment options. and opportunities when with an early diagnosis, but then financially and and really just from an overall like the health and wellness of your family, an early diagnosis, it really then allows you, I think, the opportunity to have more open conversations and better dialogue. So oftentimes when I hear from a caregiver that, well, my mom was finally diagnosed, we've worried about it for a while, but now I just I'm not sure we know what to do. You know, she's really worried about talking about, you know, these financial plans or her estate or that. And and now we're just we're we're trying to figure out where she's going to live. They they almost feel overwhelmed. and so I think, And unfortunately, I don't have the research to back it up, but I this is what my personal belief is after, you know, just being around and getting to talk to so many people.

Morgan Vance 00:19:42 When we have an earlier diagnosis, we're able to to hopefully better have some conversations and have a little bit more time to adjust to accept the diagnosis and then do some early intervention. So. Okay. Do we need to look at a diet change. Do we need to look at a lifestyle change. Do we can we can intervene earlier and then hopefully have the conversations that will help our families plan better for the future. And we're hopefully at a spot where we we can really partake of those conversations.

Jim Brogan 00:20:16 That's Morgan Vance. She's with the Pat Summitt Foundation this morning. We're talking to her on here on Newstalk 987. let's dive into the caregiver really caregiver crisis? I would almost say, It's very overlooked, I think in many, in many aspects, the burden that's carried by caregivers. What are you hearing most often from spouses, from adult children and from families?

Morgan Vance 00:20:42 Yeah, it's I would I agree with you. It's so overlooked and it is almost a crisis. you know, research over the last several years have shown the impact, the mental, physical, emotional impact that being a full time caregiver for a loved one has, on the individual.

Morgan Vance 00:21:01 So they're 30 to 40% more likely to experience anxiety and depression. they are 70% more likely to report that they will not follow up on health care concerns of their own. So depending on the age of the individual, that can create a crisis. we are seeing more caregivers in the sandwich generation. So there are young people that have, you know, they're raising young families, but now they're also caring for, a parent as well. So they're dual caregivers. And we're seeing the impact on them financially. so it just it is almost I agree, it is almost a crisis. And I think what I hear the most is that people aren't quite sure what to do. You know, what are even just from a planning standpoint or just making sure they they know what to expect. they don't often know where to go to get that information. I think that I hear a lot about just the emotion managing the emotional toll. And so we see it a lot more. We see it quite a bit, I think, with spouses.

Morgan Vance 00:22:09 you know, they they have a lot of guilt associated with, leaving their loved one, you know, finding respite care or when it gets to the point where they need to put them in a memory care facility or a skilled nursing facility. There's a lot of guilt associated with that. The emotional toll and the burden that takes. It's just it is a it's, Our caregivers are struggling.

Jim Brogan 00:22:35 Well, and as you mentioned, I think a lot of times, and we see it in some of the data we've looked at caring for a loved one. Sometimes they, you know, you're not protecting your own mental and physical health. And I think that's important not only for the spouse but but but for the kids too. Can you just expand on that a little bit?

Morgan Vance 00:22:55 Absolutely. So I mean, think, you can't provide the best care if you yourself, yourself are not doing well? so it does have an impact. And, you know, I think especially as our parents age, we as we as kids kind of sometimes struggle with, well, how do we step in? You know, if mom and dad are here, dad's primary caregiver for mom.

Morgan Vance 00:23:18 What is my role as the child? How can I step in and say, absolutely not. This is what we need to do. And I think that that's just a difficult spot to be in. It does impact. and it's our hope is that the Pat Foundation can help, provide some resources and some information that can just help them, even if it's have a conversation with their family. and, and kind of ease the burden and ease that stress. That's our hope.

Jim Brogan 00:23:51 We're visiting with Morgan Vance. She's with the Pat Summitt Foundation. When we come back, we're going to dive into, research the future. Hope that we can have. What's the latest with medical advances? we'll also have our dollars and cents segment. retirement has changed completely over the last generation. How can you be planning for as many as 25 to 30 or more years without a paycheck? So stay with us. This is Moore living with Jim Brogan here on news 987. Cokie.

Jim Brogan 00:24:22 Welcome back to Newstalk 98. Seven's Brogan Financial Studios or Jim Brogan is coming to you live with important news and advice to help you achieve your dream retirement.

Jim Brogan 00:24:31 Get ready to learn and live. Here's your host, Jim Brogan.

Jim Brogan 00:24:39 Thanks for tuning in. This is more living with Jim Brogan where it's all about living the best years of your life, your way. We're with you every Saturday, 9 to 10 a.m. and again from 3 to 4 p.m. you can also catch us online Brogan financial.com. If you click on radio, you can download. You can stream. last several years worth of shows and they're cataloged by topic. you can also catch our podcasts at Spotify and Apple Podcasts. More living with Jim Brogan. So check us out there. also, we have a wealth of resources we provide online at Brogan financial.com. If you click on resources, you can download our guides. You can sign up for our newsletter. and you know, my goal with all of that, with this program and with our website and everything we do, is to help you make informed and prudent decisions that can positively impact the quality of your life. Today we're visiting with Morgan Vance.

Jim Brogan 00:25:36 She's with the Pat Summitt Foundation. However, before we get back to Morgan, it is time for dollars and cents.

Multiple Speakers 00:25:43 What? To be sure, you are getting the most out of your retirement. For all the years of your retirement, that's the primary goal of Moore living with Jim Brogan and our dollars and cents segment, where we provide you with an important financial tip that will help positively impact the quality of your life and retirement. And now, here's Jim with this week's dollars and cents tip.

Jim Brogan 00:26:10 Retirement has changed dramatically over the last 30 or 40 years. We now have to plan for as many as 25 or 30 years, or even more without a paycheck. You know, previous generations often retired, and they knew they needed a plan for 10 or 15 years. And when I teach classes through the University of Tennessee and at Palace State for Adult Education, and usually I've got people in the room that are getting near retirement or retired. they they typically feel your typical 65 year old today still often thinks, if I can get to 85, 20 years, the reality is it's going to be closer to 30 years for the average married couple.

Jim Brogan 00:26:55 And 25% of married couples age 65 will see one spouse live to 98. So over 30 years and you've got to replace a paycheck for all of those years. And I know you may say, well, Jim, I'm not going to spend as much money. My discretionary spending will go down. And that is true. It will slow down gradually over time. But towards the end of life, you're going to have a lot higher medical expenses. You still have to pay for basic necessities. And I think when we look at today's inflationary environment, we understand that very, very, very well. So, you know, longevity risk is really the primary risk that drives all the risks that we face financially in retirement. And we have to have a plan to fight those risks. So, you know, we're talking about if you're living longer and you're living into your 90s, late 80s or 90s, healthcare costs become more of a factor. It inflation costs become an even bigger factor. So it's retirement planning is no longer about reaching a number.

Jim Brogan 00:28:02 It's about sustaining a lifestyle. How are you going to structure your investments? You don't retire on on assets. You retire on income. How are you going to provide income? And so here's the two biggest tips I want to leave you with today for facing this reality. One do not underestimate the the the impact of inflation. Inflation is the silent killer of retirement income. I like to call it the cholesterol. Of retirement income. It doesn't it? It doesn't happen all at once. We don't see the same impact we see with stock market declines. But it sneaks up on us. And in ten years, you wake up and you're like, where's the income? And with people living longer and longer lives, this is an even bigger issue. Okay. But so fighting inflation means you've got to have your investments grow at a pace, especially early in retirement, that can that can outpace inflation. You've got to have some of your assets that can outpace inflation after tax, because you've got to pay for things in ten and 15 and 20 and maybe even 30 years now.

Jim Brogan 00:29:15 So that's the first part. The second part though is, is you need to have stability of income in the short term. We don't want to depend on current stock market conditions to provide current income because markets go up, markets go down. They're choppy, they're volatile. They're unpredictable. And the last thing we want to do with wealth management is we don't want to be selling off investments when they're sharply down because we need income. But yet those risk investments give us the greatest opportunity to fight inflation long term. So we've got to have more predictable, dependable things to draw from in the short term for income. And then we gotta have some growth long term measure the risk in your portfolio. Is it an acceptable amount of risk? Would stock market volatility affect your ability to retire on your terms? Or if we had a a tough five years at the start of retirement, do you have a plan to deal with that potential risk. All of these things are critically important. With a good plan in place, I think you can address this and be and plan for a 25 to 30 plus years of retirement income.

Multiple Speakers 00:30:28 That's our dollars and cents segment for this week. You can find this week's dollars and cents segment and others by visiting Brogan Financial.

Jim Brogan 00:30:42 And as I say, do go to Brogan financial.com. Check us out. We've got classes coming up this fall. Both the Palace happy state through their adult education. we've got two part two that are comprehensive. We've also also got a tax planning class one night just on income taxes, classes on our Brogan financial comm. Click on classes. You can find out more information about our schedule this fall. Today we're visiting with Morgan Vance and we're talking about Alzheimer's research. And as you said, the Pat Summitt Clinic. Morgan is really about all kinds of dementia. And you mentioned there are 100. You mentioned 100. I mentioned vascular dementia. You said 100 different kinds. So all of these things are very, very important. before we talk about where we're headed moving forward and the different research and, and, and hope for the future, talk a little bit about the role.

Jim Brogan 00:31:38 What does the role what role does community play in helping families navigate Alzheimer's? And how can people step up even if they aren't directly affected themselves?

Morgan Vance 00:31:50 Community is so important. especially we live in an area that's, I think, a big mix of rural versus urban. You know, so we find that in rural communities there is less access to specialized care and some of these specialized resources, and there's a higher tendency to age in place, meaning they're not. When they get to a certain point, they're not moving to a memory care facility. They're not moving to a skilled nursing facility. They're staying home. Maybe they're moving in with a loved one, but they're staying home. They're aging in place. And so with that comes additional needs. And that's where communities step forward. That's where your community where you need the support. So if you know of someone who their family is, is dealing with Alzheimer's disease or another form of dementia, being willing to to say, hey, why don't I come sit with your loved one while you go run to the grocery store? Or, hey, do you want me to pick up that grocery order for you? just just finding ways to come and interact, to provide support, some respite, you know, just to meet them where they are, provide them with some socialization and making sure that their needs are met and that they're being taken care of.

Morgan Vance 00:33:13 It is so necessary.

Jim Brogan 00:33:15 Yeah. And it kind of goes back. One thing that reminds me of Morgan is, you know, as we prepare for and transition into retirement in general, keeping social structures in place and keeping routine in place, because the reality is a lot of the social structures that we have in our life, a lot of them are work based and creating social structure outside of work, creating routine in those first couple of years of retirement to get you into routine and continue to have social structure. I mean, to me, that seems critically important to then be able to support ourselves, to have structures in place to support us down the line with with things like what we're talking about.

Morgan Vance 00:33:59 Absolutely, yes. So I mean, if you're specifically talking about those in retirement age, okay, so we retire instead of saying, I'm just going to sit at home. I'm going to, you know, relax. Why don't you find maybe you enjoy gardening? Join a gardening club or find a walking group? Or maybe now is the time to finally learn how to play mahjong.

Morgan Vance 00:34:22 That's a big one right now. But just finding.

Multiple Speakers 00:34:25 That's the big one, isn't it? I guess you engaged?

Morgan Vance 00:34:28 Yes, I know I'm starting to feel a lot of pressure that I need to learn how to play mahjong. I see it everywhere. But being able to to find a way to get engaged. And we see a lot, especially in our area. Our faith based communities are really good about getting engaged and that's where we see a lot of support. You know, we'll we did some grant work with an institution in Kentucky, and they kept trying to provide these really great, you know, health care clinics. And no one would come. They did it at a community center or, you know, pop up here and there and no one would come. But the moment they started partnering with faith based institutions, with churches. That was where our our that's where people were comfortable. Those were the groups that they that they went through life with. And that was where we were able to be able to provide some of the services and things that we were looking to provide.

Morgan Vance 00:35:24 And so, getting plugged in, staying active, staying engaged, especially as you move towards retirement is so important.

Jim Brogan 00:35:34 Yeah, I think the fact that faith based organizations, churches so critically important, not only to, to have the social network, but then also to to have an underlying faith. But all that stuff's very, very critically important. But I, I can't stress enough when people transition into retirement, the need to create routine in their weekly schedule and create social, support and networks. real quickly before we get to our last break. Morgan, I'm sure you've seen stories of extraordinary resilience. Is there a particular story that has stayed with you personally?

Morgan Vance 00:36:17 Oh, goodness.

Jim Brogan 00:36:20 I don't want to put you on the spot here.

Morgan Vance 00:36:23 I know, I know. not not necessarily one in particular, but I will say, just the more I interact with caregivers, I think all of them are extraordinary. just the ways in which they step up, the amount of, you know, people that that we interact with that they had, you know, grandma living with them.

Morgan Vance 00:36:50 And then as a young person who had that experience, you know, they're 20, 30 years old and they are bound and determined to partner with us to make a difference in this disease. They didn't, They didn't let this disease crush them. I just I think all of our caregivers are extraordinary and so resilient.

Jim Brogan 00:37:14 And I just want to make a note. You said earlier, you know, providing respite to the primary caregiver. You know, that's a way that we can all step up, and help those that we know and love, that are not the primary caregivers, because I know when the when the when the healthy at home spouse is the primary caregiver, oftentimes that at home spouse is the first bout that that healthy spouse oftentimes is the first one to pass away. And it's because of the tremendous. Mental, mental.

Multiple Speakers 00:37:53 Anguish.

Jim Brogan 00:37:55 are we online? Can you still hear me? I lost contact.

Multiple Speakers 00:37:58 There. I can hear you.

Jim Brogan 00:37:59 Okay. My apologies, Morgan, but it's the, But.

Jim Brogan 00:38:03 yeah, because of the mental and physical anguish that it can cause to the caregiver. So I think that's a way we can all step up and provide more support for people we love. We're going to get to our last break. We come back. We're going to talk about research, hope for the future, where things headed with Alzheimer's, how can we get involved in supporting this very, very important cause? Stay with us. This is more living with Jim Brogan here on Newstalk 987 Wookey.

Jim Brogan 00:38:30 Welcome back to Newstalk 98. Seven's Brogan Financial Studios or Jim Brogan is coming to you live with important news and advice to help you achieve your dream retirement. Get ready to learn and live. Here's your host, Jim Brogan.

Multiple Speakers 00:38:47 Thanks for tuning in this week.

Jim Brogan 00:38:48 Living here on.

Multiple Speakers 00:38:49 News.

Jim Brogan 00:38:50 Seven, we're visiting with Morgan Vance. She's with the Pat Summitt Foundation. We're talking about all timers awareness and Morgan. from your perspective, where are you seeing the most hope in terms of recent treatments and research breakthroughs?

Morgan Vance 00:39:07 I would definitely say, you know, the trend is, in research is is towards preventative health.

Morgan Vance 00:39:15 And and that's where personally I think I'm most excited. because I think we're starting now to have the conversations and fully understand that the things that we do as teenagers and as young people in our 20s and 30s impact our cognitive health and cognitive functioning later in life. And so the attention on diets here lately, I'm very excited about understanding the impact of technology and screens. I personally am very excited about the conversations that are happening in the research world right now.

Jim Brogan 00:39:55 Morgan, what are we learning about diet and how it affect Alzheimer's?

Morgan Vance 00:40:01 Yeah. So I think the big one is when we look at sugars and sweets and artificial sweeteners and, I call them, you know, rabbit trails. There are so many different things that impact our overall brain health. And we could go down all the different rabbit rabbit trails. However, again, it goes back to what's good for our heart is good for our brain. It's so connected. so all of these, all of these, you know, artificial sweeteners, if they're not great for your heart, then they're not great for your brain health.

Morgan Vance 00:40:39 the elimination of of dyes and artificial dyes. I am very excited about, because that's, you know, important for cognitive health, but it's also really important if you have neurotypical children and, and in adults. So it's all, I think, very connected. But it's this whole when we think of brain health, it's its whole body health, really the things that are that we are doing that impact our heart, that impact our movement, our muscles, our joints, those do impact our brain health as well.

Jim Brogan 00:41:16 What initiatives or programs is the Summit Foundation most excited about right now?

Morgan Vance 00:41:22 Yeah. So, I'm so proud of the work of the foundation and where we're headed and what we're doing. you know, we have Pat's Game Plan, which is a caregiver resource that we launched in June of 2024. To date, it's reached well over half a million people across the country. And connecting our caregivers to resources that will help them walk through this journey. So I'm really proud of that. from that, we're doing a lot of different work in terms of outreach.

Morgan Vance 00:41:55 we're having a lot of great conversations right now about improving access. I think that's one, you know, people here, I think a lot of times about the waitlist with, neurology services and, you know, if we if we're doing a referral to a specialty practice, a specialty neurology clinic, I think there's a lot of conversations across the country right now. People are realizing that there's wait times are very long. but and so we're having conversations now that I'm really excited about how do we improve access? How do we get those wait times down? How can the Pat Summit Foundation be, helpful? And and how can we be innovative? So I'm just so excited about the work that we're doing, the conversations we're having and where we're headed.

Jim Brogan 00:42:44 Morgan, we just have about a minute left. If someone listening today wants to make a meaningful impact, it could be through advocacy, it could be volunteering. It could be through through through philanthropy. Where should they start and how can they find out more about Pat Summitt organization?

Multiple Speakers 00:42:57 Yes.

Morgan Vance 00:42:58 So I would say start by visiting our website. Pat summitt.org and summit is two M's and two T's. So start there. Learn a little bit more about who we are, what we're doing. If you feel inclined to make a gift, there's a way to do that via our website. all of our contact information for our team is on the website as well. So someone can can find my email address. They are more than welcome to reach out to myself or someone else. But I would say, just just go start with the website and then reach out.

Jim Brogan 00:43:31 Absolutely. real quickly now, this is not an easy answer to answer quickly, but I'm going to still put you on the spot. What do you think Pat Summitt today would want people to understand most about courage and facing adversity?

Morgan Vance 00:43:43 I think she would say don't back down. her, her mantra that she used his left foot, right foot breeze, to put one foot in front of the other. keep going.

Jim Brogan 00:43:56 I think that's a great word.

Jim Brogan 00:43:58 That's Morgan Banshees with the Pat Summitt Foundation. Morgan, thank you so much. Time for taking time out of your busy schedule.

Morgan Vance 00:44:04 Oh, thank you so much for having me.

Jim Brogan 00:44:06 Check out more at Pat summit.org. Again that's Pat summit two M's two T's dot org. Today we've discussed health because greater health provides for more living. So you can live the best years of your life your way. Thanks to Wayne engineering the show thanks to Mary Caroline helping produce the show. Thank you for tuning in. This is more living with Jim Brogan. Have a great week. As you listen to Newstalk 987 w Cokie.

Multiple Speakers 00:44:30 The views expressed by Jim Brogan and his guests are not that of Cumulus Media. Any discussion of financial, legal and tax planning strategies is not intended to be individualized advice and is general in nature. Always consult with your advisor for advice specific to your needs. This program's content does not represent a recommendation of any particular security strategy or investment by Jim Brogan or Brogan Financial incorporate.

Original Airdate: 07-06-2024

In this episode of "More Living with Jim Brogan," host Jim Brogan interviews Matt Cameron, Outreach and Education Coordinator for the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency (TWRA), on July 4th weekend. They discuss boating safety rules, including right-of-way, life jacket requirements, and boating under the influence laws. Cameron also covers fishing regulations, hunting seasons, and wildlife management across Tennessee. The episode includes a "Dollars and Cents" segment where Brogan highlights the importance of coordinating beneficiary designations with estate planning documents, particularly for retirement accounts like IRAs and 401(k)s.

Automatically Transcribed With Podsqueeze

Jim Brogan 00:00:02 You're tuned in to More Living with Jim Brogan, broadcast live from the Brogan Financial studios at Newstalk 987, where old fashioned values, expert knowledge and genuine understanding come together to give you the retirement straight talk you deserve. Jim's a former National Advisor of the year recipient and a financial educator, and he's here today to talk about how you can live out the best years of your life. Jim and the Brogan financial team have been helping retirees and retirees across the southeast for over 20 years in their pursuit of financial independence. You can reach them during the week at 865862 6800. So sit back, relax and get ready to learn because More living with Jim Brogan starts now.

Jim Brogan 00:00:45 And happy Saturday, East Tennessee, and welcome to More Living with Jim Brogan, where it's all about living the best years of your life your way. You're listening to Newstalk 987 Waukee on this July 4th weekend. I hope you had a great time on Thursday. I know I did, cooking out and doing all kinds of stuff. one of my very favorite things in the summer, of course, is, to head head out onto the lake and do some boating.

Jim Brogan 00:01:11 just love to be on the lake on the on the water. We love, water sports. My daughter just loves lake surfing, which, of course, become all the rage in the last, probably 5 to 10 years. we're so fortunate here in East Tennessee to live in a place that has water raceways really around just about every corner. So whether you enjoy fishing or water sports or just cruising along, our water bodies really offer something for everyone. Now, much of the land and the water around us is managed by the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency. And today I'm excited to talk about the great outdoors with our guest, Matt Cameron. Matt is the outreach and education coordinator for region four of the T.W.. Good morning Matt. Welcome to More Living.

Matt Cameron 00:01:56 Good morning Jim. Thanks for having me on this morning.

Jim Brogan 00:01:58 Yeah, it's great to have you with us. Talk a little bit about your journey. You didn't start. You're now doing outreach and education. You started off as a warden.

Matt Cameron 00:02:08 I did.

Jim Brogan 00:02:09 So talk a little bit about how you got into the into a and what your path looked like and why you're so passionate about it.

Matt Cameron 00:02:16 Yes, sir. Raised by a father who sincerely loves the outdoors. A great hunter and a great angler. And saw my first game warden, which is what we used to be called. And a lot of people still call us that. We're actually wildlife officers now. But, Wayne Rich was the game warden in Jefferson County where I grew up. And I saw him when I was a young kid. And Wayne's a big man, and I was just a wee man and saw him at the boat ramp and thought, you know, what's this guy doing? And, you know, my dad said, he's going to check our fishing license and make sure we've got our safety equipment, our boat, and that we're doing everything by, by the rules. And I was like, that looks like a cool job. That's what I want to do. And so in 2003, I graduated from UWC and, got hired as the Knox County, Boating Enforcement Officer.

Matt Cameron 00:02:59 Right here in downtown. So went to UT. My blood runs orange.

Jim Brogan 00:03:02 And I was going to say, tell me before we get to the topic, tell me about this Neyland Stadium debacle.

Matt Cameron 00:03:08 The kneeling.

Jim Brogan 00:03:09 Kneel.

Matt Cameron 00:03:09 Excuse me. Yep. However you want to say it. Yeah, I don't mind.

Jim Brogan 00:03:12 It's funny, because I grew up. I can't believe I just said that because I know it's kneeling, but I grew up, and I was taught it was Neyland and I. I grew up in Tennessee, East Tennessee. I graduated high school in 1987, so I was taught it was Neyland anyway. But anyway, Neyland Stadium. So what's the kneeling debacle?

Matt Cameron 00:03:30 So the Neyland Stadium debacle. so I graduated from Utah oh three, and I got hired that summer, hired right out of college, thank God, and started my job, which once again was the Knox County Boating Enforcement Officer. So the Navy, Knox, waterfront, all that was part of my responsibility. So the first fall that I worked got to go down and get on board a nice sea ray patrol boat and anyway, patrol the Knoxville waterfront.

Matt Cameron 00:03:55 And so we had a pretty good gig, too. We get to go in and watch, that the football game stand on the sidelines, you know, with the police. And, you know, I don't think we're really necessary that we'd be there, but nobody argues, so. Anyway, class A uniform, buttoned up, dressed, you know, in there in the stadium. It was a Vanderbilt football game, and it wasn't this one wasn't nationally televised. So this would have been like the fall of oh three. And it's coming up on halftime. And we're standing down by the play clock. And there was a man named al. We used to help al keep the media right from the play clock. So the players and the officials could see the clock on the field. So we're standing on the sidelines and I feel somebody put something on my head and I reach up and feel it. And it's like a treasure troll wig. It's blaze orange, just bright as can be. And so it's on my head and I'm looking around like, what do I do? You know, do I take it off and you'll be all serious or do I leave it on? I thought, you know, I just graduated UT you know, I'm still still a fan here.

Matt Cameron 00:04:46 So I'm leaving it on and people are starting to see me. You know, they're pointing at me and stuff. And I used to work out a lot back then. So I'm, I'm doing my little Arnold Schwarzenegger poses and they go get the jumbotron and they put me on the jumbotron for 45 seconds, and I'm leading Rocky top man. I'm. I'm like Peyton Manning, you know, after the SEC Championship, leading the. Right, right. The pride of the Southland band. So I'm up there for a while, and, it comes and goes, and I'm. I'm on cloud nine, and I look around and the other officers that I'm working with, the senior officers are just looking at me like, I can't believe you just did that. So I went from, like, you know, cloud nine to crash and burn in an instant. And so, my senior officer, Joe Durnan, he's retired now, but he was in Knox County. He comes up and he said, Matt, buddy, it's been nice working with you.

Matt Cameron 00:05:29 And I'm like.

Jim Brogan 00:05:30 Oh my.

Matt Cameron 00:05:30 Goodness. No, it was, it was, it was that bad. He goes, well, it wasn't good that he goes, Brian has season tickets. That was our supervisor. Brian Ripley also lives here in Knoxville. I said, what is he here? He's like, well, yeah, he usually sits right up there and he's you know what? I'm looking for him. Like, is he here? Because I don't know. He said he always calls at halftime and tells us we look good and we make him proud. We'll see what he says. So halftime comes and goes. Joe comes back and says, guess what I said what Joe? He said Brian didn't call. I said, was that bad or is that good? He said, what's not good? I got. Oh my goodness. So long story short, man. the next day I had to work the dummy. Dear detail, we used to put out a robot deer, try to get poachers to shoot it, you know, from the road.

Matt Cameron 00:06:09 So we all meet up in Hancock County. Brian's their supervisor. We eat breakfast at a little gas station. He doesn't say a word about it. I'm thinking maybe he didn't see me, you know, trying to play that that card. So, anyway, comes time to go. And everybody had standard cab trucks back then. No extra cabs will come. Time to go. Brian says you ride with me, Cameron. I thought, gosh, here it goes. I've worked my whole life to get this job. I'm about to get fired, you know, in the first 2 or 3 months. So we're getting this expedition sitting there, and he's letting it fester for a while, just like when you got in trouble at school and, you know, you wish your dad would just whip you and get it over with. It's one of those kind of things. Well, finally he says, so tell me, what in the Blankety Blank provoked you to put on a blaze orange wig leading Rocky Top in front of 107,000 volunteer fans? And I'm like, Brian, I won't lie to you.

Matt Cameron 00:06:54 He said no, you better tell me a good one on this and I need something good. I was like, I just got caught up in the moment, you know, went to UT, yada, yada, yada yada. He said, well, I'll tell you what he said. I've learned not to discipline. What? I'm angry. He said, I didn't see you at first, he said, but the guy next to me patted me on the back on the leg and said, hey, rip, is that one of yours up there? He said, yep, that's one of mine. So, anyway, he said, as long as your face doesn't end up on the cover of Volunteer Pride magazine next fall and you never pull that again, he said, we'll write it off as youthful exuberance. So I survived that. And now it's kind of like a badge of honor.

Jim Brogan 00:07:26 But yeah, I can't fail. Yeah, well, a lot of Tennessee fans not yeah, I grew up pretty diehard myself.

Jim Brogan 00:07:32 let's talk about I want to get into boating. And you just said your your first role was boating officer. Right. but before we do, the the trois manages over 1.5 million acres of land and waterways across 123 wildlife management areas. So talk a little bit about the main things the CRA does for those areas.

Matt Cameron 00:07:56 Yes. So our mission statement is to conserve, preserve, manage, enhance and protect the fish and wildlife of the state for the benefit of Tennesseans and our visitors. And we also foster a safe, safe use of our water through boating enforcement. So we're we're kind of like a department of natural resources in a lot of other states, some states, they divide the hunting and the and the fishing and the boating up into separate divisions. But we kind of do it all here. So, yeah, we're just trying to, keep wildlife, managed wildlife levels manageable and sustainable so that we can hunt certain species and other other species. We don't hunt. And a lot of people might find it surprising to learn that we have about 1400 different species of wildlife in the state.

Matt Cameron 00:08:36 You can only hunt about 100 of those. So by and large, we manage non-game animals that are protected, things. We enjoy just looking at the watchable wildlife as well as the things that we hunt for. So we're responsible for pretty much all the wildlife and fish in the state.

Jim Brogan 00:08:50 That's fantastic. And now then, Where does your response? What is your responsibility in terms of overseeing boating safety and things like that out on the lake?

Matt Cameron 00:08:58 We are the boating police. To put it quite simply, get called water Nazis and all sorts of other things. But trust me, you know we are out there to help. Try to make sure people go home safely at the end of the day. And sometimes we have to issue citations, sometimes we have to make arrests. But, you know, the fact is that we lose about 22 people in Tennessee boating accidents every year. And we just had number 11 yesterday. So we're halfway to that. That average is not a number that we strive to meet, of course, but that's what we're out there to do.

Matt Cameron 00:09:25 Just make sure you have a safe and enjoyable time.

Jim Brogan 00:09:27 So when we talk about boating education, I was born in I was born in 1969, so I'm grandfathered in. I didn't ask you to a boating license. Right. And then if you're when did that change? If you're born. When or who? Like my daughter. You know, my daughters, they both have boating licenses, but I didn't have to get one. When did that change?

Matt Cameron 00:09:49 So in 2005, we passed a law that says, if you're born after January 1st, 1989, you have to pass the boating safety course. So that's what, 34, 35 year old?

Jim Brogan 00:10:00 But what about all those other people? I mean, I, I just when I'm out on the lake, there's so many people out there that just don't understand basic boating rules. I mean, do you wish that? I mean, sometimes, like, I've always been glad I wasn't I was grandfathered in. You know, when I grew up on the lake in South Knoxville.

Jim Brogan 00:10:20 So I grew up driving my dad's runabout, you know, an inboard outboard. Now, I've got a lake boat. but I almost feel like I, I wish everybody did have to get a license and do some continuing. You know something?

Matt Cameron 00:10:35 I agree with you. if if you've got the money and you're born before January 1st of 89, you can go out and buy a 60 foot yacht or a 20 foot bass boat that'll run 90 mile an hour, a jet ski that'll run 70 from the factory, jump on it and go without any prior knowledge or training or skills. So I agree with you. I guess when they wrote the law, that had to be a cut off point. Right from this point forward. So what we did see, though, not long after we implemented that law, is that the younger generation of voters do have more general voting knowledge than a lot of the older generation, because we're talking earlier about, you know, the right of way out there and who's to stand on and to give way vessel.

Matt Cameron 00:11:12 You know, a lot of voters have no idea what that means. They they think boats are going any in every direction at any time. You can change your course and do whatever. And that creates a lot of dangerous crossing situations. And we do have, you know, boating accidents involved, collisions out there with, with other boats and with fixed objects. So the younger generation does have, at least I think, a better basic knowledge of boating. And hopefully they can build on that with skills in the future.

Jim Brogan 00:11:35 We're visiting with Matt Cameron. He's with T.W.. We're talking about the great outdoors. When we come back, I want to talk about some of those boating rules that maybe you're not aware of or maybe need to be reinforced because, as he said, it's been 11 deaths so far this year out on the water. We definitely need to get better education out there on boating rules and boating safety. So stay with us and we'll have a little hunting and fishing later in the show. As you listen to More Living with Jim Brogan right here on Newstalk 987 Wookey.

Jim Brogan 00:12:08 Welcome back to Newstalk 98 Seven's Brogan Financial Studios, where Jim Brogan is coming to you live with important news and advice to help you achieve your dream retirement. Get ready to learn and live. Here's your host, Jim Brogan.

Jim Brogan 00:12:24 Welcome back to More Living Here on Newstalk 987. Walker. This is news. As you're I apologize I'm Jim Brogan. We're visiting with Matt Cameron. I got completely tongue tied there, Matt. let's talk about some boating. Basic boating rules, because I just don't think a lot of you mentioned before the break even. Right of way core concepts. So tell our listeners. Talk a little bit about right away on the lake.

Matt Cameron 00:12:53 It's kind of a foreign term to a lot of folks. but there are what's called stand on and give way vessels out there, which means that if two boats are, approaching one another, there are certain actions that each boater needs to take in order to pass one another safely. So once again, we don't have lanes of traffic to operate in, don't have traffic signals, stop signs, brake lights, turn signals, any of that stuff.

Matt Cameron 00:13:17 So it does create an inherently dangerous environment just because of that. But pretty much when two boats meet one another, one is stand on or one is give way. And what that means is, is one will hold its course and speed, and the other one should take action to turn or avoid getting into a collision. So the easiest way I guess I could explain it would be like, at a stop sign if you have a four way stop and two cars get there at the same time, you know which car has the right of way.

Jim Brogan 00:13:47 The one on the right, isn't it?

Matt Cameron 00:13:48 Correct. So on the lake it would be the same type situation. So if we're traveling up the lake and a boat is approaching from our right hand side and we're going to cross paths, we would slow down and give way and let that other boat pass. If it's on our right hand side. The opposite would be is if we're coming up the lake and a boat is approaching on our left side, it should slow down and give us the right of way to pass in front of it.

Matt Cameron 00:14:10 But what we find out is most people don't know that. And you can never assume that that other boat knows what you're going to do. So if there's any confusion, stop. Slow down. You know, do whatever you got to do to avoid.

Jim Brogan 00:14:22 Yeah. I've always found I want to, you know, if we're kind of on a similar path, I want to quickly point my bow in a certain direction just to let them know, hey, I'm going to go this way.

Matt Cameron 00:14:34 This is my intention. And you're talking about.

Jim Brogan 00:14:36 I'm wanting to declare my intention to that boater. Or if if they start doing it, I'll just do the opposite, you know, obviously.

Matt Cameron 00:14:42 Yeah. And and that's one of those things where you need awareness in all directions when you're on the water and on the road, we're primarily worried about what's in front of us, or maybe to the sides. But, you know.

Jim Brogan 00:14:51 You got to be aware all around. When I was teaching my youngest daughter to jet ski, she would drive and I'd be on the back, and I'd have her slow down, and then I'd.

Jim Brogan 00:15:04 I'd have her come to a stop, and then I'd cover her eyes and say, tell me what's around us, how many boats are on the lake? And she'd always get it right, because I wanted her to always be aware of what was going on around. Now, when it comes to jet skis, I guess a lot of these accidents are jet skis, is what I hear. So talk about some of the danger with jet skis and what you see people doing getting kind of crazy. Some jet skis come way too close to boats. So what are the rules there?

Matt Cameron 00:15:29 So personal watercraft or jet skis? To put it slightly, I guess there are different rules that apply only to them that don't apply to regular boats. One being you can't operate them at night, you can't put lights on them and run them at night. We've seen that people put them on there and think they can run them at night, but they're just so fast and so maneuverable. We have so many accidents and daytime hours.

Matt Cameron 00:15:48 I can't imagine how high that would go up if we let them operate at night. So you can't do it at night, period. So sunset, you got to get them off the water. others. Secondly, you do have to wear the, the kill switch, the safety landers. So if you fall off of that thing, which you will at some point, it kills the power to it so you can get back on it. And then everyone on board a personal watercraft has to wear their life jacket at all times. You know, we encourage that in boats as well. But it's not the law unless you're 12 years old or younger in a boat that you have to have a life jacket on. So the other thing about jet skis is, is they love to jump weight, right? You were the big wakeboard boat. I I'm you're probably like a magnet.

Jim Brogan 00:16:25 Yeah. They like wind or wake surfing because of the wakes creates.

Matt Cameron 00:16:29 And and I get that that's kind of what those things are made for.

Matt Cameron 00:16:30 And there's nothing wrong with jumping lakes out there. But you do have to stay at least 100ft behind another boat if you're going to jump in the immediate wake of it. But those nice big rollers come off right on the back right there, and they like to get right up behind your boat and jump that first nice big wave and that that's illegal. You do have to stay 100ft back. And the reason for that is, is closer. I get to a boat and I'm going to jump away behind it. I can't see boats that are passing could be on either side of that boat, and we have seen jet skis jump the lake and end up in the path of another boat and get, you know, ran over.

Jim Brogan 00:17:02 So oh goodness.

Matt Cameron 00:17:04 Operate those with extreme caution.

Jim Brogan 00:17:06 Now, when you do water sports, whether it's it's kind of funny, I saw we were out yesterday on the lake and we saw a water skier and we very rarely see skiers anymore. It's mostly lake surfing. You see a little bit of water boarding or wakeboarding, excuse me, water board and then and then the skiing.

Jim Brogan 00:17:26 But it's unbelievable to me how sometimes will be pulling awake surfer and how close people will get right behind us following us. So talk a little bit about I mean, people should have common sense because if my, you know, if somebody wakes up and falls or a water skier and they're too close. It could be very, very dangerous. So what are some guidelines? People need to follow our rules?

Matt Cameron 00:17:50 Yep. So if if you are going to engage in that activity, for one thing, everyone has to have a personal flotation device on. And I'm sure you know that. So your pastor has to wear their life jacket. If you're into pulling a tube or a skier or wakeboard or whatever, that person has to have a life jacket on and you would think that would be a no brainer. But we still see people doing that without life jackets on. So we're going to write that ticket every time. so but being aware of that activity, wherever you're boating, you know, there are certain areas that seems to be like when I was a field officer, that where you did these activities at.

Matt Cameron 00:18:24 There were certain coves and parts of the lake where people seemed to tube and wakeboard and so forth. So identify those, know where they're at, and just be aware of the likelihood that somebody is going to fall off of one of those devices at some point. And it's not like a car. You stop immediately back up and pick them up. You've got to make a great big wide turn and get back to that person. They're going to be, you know, several hundred feet away from you in the water exposed at some point. So I really encourage.

Jim Brogan 00:18:48 That's where it can really get scary when you're driving the boat and a kid falls. I say a kid could be an adult too, but I mean, it just it's like one time we were we were pulling tubers and we had two different tubers on and they they fell off opposite directions. Oh, and and there was a boat coming that wasn't paying attention, almost hit one of the tubers and they just weren't paying attention.

Matt Cameron 00:19:13 People don't they're not looking for that.

Matt Cameron 00:19:15 It's kind of like on the road. We're not looking for bicyclists, for example. Rarely we're thinking about motorcycles, something smaller. But in the water, you know, if a person falls off your head is about the only thing. It's above the water. Yeah.

Jim Brogan 00:19:25 You really want to put your hands up in the air, right.

Matt Cameron 00:19:27 Where a brightly colored life jacket. Hands up. If you have your wakeboard or skis, hold those up. Make yourself look big. Almost like what we do to scare a bear away. hopefully there's good visibility there, but people just aren't paying attention like they should on the lake.

Jim Brogan 00:19:41 Where do you see the most common accidents? Like what's the most common cause?

Matt Cameron 00:19:45 So we've had 11 so far this year, and every one of them involved a fall overboard and a person not wearing a life jacket, and they drown. I mean, it's that simple. We don't have a lot of collision type accidents out there, which amazes me considering, you know, 250,000 registered boats in Tennessee.

Matt Cameron 00:20:02 4th of July weekend and all that. We just don't see a lot of collisions, thankfully. But yeah, most people die in a boating accident. Drown. And most people who drown aren't wearing their life jackets. It's just that simple.

Jim Brogan 00:20:12 And they just get thrown.

Matt Cameron 00:20:13 Off, get thrown off or fall overboard like the man on a watch. Spa two days ago at Tennessee National Marina. 75 year old man Mr. Frost. He was attempting to dock his boat and somehow he fell overboard. I don't know if he was reaching for the cleat, you know, trying to tie it off or what happened. But he fell in right there at the dock, and he never came back up.

Jim Brogan 00:20:31 I don't know if he hit his head, knocked him out or something.

Matt Cameron 00:20:33 Good possibility. And then another 75 year old man on the Hiwassee River where it comes into the Tennessee, I guess, toward Watts Bar as well. Yesterday morning they were fishing. the guy in the front of the boat heard a splash, turns around.

Matt Cameron 00:20:44 His partner has fallen overboard and looked like he's having a medical emergency. Didn't have a life jacket on. He jumps in. Fortunately, he's able to get to him. But it was too late that that man ended up drowning as well. So, you know, accidents happen. Medical emergencies happen. But keeping your body above water, keeping your head above water is, you know, the most important thing out there. So just wearing that life jacket really is the difference in life and death.

Jim Brogan 00:21:07 Now, a lot of people love to, you know, swim in the in the lake or to enjoy non-motorized lake activities kayaking, paddle boarding. So what are some say what? Well, and I used to do these five K swims every year and I would prepare some in the lake out on the main channel, and I, I had this it's kind of I'd always do it when there's hardly any boating traffic out, but I'd have this thing tied behind me. That's a little, you know, orange floaty that, you know, pretty.

Jim Brogan 00:21:35 But what are some ways that those enjoying non-motorized lake activities can stay safe.

Matt Cameron 00:21:42 I'm glad you brought that up. man, I did long distance triathlon for for years. Did the Iron Man and I. This is crazy, dude. I would get out in the morning by myself and swim two miles in the freaking lake. As a boating enforcement officer, I try to hug the shoreline. But I got to where I was getting careless. I would swim across the cove instead of hugging the shoreline. You know, 1015ft. I was getting to where I was swimming straight across and I was having boats pass me on the inside. So it's a wonder I'm sitting here today. So not to beat that that to death. But we do see a number of swimming incidents that aren't necessarily boating related, and there are probably more drownings that occur that way than they are from actual boats. So I just can't stress enough that if you're going to swim in the water, if you're not going to wear that live jacket, take it out there with you, sit on it.

Matt Cameron 00:22:27 You know, everybody's probably put their legs through one at some point and sat on it. It does help you float out there or just keep it by your side because, you know, people cramp up. I have seen a lot of accidents happen where someone got into the water from a boat to swim. Here comes the wind. Especially with a pontoon boat. They're so flat on the sides. The wind will push that boat away from them. And they can't swim fast enough, you know, to get back on board. So anchor your boat down. Take a life jacket out there with you if you're not going to wear it. And, don't don't try to swim across the cove. You know, people say, well, that's not that far. I'm gonna take off swimming. They get halfway there. They they get exhausted. They can't get back. They can't get to the other side and they go down. So the water's just so unforgiving.

Jim Brogan 00:23:05 Now, what about, you know, kayaking, paddle boarding.

Jim Brogan 00:23:08 What about those types of things?

Matt Cameron 00:23:09 We've seen an explosion of paddle sports, especially since Covid. you know, those things are cheap. You know, relatively speaking. So people are picking up the canoes and the kayaks and the paddle boards and hitting the water. but what a lot of folks don't know is that you do have to have your life jacket, on board those craft as well. So just because they're paddle craft, you still have to have a life jacket. you don't have to wear it unless you're 12 or younger. But we see people turn those canoes and kayaks over. They go fishing in them, they flip them. they can't get back in it. And I think we had five paddle craft related, boating fatalities last year. So it just it all goes back once again to wearing that personal flotation device.

Jim Brogan 00:23:49 And I guess if, one thing that always kind of humor me, that doesn't really humor me, but people will be paddle boarding and they're in the main channel, and then they get mad if you drive by.

Jim Brogan 00:23:59 I mean, if you're doing something to main channel, you know, if you don't want big waves, you probably shouldn't be out in the main channel. I would agree you ought to be in a cove somewhere.

Matt Cameron 00:24:07 Sure. Yeah, I don't recommend that. Especially on these busy weekends. Yes. Busy weekends. Week or something. You know, that's one thing, but I expect some sort of wake turbulence out there on these busy holidays.

Jim Brogan 00:24:18 We're visiting with Matt Cameron. He's with a. And when we come back, we were going to get into hunting and fishing. Well I'll also have our dollars and cents segment. What is the most overlooked area in estate planning? We'll have that when we come back. You're listening to More Living with Jim Brogan here on Newstalk 987 woke Okay.

Jim Brogan 00:24:40 Welcome back to Newstalk 98. Seven's Brogan Financial Studios or Jim Brogan is coming to you live with important news and advice to help you achieve your dream retirement. Get ready to learn and live. Here's your host, Jim Brogan.

Jim Brogan 00:24:56 This is Moore living with Jim Brogan. We're all about living the best years of your life your way. We're visiting with Matt Cameron. He is the outreach and education coordinator for region four of the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency. We've been talking about boating safety. We're going to have a little bit more with about boating safety. We're also going to, pivot into hunting and fishing. However, before we do get back to Matt, it is time for dollars and cents.

Multiple Speakers 00:25:22 Want to be sure you are getting the most out of your retirement for all the years of your retirement? That's the primary goal of more living with Jim Brogan and our dollars and cents segment where we provide you with an important financial tip that will help positively impact the quality of your life and retirement. And now here's Jim with this week's dollars and cents tip.

Jim Brogan 00:25:48 What is the most overlooked area in estate planning? Today, in my view, it is coordinating your beneficiary designations with your legal documents and especially dealing with your retirement accounts. IRAs 401 403 B's.

Jim Brogan 00:26:06 That whole alphabet soup of retirement accounts. It's just critical to understand how your assets pass when you pass away. You know your will does not cover everything. Anything. You know, there's there's three, three main realities of how assets transfer at death. One is you jointly own something. You know, my wife and I jointly own our house. So if if I die, she automatically owns the house. There's no probate. She doesn't have to file a follow Will. She doesn't have to do anything in order to get the house because her name's on it. Now, when I name a beneficiary on an account, then that beneficiary designation overrides anything in the will. So the beneficiary designation governs everything. And I can't tell you how often we have people come into our office, and they've spent time and money on their legal documents on their wheels. Maybe they have a living trust, but they've spent this time and money and they haven't really even thought about their beneficiary designations. And do those things match? Do they work in tandem together? if you have monies going into a trust at your death, that can create a lot of complications for retirement accounts, because remember your IRAs, your 401 case, you haven't paid income tax on most, if not all of that money.

Jim Brogan 00:27:29 And so it creates tax complications at death. You're kind of leaving your kids tax time bomb, and leaving it in trust can be more challenging than leaving it outright. But there can be reasons to leave your money to trust because you need it for control, or maybe other kinds of things. so it just has to be carefully planned, especially for retirement accounts. to understand that the beneficiary designation supersedes the will. And so all those things need to be planned together. And it is my view, in my view, the most overlooked area in estate planning today.

Multiple Speakers 00:28:07 That's our dollars and cents segment for this week. You can find this week's dollars and Cents segment and others by visiting Brogan financial.com.

Jim Brogan 00:28:18 Check us out online. Go to Brogan financial.com. You can click on resources. We've got a lot of guides. One of our guides on the resources page is a is a guide to naming beneficiaries for your retirement accounts. And it's four pages. It's a four page long guide with checklists and questions to ask. it's a lot more complex than just filling out a simple form.

Jim Brogan 00:28:42 so check out all our resources. You can also check out our podcasts of all of our shows at Brogan Financial Comm. Click on radio or you can download through Spotify or Apple Podcast. We're visiting this morning with Matt Cameron. We're talking about the great outdoors. He's with Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency. We've been talking about boating safety. And before we leave boating, let's talk about boating under the influence. What are the rules? You know, you can have an open container in your boat. You can order in a car. Right. So what are the rules with boating?

Matt Cameron 00:29:17 We'll start off with open container. And this one, this one bothers me about boats, but a boat operator can legally consume alcohol and operate the boat at the same time. They just can't be under the influence of alcohol. So I think we're setting them up for failure to begin with by allowing them to do that. But that's what the law allows.

Jim Brogan 00:29:38 And how's that defined under the influence? Is it the same as a DUI in terms of blood alcohol levels?

Matt Cameron 00:29:43 It would be.

Matt Cameron 00:29:44 There's a per se limit, which you know, would be 0.08, just like it is on the highway in a motor vehicle. So that's the same on the water. But just because we pull up and that person is consuming alcohol doesn't mean they are necessarily under the influence. So we have to start building a case there. If we suspect that there is impairment, we have to, you know, we look at the the before we stop the boat. Where were they operating in a reckless manner. Was there some reason they drew attention to us upon approach the first contact with an operator? Does he have slurred speech? Does he have bloodshot, watery eyes? Strong odor of alcohol? Is he stumbling around the boat which no boats are. fluid out there? Yes. Pay attention to that stuff too. Is he having confusion with the things we asked him to do? Can you get me your fire extinguisher for wearable life jackets and your your registration? You know they have impaired people, have trouble with divided attention tasks.

Matt Cameron 00:30:33 So if we see signs of impairment, then we'll go ahead and get that individual to put a life jacket on and get into our boat. And we'll administer field sobriety tasks in the boat. And we do make arrests. I think we've made about 90 boy arrests this year across the state of Tennessee, we probably averaged pushing 180 or 200 arrests every year. And it's a it's the same thing as driving under the influence in a car, except you're in in a boat and it can have just as fatal of consequences.

Jim Brogan 00:31:02 So the the first thing y'all are doing is really just observing. And does this person appear to be under the influence?

Matt Cameron 00:31:09 Sure.

Jim Brogan 00:31:09 Yeah. is it, do you think it's a much bigger problem than maybe we realize when you, when you see some of the crazy boating things that happen out there? A lot of times it's in the late afternoon, early evening. How much do you think alcohol contributes to a lot of our accidents and boating problems?

Matt Cameron 00:31:27 That's a great question. I can tell you that nationally.

Matt Cameron 00:31:30 Alcohol is the leading contributing factor to fatal boating accidents in Tennessee. I don't think our numbers would reflect that completely, but it certainly is a leading contributing factor. So, you know, that person may have drowned, but what caused them to end up in the water to begin with was it was an alcohol impairment. The operator was driving recklessly and threw someone out of the boat or what have you, but it is certainly a problem. You know, one big case that comes to mind is last summer when a man named Joe Sturgill, Norman Joe Sturgill was operating on North Lake in a bass boat, ran over a another boat that had, I think, 13 people on board. And he ramped over completely over this boat through the wakeboard tower and killed Connor Catlett, a 12 year old young man from right here in Knoxville. So, you know Mr.. Mr.. Sturgill was convicted. He's got to do eight years, which doesn't sound like much in compared to the life of a child, but he has to do eight years at 100%.

Matt Cameron 00:32:22 And he's got to think about every day of his life that he made the poor decision to be impaired and operate a boat that resulted in the death of a child. So I think his back was twice the legal.

Jim Brogan 00:32:33 Yeah.

Matt Cameron 00:32:33 That's scary. That happened.

Jim Brogan 00:32:35 before the last question on boating. let's talk about night boating. I'm amazed at how many fishing boats go flying across the water when it's completely dark outside. So talk a little bit about night boating and common sense and rules. And do you have to have a spotlight? I mean, a spotlight really for the boat or to identify debris in the, in the water. So talk to us about not boating.

Matt Cameron 00:32:59 Yeah. It creates a whole different scenario out there for the obvious reasons. You just you can't see, you know, everything that's going on around you. And we put lights, navigation lights on our boats, not so that we can see our surroundings, but so other boats can see us. You know, the red and green side lights and then you're all around.

Matt Cameron 00:33:16 White light doesn't really give you any visibility of what else is out there, but that's why they're so important that those are functioning and operable. So other boats see you and you don't get ran over out there. spotlight. It's fine to use some sort of light spotlight to look in the water if there are any debris in the water. There are buoys or other boats that maybe aren't lit up the shoreline or whatever. So you use that intermittently. But keeping that light on all the time is is prohibited by law, actually, because it blinds other boats.

Jim Brogan 00:33:45 Yeah, that makes sense.

Matt Cameron 00:33:46 Right?

Jim Brogan 00:33:47 I've actually found if you let your eyes adjust, you actually can see better without using a spotlight.

Matt Cameron 00:33:54 Okay, that's a good point to, you know, God gave us the stars in the heavens to give us a little bit of light at night, and you can see reflection on the water. And once your eyes do adjust, you can see pretty well. But, it's sometimes it gets hard to see the the lights on the boat and the lights on the shoreline kind of blend in.

Matt Cameron 00:34:11 And the depth perception is often really lowered at night. So here's what's crazy though. There's no speed limit on the water, unfortunately, but that is conditional as well. If a boat is operating too fast in a congested area, or maybe at night in a manner that is reckless or negligent. We can issue citations for that. So that's kind of how we handle those speeding type scenarios.

Jim Brogan 00:34:32 Okay. That's great information. Let's talk a little bit about let's let's talk about fishing. We're on the water. what are the rules that we have in our area here Matt, in terms of fishing licensing? you know, are there limitations on what we can catch? Talk a little bit about some of the rules.

Matt Cameron 00:34:51 Yeah. Tennessee is one of the top destinations to fish in the United States for, you know, the obvious reasons that we have so much water here and such a diverse, topography going from west to east. You got the mountains and then the valley and then the plateau, and then you got the Nashville basin, then you got the coastal plain in West Tennessee.

Matt Cameron 00:35:08 So we have 300/300 species of fish, which is the most of any inland state that doesn't touch the ocean in the country. We're very proud of our fishing here. So, you are allowed to fish for sport fish. Our fishing guide lists those out. The species that you are allowed to catch and keep. And we do have creel limits and size limits on those because, you know, we've seen what people will do ungoverned in history. You know, we have wiped out different species of animals. I probably get over into hunting when I start talking about more of this. But, you know, if you don't have limits, put on a certain species like crappie, for example, a really delicious, great table fair, fun to catch. You know, Douglas Lake back in the 80s, there was no creel limit or size limit on them. And you could catch crappie by the hundreds. And it got to the point where people would catch the little ones and just throw them on the bank and let them die.

Matt Cameron 00:35:57 There was just that many of them, they got tired of catching them. So now we're seeing the decline in the in the fishery out there. If we had put that regulation in place, you know, 20 years before we did, we probably would still have a really, really good crappie fishery there. But the crappie fishing on Douglas, for example, has suffered a bit to the point where, you know, we haven't had the stock crappie there in the past, and we're probably going to do that moving forward just because there's a lot of pressure on them.

Jim Brogan 00:36:20 And you're you're really a works hard at balancing. I mean, some species, you want to control the growth of that species and then some. You want to promote the growth, right? So you're constantly balancing all that.

Matt Cameron 00:36:32 Yeah, that's a good point as well, Jim. you know, there are invasive species of fish that have moved in, particularly in the West Tennessee and the middle Tennessee. Now they the Asian carp, they were and I guess you call them, ponds and things.

Matt Cameron 00:36:45 And they got into the Mississippi River. They do spawn in the Mississippi River, and then they come upstream into our waterways, and they compete with the resources for our native sport fish. they look a lot like a shad that most people would be familiar with, except they keep growing and growing and growing. They get huge. the silver carp, the ones that jump up out of the water. You've probably seen those create a dangerous situation for boaters, recreational boaters like you guys out there trying to wake Surf and Kentucky Lake, for example. You know those things when I hear a boat motor coming, I don't know what it does, but it triggers them to jump and people are actually getting injured by these things. So, you know, we'd have to manage, fish in a way that would try to eliminate these invasive species and reduce their impact on our native fish populations because once again, they're competing for the same resources.

Jim Brogan 00:37:30 Now, you mentioned hunting. So we definitely want to get into hunting as well.

Jim Brogan 00:37:34 People in the South. Of course, so many southern Southerners love to hunt. So stay with us. We're visiting with Matt Cameron with CW. You're listening to More Living with Jim Brogan on Newstalk 987.

Jim Brogan 00:37:48 Welcome back to Newstalk 98, Seven's Brogan Financial Studios, where Jim Brogan is coming to you live with important news and advice to help you achieve your dream retirement. Get ready to learn and live. Here's your host, Jim Brogan.

Jim Brogan 00:38:03 Welcome back to More Living Here on Newstalk 987 Wookey. I'm Jim Brogan, we're visiting with Matt Cameron. He is the outreach and education coordinator for region four of the. A the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency. Let's dive into hunting. Let's talk about kind of some peculiar things about hunting. First off, can you hunt your own property on your own property, or do you need to go somewhere and get a license?

Matt Cameron 00:38:29 Hey. Great question. you know, 90% of the land in Tennessee is privately owned. And so as a landowner, you can hunt on your own property.

Matt Cameron 00:38:38 If it's considered farmland, then you're exempted from having a license. You know, you and your your children and your resident grandchildren, I believe under the age of 16, can hunt your property without having to purchase a hunting license. So if you're not one of those 90% or people that own 90% of the private land in Tennessee, and you have to hunt public lands, we do have wildlife management areas and opportunities for you to, to go there.

Jim Brogan 00:39:04 What what are some of the, deadlines coming up? You mentioned we mentioned off air, the big game quota hunt application. Can you talk about deadlines or windows that people need to be aware of?

Matt Cameron 00:39:16 So yes, we do have what are called quota hunts and non quota hunts. And as a kid I really didn't understand that or really worry about what that meant. But what a quota hunt is, is that there are certain wildlife management areas that we only allow a certain number of hunters to be there and to take a certain number of, you know, deer turkey, for example.

Matt Cameron 00:39:36 And then there are other wildlife management areas where you can just go the same as the statewide season. So whenever it's open, you can just go there and hunt. You don't need an additional quota of hunt permit. So the quota hunt permit application period is open right now. I think it's through July 24th, if I'm not mistaken. I'll look that up while we're talking, but you can go online and apply. It's probably the easiest way to do it. At TN wildlife.org. Click on the closed up quote of Hunt's page and it will kind of guide you through the process. And I think there are 60 different quote hunt permits that are being offered. You can apply for up to 15 of them and you hopefully you'll get drawn for one. And we do have a priority point system. Now let's say you apply this year and you don't get drawn for the hunt. You want to go on. You'll get a priority point that'll be applied for next year and so forth, to the point where hopefully you'll have a better chance at getting drawn for one.

Jim Brogan 00:40:27 Let's talk about weapons you can or cannot use when you're hunting.

Matt Cameron 00:40:31 That's a good question. You know, I don't get a lot of thought to you. Just I guess I've done it my whole life. I don't really think about these things as much, but we do have, you know, we're talking deer because, you know, deer is the, the probably the top game species that we have that people go after. So, you know, for deer hunting, for example, we have three different seasons set up for the type of hunting implements you're going to use. And it starts with the archery season, which will begin in September. So the bow hunters get the first opportunity to hunt deer. The limits are a lot higher during that period because most people aren't really successful with archery, because you have to be a much better hunter to get them close to you to get that shot and then to make a good, effective kill shot. So following the the archery hunting season, we have a muzzle loading hunting season.

Matt Cameron 00:41:13 it's usually in October, a great time to hunt just because of the rut. It's starting to kick in and deer really active during that period. And then the final hunting season we have for deer would be the rifle, the the gun hunting season, if you want to call it that. And it's usually in, November. It starts right after, I think, the Saturday before Thanksgiving. And then, it runs through December and early January.

Jim Brogan 00:41:36 Now talk about small games. Rabbit. Squirrel, raccoon, coyote. Talk a little bit about that.

Matt Cameron 00:41:42 Yeah, that's that's good. people don't small game hunt as much as they used to. Like my dad's generation, for example. You know, they didn't have deer in Turkey to hunt. You know, back in the 50s and the 60s, people had wiped them out. You know, we could talk about all that if we have time. But, they hunted small game, primarily. They hunted quail and rabbit and squirrels and raccoons, and that's all they had to hunt and have turkey or deer to hunt back then.

Matt Cameron 00:42:06 And that's kind of flip flop now. Most people hunt big game species, and they don't hunt the small game anymore. But one of the funnest ways to get started in hunting is to hunt small game animals. And squirrel hunting is probably the should be the gateway to to getting someone involved in hunting because we don't have to worry about wind direction. You know, with with deer, it's usually warmer. We can talk and walk and make noise and just have a good time.

Jim Brogan 00:42:28 Yeah, that's that's that's a great, great word there. I gotta ask, this seems like we've never seen a time when we've seen so many bears strolling through populated areas. We've had them at our new office location out off of North Shore Drive. I mentioned to you off air we had last year, one running down the road in our subdivision. What should people do when they see bears?

Matt Cameron 00:42:49 Don't approach them. Don't try to get your selfie. Don't feed them, for crying out loud. Because the ones that we're seeing in Gatlinburg and I'm not throwing any shade on Gatlinburg, there's just so many people and restaurants and bears in that area that come in contact with one another, that bears are getting food conditioned, you know, habituated to human foods.

Matt Cameron 00:43:08 People are intentionally feeding them up there. They're finding access to gardens.

Jim Brogan 00:43:11 Defies common sense.

Matt Cameron 00:43:13 Blows my mind. And what's sad is that the bear suffers because that you think you're doing it good by trying to feed it something? You are killing that bear. When you start feeding it human foods like that, it ends up in the death of that bear from having to be trapped and humanely killed.

Jim Brogan 00:43:27 Matt, talk to us about the Tennessee conservation rifle that's currently underway.

Matt Cameron 00:43:32 So the conservation rifle began several years ago. I don't know what year we're in now, but we have, just some crazy good prize packages. It's too good, not to mention. So it's all the money that's raised by it goes back into wildlife management and conservation. But right now you can buy one ticket for $20, three for 50 or 10 for 100. And here are some of the prizes I'll throw out there real quick. There's an $80,000 Comus bass boat, a 19 bass boat, and Oliver Travel trailer. It's valued at 90 grand, a voucher, a $50,000 voucher towards a Ford vehicle of your choice.

Matt Cameron 00:44:07 a nice side by side from, Bass Pro Shops and trucks.

Jim Brogan 00:44:10 Where can we buy a raffle ticket?

Matt Cameron 00:44:12 Yeah. Wow. That's a good. Yeah. Great question.

Jim Brogan 00:44:14 Wildlife Wildlife raffle. Well, thank you so much for that. I'm going to go home and I'm going to do that right away. There's Matt Cameron with Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency. Thanks so much for taking time out of your busy schedule.

Matt Cameron 00:44:29 The pleasure's all mine. Thank you Jim.

Jim Brogan 00:44:30 Absolutely. We've learned a lot about the great outdoors because of greater outdoors provides for more living. So you can live the best years of your life your way. Many thanks to Wayne for engineering the show. Thank you to Jill for helping produce the show. Check us out online brogan.com. Have a great weekend! You've been listening to More Living with Jim Brogan here on Newstalk 987 W KY.

Multiple Speakers 00:44:52 The views expressed by Jim Brogan and his guests are not that of Cumulus Media. Any discussion of financial, legal and tax planning strategies is not intended to be individualized advice and is general in nature.

Multiple Speakers 00:45:04 Always consult with your advisor for advice specific to your needs. This program's content does not represent a recommendation of any particular security strategy or investment by Jim Brogan or Brogan Financial, Incorporated.

In this episode of More Living with Jim Brogan, host Jim Brogan welcomes Dr. Quinn Raymond, a board-certified dermatologist from Knoxville Institute of Dermatology, to discuss Skin Cancer Awareness Month. Dr. Raymond explains the three main types of skin cancer—basal cell carcinoma, squamous cell carcinoma, and melanoma—and shares prevention tips, including daily sunscreen use, protective clothing, and monthly self-exams. The conversation also covers the ABCDE method for detecting melanoma, the dangers of tanning beds, how skin changes with age, and general skincare routines. The episode concludes with a preview of an upcoming financial segment.

Transcription

Jim Brogan 00:00:03 You're tuned in to More Living with Jim Brogan, broadcast live from the Brogan Financial studios at Newstalk 9087, where old fashioned values, expert knowledge and genuine understanding come together to give you the retirement straight talk you deserve. Jim's a former National Advisor of the year recipient and a financial educator, and he's here today to talk about how you can live out the best years of your life. Jim and the Brogan financial team have been helping retirees and retirees across the southeast for over 20 years in their pursuit of financial independence. You can reach them during the week at 865862 6800. So sit back, relax and get ready to learn because More living with Jim Brogan starts now.

Speaker 2 00:00:47 Hello East Tennessee, welcome to More Living with Jim Brogan, where it's all about living the best years of your life your way. As you listen to Newstalk 987 Waukee this morning, May is Skin Cancer Awareness Month. How should we be taking care of our skin? You know, all growing up and I'm 54 now, but all growing up, I was always told that some sun is good for your skin and good for your body.

Speaker 2 00:01:16 now, should we have any sun at all? Especially on our face? It's currently estimated that 1 in 5 Americans will develop skin cancer by the age of 70. So it makes protecting our skin from the sun's rays something that absolutely should be a priority. It is the number one cancer in the United States. And as the weather gets warmer, we want to spend more time outside working in the yard, going for walks out on the lake. But all that sun exposure can lead to consequences, of course. Our guest today is Doctor Quinn Raymond. Doctor Raymond attended the University of Southern California School of Medicine and holds dual board certification in dermatology and dermatology. She's worked in private practice in Atlanta. Also worked at Emory University. She enjoys seeing patients of all ages with all dermatologic conditions, and can provide rapid and accurate diagnoses of various skin conditions at Knoxville Institute of Dermatology. Hello, Doctor Rahman, welcome to More Living. It's great to have you with us.

Quinn Raymond 00:02:27 Hi, Mr. Brogan, thanks for having me on your show.

Speaker 2 00:02:30 It's. Yeah, it's great to have you. Yeah, I guess this, you know, skin's the largest organ in our body. Talk about all the different things that the skin does and and of this extremely important organ. How it serves us.

Quinn Raymond 00:02:47 Okay. Yes, you're absolutely right. The skin is the largest organ of the body, often neglected and forgotten about. We we often think about our organs as being hidden inside of our, you know, deeper body cavities. But your skin is your main source of protection from infectious disease, from, airborne pathogens, from the sun. So it really does serve a really vital role at maintaining our temperature every day. And it provides just the unique character that makes us ourselves. it you know, it is, like you said accurately in your in your first statement that the most common cancer in the world is, is one form of skin cancer.

Speaker 2 00:03:33 And skin cancer. Did I read that, there's more people detected with skin cancer than all the other cancers combined?

Quinn Raymond 00:03:42 That's right.

Quinn Raymond 00:03:43 Yeah. That's right. Basal cell skin cancer is really common. That's what we see the most of. And it's the most common cancer of any of the cancers.

Speaker 2 00:03:52 So how often should someone get a skin exam by a dermatologist.

Quinn Raymond 00:03:58 That's a really good question. And, you know, dermatologists are sort of advocating to have more clear recommendations on on this. We would love to be able to recommend that adult patients have a skin cancer screening, you know, by a board certified dermatologist or a, you know, dermatology practice annually or every two years. That would be, you know, ideal. But that's currently not in the recommendations, as you know, we have for mammograms and colonoscopies. The recommendations currently are to do a self exam every, every month, which we all should be doing. And to have at least your primary care doctor take a look at your skin as you're checking in for annual exams. if you have a personal history of skin cancer or a family history of melanoma, you should absolutely be having skin exams by a dermatologist every year in adulthood.

Speaker 2 00:04:59 Now, you mentioned basal cell. and of course, not all skin cancers are locks or locks. So talk to us about the differences between the different types of skin cancer.

Quinn Raymond 00:05:10 So there are many different types of skin cancer. But there's probably there are probably three main types that the vast majority of patients and the public are familiar with. and those are going to be basal cell skin cancer, squamous cell skin cancer and melanoma. And they're all very different. But they all are closely related to sun exposure and other types of ultraviolet radiation. Basal cell skin cancer is by far and away the most common. It looks like a pink bump that happens usually on your face, arms or legs, and it slowly grows. It does not spread internally, so it, you know, probably won't cause shortening of your lifespan, but it definitely can be locally destructive and disfiguring.

Speaker 2 00:06:00 Yeah, I was going to ask how dangerous it is. So it's more just the damage to the to the area where it is.

Quinn Raymond 00:06:07 Exactly and depending on what area.

Quinn Raymond 00:06:09 I mean, if you have a basal cell, skin cancer, for example, on your nose that you neglect, it can locally invade muscle and bone. And then that could expose vital organs such as the brain to external pathogens and which could lead to a severe infection. So they can be locally destructive and can be life threatening for that reason.

Speaker 2 00:06:33 Yeah. So that is very important. What about squamous cell.

Quinn Raymond 00:06:37 Squamous cell skin cancer is what we think is kind of sort of the intermediate in terms of dangerous dangerous level. They certainly can be dangerous and usually are. They have the potential to be more dangerous than basal cell skin cancer. They also come from the sun. really common in sun exposed areas. And depending on what type of squamous cell skin cancer you're dealing with, they can be very easily treated and small, such as basal cells. Or they can be, you know, they can spread, they can metastasize to lymph nodes, to other organs and can be very, very serious in that, in that matter.

Speaker 2 00:07:19 And then of course, there's melanoma, which, you know, I guess the most dangerous. Right.

Quinn Raymond 00:07:24 That's right. So there's melanoma, which you know, again is also strongly linked to sun exposure, UV radiation, tanning bed use. but also carries a genetic component, that can be kind of unpredictable. I mean, you can have melanoma on your scalp, on the bottom of your foot, you know, in places that don't see as intense daily sun exposure as your face in the backs of your hands. So melanoma has other risk factors that you know. Sun is a big one, but it's not the only one. And so you mentioned melanoma can spread.

Speaker 2 00:08:00 You mentioned small red spots. I mean, if we're, you know, doing self exams regularly, what should we be looking for. Is a mole a sign that there could be a problem?

Quinn Raymond 00:08:12 That's a great question. I mean, and that's where having your, you know, somebody else take a look of a dermatologist, take a look is really helpful because as we all get older, you know, we do develop sunspots, which in age spots, which are just benign brown tan.

Quinn Raymond 00:08:28 It can be black, you know, can be gray. They can be rough and they can look really atypical. But sometimes those are what we don't worry about. Those are just, you know, acquired age spots or freckles from just age and genetics and sun and time. But in terms of what to look for, for basal and squamous cell skin cancer, you're really looking for usually a red spot, sometimes a brown spot that grows, changes, bleeds easily, is rough or scaly. And then with melanoma it's the changing mole. So it's the brown spot that changes over time.

Speaker 2 00:09:06 Gotcha. Yeah. so I had about a year or so ago, I had a thing on my, a little red spot on my forehead, and I'd seen someone that not a doctor, but someone that was concerned that it might be cancer. And I went and had an exam dermatologist and it was not, thank goodness. But I have all these spots on my arm and it looks like they're losing their pigmentation. And so I was worried about that.

Speaker 2 00:09:33 It turned out it was nothing but how, how, how does our skin pigmentation naturally change over time?

Quinn Raymond 00:09:41 Yeah, that's a good question. I mean, you're you're born, you know, just genetically with the degree of pigmentation, normal pigmentation in your skin that you're, you're sort of supposed to have. And then with sun exposure, you certainly can enhance that pigmentation. You know, the cells in our skin that produce pigment, they're called melanocytes, and they have the potential to produce a lot of pigment. And, you know, if you go out into the sun and you get a suntan, you certainly can, you know, become darker than your natural shade, and then that fades in the wintertime. as we age, we can lose pigment from sun exposure and we can gain pigment from sun exposure. And those are forms of sun induced age spots. And they can present as little round white spots or little round tan brown spots. And those are sort of static. So as we age they stay there and we can cosmetically, you know, minimize them.

Speaker 2 00:10:40 But okay. So they they're not dangerous or anything like that.

Quinn Raymond 00:10:43 Yeah. They're not dangerous.

Speaker 2 00:10:45 We're visiting this morning with Doctor Quinn Raymond. She's a dermatologist and this is Skin Cancer Awareness Month. It's the most common cancer in the world. When we come back, we'll talk about, some other ways to remember skin cancer and think about it on a monthly basis. As Doctor Raymond said, with with monthly exams. So stay with us as we learn more about this potential deadly disease. This is more living with Jim Brogan right here on Newstalk 987 Wookey.

Jim Brogan 00:11:18 Welcome back to Newstalk 98 Seven's Brogan Financial Studios, where Jim Brogan is coming to you live with important news and advice to help you achieve your dream retirement. Get ready to learn and live. Here's your host, Jim Brogan.

Speaker 2 00:11:33 Welcome back to More Living. Excuse me, you're listening to Newstalk 987 Wlky. I'm your host, Jim Brogan, and this is Skin Cancer Awareness Month. And we need to really, from my vantage point, understand more about skin cancer and skin health.

Speaker 2 00:11:51 We're visiting with Doctor Quinn Raymond. She is with the Knoxville Institute of Dermatology. Doctor Ramone. Let's talk about son. You know, you mentioned son is the is. You mentioned it several times when you were talking about the three major types of skin cancer. We all like to have, at least most of us like to have a little bit of that sunkissed glow on our skin. I know my wife loves me to have a little bit of sun for sure. So first off, when it comes to being out in the sun, what is safe? What is not safe is it? Should we always be wearing sunscreen on our faces? Talk to us about what's safe.

Quinn Raymond 00:12:31 Oh my goodness.

Speaker 2 00:12:33 Is that a loaded question?

Quinn Raymond 00:12:34 The dilemma that we all have. No, no, you're absolutely right in asking this. I mean, the technical scientific answer is a suntan is DNA damage. So, you know, a suntan. We all know that a sunburn is bad for us, right? We all know that.

Quinn Raymond 00:12:49 That's damaging.

Speaker 2 00:12:50 Did you say is son? Did you say a suntan is DNA damage?

Quinn Raymond 00:12:55 Yes, it's DNA damage. So the technical answer. What? You know the American Academy of Dermatology wants us all to do is to never have a suntan and to obtain our vitamin D through our diet and through, you know, oral supplementation. I don't think that's practical. I mean, I do think we have to balance living our lives. We're all going to get tanned, you know, to a certain degree, just driving in our car and taking a walk. And so I personally don't give my patients a hard time about that. I don't think we should shame each other for that. we have to do our best to protect our skin. You know, we should be wearing sunscreen every day on our faces, necks, ears, backs of hands, because those areas are going to get a lot of sun just as we go about our daily routines. The recommendation for sunscreen is to use it every day in those areas, and to use a sunscreen that has an SPF of 50, at least, you know, closer to 50.

Quinn Raymond 00:14:04 as you move above 50, you're not really gaining that much more protection. So look for 50. And if you're out in the sun at a ball game at the beach, reapply your sunscreen every two hours. So buy what you like. Reapply it.

Speaker 2 00:14:23 So let's talk about, you know, heredity. I mean, it, you know, certainly seems like, I mean, different people sun completely differently. it is there. If somebody is real fair skinned, do they have a greater risk for skin cancer than somebody who tans naturally and maybe has, like, I have a little bit of Native American in me, a little bit of Cherokee, and I just hand real easily. Is there a difference or do we? If you're somebody like me, that hands real easily. Do I have to be careful that I'm not, you know. Do I have to? It creates a false sense of confidence.

Quinn Raymond 00:15:02 Yeah, that's a great question, too. I mean, you're right on both on both questions.

Quinn Raymond 00:15:07 So we have something in dermatology called the Fitzpatrick Skin Scale. And it's a scale of 1 to 6. Which sort of groups patients into their your groups based on your degree of pigmentation. So one being, you know, a redhead with no pigment and blue eyes and six being, you know, very dark brown skin with brown eyes and dark hair. And so the type one patient, you know, the redhead with really no pigmentation can't tan always burns is at a much higher risk for the development of all types of skin cancer than the type six patients with really dark skin who never burns and always tans. but, you know. And so, yes, you're at a higher risk if you don't have a lot of pigmentation, but anyone can get skin cancer. And so I do think there is a false sense of security when you have the ability to tan in thinking that you're spared because you're not.

Speaker 2 00:16:10 Ouch. You came right at me with your doctor, Ramon. With that one. So. Well, but here's the thing.

Speaker 2 00:16:17 I actually it's kind of funny because I don't like to just sit in the sun. I like if I'm in the sun. I want to be doing something. I want to be taking a walk, playing tennis in the swimming pool or out on the lake riding in a boat. I don't like to just sit there. So I actually don't like to sit and just get sun all day. but I went to see a dermatologist when I went in about a year ago. I was telling you for that exam, you know, the dermatologist told me. She said she'd rather me not get any sun, and I told her about my heredity, you know, my genes and all that. but I had and I had a I had a really good suntan, but I had not actually been in the sun that much. So but I still probably for those of us that can't easily or have darker skin, I guess we still have to be very careful. We don't get that false sense of confidence. Or if somebody has, if somebody that's ethnic probably has to be careful too.

Speaker 2 00:17:16 Right.

Quinn Raymond 00:17:17 Absolutely. I mean, patients that have if you have ethnically darker skin are African American patients, are Latin patients. we we still, you know, we still have to reapply our sunscreen. But there are different forms of skin cancer, particularly a form of melanoma. that happens, you know, in patients who ethnically have skin of color more commonly than any other patient population. And it's a type of melanoma that happens on the foot, on the bottom of the foot. And so, you know, I tell patients all the time. Part of our skin cancer screening appointments is to look at the bottoms of the feet and in between the toes. And they're always surprised, like you can get skin cancer on your feet. And I tell them Bob Marley died of a melanoma on his foot. So. Absolutely. we have to protect ourselves and and examine ourselves. It's really important.

Speaker 2 00:18:08 Now, what about tanning beds as opposed to being out in the sun? Are they equally bad? Or beds? Tanning beds worse than being in the sun?

Quinn Raymond 00:18:17 Tanning beds are worse because they it is such a strong concentration of both UVA and UVB, it's not equivalent to what we're getting for ten minutes between 10 and 2.

Quinn Raymond 00:18:30 When we're outside in the sun, ten minutes in a tanning bed is, you know, a thousand times stronger than ten minutes of natural sun when you're just standing outside. And also, you know, patients are regular users of tanning beds when they use tanning beds usually. And so you're getting sort of that repeat. consistent strong strong exposure. So we have many studies that show that tanning beds really contribute to the development of squamous basal and cell skin cancers and melanoma. So we should we should really try to use self tanners, spray tans, things like that instead of the actual tanning bed.

Speaker 2 00:19:09 You know, we've all had sunburns, especially as, as kids. I know in the last ten years, the number of new invasive melanoma cases diagnosed annually increased by over 30%, and on average. My understanding, Doctor Raymond, is a person's risk for melanoma doubles if they have had more than five sunburns. And how, you know, talk to us about that and how dangerous melanoma can be and what we should be looking for.

Speaker 2 00:19:40 You mentioned brown spots. But talk to us a little bit more about melanoma.

Quinn Raymond 00:19:44 Yeah. So melanoma you know, has been has gotten has had its moment in the past couple of decades. You know our a lot of what we know about melanoma prevention has come from a pretty, I think pretty interesting group of patients. So there are a ton of studies that came out of Australia. you know, that's a very unique patient population. So fair skin, but basically on the equator. So a ton of fun. And if you go if you're ever lucky enough to to visit, you'll see, you know, everyone walks around with hats, rash guards, meaning those long sleeve splint sun shirts that the kids wear and adults as well. And they're these really cool, you know, playground shaded, you know, structures everywhere. So they do a really good job at protecting themselves from the sun. So melanoma a lot of our melanoma studies came from that population. So we know in terms of minimizing your melanoma risk it's really really really sun protection.

Quinn Raymond 00:20:43 So that's key. Most. Most people, I think, don't realize that 70% of melanomas occur as a new brown spot on your skin. You know, most people, I think, think that it's a mole that you've had your whole life that has all of a sudden changed and turned into melanoma. That's the 30% chance. So 30% of the time melanoma develops within a mole that you've had, but 70% of the time it's that new brown spot that you've never had in adulthood.

Speaker 2 00:21:18 So yeah, we can definitely.

Quinn Raymond 00:21:20 Look out for.

Speaker 2 00:21:21 Yeah, we can really keep an eye out for that. You mentioned Australia. it's kind of interesting. My daughter is living in New Zealand and, she's 23. She's almost 24, and we've been to see her twice now. She's been there about a year. and, Yeah, she she actually moved there for about a year. the, the intensity of the sun. I've been to places near the equator in the Northern hemisphere, but I've never been to the southern Hemisphere.

Speaker 2 00:21:51 And then I was told there's like a knot, a hole in it. It kind of like almost a hole in the ozone layer there. I could not believe how intense the sun was like. It wasn't as hot as it is here in East Tennessee in the summer, but the intensity of the sun was unbelievable. Are there some areas of the world I didn't know there that they had a hole in their ozone layer?

Quinn Raymond 00:22:15 Yeah. I'm not sure about that. But I think, you know, there if you think about what you know, we talked about the Fitzpatrick skin scale, if you think about other areas of the world that are close to the equator, a lot of times the population there has a darker natural pigmentation level to their skin. And so they're already inherently a little bit more, a lot more protected because of that. And New Zealand and Australia gives us a unique perspective and that the natural pigmentation level is so light and the sun is so intense, you really can see what the sun does to your skin without natural melanin protection.

Speaker 2 00:22:56 We're visiting with Doctor Quinn Ramon this morning. it is skin cancer awareness month. When we come back, we'll have more with Doctor Ramon on skin care and skin treatment. So stay with us. This is your living with Jim Brogan on Newstalk 987 w Sky.

Jim Brogan 00:23:17 Welcome back to Newstalk 98. Seven's Brogan Financial Studios or Jim Brogan is coming to you live with important news and advice to help you achieve your dream retirement. Get ready to learn and live. Here's your host, Jim Brogan.

Speaker 2 00:23:32 Welcome back. This is for living with Jim Brogan, where it's all about living the best years of your life. Your way here on Newstalk 987 Waukee. We're with you every Saturday from 9 to 10 a.m. and again from 3 to 4 p.m. you can also podcast us at Apple Podcast or Spotify, and you can download our podcast from our website. You can go to Brogan financial.com and click on radio. We'll have this show up Tuesday afternoon as we do all of our shows. we're visiting with Doctor Quinn Raymond. She is a dermatologist at Knoxville Institute of Dermatology and Doctor Raymond.

Speaker 2 00:24:10 You know, acronyms or catchy phrases are a great way to remember things. The skin for skin cancer awareness, especially melanoma. The American Academy of Dermatology recommends practicing the A, B, CDES of melanoma. What are the a, BCD e's?

Quinn Raymond 00:24:30 Okay, so the ABCs are a way for most of us to be able to look at our moles and see if some of them are irregular and a, b, C, d, e stands for asymmetry for a. So moles should be nice and symmetrical. If you took, you know, one and cut it in half it should be a mirror image of itself. So even sometimes moles have like a dark spot in the middle. But it still can be symmetrical. So a asymmetry is bad. B borders. There should be a very obvious start and stop to your mole. the border should be crisp, not hazy, and not jagged. Nice and smooth and crisp borders. See color. The color should sort of blend in with your other moles. There shouldn't be one that is black when all of your other ones are, you know, light brown.

Quinn Raymond 00:25:29 One that's pink when all of your other ones are dark brown, and then within itself, the color should be even. So it can be speckled, but it should be speckled throughout. The color should not be asymmetrical.

Speaker 2 00:25:41 Okay.

Quinn Raymond 00:25:42 And a D for diameter. A good sort of reference is the is a is the diameter of a pencil eraser which is about six millimetres. So your mole, if you acquired the mole in adulthood it should not be larger than six millimetres. If it's a childhood mole, it doesn't follow that rule. So that's kind of tricky. and then he finally is for evolution. Moles should not change.

Speaker 2 00:26:10 That's remarkable. I've never heard that the a BCDE. That's a real catchy way to remember all that. That's great. Great information for even self exams. What is the you mentioned sunscreen. First off is the best way to prevent skin damage. to, to to limit exposure to the sun. I mean it seems like it would be right.

Quinn Raymond 00:26:33 That's right.

Speaker 2 00:26:34 So what, is all skin sunscreen you mentioned? SPF near 50.

Speaker 2 00:26:39 Are the various sunscreens? Are they created equally?

Quinn Raymond 00:26:43 So no they're not. We have two broad categories. for sunscreens. You know, the SPF stands for sun protection factor. And that's just an easy way for us to look at a number and know, okay, this is good or this is bad. So definitely shoot for the 50. And then under the SPF there's, there are ingredients from of sunscreens. And we basically have two large categories. We have chemical blockers and physical blockers. And so if you look at the ingredients on a sunscreen and you see only zinc or titanium or both, that's considered a physical blocker. Those are the sunscreens that sort of go on really thickly and they're hard to wash off, and they kind of leave a white residue on your skin, almost like we think of old, you know, old, lifeguards with the thick zinc paste on their nose. So those are great because those sunscreens really do stay on, and it's hard to get them to wash off in the water and you don't sweat them off as easily.

Quinn Raymond 00:27:47 But some patients don't like them just because, you know, they leave sort of that white residue and they're harder to wash off. So then chemical blockers were created, which if you look at the ingredient list, it may say something like oxybenzone or active benzene. It has a long name. And those, are very cosmetically elegant. So you rub them on and they sort of disappear into your skin. They don't have like a metallic odor to them. So people will use them more. But you really have to remember to reapply those because they tend to wash off a little bit more easily with sweat and swimming pool and things like that. But it doesn't really matter what you use, as long as you use what you like and you reapply it and you're consistent with using it.

Speaker 2 00:28:32 Now what about we all love convenience. We're a society that is just built around convenience. you know, what about a continuous spray sunscreen versus an actual lotion that you have to put on rubbing? Is there a difference? I guess they would be.

Speaker 2 00:28:47 I guess they'd be chemical blockers. Right? If you're looking to rub them in and and not be the physical blocker. It's the continuous spray is effective.

Quinn Raymond 00:28:57 That's a good question. I mean they are effective when used again like a like a chemical blocker. So you have to apply it everywhere and enough concentration and you have to reapply it. But the big thing with the aerosolized sprays is inhalation. And so you're it can be dangerous to inhale those small particles for your lungs. So we really if we are going to use those I mean we need to be covering our noses. We need to make sure we're in a, you know, a ventilated space. those have gotten some negative feedback, both from the Academy of Dermatology and just, you know, other organizations for the potential risk of inhalation.

Speaker 2 00:29:42 So I know of.

Quinn Raymond 00:29:43 Not on those.

Speaker 2 00:29:45 You know, it's kind of funny because I've just never wanted somebody to rub lotion on me. You know, it's kind of weird because I've been married for 30 years, but I never asked my wife to rub lotion on me, and she very rarely asked me.

Speaker 2 00:29:56 So we we, you know, get in the habit of these continuous sprays. But I've always kind of wondered, sure. Are they really as effective? So I guess it's the way we apply it. And being very, very careful we don't inhale any of those particles.

Quinn Raymond 00:30:07 That's exactly right. That's exactly.

Speaker 2 00:30:09 Right. Talk about how our skin changes as we get older and as we age, what normal looks like.

Quinn Raymond 00:30:17 Yeah. So from a pigmentation perspective, I think you mentioned it earlier and I thought that's very astute. I mean, the skin becomes more freckled with age and those are not necessarily dangerous spots. But we definitely become, you know, we have more age spots and freckles as we age. And then the biggest thing with the skin as we age is just losing laxity, which doesn't have a lot to do with the skin cancer discussion, but it's just you lose volume and the skin becomes crappy and bruises more easily, especially on the forearms. From a skin cancer discussion point. As we age, we have accumulated over our lives more sun and so skin cancer.

Quinn Raymond 00:31:01 The risk of skin cancer is much greater at the age of 60 and 70 than it is at the age of 16. Just because you haven't accumulated as much DNA damage to your cells from the sun as you do when you're older.

Speaker 2 00:31:18 I know my my skin tends to be dry. What what should we be doing for just daily skincare? I mean, we talked about the sun and sunscreen and all that, but what about just daily skincare? What should a man be doing? Because we don't miss men. Don't think about that much.

Quinn Raymond 00:31:32 Yes. I mean, from, You mean sunscreen is the biggest one? just, you know, from the skin cancer prevention aspect. But in terms of general skin care, I mean, moisturizer is great. You should definitely be using, you know, a moisturizer after your shower every day. And you could do something thinner, like a lotion, which is water based. Or you if you have a, you know, a tendency toward dry skin, you may need a thicker based moisturizer, such as a cream, which usually comes in a jar instead of a pump.

Quinn Raymond 00:32:02 And those are oil based. So they sort of create a barrier, in between your skin and the cream that traps water. And so creams are more moisturizing than lotions. And an easy way to remember that is look for a jar and look for it to stay cream on the jar. And you can find those at any drugstore. you know, any pharmacy over the counter will have really good moisturizing creams.

Speaker 2 00:32:30 Yeah. And a lot of them, the same manufacturer. Like both. Right. You'll have a pump lotion and then you'll have a jar of cream.

Quinn Raymond 00:32:36 Exactly, exactly. You may want to use the lotion on your face and the cream on your body, but do that every day. And and everything else is really just. You can use any, you know, any cleanser that you like. I mean, we tend to recommend products such as dove. and not dial, you know, things that are a little bit more moisturizing. You don't really need an antibacterial soap for your skin if you're not dealing with any infection or prone to infection type skin.

Quinn Raymond 00:33:05 Just a regular moisturizing cleanser and a good moisturizer after you shower with your sunscreen, every day is enough.

Speaker 2 00:33:14 May is Skin cancer awareness month. We're visiting with Doctor Quinn Raymond. She's with Knoxville Institute of Dermatology. Doctor Raymond, is there a way to treat brown spots and age spots that actually works?

Quinn Raymond 00:33:26 Yes. Creams don't always work. That's what patients always want. A lightning cream and lightning creams can work for some pigmentation disorders. For the run of the mill brown age spot that we acquire when we're older, that's benign that cosmetically patients don't like. It's usually a procedural method of removal. So either lightly destroying them with, you know, our liquid nitrogen canister or laser bring them off. But I think the misperception is that you can just have a prescribed lightning cream, and it's just going to make it fade away. And that in reality usually does not work.

Speaker 2 00:34:03 There's been a trend, Doctor Ramon, over the last few years where people are encouraged, they drink collagen powder. They want to improve skin health, namely other health benefits, but namely reducing wrinkles and dryness.

Speaker 2 00:34:15 New collagen supplements really work. And what do we if they do? What should we look for in a good collagen supplement?

Quinn Raymond 00:34:23 That's a really good question. You know, the studies are still out on college and supplementation. Our most recent studies basically show that, you know, people are taking collagen to build their to rebuild and rejuvenate their innate or inherent collagen that eventually dissipates as we age. And our studies basically show that in vitro meaning in the laboratory and the test tube, college and supplementation does work on a microscopic level to rebuild your natural collagen. The problem is, is the in vivo results have not really panned out for the degree of work and cost that patients are putting into college and supplementation. So when you think about how much collagen you have to take, you're taking it every day, what that costs. If you look at patients who have done that over a year or two, this studies have not shown a significant difference between that patient and the person who has not done it. When you're looking at them in photos, if you take samples of their skin, you may see a significant difference in their collagen thickness, but it doesn't always translate into what we see in real life.

Quinn Raymond 00:35:34 So because of that, it hasn't really reached a level where we broadly recommend that everyone does that. It has not been proven to be dangerous, though, which is which is very good.

Speaker 2 00:35:46 That's that's interesting because I think they become so popular. I really thought you were going to say I thought there was a chance you may say to the jury's still out on it, but it sounds like the jury right now is leaning towards it doesn't really, really help for the cost that it you know, it's not probably worth it. I mean, is that accurate?

Quinn Raymond 00:36:05 Yeah, I think it falls. I think I would lump it into most of the other really popular cosmetic marketing, you know, advances that have been made over the past ten years and that it's sort of in the category of like, yeah, if you're really motivated and you want to do, you know, quote unquote all you can do, it's safe and you can go for it, but it's not probably going to give you as significant results as other procedural things that we have for anti-aging.

Speaker 2 00:36:31 Doctor Raymond, since the dawn of time, we've all been trying to find the fountain of youth right in modern day. Today we have things like fillers and toxins that can help give the appearance of youth by filling in sagging areas and smoothing fine lines. What are the long term effects of putting these fillers and toxins in our bodies?

Quinn Raymond 00:36:51 That's a great question. I mean, these have been around for a long time and they've been proven really safe. especially the botulinum toxin. You know, it's a low dose, relatively. No one's ever died of it. It's never, ever had lethal complications in terms of, you know, for cosmetic use. And it's used FDA approved for cosmetic use as well as for many other indications, such as migraines. same thing with filler. It's a gel that you're just, you know, injecting into the skin to replace the volume loss that happens over time. now, there are complications that can happen if the injection is not placed in the correct location. and that's sort of the concern with filler.

Quinn Raymond 00:37:33 But, in terms of safety of the product, it's been proven safe.

Speaker 2 00:37:39 We're about out of time. Doctor Ramon, can you give us your top 4 or 5 skincare tips?

Quinn Raymond 00:37:45 Yes. Sunscreen. Sunscreen. Sunscreen. Sunscreen. Sunscreen. Rash guards. I think, you know, self exams. being vigilant about having someone look and having yourself look. Be your best advocate. If you see something that's not right or that's changing, even if it's small, come and see a dermatologist.

Speaker 2 00:38:08 Now, when you say rash guard, you're talking about, you know, the long sleeve shirts that are made for summer?

Quinn Raymond 00:38:12 Yes. Wide brimmed hat. Rash guard. That's exactly right. Sun shirts.

Speaker 2 00:38:17 Okay. This has been just absolutely tremendous information. It's doctor Quinn. Ramon, thank you so much for taking time out of your schedule. Talk to us about how people can get hold of you at Knoxville Institute of Dermatology.

Quinn Raymond 00:38:30 Well, thanks, Mr. Brogan, so much for having me. This was so fun on a Saturday morning.

Quinn Raymond 00:38:34 And yes, our office is right in Bearden, right on top of the hill. to stop by. Or you can give us a call at (865) 450-9361. And we'd love to see you as a patient.

Speaker 2 00:38:46 Great. Knoxville Institute of Dermatology. Do you have a website as well?

Quinn Raymond 00:38:51 We do. It's Knoxville dermatology.com.

Speaker 2 00:38:54 Okay Knoxville dermatology.com. Well this has been great. I've learned so much today. Again doctor Quinn Raymond Knoxville Institute of Dermatology, thank you so much for taking time out of your busy schedule.

Quinn Raymond 00:39:05 Thanks, Mr. Brogan. Talk to you soon.

Speaker 2 00:39:07 Bye bye. Great to talk to you. That was great information. I particularly love the ABCd of, of skin, especially melanoma. That was great information. when we come back, I'm going to have our dollars and cents tip for tips. If you want to be able to retire early and be successful with it. So stay with us. This is more living with Jim Brogan right here on Newstalk 987 Wookey.

Jim Brogan 00:39:36 Welcome back to Newstalk 98 Seven's Brogan Financial Studios, where Jim Brogan is coming to you live with important news and advice to help you achieve your dream retirement.

Jim Brogan 00:39:45 Get ready to learn and live. Here's your host, Jim Brogan.

Speaker 4 00:39:51 Welcome back. This is Moore living here on Newstalk 987 Wookey.

Speaker 2 00:39:55 You can catch us every Saturday from 9 to 10 a.m. and again from 3 to 4 p.m.. I thought that was absolutely, incredibly educational and valuable. Our visit with Doctor Quinn Raymond from Knoxville Institute of Dermatology is this is Skin Cancer Awareness Month. So if you've missed part of that, we'll have it up podcast on our website. And you can also get Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Around Tuesday afternoons typically when that when that comes out. It is time now for dollars and cents.

Speaker 5 00:40:29 Want to be sure you are getting the most out of your retirement. For all the years of your retirement. That's the primary goal of more living with Jim Brogan and our dollars and Cents segment, where we provide you with an important financial tip that will help positively impact the quality of your life in retirement. And now, here's Jim with this week's dollars and cents tip.

Speaker 2 00:40:54 Do you want to retire early? I think a lot of us do.

Speaker 2 00:41:00 You know, a recent survey from Corbridge Financial show that one out of every eight working Americans plan to stop working before they turn 61 years old. So by the time they're 60 and at the same time, most employees say they want to live until they are a hundred. So if you look at the easy math on that, there are a substantial number of Americans that plan to live in retirement for close to 40 years for for many of us, that's more than we are than we actually spend working. That also presents some financial challenges. And longevity of life by itself produces challenges. Because most people, if you retire at 65, you know, most people when they retire, you're probably going to live for 25 to 30 years, especially a married couple. If you look at how long till the second spouse dies. The reality is the financial risks that come with living long lives in retirement start to compound things like inflationary risk, you know, what's it going to cost for things 30 years from now or even 20 years from now? You know we look at inflation right now.

Speaker 2 00:42:15 I call it the silent killer of retirement income because it sneaks up on you. And before you know it, you're like, where's my income? so for and then of course, market loss were subject to more big market downturns. You know, the medical risks, healthcare catastrophe become much greater. So here's four quick tips for retiring early. Number one, you need to control your spending. And you need to know your spending. That's actually even more important than controlling your spending. You've simply got to know what it takes for you to live. Now there's an easy way to do that. Just look and see how much is actually hitting your bank account from work, because that certainly is not your salary. And then over the course of 12 months, is your bank account balance growing or getting smaller? Tip number two plan your Social Security election. Because with people living longer and longer lives, it makes Social Security election even more important. Number three save 20% of your salary if you're currently saving 10%. It may mean that when you get a raise, all that raise needs to go into savings.

Speaker 2 00:43:23 But if you really want to get ahead financially and save enough money to retire early. Save 20% of your paycheck. And then finally tax diversification. We think about investment diversification. Tax diversification is having different parts of money that you can pull income from with different tax impact, whether it's an IRA or Roth or a non IRA account. Thanks for tuning in. This week we discuss cancer because greater health provides for more living. So you can live the best years of your life your way. Have a great week! This is more living on Newstalk 987WO.

Speaker 6 00:44:03 The views expressed by Jim Brogan and his guests are not that of Cumulus Media. Any discussion of financial, legal and tax planning strategies is not intended to be individualized advice and is general in nature. Always consult with your advisor for advice specific to your needs. This program's content does not represent a recommendation of any particular security strategy or investment by Jim Brogan or Brogan Financial, Incorporated.

Episode Notes:

In this episode of More Living with Jim Brogan, financial educator Jim Brogan explores how retirement planning has dramatically evolved over recent decades. He discusses the shift from pension-based retirement to self-funded models relying on 401(k)s, and the challenges of longer lifespans, rising healthcare costs, market volatility, and potential future tax increases. Brogan breaks down generational differences: Baby Boomers face longevity and healthcare risks, Gen Xers struggle with competing financial obligations, and Millennials must overcome investment hesitancy. He emphasizes financial literacy, proactive planning, and strategic decision-making as essential tools for achieving a secure retirement.

Transcript:

Automatically Transcribed With Podsqueeze

Jim Brogan 00:00:02 You're tuned into more Living with Jim Brogan, broadcast live from the Brogan Financial studios at Newstalk 9087, where old fashioned values, expert knowledge and genuine understanding come together to give you the retirement straight talk you deserve. Jim's a former National Advisor of the year recipient and a financial educator, and he's here today to talk about how you can live out the best years of your life. Jim and the Brogan financial team have been helping retirees and retirees across the southeast for over 20 years in their pursuit of financial independence. You can reach them during the week at 865862 6800. So sit back, relax and get ready to learn, because More living with Jim Brogan starts now.

Jim Brogan 00:00:47 Hello, East Tennessee, and welcome to More Living with Jim Brogan, where it's all about living the best years of your life your way. As you listen to Newstalk 987, Waukee and you know, retirement has really fundamentally changed. Previous generations relied on pensions and shorter retirements. Today's retirees, by contrast, may spend easily 25 to even 35 years in retirement.

Jim Brogan 00:01:15 Retirement is much more self-funded, while younger generations face uncertainty around social security, health care costs, inflation and a lot of changing career paths. And so I think we have to understand how has retirement changed in the last 10 to 20 years, and how is it likely going to change as we move forward? You know, for decades, retirement meant working 30 years you work with the same company. You might get a gold watch when you retire. Then you collect a pension and you slow down. But today, retirement could last longer than your actual career. And I find that many people are wildly And prepared. So I think some key things we need to think about one is retirement becoming obsolete? We're seeing more and more people working part time, kind of reframing how they view retirement. Which generation is most prepared. We got baby boomers, you know, my parents, the World War II generation, and we got baby boomers, and then we got Gen X, I'm a Gen Xer. we've got millennials, our younger Americans, too pessimistic about investing in about markets, our baby boomers too confident, by contrast.

Jim Brogan 00:02:36 And what is retirement even look like now? So that's what we're going to talk about today. let's kind of dive right in. Let's talk about how retirement used to work. You know, it used to be we had pension driven retirements. So you worked for the same company for a long time. and you would build up a pension, and then you would retire and you would collect that pension for life. Now, a pension is what's called a defined benefit plan, meaning they're going to define how you receive your pension benefit. It might be based on your last three years of service or your last five years of service, and how much you earned, and then you get a percentage of that as a pension. But it's it's they're defining it. And then they're funding that with a pension account. And then they have to fund that for your life or your colleagues everything. Okay. So that's that's kind of how there was a three legged stool. We had the pension, we have Social Security and then your own self fund, you know, your own funds and the pension lag and the Social security lag in, in our prior generations were really the bulk of retirement income.

Jim Brogan 00:03:57 We also had lower health care costs. I mean, some of that was a function of our health care system and the cost that we now have seen accelerate. I mean, health care costs are going up double the rate of inflation, but some of it is aging population, too. But health care costs for my parents and my grandparents were typically lower than they are now, and people aren't living as long. So, you know, we have a lot of health care costs late in life. And you had a lot of one career households where one person in the household really generated the income. So fast forward to where we are now. 401 K's had shifted. And this is really the biggest issue. 401 K's have shifted responsibilities to individuals rather than the corporation. So let's let's look at that. I mentioned the pension is what's called the defined benefit plan. Your benefit is defined by how long you worked, what your earnings were over a certain amount of time, maybe three years, five years, whatever it is, a 401 K is a defined contribution plan, meaning you or and or your employer contribute the dollars and then those are invested privately in this case in your 401 K or in your 403 B, and you're in traditional investments instead of the company that you work for, having a pension plan where they handle that investment in a pension plan, they or they are responsible for those future liabilities for retirement income.

Jim Brogan 00:05:36 Whereas when you have a defined contribution plan, you're responsible for how that money grows. You choose the investments in your 401 and it's funded with less corporate dollars. You know, they may match 3 or 4 or 5%, but but they're doing that instead of putting the money in attention. If you don't contribute to your 401 K, they're not having to put in any kind of a match. Whereas with previous pension plans you work so long they're going to contribute that money. So defined contribution plans like a 401 K, 403 B 457 401 A, those require us to contribute money and us to manage those investments. so that's a huge shift. Also, we have much, much longer lifespans. And that means we need the money to last a lot longer. and that means that health care costs later in life are going to be much, much higher. We also have are going to have much, much higher inflation exposure. And I think the inflation exposure is both a function of living longer. And the fact that asset prices have really been going up and I think asset prices are going to continue to rise over the next 10 to 15 years.

Jim Brogan 00:06:59 There's much, much more investment and stock market dependency today. So let's go back to what I was saying earlier in a pension, the pension plan, the company plan is going to administer those dollars. They're going to manage them. They they are taking the management responsibility and the future liabilities of that pension on the company plan plate. They're making the decisions. They have to fund those future liabilities. And we know story after story after story, where pension plans have had problems with those expected liabilities and are continuing to have some challenges in a 401 plan where you're contributing the dollars and your employer is matching, you're picking the investments. So it's much more market dependent, much more dependent on your ability to pick investments and manage money. Now 401 plans are required to act in a fiduciary responsibility for you. So then they have to offer the right mix of funds. A lot of that's regulated and there's limited choices. You know how many investment choices do you have in your 401? Maybe 12 or 15? Well, I mean, we work in a world.

Jim Brogan 00:08:16 We live in a world with tens of thousands of investment choices just on the fund portion alone, between mutual funds and exchange traded funds, we have literally thousands of choices. And that can be that can, on one hand be intimidating and be overwhelming. But on the other hand, we can pick great investment. But regardless, it's much more market dependent and much more dependent on you managing your own investments. And then we have the rising health care costs and long term care costs of people living longer and longer lives. So see, We've shifted in the last 30 years. We've shifted from guaranteed retirement income, which has been primarily through pensions and Social Security, through do it yourself retirement planning. You've got to fund it. You've got to pick the investments. Those investments may be limited in the 401, but you've got to pick them and manage them. And most people do not fundamentally realise how those rules have changed. So instead of having this traditional three legged stool of retirement income where you have your pension, you have your Social security, and then you have your savings that can provide some supplement to your retirement income.

Jim Brogan 00:09:32 By contrast, now there's not a third leg. Very, very few people today have pensions. Now, the most common thing we see here in East Tennessee is certainly there's still people working for the University of Tennessee, the state of Tennessee, or working for Oak Ridge, ORnL contractors that have pension plans, but by and large, those are becoming fewer and fewer and further between. So it is a pretty big shift. And then you combine that with life expectancy, longer lifespans, the expected inflationary impact of that. The flip side of that, you're going to see more bear markets. If you live longer. Are you prepared to be able to handle market instability and market those big downturns which are inevitable in the market? But you need to beat inflation long term. And then of course, the increasing health care costs. So we've we've shifted. And many people don't realize it. So what can you be doing about this. So in our next segment we're going to focus with with baby boomers. And then a little bit later in the show we're going to get into Gen X and also millennials and and talk about what those different challenges but also opportunities are.

Jim Brogan 00:10:47 So stay with us. This is more living with Jim Brogan here on Newstalk 987 Wookey.

Jim Brogan 00:10:55 Welcome back to Newstalk 98 Seven's Brogan Financial Studios, where Jim Brogan is coming to you live with important news and advice to help you achieve your dream retirement. Get ready to learn and live. Here's your host, Jim Brogan.

Jim Brogan 00:11:11 Welcome back to More Living here on news 987 Wookey. I'm Jim Brogan, and we're talking today about the.

Jim Brogan 00:11:17 Shift of how retirement works. And it's continuing to change. We've shifted from retirement income, where most of the retirement income was furnished by both pensions and Social Security income to where now it's more do it yourself social security typically handles takes care of on average 30 to 40% of retirement income need. The rest comes from your life savings. If you don't have a pension, which fewer and fewer people do. So the rules have changed without people really realising it. So what are some challenges Let's start with baby boomers. Which are those of you who many of you are retired. Some of you are getting close to retirement.

Jim Brogan 00:11:56 My oldest brother is a baby boomer. I am a Gen Xer, as are my other two siblings. So my oldest brother was right on the end of those baby boomers. But many of you listening today are baby boomers. So there are challenges with being a baby boomer that maybe you have previous generations did not face or faced at a different level. One is understanding longevity. It is perfectly normal for retirees to live into their 90s. Now you know, if you look at a married couple with both of you age 65, you have a 50% likelihood that one of you is going to live to about 93 or 94 years old. So that's just average. You know, when I teach my classes at the University of Tennessee and through state, my adult education classes, you know, I always ask, you know, how long do you think if you're married and you're 65. How long you expected the two of you to live? And you wouldn't believe the number of people. 85. 87. 83.

Jim Brogan 00:13:00 It's actually 93 or 94. So people are living. It's. It's normal and average to live into your 90s. And so running out of money becomes a concern. And so, you know, now what a lot of retirees will say baby boomers is I want to I want to spend early, as we call that, the Go-Go years. When you're in the early years of retirement and you want to enjoy lifestyle and and that's typical. but you do have to be careful with that now. So usually that's a lot of that is travel generated. You know, you want to travel more early. You say, well, Jim, in the first ten years of retirement, when I really want to be doing more lifestyle spending and then I'm going to slow down. Well, let's look at the data. The data. If we look at retirement income spending, and I will tell you from my own personal experience with our clients is once you retire, you will just very gradually slow your spending down. So think of your retirement income as a smile.

Jim Brogan 00:14:06 We're going to talk about the retirement income smile. So you start on one side of the mouth. You just gradually are declining your spending. I know it seems like your lifestyle spending would stay constant, and then you just drop off a cliff after ten years. But the data doesn't support that, and neither does my experience with my clients. So spending just gradually declines. You don't necessarily need to fully keep up with inflation. the data would say inflation -1%. So if inflation is 3% per year, you need your income to go up 2% per year. But now what about that smile. What about when you get to the other side of the mouth? It does go up again, and that's because of health care costs, number one. And I realize those are more non-discretionary expenditures. But you have to be aware of those costs that are very, very real. You're spending changes. It doesn't go away. So you have to be careful. You don't spend down your investment too soon figuring, well, you know, if I can get to 85, you know, then then that's all I need to do.

Jim Brogan 00:15:17 So be careful with early years. But. But those are the years that you want to enjoy the most. So you need a retirement income plan that can support that. But it's got to be more and more do it yourself. It's based on your own savings and investments and then also your Social Security election. When are you going to draw Social Security? You know, that can have a big impact if people are living longer and longer lives. Should you consider delaying your Social Security? Can you afford to delay your Social Security? You know, pity people. They retire. They need income. And if you're going to delay Social Security, then you're going to have to draw more from your life savings in those early years. You have to be very careful. You don't deplete your resources too fast, too soon in the early years of retirement. Now, the flip side is you get a pretty substantial increase in Social Security benefits if you. The longer you wait and waiting from full retirement age to age 70, which is going to either be 66 or 67 years old, depending on when you're born.

Jim Brogan 00:16:19 But from then until age 70, your benefits are going to increase 8% per year if you wait. Now, we're not doing a show on Social Security election today. I've done many shows on that. But the point is, you know, if you want to be living in those first ten years of retirement, you do have to be careful how much you're spending. And the Social Security decision is a key component of that. And then also how Social Security affects taxation. And then ignoring the long term care threat. Now, you know, when I used to teach 20 years ago, I started my classes at the University of Tennessee. Through their professional and personal development programs, I started those 20 years ago this fall. So we will have been doing it 20 years, and I've been doing it at Pella City State Community College for 19 years starting this fall. When I used to teach this class early on, it was harder to get people to understand what the potential long term care costs are. Now, when I talk to baby boomers today, like yourself, if you're listening today, you know, you we all have been impacted by parents, aunts, uncles, maybe even siblings that have needed long term care.

Jim Brogan 00:17:39 And we understand the risk that that is, you know, if you're 65 years old, you have about a 70% likelihood that you're going to need long term care. And by definition, that means that you're going to need you can't live independently for more than for a period of time that lasts over 90 days. That's what long term is. But you cannot live completely independently. Now, many people that need long term care, it's for rehabilitation. And then they go back to being independent. And those people usually need care for 4 to 6 months, some sort of rehabilitation, whether it's vocal or swallowing or physical or whatever it is. And then they go back to being independent. But needing extended long term care is a is a pretty substantial risk. And it's not just the medical costs. It's also the emotional burden on families. And those are very, very important. You know, my mom and dad both ended up being institutionalized towards the end of their lives. Neither one of them wanted to really plan for that.

Jim Brogan 00:18:47 Especially my dad. My dad just felt like I'm never going to go into a nursing home. And, you know, 20 years ago that predominantly what was available 20, 25 years ago. but yeah, that's what that is, where it's a reality of the lives that we live today. We're living longer and longer lives, and we're more and more likely to need long term care. And Medicare does not cover that. Medicare covers very, very little potential long term care. It could cover up to 100 days. There's a lot of contingencies attached to that. But beyond 100 days, Medicare doesn't cover long term care. So, you know, you got to have a plan for that potential risk. And long term care costs are going up at double the rate of inflation. So if, when if inflation is 3% per year. Yes. Long term care costs. Just as overall medical costs are, would go up at about 6% per year when we had the 8% inflation a few years ago. Medical care costs.

Jim Brogan 00:19:52 Long term care costs went up 1,516%. So you can pretty much, bank on that. And then what some of this does is it creates a situation where baby boomers have more cash than they should, or that they have too much of a fear of market volatility. You know, if you're going to live longer, you need your money to last longer. And that means you need it to grow to beat inflation. And inflation is a silent killer of retirement income. You know, it kind of sneaks up on you. It's like cholesterol. You don't really it doesn't have the impact of a sudden market drop. But over time, with people living 25 and 30 years of retirement. I would say it's just as big, if not a bigger long term retirement threat to you than than market volatility. And so now both of those are risks and both have to be managed. But but sometimes people have such a fear of market volatility and they don't think they need their money to last as long. Your longer term money should be invested for growth to beat inflation.

Jim Brogan 00:21:03 And so you know, I'm a big fan. As many of you know, I'm a big fan of segmenting your money based on when your you'll need it. So money you're going to need ten years from now, 15 years from now, you can afford to take some risk with that money, and you need to measure it and calculate it and make sure it's appropriate. Make sure it's diversified, that you don't have too much concentration in one stock or one industry group, but you need growth on those assets so you can pay for things 10 or 15 years from now. So that's something is an over concentration in low yielding assets. Income producing assets like bonds, CDs, bank money and things like that. So I think, you know, ultimately I think many boomers have prepared for retirement, but not necessarily for a 30 year retirement. So just think about that and also ask yourself, with your own parents, what surprised your parents the most about retirement? now we have to be careful with that. You know, I'm 56.

Jim Brogan 00:22:09 my dad passed away at. He was almost 88. My mom is 91. But, you know, you may see your parents and they may have died in their 80s. We have to realize every generation is expected to live longer. So, you know, be be careful. You don't infer that whatever your parent's life expectancy was, that's what yours is going to be. now, that doesn't mean you're not going to that you're going to ignore your health issues. You know, if you have health issues, but at the same point you have to be careful with that. So but were there things about your parents retirement that surprised them and what can you learn from that? So I think those are all crucial lessons. Now what about Gen X? I'm Gen X. If you're born in 1964 so that's 62 or younger or I guess technically 1965. So you know, we're talking 61 and younger would be a Gen Xer, until the millennials. And so we have our own set of pressures. So if you're in your 50s, as an example, what are the different types of retirement pressures that you may face and what can you do about it and take advantage of those opportunities? So stay with us.

Jim Brogan 00:23:28 This is your living with Jim Brogan here on Newstalk 987 Wookey.

Jim Brogan 00:23:35 Welcome back to Newstalk 98, Seven's Brogan Studios, where Jim Brogan is coming to you live with important news and advice to help you achieve your dream retirement. Get ready to learn and live. Here's your host, Jim Brogan.

Jim Brogan 00:23:50 Welcome back to More Living with Jim Brogan, where it's all about living the best years of your life your way.

Jim Brogan 00:23:56 We're with you every Saturday, 9 to 10 a.m. and again 3 to 4 p.m. you can check us out online Brogan financial.com. You can click on radio. We podcast all of our shows there. Now to stream live you would go to Newstalk 987. and then we've got our podcast on Spotify and on Apple Podcast. We'll have those up every Tuesday. But you can. We have a huge catalog of prior issues. So do check all that out. We've also got our retirement minute that you can listen to every week right there on our website. If you click on radio and we've got a world of resources on there for you, if you click on resources.

Jim Brogan 00:24:35 we got a lot of guides, blogs, things like that. Basically, we want to provide you with great information so you can make informed and prudent decisions that can impact the quality of your life. Now, how is retirement been changing over the last 20 years, and how is it expected to continue to change? Certainly we're expected to become more and more self-reliant. Pension plans are becoming a thing of the past. What is the future of Social Security? Got to think about all that stuff. I've talked about baby boomers. Let's talk about Gen X. Gen X is often the forgotten generation. You know, we're I'm a Gen Xer. I'm 56. Gen X, I guess would start at around 61, 60 to 61 years old. and under it's down to, I think about, what would that be about 45. So we're in a sandwich generation, you know, we're. Many of us are caring for our parents, and we're also caring for our children or adult children simultaneously. And so these should be our peak earning years.

Jim Brogan 00:25:44 And they probably are our peak earning years, especially in our 50s. But oftentimes those peak earning years collide with our peak expenses. And we didn't probably plan for that. So there are a lot of mistakes. I think that Gen-X have to be careful they don't fall into. Now a big one is delaying your saving. You know, many, many Gen Xers start late due to economic disruption. So you have to be very, very careful with that. I think in it paired with that would be lifestyle inflation. These two things really kind of go hand in hand. because if you, if you let lifestyle inflation where you get bigger houses, more consumer debt, buying more stuff, College funding pressures. As you get older and you're saving for your children to go to college and more and more of our kids. Many of you support adult children to some degree. They're not completely off of your payroll, even if they're out of college. So all of these create pressures where we're not saving as much money as maybe we thought we could.

Jim Brogan 00:26:58 And then I think in addition to that, many Gen Xers have not really clearly calculated their retirement income needs. Do you understand how much you are actually spending? And I think you've got to have your arms around that. Now, ideally, you would have a budget, and one of the best ways to create a budget is to track your expenses for the next three months. Is that going to catch everything? No, but within three months, you're going to have a pretty good idea of where things are going if you don't already. But you know, if you want a really quick calculation, here's what you can do. Look at okay. How how how. How often are you paid and when you're paid. How much actually hits your bank account. See, your your gross salary is really when you're trying to figure out your expenses. It's kind of meaningless. How much money is actually hitting your bank account that you can spend. So look at your net pay and then month to month. Is that growing? Is it getting less or are you spending it all? What's happening.

Jim Brogan 00:28:05 So when you look at it that way, you can pretty quickly put together how much money you're spending now diving into it and figure where you can cost. That's where the budget would come in. But it's not a complicated exercise to figure out how much you're currently spending. But you've got to know that. And then do you have a plan to have your home paid for? How does that fit into all of this as you age? Certainly, we need to avoid credit card debt at all costs, no matter our age, home debt, you know you're taking debt in something that you hope will appreciate in value. Go up in value our home. And that's okay I think, if you use it properly. I have found with my own clients, it's amazing how much easier retirement is when they don't have a home payment, a mortgage payment. So that doesn't mean you can't have a mortgage. And if you've got a mortgage at 3%, you know, I'd have to look at the rest of the financial picture.

Jim Brogan 00:29:00 But I would not want you to pay the mortgage off with that kind of a rate, depending on how your other monies are situated. The bottom line is it does make things a lot easier in retirement for income purposes when you do not have a mortgage, but you've just got to be calculating those things. So if you look at Gen X, it is kind of the forgotten generation, and Gen Xers may be making and earning the most money they've ever made, but they're also feeling financially squeeze the most. And some of that is the sandwich issue. Some of that is. We you may have adult kids that are not completely self-sufficient. You still help them here. And they are not because you want to, because you have to or you feel like you have to. Now that's a big thing. Should you be prioritizing retirement or helping your adult children? I think at some point, adult children have to be able to stand on their own and support themselves. I think Gen X and baby Boomers, but especially Gen Xers.

Jim Brogan 00:30:06 One issue that we often see is we want to shelter. You want to shelter your kids from the type of life experiences that you know. We kind of want to keep them from having to learn what we learned. But you know what? What we've learned has made us who we is, who we are, and what we've learned about money and the mistakes that we've made along the line has been had been just as impactful as the successes that we've had in terms of how we've adapted to it and how we've grown. So. In other words, the very things that we did and that we learn from and the mistakes that we made, we try to, you know, keep our kids from making those same mistakes. So I'm just trying to draw a little bit of a parallel when we help our adult children that, I mean, you don't need to help them. Just be careful with that. And should you prioritize your own retirement or helping them and you gotta really think about that. Now what about millennials? What are millennials getting wrong? I think millennials are having a more of an awareness of investing at an earlier age, really as soon as you get out of college.

Jim Brogan 00:31:17 Of course, now we're talking post millennials, but if you're a millennial, if you're not saving money, you need to be saving money. And if you if you can't afford to save, you need to look at your lifestyle and your expenses and see where you can cut. I think that, So you gotta be super aware. I do think the access to technology can be a very good thing. It can also be a dangerous thing. I don't think anybody wants to completely retire. Depend on technology to handle all their finances. I think it has to have some human touch, but there are technological tools that can help us, especially things like budget planning, tools that can automate everything and show us exactly where all the money is going. I do think millennials, a strength of millennials is they've been very open to financial education. But some mistakes. One is paralysis by analysis. Many, many millennials believe that retirement is not possible. And I think some of that could be their lifestyle. Some of that could be there, you know, and how much they're spending.

Jim Brogan 00:32:27 Some of it could be their understanding of money and compound growth. You know, compound interest is a very, very powerful thing. But it takes time. And, you know, one thing I think everybody needs to understand is the rule of 72. So if I have an investment, what the rule of 72 does is I can divide, let's say, the expected return. I can divide that number into 72, and it'll tell me approximately how long it'll take my money to double. So if I have $10,000 and I make 9% per, let's say 8% per year, then if I divide eight into 72, that's nine. That 10,000 would double in about nine years if I added nothing to it. Well, so if we look at doubles, when is the most powerful one? You know, when we go from 1000 $2,000. He doesn't look like we made a ton. Even though we've made 100%. When we go from 100,000 to 200,000. Or 800,000 to 1.6 million. That looks much, much more substantial, right? But it's still a 100% return.

Jim Brogan 00:33:45 It's still doubling. Well, early on we see if you look at the percentage gains. Not just the dollar amounts. They might be right in line with what we want. It doesn't seem like you're making much progress. So it's understanding the power of compound interest and how that grows over time. But I think many, many millennials just kind of pessimistic. And I think millennials tend to stay too conservative. There are studies to support this. Millennials tend to number one investment is a money market or savings account at the bank. And while that's a good place for emergency Times. That is not a good place to grow wealth. So being too conservative with your money, I think chasing trends is a real problem for millennials. you know, we've seen all the things about meme stocks, about some of these flash booms and flash crashes, a lot of day trading, a lot of that can be AI generated. Some of it is based on technology we use and then make human decisions. We got to be really careful with anything that's overly speculative.

Jim Brogan 00:34:54 I think that would include cryptocurrencies. that doesn't mean a cryptocurrency should not could not be at least a part of your investment plan to a small degree. But you do have to be careful with that concentration risk. I mentioned earlier that you don't have too much in one thing or one segment, and cryptocurrency is very speculative and volatile. Likewise, there's a lot of financial influencers out there, and I think you have to be careful who you listen to. When you listen to people, and they're espousing what you should or should not do. How do they get paid and what's in it for them? So I think those are important questions. Now you may be saying, well, how's Jim Brogan get paid? What's in it for him? And the answer is, number one, we're a fee based advisory firm, so we charge a percentage of the assets that we manage, and that makes us a fiduciary to our clients, which means we are required to act in your best interest. Okay, now I'm doing a radio show, and I'm doing it for a couple of reasons.

Jim Brogan 00:36:02 One, I want to help people be successful with their money. And I think there's a lot of misconceptions out there. And number two, it does drive demand. You know, hopefully people will listen to this show and you may decide you want to come to one of my classes or subscribe to our blog or whatever it is. And then, if you eventually may want to hire me. All right, but I'm not selling products. Really? You know, and, bottom line, if somebody is selling a newsletter, let's say. And they want you to subscribe to that newsletter. You know, there's going to be a cost for that newsletter. And so they're probably selling sensationalism to get you to subscribe. But the bottom line is when you follow financial influencers, just ask yourself what's in it for them. And are they selling something? And they may not be. They may just be selling. I mean, there's something in it for them. They may be just selling exposure. All right. That's different than somebody who maybe has an ulterior motive, like selling a newsletter or selling an investment, you know, a private investment or an annuity or a stock or a bond or a mutual fund or whatever.

Jim Brogan 00:37:13 But what's in it for them? But I think the biggest risk for millennials may not be the stock market. It may but be believing that wealth building is impossible because it takes too long. You know, people are too conservative with their investments, their longer term investments. So, you know, I think one way to approach this. If you're a millennial, you want to if you want financial independence as quickly as possible so you can have the benefit of retiring early if you want to, and you may not want to, but financial independence is very, what's the word? Fulfilling. Very, very fulfilling. And then is retirement realistic? Is retirement emotionally unhealthy? I think all of these things are important. Now, one thing that I that we're going to get to in our last break that every generation should be aware of, and that is income taxes and investment taxation, understanding how taxes affect the equation. What can we at different generation levels be doing about tax planning and how should we be thinking about the future of taxes in the United States of America? So stay with us.

Jim Brogan 00:38:26 This is more living with Jim Brogan right here on Newstalk 987 w Sky.

Jim Brogan 00:38:32 Welcome back to Newstalk 98. Seven's Brogan Financial Studios or Jim Brogan is coming to you live with important news and advice to help you achieve your dream retirement. Get ready to learn and live. Here's your host, Jim Brogan.

Jim Brogan 00:38:48 Thanks for tuning in. This is Moore living right here on Newstalk 987 W okay, I've.

Jim Brogan 00:38:53 Been talking about the changing landscape of retirement. How has it changed in the last 20 to 30 years? How is it expected to continue to change? We've talked about baby boomers. We've talked about Gen X, we've talked about millennials. In this last segment, I want to talk about the impact of income taxes, whether it's ordinary income or investment taxation, and how our perspective of taxes may be different depending on our age. So let's look at where we are today. If I ask you, do you feel like we're in a high tax environment? I bet most of you would say yes, because every time we turn around, it seems like we're paying a tax.

Jim Brogan 00:39:31 We have sales tax. We have we have a gasoline fuel tax, both, both at the local level and at the state local level, I believe. you know, we got federal income tax. That's the main thing people think about. But we got property tax. We got all these taxes. The reality is, if we look at federal income tax, federal income tax has been if we look at our history since 1914, it's pretty low today compared to where it's been. I mean, you know, when many of you, if you listen to this show, you've heard me say this, but, you know, through most of the 50s, the late 40s, 1950s and into the early 60s, our highest income tax brackets were over 90% for most of those years. And, you know, we think of the 70s. The highest income tax rate was 70%. And for six years of the Reagan administration in the 80s, it was 50%. But our highest tax bracket, our tax brackets, all tax brackets, as a rule, have been lower since 1986 for 40 years than they've been historically.

Jim Brogan 00:40:39 And so I think we have to understand that context of where we've been. You know, historically, if you look at our history and I have a slide that I do on this, when we do our two knot tax class and it talks about the history of income taxes and look at our economic impact. You know, historically when we've had economic stress or depression, Great Recession, whatever it is, real estate crash, the government has stepped in and provided stimulus. And we see that in terms of the money being spent by the federal government, we see that through Federal Reserve policy. Well, Since the 2020, we really hadn't seen that. We had the.com bubble burst. We had the great the Great Recession of 070809. We had we had global pandemic. We've had tremendous economic stimulus, but tax rates have stayed pretty low. So we have a 93, excuse me, a $39 trillion debt with huge deficit spending. We've got an aging population. You know, when Social Security was started in 1935, and it really got going in 1945, for every one person that received benefits of Social Security retirement income, there were 42 people paying into the system.

Jim Brogan 00:42:04 Now, for every one person, there's 2.8 people paying in, and by 2050, that'll be down to about 2.22.3. We have some math issues and when we combine our our budget issues on the federal level, along with our federal debt and our current and our current, what that current debt looks like and our current unfunded liabilities for things like Social Security, Medicare and prescription drugs. I think it's understanding that income taxes in the, in the in the future are likely to be higher than they are today. So what that means is the younger that you are, the more you're going to see a potential impact of income taxes on your life savings. The more you may see an impact on your Social Security benefit structure, Medicare benefit structure, all those things. So the younger you are, the more you need to be planning for future income tax rates. Taking advantage of all the tools the IRS has given us with things like Roth and long term capital gains being a bigger, better tax rate than ordinary income.

Jim Brogan 00:43:13 But it makes it even more important, and we got to be more and more self-sufficient. And that's the the big thing in retirement landscape today versus in the past and where we're going in the future. Less pensions. What will Social Security look like in 20 years? Got to be more self dependent. Thank you for tuning in. This week we've discussed your wealth because greater wealth provides for more living. So you can live the best years of your life your way. Many thanks to Wayne for engineering the show and to Mary Caroline for helping to produce the show. Have a wonderful weekend as this is more living with Jim Brogan here on Newstalk 987 w Cokie.

Multiple Speakers 00:43:50 The views expressed by Jim Brogan and his guests are not that of Cumulus Media. Any discussion of financial, legal, and tax planning strategies is not intended to be individualized advice and is general in nature. Always consult with your advisor for advice specific to your needs. This program's content does not represent a recommendation of any particular security strategy or investment by Jim Brogan or Brogan Financial, Incorporated.

First Aired on November 8, 2025

Show Notes:

In this episode of More Living with Jim Brogan, host Jim Brogan interviews Adam Cook, Chief Development and Marketing Officer at East Tennessee Children's Hospital. Adam shares his career journey from banking to pediatric healthcare fundraising and highlights the hospital's unique role as Tennessee's only independent children's hospital. They discuss the hospital's $1 million daily operating cost, the Drive to 2030 strategic plan, expanding subspecialties, a new pediatric residency program, and growing behavioral health needs. Adam also explains volunteer opportunities, rural outreach through telemedicine, and community education initiatives, emphasizing that investing in children's health means investing in the community's future.

Transcript:

Jim Brogan 00:00:03 You're tuned into more Living with Jim Brogan, broadcast live from the Brogan Financial studios at Newstalk 9087, where old fashioned values, expert knowledge and genuine understanding come together to give you the retirement straight talk you deserve. Jim's a former National Advisor of the year recipient and a financial educator, and he's here today to talk about how you can live out the best years of your life. Jim and the Brogan financial team have been helping retirees and retirees across the southeast for over 20 years in their pursuit of financial independence. You can reach them during the week at 865862 6800. So sit back, relax and get ready to learn because more living with Jim Brogan starts now.

Speaker 2 00:00:46 Hello East Tennessee, welcome to More Living with Jim Brogan, where it's all about living the best years of your life your way. This is Newstalk 987 Waukee. Every healthy community begins with healthy children. Children are our future, and every child's future is shaped by the choices we make today. On this episode, we sit down with Adam Cook from East Tennessee Children's Hospital to explore what it really means to invest in our children's health not just through medicine, but through innovation, compassion and community.

Speaker 2 00:01:23 Adam serves as the chief development and marketing officer at East Tennessee Children's Hospital. our children's hospital is really a leader, in how we reach out and provide child care. he leads the hospital's department marketing volunteer or. Excuse me? Development, marketing, volunteer services and government relations. His leadership and vision have helped strengthen the hospital hospital's mission to serve children and families all across our region. He was recently named one of VIP Knoxville's 50 under 50 for his philanthropic impact in pediatric health care. Adam embodies what it means to lead with purpose, so we're thrilled and honored to have him with us again today. he's a dedicated advocate for advancing children's health and ensuring every patient receives the care they deserve. Welcome to more living, Adam. Great to have you back.

Adam Cook 00:02:19 Great, Jim, thank you for having me. It's always a pleasure.

Speaker 2 00:02:21 Absolutely. Adam, you've dedicated much of your career to improving the lives of children and families through health care and philanthropy. Can you tell us what first inspired your commitment to this mission, and how that journey led you to your role at East Tennessee Children's Hospital?

Adam Cook 00:02:38 Yes.

Adam Cook 00:02:39 Thanks, Jim. So right out of college, I was in banking. I lived in the Charlotte, North Carolina region, a key banking capital of the country. It just wasn't fulfilled in my role. Nothing wrong with banking. I love still the financial services side of business, but my wife was a social worker at the hospital, and she'd come home every day talking about how much she was making an impact on lives. And she said, you know, Adam, it's about fit. You need to find a job that's going to be just as impactful for what fits in your life. So that evening, I looked online, and our hospital in North Carolina at the time was looking for a campaign director to raise funds to build a children's hospital in Concord, North Carolina. And it just resonated with me. So from that point in 2004, I shifted gears and my wife was right. It was about fit. So pediatric health care, pediatric fund raising, pediatric awareness has been where my fit lies.

Adam Cook 00:03:33 And I haven't looked back. And it's just been a blessing to work for organizations like East Tennessee Children's Hospital, because my mission aligns with the hospital mission very closely.

Speaker 2 00:03:44 How, in the end, did that journey lead you to East Tennessee Children's Hospital, and how long have you been there?

Adam Cook 00:03:51 I celebrated three years just last month here at East Tennessee Children's Hospital. I have enjoyed every minute of it. I feel like I'm brand new in the role, but also because the warm partners around the community. I feel like I've been here for decades. prior to coming here, I was in Saint Louis, Missouri, oversaw 16 hospital foundations in three different states. Enjoy that aspect and allow me to have an overarching influence on a lot of things. But I really missed the hands on in the community partnerships that this job afforded me. So coming to East Tennessee Children's Hospital, Knoxville region, it allows me to work hand in hand with their senior leaders. It allows me to work hand in hand with volunteers, with donors, to really express the mission and the need of our children's hospital.

Adam Cook 00:04:37 It's a fantastic place to be.

Speaker 2 00:04:39 And Adam, you know, we're going to get into all the things children's hospitals doing and what we can be aware of in the community to help support supporting our children. And but I feel like East Tennessee Children's Hospital is really, a jam that maybe we don't realize what a jam it is to have here. How can you can you touch on what East Tennessee Children's Hospital is doing in terms of how impactful it is and what a gem we do have right here in East Tennessee?

Adam Cook 00:05:11 Absolutely. So children's hospitals are not everywhere. In fact, there's only 31 dedicated independent children's hospitals across the country. And East Tennessee Children's Hospital is one of those 31. What that means is we're not tied to an adult facility. We are only open to take care of children. All children. Only children all the time. Like I said, there's only 31 of those across the country. Last year we saw patients from all 50 states, and we saw patients from 86 of the 95 counties across Tennessee.

Adam Cook 00:05:45 The many folks think, oh, this is a great hospital for just the Knoxville region. And they're right. It absolutely is. But it is a grown to be a regional center and a national center because we are seeing so many patients from so many different areas, and we're excited about that. That's our mission, is to constantly take care of those around us and those that need to come see us.

Speaker 2 00:06:05 And that is very, very exciting. I did not I was not aware of that, that there are only 31 hospitals that are exclusively children's hospitals in the United States. That's pretty remarkable. We know that East Tennessee.

Adam Cook 00:06:18 Only one in Tennessee.

Speaker 2 00:06:20 Only one in Tennessee. Wow. We know the hospital plays such a vital role in our region's pediatric health. From your perspective, Adam, what makes the organization's approach to caring for children unique, and how has that a mission evolved under your leadership?

Adam Cook 00:06:37 Well, what makes a children's hospital a children's hospital are the various offerings that they can provide specific to the specialties needed.

Adam Cook 00:06:47 So, for instance, if your child has a stomach issue, they need to see a pediatric Gastroenterologist. If they have headaches or epilepsy, they need to see a pediatric neurologist. East Tennessee Children's Hospital has more than 35 subspecialties, so that means they're not small adults. They are children, and they need to be seeing clinical leaders that specialize in child care. So we see patients from birth into early 20s depending on the situation of the patient. That's what differentiates a hospital from a children's hospital. And blessed to say we have more than 2100 employees that see 35 subspecialties. that's what makes us unique. what we're trying to do is twofold. We want to continue to share the message that this is, as you said, a gem of a place that not every community gets to appreciate. So we want to continue to push that mission forward, and we hope we do that. Well, to remind folks that we are the pediatric destination in the region that if you have a need for your child, come see us.

Adam Cook 00:07:58 We will take care of that. Secondly, though, we need to continue to drive fundraising because it costs now over $1 million a day just to keep the hospital doors open. East Tennessee Hospital we have nearly 20 locations now across multiple counties urgent care rehabilitation centers, primary care offices, and of course, the hospital itself. And for us to continue to meet the needs of the growing community. And as we all know, as we sit in traffic, sometimes the community is growing. We need to raise more and more funds just so we can maintain the level of sophistication, the state of the art care that our community has come to appreciate and deserve.

Speaker 2 00:08:36 Wow. So your budget essentially 350 million a year.

Adam Cook 00:08:40 That is correct.

Speaker 2 00:08:41 Wow. That's that's remarkable. I will kind of mention in my dollars and cents segment today that I'll do. In the third segment, I am going to talk about how to maximize the impact we make with our charitable giving, with our year end planning, especially in light of the new tax laws.

Speaker 2 00:08:59 We'll cover that then. But, Adam, what are the hospital's top priorities for improving child health outcomes in East Tennessee over the next five years?

Adam Cook 00:09:09 Okay, well, and thank you. And you're right. We are a non-profit organization, so gifts given to us are fully tax deductible to the extent of the law. I'm not a tax man. So you have to talk with folks like you, Jim or attorneys to make sure what that looks like. But as we move forward to the next five years, we actually have a plan in place called drive to 2030. And what that means is we are focused on several key elements that will continue to make sure that we are the leader in pediatric health care. One of those is growing some of our subspecialties. As we have more and more needs, we need to grow the number of gastroenterologists that we have. We need to grow the number of neurologists that we have or ear, nose and throat positions that we work with. So that's one of our key elements, is to make sure we have the human capital available to meet the needs of our patients and families.

Adam Cook 00:09:58 In addition to that, we are getting ready to embark on the pediatric residency program at Children's Hospital. We haven't had a residency program for pediatrics in over 25 years. In this region. Beginning in July of 2027, there will be the East Tennessee Children's Hospital graduate Medical education program. We're going to be bringing in eight residents per year. It's a three year program, so we're up and running. We'll have 24 residents getting specialized training, pediatric training at Children's Hospital. That's a big undertaking. having 24 residents on campus and learning from our leadership for three years is something that we're excited about. It is costly, but it's something we're willing to invest in because it will be how we take care of future children and future families by training those specialists now and encouraging them to stay a part of our culture as a children's hospital and stay part of the community itself. The third thing is, what we're excited about with fantasy series coming up, is we are expanding our hematology oncology center. It's now called the Hawks for the Call Hematology Oncology Center, and we need funds to do that.

Adam Cook 00:11:09 Unfortunately, Jim, we're seeing 45 new patients a month in our hematology oncology center. And that means now we're seeing about 450 appointments every month. So to meet that demand, we need to reimagine and re renovate the existing space, our infusion space, our clinic space. So that's one of the outreach efforts that we're really excited about over the next 12, 18 months as well.

Speaker 2 00:11:37 Wow. That breaks my heart that you're seeing that many people a day in hematology and oncology. tell you what, we're going to get to our first break. We're visiting with Adam Cook. He's with East Tennessee Children's Hospital. We're talking about investing in our kids future, which ultimately provides greater communities, greater growth, greater standard of living, everything. When we come back, we'll have more with Adam. Stay with us. This is more living with Jim Brogan here on Newstalk 987 Sky.

Jim Brogan 00:12:07 Welcome back to Newstalk 98 Seven's Brogan Financial Studios, where Jim Brogan is coming to you live with important news and advice to help you achieve your dream retirement.

Jim Brogan 00:12:17 Get ready to learn and live. Here's your host, Jim Brogan.

Speaker 2 00:12:23 Welcome back to More Living Here on Newstalk 987 Waukee. I'm your host, Jim Brogan. We're talking about investing in our kids future, and we're talking about the tremendous impact of East Tennessee Children's Hospital. We've got Adam Cook with us. He is the chief development and marketing officer at East Tennessee Children's Hospital. And Adam, I do want to just share a quick anecdote in that, our most recent experience with East Tennessee Children's Hospital was my oldest daughter when she was, I guess maybe a freshman in high school. she's now in college. This was about 5 or 6 years ago. And she had something, one thing after another after another. And she had basically she had mono, and she ended up developing a throat issue and ended up having to have throat surgery. I just cannot tell you what an impactful experience it was being at Children's Hospital. And it's everything. It's not just the pediatricians, it's the staff. It's it's not just the nursing staff.

Speaker 2 00:13:27 It's everybody. It's the culture of service and the way you cater to kids. And it's just different. It's unique. I mean, we've got a lot of great hospitals in the area, but compared to a regular hospital, the way you cater to the kids, I just can't go on and on. Enough about the experience we had at Children's Hospital.

Adam Cook 00:13:50 Jim, thank you for sharing that. That means a lot to me. I know it means a lot to our employees as well. We follow and the notion of care is the core core of who we are. And core stands for compassion, ownership, respect, and excellence. We believe whether you walk in whatever door you walk in, to begin a relationship with Children's Hospital, whether it's our environmental services team or cafeteria or clinicians. We all want to emulate hopefully what you just expressed. So I'm glad your daughter is doing well. I'm glad she received great care and I'm glad she received it in a way that's compassionate. it's full of ownership, it's full of respect, and was hopefully excellent as well.

Speaker 2 00:14:30 It was all those things. absolutely. every generation inherits Adam. The health system built by the one before it. How do you see your role in shaping what the next generation will inherit.

Adam Cook 00:14:47 I like to think that my role as leadership for development and marketing is to cast a vision on what is. But more importantly, what can be. The dollars that we raise today are critical for mission today. But as our budgets grow, as reimbursements rates go down, as the needs of the community grows, we have to be thinking longer term. So fundraising looks twofold to us. It's what can we raise funds for today then? Also, what are there some vehicles that we can talk to donors about to really enhance what we're trying to do 10 to 15, 20 years from now, whether that's through estate gifts or whether that's through large corporate donations, whether it's just raising the awareness of the fact that, as you said, we are one of 31 children's hospitals to try to take care of what I call the hamster on the wheel needs of today to keep the doors open, but also to have some tremendous vision around things like this residency program that's coming in in a year and a half.

Adam Cook 00:15:49 We've been planning this for several years, and it takes leaders like our present CEO, Matt Schaefer, to go. And how can we dramatically impact care five, ten, 15 years down the road. And this is one of the ways we hope to do that.

Speaker 2 00:16:03 All of that is those are awesome words. When you look at today's children's Adam, today's children, what are the biggest health or wellness challenges that you think define their generation, and how are you addressing them now before they become crises?

Adam Cook 00:16:18 There's so many different avenues that children can go down now. I mean, when I was younger, there wasn't the the number of activities and social media influences and things of that nature. So we're trying to really look at the child in two distinct ways. One is, how can we take care of their physical need? We talked about that in the 35 subspecialties that we have. No matter what ailment your child may be having, we can take care of that. But the other side of that is how can we better walk alongside our patients through what we call their mental health or their behavioral health needs? unfortunately, we see a tremendous number of children that need behavioral health support through our emergency department or through our primary care offices.

Adam Cook 00:17:04 One of the areas we're really hoping to meet, the child where they are, is the growing need for better behavioral health and mental health offerings. we've partnered with Helen Ross McNabb to open the Crisis Stabilization Unit, where children that come in in crisis, they can come to a unit here at Children's Hospital. in partnership with Helen Ross McNabb, to make sure we're building a plan so they can stabilize and hopefully go back home and not have to go to an additional facility. We're also working with organizations like Euchre that have given us a transformational gift to bring in, behavioral health clinicians in our primary care offices. So what that means if my child goes through their normal pediatrician, they say I'm having stomachaches or headaches. It might be a physical ailment, but it also might be an anxiety issue. Anxiety is bringing on stomachaches. Our anxiety is bringing on headaches. So how can we take care of both the mental and behavioral aspect of the child, as well as the physical need? And as we move forward, we just see that becoming a more and more impactful opportunity for us at children's.

Speaker 2 00:18:09 I guess over the last 10 or 15 years, Adam, you've I would imagine you've seen just a gradual increase, and maybe even not so gradual in the issues of this, these mental health challenges in our kids.

Adam Cook 00:18:24 Yes, we absolutely have an anecdote I'll share. It breaks my heart because I have two daughters myself, is I was talking to our chief nursing officer a while back, and, it was shared with me that we see an increase in behavioral health concerns through our emergency department in the springtime. And I said, well, why is spring? That's you know, things are getting warmer and school is about to be out. And the response to me was two things. Number one, t caps, which is the Tennessee testing that kids feel tremendous anxiety and pressure over doing well. And the second is it's prom season. And there are many young ladies out there that feel the pressure of having the right dress or getting the right date. So we see an increase on things that maybe as adults we go, well, that shouldn't be much of an issue, but it is for the child.

Adam Cook 00:19:10 even through things like testing and prom season sports activities. So we have tremendous opportunity, like I said, to to really walk alongside and care for the entire picture of children's health, mental and physical.

Speaker 2 00:19:26 Adam, we know and I don't want you to get too far outside your, your level, your field of expertise. But we know that one big, contributor to some of the challenges we're seeing with mental health is the impact of the digital world and social media and all those things. What can we do as parents? I mean, if I could go back and do some things over again, we would definitely want to delay longer, our kids access to those types of things. what what type of a word would you have for parents of young kids today in terms of managing their digital wellbeing?

Adam Cook 00:20:02 Well, and I'll preface my comments. As you said, gym not being clinical but just being around the world of medicine. a couple of things. You said it will, making sure that we are managing the amount of time that our children are on social media.

Adam Cook 00:20:21 letting them know that there is a world outside of social media. mom or dad or coaches or friends in real life situations, building relationships is critically important. I know it has been for my daughters, and I'll speak as a father now. also making sure that my children know that not everything you see on social media is what it seems. There are ups and downs in life and I try to remind that of my my girl. So I guess I'll speak as a father now. there's reality and there's a great world out there, and it doesn't always live through the palm of your hand in what you're holding. So being able to continue to relate to your friends, relate to your family, relate to your coaches and pastors and things like that. To me is critical because it helps us, regulate what's real and what's not. And it helps build better community, in and around us. And again, that's that would be my advice to my children not speaking as a, as a clinician by any means.

Speaker 2 00:21:18 Well, I know, but you have so much practical experience dealing with patients. And, you know, I have two girls as well. And, you know, that was the thing that that we would talk about is, you know, when people look at other people's profiles in social media, people are only putting forward the best, as if everything is always good. And the reality is, that's not the way life works. And and we know that as aging adults. But you know, kids have a lot to learn about those things, and it just puts so much pressure on them. But I don't want to get too stuck on mental health. But I just think it's so important and how we manage all this in today's world. Adam, how does the hospital balance the immediate pediatric needs with long term health equity goals?

Adam Cook 00:22:06 So from a development perspective, our job is to raise between 12 and $15 million on an annual basis for immediate needs. That is bringing in new clinicians, purchasing the right equipment, building the right buildings, making sure that the programs are there today to take care of patients and families.

Adam Cook 00:22:26 Then on top of that, our development team and our marketing team looks for additional funding opportunities that will keep us in business, hopefully in perpetuity, so that we can dream big around residency or around mental health or around, our new electronic medical record system. All those things cost dollars, and they may not be costly today, but if we only focus on the needs for the day, we can't dream big for tomorrow. So our drive to 2030 plan is critical to us. So we balance the conversation of what do you, as a donor, want to achieve with your philanthropic gift? Are you interested in today's needs or do you want to leave a legacy? Is this an area of the hospital that you're really excited about that we're going to be addressing two years from now? What are those vehicles we can talk to you about so that your dollars are impactful today, then also for years to come?

Speaker 2 00:23:18 Well, that's an important word because obviously, East Tennessee Children's Hospital, over the years with its growth, has done a great job at balancing those two things, which is dealing with current pediatric needs and providing excellence in care, service, all those things you mentioned, but then also investing for where we're going to be five, ten, even 20 years from now.

Speaker 2 00:23:39 All that stuff is so important. Adam, when we talk about investing in children's health, we're really talking about investing in the kinds of adults they'll become. And as I said in our opener, our children are our future. how does the how hospitals work today lay the groundwork for a healthier, more resilient generation tomorrow?

Adam Cook 00:24:04 If we can identify the needs of the child as early as we can, it helps them live a longer, healthier life, just like adults. The earlier you can find the cause of the concern, the more options you have for treatment, the quicker we can find a resolution. It's about preventative care. So if we can make sure that our children know or their parents know where they can go, not just at the hospital and downtown Knoxville, but all the service areas we have in the areas where they live. It's really about education and outreach of where we are and what we offer the child. If we do that well, then we're already ahead of the game. We're building a healthier lifestyle for patients and their families, and by doing that, we're building a healthier community.

Adam Cook 00:24:51 And honestly, we have so many patients that come in and say, I now want to when I grow up, I want to work at Children's Hospital. I want to help children. So it also introduces the idea of helping others at an earlier stage, which was just a byproduct of what we do from our mission standpoint. But it's a byproduct that feels really good.

Speaker 2 00:25:10 That's Adam Cook, he's with East Tennessee Children's Hospital. When we come back, I want to talk about how we can get more involved, how our community plays such a role in the future. Success of East Tennessee Children's Hospital will also have our dollars and cents segment. How to Maximize the Impact of your Year in Charitable Giving in light of the One Big Beautiful Bill act? So stay with us. This is more living with Jim Brogan here on Newstalk 987 Wookey.

Jim Brogan 00:25:38 Welcome back to Newstalk 98 Seven's Brogan Financial Studios, where Jim Brogan is coming to you live with important news and advice to help you achieve your dream retirement. Get ready to learn and live.

Jim Brogan 00:25:49 Here's your host, Jim Brogan.

Speaker 2 00:25:53 This is for living with Jim Brogan, where it's all about living the best years of your life your way. You can catch us every Saturday, 9 to 10 a.m. and again 3 to 4 p.m. you can check us out online Brogan financial.com. If you'll click on Radio We podcast, we get all our shows posted there. You can stream them there. You can also listen to go to Apple Podcast or Spotify. to listen live go to Newstalk 987.com and you can listen live. We're visiting today with Adam Cook. he is with East Tennessee Children's Hospital. We're talking about the incredible impact that East Tennessee Children's Hospital makes on our community. Something I did not know. Only one of only 31 children's only hospitals in the entire country, and with a budget need of $350 million plus per year. Those are just up both, to me, very, very remarkable. statistics. before we get back to to Adam, it is time for dollars and cents.

Speaker 4 00:26:55 Want to be sure you are getting the most out of your retirement for all the years of your retirement.

Speaker 4 00:27:03 That's the primary goal of more living with Jim Brogan and our dollars and cents segment, where we provide you with an important financial tip that will help positively impact the quality of your life and retirement. And now, here's Jim with this week's dollars and cents tip.

Speaker 2 00:27:20 How can you maximize the impact of your year in charitable giving in light of the one big, beautiful bill? Very important topic. You know when the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act was passed, effective the beginning of 2018, I believe it was, you know, at that up until then, about 30% of all Americans itemized deductions. But with the almost doubling of the standard deduction, that changed to less than 10% are itemizing deductions. And that means if you're not itemizing, that means that when you make a cash gift to a church or charity, if you're not itemizing, you're not really getting the benefit, the tax benefit of that gift. Now, you're certainly getting the benefit of impacting the charity or the church, but you're not getting the tax benefit.

Speaker 2 00:28:12 Now, with the one big beautiful Bill act, the standard deduction has gone to 31,500 for a married couple, half that for a single father. So it went up a little bit higher. And for those that are 65 and up, in addition to the $1,600 deduction. That's the deduction you always have gotten or for a long time if you're 65 or up now, you also get an extra $6,000 per person. now that that extra $6,000 deduction does phase out. But, you know, it's a pretty high phaseout. I mean, it doesn't completely go away until you have single income of 175,000. Or joint filers at 250,000. But that means that if you're underneath the income thresholds, a married couple 65 or older is going to have a standard deduction of almost $47,000. So we're going to likely see even fewer people itemize. So how can you be in both impactful with your charitable giving but also minimize taxes? Because the more you can minimize taxes, you can either give more for the same amount of money or give the same amount and have a little bit more in your pocket.

Speaker 2 00:29:26 Both of those are great outcomes. So there's a couple of things to know. one thing is if you're 70.5 or older and this is pure age discrimination, I'm 56. I cannot do this. But if you're 70.5 or older, you can give money directly to a church or charity from your IRA and not pay tax on that distribution. And once you're 73 and have required minimum distributions, that gift effectively comes straight off the taxable portion of your RMD. It is an above the line deduction. Well it's I guess I wouldn't call it. Well it is a deduction. It's above the line. It affects it lowers your adjusted gross income. So if your required minimum distribution is $30,000 and you give $10,000 to a church or charity, now you took the 30 out. Now you're only going to be taxed on 20 Plus you're going to get your standard deduction now. Likewise when you're giving if you're giving pretty substantial amounts then you know you can look at things like bunching your deductions, things like paying property taxes twice in one year.

Speaker 2 00:30:45 And then, you know, we could pay I could wait and pay my 2025 property tax in January and then pay 2026 in November or December of next year. And then I've got two of them in there, and the state and local tax deduction went up to $40,000. Now it used to be ten. So if we have high deductions there they'll start to add up. If you bunch those you can also bunch charitable giving if you are doing cash gifts. But another opportunity is to gift appreciated assets like stocks funds things like that. When you gift a stock or a fund, it's always a bigger tax impact than if you make a cash gift because you're not having to pay the capital gains tax on the stock or the fund or whatever the appreciated asset is. Now, if you can be smart about bunching deductions and also get a tax deduction on that donated gift, donated stock, that's even better. But even if you don't get that itemized deduction, you're still being able to gift something. You know, if I if I paid $2,000 for a stock and it's worth 10,000, I can give the 10,000.

Speaker 2 00:31:55 And I never have to pay capital gains tax on that extra $8,000 of earnings. Anytime I can make a gift that fully impacts the church or charity but saves me on my income taxes, that's always a powerful thing. So be sure that you incorporate smart charitable tax planning in your year end giving strategy.

Speaker 4 00:32:18 That's our dollars and cents segment for this week. You can find this week's dollars and cents segment and others by visiting Brogan Financial.

Speaker 2 00:32:32 We're visiting with Adam Cook this morning on More Living with Jim Brogan. We're talking about the impact of East Tennessee Children's Hospital and Adam. Many families and donors want to give back but aren't sure where their support will have the biggest impact. How do you guide them toward opportunities that truly build a healthier future?

Adam Cook 00:32:50 Our goal at Children's Hospital is to sit down with the potential donor and really get to know who they are and what they are most interested in. Yes, we do have certain campaigns where we're looking to raise funds for, like I said, our residency program, our hematology oncology clinic rebuild.

Adam Cook 00:33:07 But if a donor says, you know, I'm really interested in this area of the hospital, we have so many needs, we will find an area of interest that's of most interest to them. I like to say sometimes I'm like the switchboard operator. I simply want to match the interest of the donor with the need of the organization. So our commitment is not to have a transactional relationship with the donor, but really sit down, learn what they're most interested in. How has health care impacted their life? Or maybe a child or a grandchild of their life? How can we make sure the gift that they give goes directly to the area of the hospital that will make the donor feel the best and provide the greatest impact as well?

Speaker 2 00:33:44 I'm going to have to just put in a plug here, Adam, that I'm a big believer in giving in a financial plan. it does so many things for us, and we live in a society that's so materialistic. And we get all these images with media both online and on TV everywhere, movies.

Speaker 2 00:34:05 And, you know, they asked J.D Rockefeller how much money is enough? And he said, a little bit more. Yeah. And when the money's the goal, it's never provides fulfillment, satisfaction, whatever. And one thing that giving does is it it helps us put better perspective on money and life balance. And and so then I'm a big believer that we give we want to be smart and maximize impact, minimize taxes, all those things. we also want to give to things we're personally passionate about. Talk about giving of our time, Adam, because I know that can be a very valuable way to give.

Adam Cook 00:34:49 It can be. And in fact, we have a fantastic program at Children's Hospital, our volunteer services program. We have over 350 volunteers that come in on a regular basis and help out in the hospital. It might be something like wayfinding because our campus can be difficult to manage sometimes, particularly if you have an anxious child with you. It can be volunteering in one of our clinic areas, like our hematology oncology clinic.

Adam Cook 00:35:14 It can be working with things like what's coming up, our fantasy of trees here in just a couple of weeks where we need 130,000 volunteer hours just to make sure that we have a fantastic fantasy of trees opportunity for those that come to it. So whether you're looking to volunteer your time, your talent, or your treasure, we can do that both in the hospital and out in the community. And again, it all goes to support children and health care of this region, which I can't find a better place to, to participate in.

Speaker 2 00:35:44 I could not agree more. And I think when we give our time and talent in addition to our resources, as you said, I think in many ways it's just as impactful in terms of how it impact impacts the life of the giver and again, keeps that work life balance, because no matter how bad things may seem, there's other people that are dealing with worse. And so anytime you can give people a need, it's just start small. If you're not doing much already, just start small and let it grow.

Speaker 2 00:36:16 Adam, talk about the impact and the need in rural and underserved areas, and the importance of the role there. Excuse me. The importance of the community. Of what? Of what we do in ensuring that investments in children's health actually lead to lasting change.

Adam Cook 00:36:36 As you know, East Tennessee can become very rural very quickly. for those that live in Knoxville. How is that possible that you drive 15 minutes in any direction and you're in rural areas of our state? So the more rural we get, the less health care options are there. And that's what East Tennessee Children's Hospital is dedicated to, making sure that we are in as many rural areas as possible. We do that in a couple of ways. The first is we have a fantastic telemedicine program. What that means is working with many area schools in rural counties. So if a child has a physical need and they're in school, they work with the school nurses through our telemedicine program and can go to that nurse's office and log in and see a clinician on the other end of that computer screen that can take care of the child's need in real time.

Adam Cook 00:37:28 What we've noticed with this that helps a child stay in school longer. It alleviates anxiety from the parent, from having to get off work and go pick up the child and go sit in a clinic office. So we're trying to meet the needs of the rural patient where they are, which is important to us. Second to that too, is with our residency program coming on board. One of our areas of focus is how we can get better trained clinicians out in rural environments. Once they finish our recipe program and they become pediatricians, where can we place them in one of our clinic areas in the surrounding area, so you don't have to drive as far into Knoxville to get the care that you and your family and your child deserve.

Speaker 2 00:38:08 Those are all great things. Adam, the telemedicine I, I love hearing that. I think that's awesome. how do generally speaking, both with telemedicine and with some of these other things we're talking about. What's the easiest, the best resource for people to find out more about the services that that are available to them, especially if they're in underserved areas? and all the great things that children's is doing, is that going to be mainly through your traditional website?

Adam Cook 00:38:38 It is.

Adam Cook 00:38:39 You can always go to H, etc.. H stands for East Tennessee Children's Hospital. So. Com to learn more about that. we also encourage everyone to make sure they do have a primary care physician in and around their, their community. And beyond that, you can always reach out to our development office or our marketing office. We can provide pamphlets, we can provide materials. We have a great community benefits department that is looking for ways to be out in the community to educate, community civic groups, to provide training like AED training or CPR training, or how kids can get involved in healthy lifestyles and eating. So those are the areas on our website. you can call our offices and encourage our schedule some time for our community Benefits team to come out and and be part of what you're trying to achieve in a rural environment.

Speaker 2 00:39:28 We're visiting with Adam Cook. He is with East Tennessee Children's Hospital. I'm Jim Brogan, and when we come back, we'll we'll kind of talk a little bit more about what children's is doing to extend beyond the walls of the hospital and then also extend into our future.

Speaker 2 00:39:42 So stay with us. This is more living here on Newstalk 987 Wookey.

Jim Brogan 00:39:48 Welcome back to Newstalk 98. Seven's Brogan Financial Studios or Jim Brogan is coming to you live with important news and advice to help you achieve your dream retirement. Get ready to learn and live. Here's your host, Jim Brogan.

Speaker 2 00:40:04 Welcome back to More Living. This is Newstalk 987 Wookey. We're visiting with Adam Cook from East Tennessee Children's Hospital. The importance of investing in our kids future. It's the future of our community. And Adam, children's health doesn't just start in a hospital. It starts in homes. It starts in schools and neighborhoods. How does the hospital extend its reach beyond the walls of its buildings?

Adam Cook 00:40:30 Like I said in the previous segment, Jim, we have a great department called Community Benefits. Their entire job is to educate patients and parents and community leaders on what we call pre trauma opportunities, things that they can do in advance of a trauma, things like making sure that bike helmets fit correctly. Do you have a bike helmet? Making sure that car seats are installed properly for your for your newborn baby.

Adam Cook 00:41:02 Making sure that if you are in a setting and something terrible happens, you need to learn what an AED machine is. To maybe have to shock a potential patient where they are learning about CPR, things like medicine, making sure that parents know how to put the medicine in a place that's above the reach of the child. So there's so many areas of community benefits that we want to educate the community in advance of something terrible happening. We always say Children's Hospital. We hope to one day put ourselves out of business. Now, when business is good at the hospital, that means it's bad for the families of our community. That means we're taking care of sick children, whether it's a cold or a cancer. So we would love to educate our community enough that either a they don't fall into a trauma situation, or b if there is a a need, they know exactly where to go and how to get the best care possible in a most timely fashion. So that's one of the ways that we try to be out in the community, as you said, to extend beyond the walls of our hospital or the 20 clinic, 20 locations that we have, but it also takes the community to do that.

Adam Cook 00:42:08 So I appreciate opportunities like this to to share what's happening at Children's Hospital to the broader community, and would always encourage folks if they have questions or want to get involved, to go to Edgecomb or reach out to me directly, I'll be happy to assist you in any way that I can.

Speaker 2 00:42:21 You know, that's a great perspective that you said there that I. I don't know that I've really considered that quite, quite in that way, the way you said it is, you want to put yourself out of business, you know, when business is great for the East Tennessee Children's Hospital, that means it's probably not great health in the community. That's a very, very interesting perspective, and it's very refreshing to hear someone in leadership of an organization like Children's Hospital say that. Adam, if you could change one public perception about children's health care, what would it be?

Adam Cook 00:42:55 That children are not small adults. And so many folks say, well, I can go online and Google things at. Net MD and try to self-diagnose what's taking place.

Adam Cook 00:43:09 The nuances of children and their health healthcare are so unique that, I would encourage you to make sure that you find that clinician or that primary care office. so that's specific to your child. there's also this misnomer that it has to be it must be challenging. It must be difficult. Children's hospital has grown, over the years. We have, but just because we've grown does not mean that we've lost sight of what our original mission has always been. And that's to take care of children no matter what. So if there is a concern about, well, how do I get, my child in the right place at the right time? Reach out. We have people there waiting to help you navigate the needs that you have for your patient and your family. We're there to help you every step of the way physical, mental, emotional. And that's also meaning helping the parent that make this make decisions, not just how do we best take care of the child as well?

Speaker 2 00:44:05 That's Adam Cook, East Tennessee Children's Hospital.

Speaker 2 00:44:08 You can go to For more information. That's very well said. And I will say with our own fairly recent experience about five years ago, they definitely haven't lost. As they've grown bigger, they definitely haven't lost that attention to detail and care. Thank you, Adam, for your time. This week we've been discussing the health and the investment in our kids because our kids are our future and determine our community so you can live the best years of your life your way. Many thanks to Wayne for engineering the show and to Mary Caroline for helping produce the show. You've been listening to More Living with Jim Brogan. Have a great weekend. This is Newstalk 987.

Speaker 5 00:44:45 The views expressed by Jim Brogan and his guests are not that of Cumulus Media. Any discussion of financial, legal and tax planning strategies is not intended to be individualized advice and is general in nature. Always consult with your advisor for advice specific to your needs. This program's content does not represent a recommendation of any particular security strategy or investment by Jim Brogan or Brogan Financial, Incorporated.

This week's episode is being re-aired. It initially aired in April of 2024.

In this episode of More Living with Jim Brogan, host Jim Brogan welcomes Abby Stanley Jarrett, third-generation owner of Stanley's Greenhouse in Knoxville, Tennessee. Abby shares expert gardening and landscaping advice tailored to East Tennessee, covering topics such as native plants, tree selection, pruning techniques, soil improvement, and vegetable gardening. She also highlights Stanley's Greenhouse's unique advantage of growing over 70% of their own plants, making purchases tax-exempt. The conversation offers practical tips for homeowners looking to create beautiful, sustainable yards without necessarily hiring a professional landscaper.

Automatically Transcribed With Podsqueeze

Jim Brogan 00:00:03 You're tuned into more Living with Jim Brogan, broadcast live from the Brogan Financial studios at Newstalk 987, where old fashioned values, expert knowledge and genuine understanding come together to give you the retirement straight talk you deserve. Jim's a former National Advisor of the year recipient and a financial educator, and he's here today to talk about how you can live out the best years of your life. Jim and the Brogan financial team have been helping retirees and retirees across the southeast for over 20 years in their pursuit of financial independence. You can reach them during the week at 865862 6800. So sit back, relax and get ready to learn, because More living with Jim Brogan starts now.

Jim Brogan 00:00:48 Hello, East Tennessee, and welcome to More Living with Jim Brogan, where it's all about living the best years of your life your way. This is Newstalk 987 Wookey. do you ever have yard envy? I know sometimes I do. I really like our yard. I like the way it's landscaped. I like the way we tend it. but.

Jim Brogan 00:01:13 But then sometimes I drive by a yard, and I do have yard envy. lush lawns, blooming flowers, landscape trimmed to perfection. Not everybody has a green thumb. And it takes time and sweat equity to maintain our yard. Today, our guest is Abby Stanley. Jared's from Stanley's greenhouse right here in Knoxville. She's followed in the footsteps of her parents and her grandparents. Abby is the third generation to work the family business at Stanley's Greenhouse. She has her degree in landscape design from the University of Tennessee. She definitely has a green thumb, and she's going to share some great tips and tricks for landscaping and gardening, keeping things tiptop, and even feeding your family from your backyard. Good morning Abby. Welcome to More Living. It's great to have you with us.

Multiple Speakers 00:02:07 Good morning. It's good to be here.

Jim Brogan 00:02:09 Yeah. It's great to have you with us. it sounds like Abby. You grew up around plants and the gardening business. Your parents and your grandparents. Did you always know you wanted to follow in their footsteps?

Abby Stanley Jared 00:02:23 well, more or less.

Abby Stanley Jared 00:02:25 I knew that I loved it, and, really, it's been, like, home for me for my entire life. So, it was kind of hard to think of anything else to do, and, Yeah, it's. Yeah.

Jim Brogan 00:02:42 Okay. Well, that's great. Now, now you all have your greenhouse. and you have all your plants and stuff like that, but, you actually grow, don't you grow? Grow. You sell a lot of your own platform, right? You know.

Abby Stanley Jared 00:02:57 Right.

Jim Brogan 00:02:57 Talk to us about that.

Abby Stanley Jared 00:02:58 Exactly. So that's what makes us so different. So, actually. we've been a working farm for hundreds of years. it was a Davenport farm before Tennessee was the state. We were one of the top wheat producers in the state. and it was just, my grandfather that kind of transferred to grow flowers away from, actual vegetables and fruits and such. and so that's where we kind of adjust our, our timeline. But we've been an active farm for a long time.

Abby Stanley Jared 00:03:34 And, anyway, so now, we grow over 70% of what we sell, which means that all of our plants are tax free. I feel like a lot of people don't know that, which is, we try to get that word out there because it's, like, 10% off every time you come in.

Jim Brogan 00:03:56 So when I if I blow up. So. So when I blow the power plants from you because you grow your own plants there. I don't want to pay state income tax. I mean, state sales tax.

Abby Stanley Jared 00:04:07 Exactly. Because Tennessee does that for farmers. That's why when you go to the farmers market, you don't pay tax. So it's a great incentive. But not only that, but it also allows us to have, better quality and better control of our product. So husband is actually the goer than Geraldton. he works tirelessly to make sure. And our whole good team to make sure that we have like the best products possible and they're not shipping across, you know, this the country here most of the time.

Jim Brogan 00:04:45 So now, what about trees? Do you all grow a lot of your own? Do you grow a lot of your own trees, too?

Abby Stanley Jared 00:04:52 trees are probably the least amount of all the departments. however we are, we are producing more and more every year. and we, we've acquired, some property. and have a good handle on, being able to do more here soon. Soon. but we do bring in, a decent amount of our trees also grow quite a bit as well. the smaller sizes.

Jim Brogan 00:05:26 So now, when it comes to landscaping and landscape design. Abby, where do we start? How? How can I how can I have a how can I have a landscape design that looks professional without professional help?

Abby Stanley Jared 00:05:42 Yeah. Yeah. well, you just missed a star. We had a seminar in March with Gary Mendez. so we've got seminars every Saturday to try to help homeowners in different areas of gardening, and they're all free and open to the public. You can see them on our website.

Abby Stanley Jared 00:06:03 But, as another resource, really, the internet is powerful in both ways. You can look at a lot of great resources on there for design. There are a lot of books out there. but the main thing that I tell people when they come in as far as where to start, if you want to start with your larger plant material, your trees and your shrubs, and then go from there. It's really just to plant those things in the fall. to get established and fill in with your perennial plants that will come in every year. and then also fill in the front with your blooming annuals. So to have all of everything looking cohesive, you need all pieces of the puzzle.

Jim Brogan 00:06:58 And typically we want things to be like we want a time like things that bloom at different times throughout the year. Right.

Abby Stanley Jared 00:07:06 Exactly. Yeah. And so doing that, doing that part for all of the variety of different plants. but yeah, doing research on like, native and what plants do good for zone are these are great help.

Abby Stanley Jared 00:07:24 so, you know, if you have pictures of your yard, we can always, like, provide suggestions. We don't design consult, but we could all show off and, and help out. So, yeah.

Jim Brogan 00:07:39 If I want to have a great looking yard, is that something that, I mean, is that something an average person can take up? Or do you really have to have a green thumb or else you're going to need professional help?

Abby Stanley Jared 00:07:51 No, no, not at all. I don't believe in green thumbs. I hate that terminology. you're not born with, whatever ability you leave, most people, it's knowledge. It's just doing it. It's trial and error, you know, and and figuring out what works for space and and figuring out how to grow things. soil is a big deal. we are plugged with clay here, so we recommend using soil conditioner to amend. And you've got soil moisture going to go. Well. and as long as you know you're doing a plant where you know the conditions are suitable for it, then it should be fine.

Abby Stanley Jared 00:08:38 And our professionals can help with that. so it doesn't It's not rocket science. It doesn't have to be. You know, you just have to. Put things where they need to be. Put your actions. And we're always there to help, advise along the way.

Jim Brogan 00:08:58 Okay. We're visiting with Abby. Stanley. Jared. She is with, Stanley's greenhouse and and the three generations out there. We're talking about gardening and landscaping. When we come back, we'll talk a little bit more about East Tennessee and some of the challenges, but also some of the great things we have here in East Tennessee. to be able to have a great lawn and a great garden. So stay with us. This is more living with Jim Brogan here on Newstalk 987 Wookey.

Jim Brogan 00:09:25 Welcome back to Newstalk 98 Seven's Brogan Financial Studios, where Jim Brogan is coming to you live with important news and advice to help you achieve your dream retirement. Get ready to learn and live. Here's your host, Jim Brogan.

Jim Brogan 00:09:41 This is Moore living here on Newstalk 987 Wookey.

Jim Brogan 00:09:44 I'm Jim Brogan, we're with you every every Saturday 9 to 10 a.m. and again from 3 to 4 p.m. you can also catch us online, go to Brogan Financial Comm and click on radio. We're visiting this morning with Abby Stanley Jared's. And she's with Stanley's greenhouse. We're talking about landscaping, gardening, all those great things. I do want to ask Abby some questions about East Tennessee specifically. But before we do, one other thing about landscaping. Like if I have plants picked out and I know what I like, but I don't know how to design the layout to make the best visual impact. What is your advice? Do we have Abby on the line? Hello? Abby. Are you there? I can hear you now.

Abby Stanley Jared 00:10:25 Can you hear.

Jim Brogan 00:10:26 Me? I can now. Did you hear my question?

Abby Stanley Jared 00:10:28 Okay. Yeah, yeah. So it really depends how much you want to spend. you can obviously hire a designer if you want something, of that magnitude. Otherwise, you can maybe just look online at some ideas for how to design things out.

Abby Stanley Jared 00:10:46 And again, smaller scale are professionals at Stanley's could also help. Just advise as far as like obviously you would want to put like taller plants in the background, you know, and that sort of thing and spacing and whatnot. it's kind of how far do you want to dive into it? But

Jim Brogan 00:11:10 Yeah. No, that's a that's good advice. So in Tennessee we have the benefit of great weather. We got lots of rain. things seem to stay green for the most part, even without trying. What are some easy plants that someone can get that will survive? Even if you tend to neglect it, tend to neglect them?

Abby Stanley Jared 00:11:31 yeah. Well if we're I guess it depends kind of what we're talking about. But obviously natives are great. We really like to push natives. it's really important to, our ecosystem here. so as far as trees go, there are a lot of great trees out there that people can plant. one uncommon one that I love is serviceberry. that a lot of people know the dogwoods, but they don't know those.

Abby Stanley Jared 00:12:02 and red buds and that sort of thing. as far as shrubs go, there are a lot of really easy, low maintenance types. there are junipers there, azaleas that are blooming right now. Viburnum is a wonderful one that's blooming right now. So many different varieties, sizes. Super fragrant. I could go on and on.

Jim Brogan 00:12:32 Let me ask you about you mentioned azaleas, and that's interesting because, I love the azaleas are so beautiful when they're in bloom. the rest of the year, they're. I don't think they're very attractive bushes at all. And I know there's some knockoff options. How popular are knockoff? Whether it's azaleas, roses. It seems like those are becoming more and more popular. Are you seeing a lot more of the knockoff type stuff that can offer other advantages?

Abby Stanley Jared 00:13:02 yeah. So I guess when you mean knockoff, maybe you mean just kind of like, I don't know, like the, like the generic form. we're obviously we carry all forms, but we try to not just be like, you know, what you'd find at Lowe's.

Abby Stanley Jared 00:13:19 So we have a lot of, like, variety and a lot of more interesting, plants as opposed to just like, your generic types. those are really popular. Like, for instance, like the knockout roses were, like, such a fad for a long time. But I think people are kind of getting away from that now and starting to explore more of like more natives that I mentioned that actually have a purpose in the landscape as opposed to just being pretty. And then also, more interesting and more different and unique options. because we we live in such a great climate here that we have so many options.

Jim Brogan 00:14:02 We do. You know, you mentioned trees. Bradford pears are all over Tennessee and the South. They are, but they are. They're an invasive species. They're so invasive that North Carolina is trying to eradicate them. Why is the Bradford pear so bad?

Abby Stanley Jared 00:14:22 Right? Oh, gosh. Well, Bradford's are, bred off of the, Asian pear. The Callery pear. They were bred to not have the thorns that they do, but they have extremely low crotch angles, which makes them really susceptible to breaking and falling.

Abby Stanley Jared 00:14:43 For one, they are invasive, as you mentioned, so they spread throughout the landscape and choke out any native species. And they also their second offspring, when they reproduce, becomes that Callery pear which has these insanely long thorns. And they are extremely detrimental to farmers and people in the country. They like to eat up the tractors and tires and, there they're awful trees in all, in all ways.

Jim Brogan 00:15:24 So. So what is it.

Abby Stanley Jared 00:15:25 For the allergies?

Jim Brogan 00:15:26 So what is a native plant and tree that I could look at instead of a Bradford pair.

Abby Stanley Jared 00:15:33 Yeah, well, I mentioned the serviceberry and that one blooms white. So that would be a direct correlation. It also has a gorgeous red fall color and beautiful berries in the summer. So like three season interest there. and then another native that I love our red buds. and then there obviously there are dogwoods. let's see. Blooming natives. Yeah. Then there are other options that are not native like, of course, cherry trees and crab apples and other blooming spring trees that are gorgeous.

Abby Stanley Jared 00:16:10 What?

Jim Brogan 00:16:11 What are the best small trees to plant beside a home?

Abby Stanley Jared 00:16:16 well, all of those that I mentioned. there's river peeler.

Jim Brogan 00:16:23 I love Japanese maples.

Abby Stanley Jared 00:16:26 They're really good. River birds are good. They are going to be very thirsty. So that's just something to note. as long as you have enough water for them. it would be fine. And obviously the size. Capacity. but, yeah, it really depends what you're thinking. Crate myrtles are another good option. for something easy and pretty.

Jim Brogan 00:16:52 I love crape myrtles. well, speaking of crape myrtles, let's talk about pruning, because it's so it's so interesting how different people do their crape myrtles. And I've had different landscape experts on the show actually, in the past that have different thoughts. But, you know, I see some people that just prune more of the ends of the, of the branches, you know, where they get kind of kind of scraggly and then but then so many people chop them way down. but then when you see everything bloom, it doesn't seem to make a huge difference one way or the other.

Jim Brogan 00:17:25 What do you recommend in pruning crape myrtles.

Abby Stanley Jared 00:17:28 Well, I recommend not to. I recommend to choose the size of the tree that you want it to be, and leave it alone and let it be. so.

Jim Brogan 00:17:37 No pruning at all. Not even not even the ends of the limbs.

Abby Stanley Jared 00:17:42 I mean, it's really it's really just for size at that point. So. So no, I don't. there's no reason to prune them for the health of the tree, and it really ends up making them look horrible and making them soccer at the bottom. And it just we call it crape murder. when you see them just totally chopped.

Jim Brogan 00:18:06 Hurt someone else, say that.

Abby Stanley Jared 00:18:07 To shopping malls. I mean, it looks awful. no. Just choose the right size of the tree that you want it to be.

Jim Brogan 00:18:15 So we've got, like. Like I'm looking out. We have a crape myrtle on either side of our driveway, and I love them when they're in bloom, especially. But why do people.

Jim Brogan 00:18:24 watch? Why do some people chop them down like that? I mean, I'm not I don't I'm not real. I mean, I'm not real up on all that stuff, but it just seems like. What's the point?

Abby Stanley Jared 00:18:36 Well, I don't know. I think it keeps landscaping companies in business, maybe. obviously the, like, shopping centers may have whatever. I don't know, reasoning. I think people want to keep things small. Everyone wants to keep things small. But there are a lot of dwarf varieties, so it's unnecessary as long as you choose the right variety.

Jim Brogan 00:19:02 When it comes to trees, is it better to start with a seedling or a fairly mature tree?

Abby Stanley Jared 00:19:09 It's better to start small for the health of the tree. and like I said, it's best to plant in the fall. you can get things established right now, but we really recommend planting in the fall. That way, it has a long enough time for the root system to get established before the heat and stress of summer.

Jim Brogan 00:19:33 We're visiting with Abby Stanley Jarrett. She's with Stanley's greenhouse. We're talking about landscaping and gardening. when we talk about trees and shrubs, talk to us a little bit about pruning the basics of pruning shrubs, particularly.

Abby Stanley Jared 00:19:54 well, that's kind of a pigeon hole. basics. Well, it really depends on what you're going for. again, I don't think that pruning is very necessary. It's usually just a size thing. I prefer to let things go. if there are any dead or overlapping branches, then obviously you want to prune those. there's a thought out there. You never want to take off more than a third of the plant at one time for its health. so that's what I usually tell people beyond that. It's it's mostly aesthetic. and and not always necessary.

Jim Brogan 00:20:43 So pruning, by and large, is not necessarily because that's news to me. So it may be we talked about the crape myrtles of course, but pruning as a rule doesn't necessarily improve the overall health of the of the shrub or whatever you're pruning.

Abby Stanley Jared 00:20:59 Not necessarily. No. I mean, if there are like dead bloom spikes and obviously you want to prune those, and, and taking off like any. Yeah. Dead blooms will like, you know, increase the, increase the plant to, to produce more. And if you want something to grow more laterally than you, you know, cut the top to increase that lateral growth. But it's really manipulation. And yeah, it's not it's not usually for the health. it can be, but those are specific situations.

Jim Brogan 00:21:39 Yeah, I guess we, we do like our shrubs and stuff to be certain shapes I guess would be the main thing people do that it sounds like people.

Abby Stanley Jared 00:21:46 Just want to. We just want to manipulate things.

Jim Brogan 00:21:49 Sure. Let's talk about grass. Oh, it seems like the best grass here in this area is Kentucky fescue. what do you like in this area? Are you a big fescue fan? I love Kentucky fescue.

Abby Stanley Jared 00:22:05 well, we don't do grass. we like to promote, non lawns.

Abby Stanley Jared 00:22:15 but it, lawns and grass. They really kill the biodiversity. so when you think about you don't have, like, this manicured lawn, it's got clover and it's got violets. And I know that bothers a lot of people, but it's really important for the biodiversity of our native ecosystem, for the like, fritillary butterflies, for instance, their host plant or those little Corsican violets in the lawn and, clovers, important for early pollinators pollination. So we we don't sell grass and we usually try to steer people more towards having more of an actual living, garden space that provides more than just, I have just looking nice to them. it can look nice. Can also be, you know, more beneficial.

Jim Brogan 00:23:16 That's just interesting because I just love the look of a nice lawn of fescue.

Abby Stanley Jared 00:23:21 Right. And that and that goes way back. there's actually some psychology behind that. and there's nothing wrong with it, but, it's just it's not as beneficial for the for the environment.

Jim Brogan 00:23:38 We're visiting with Abbey Stanley.

Jim Brogan 00:23:40 Jared's. When we come back, I want to get into gardening. how do we start a garden? What do we do if we want to plant a garden where there's currently grass? We'll kind of get into some some different gardening tips. I also I'll have my dollars and cents segment. What can we learn from the history of income taxes? We're starting to hear more and more talk about the tax increase that's coming at the end of next year. More and more talk out of Washington. How can what can we learn from history? Stay with us. This is more living with Jim Brogan here on Newstalk 987 W Cokie.

Jim Brogan 00:24:15 Welcome back to Newstalk 98 Seven's Broken Financial Studios, where Jim Brogan is coming to you live with important news and advice to help you achieve your dream retirement. Get ready to learn and live. Here's your host, Jim Brogan.

Jim Brogan 00:24:30 This is for living with Jim Brogan, where it's all about living the best years of your life your way. This morning we're talking about beautiful landscaping, and we're going to get into gardening with our guest, Abby Stanley.

Jim Brogan 00:24:43 She is with Stanley's greenhouse. before we do get back to Abby, however, it is time for dollars and cents.

Jim Brogan 00:24:50 Want to be sure you are getting the most out of your retirement for all the years of your retirement. That's the primary goal of Moore living with Jim Brogan and our dollars and cents segment, where we provide you with an important financial tip that will help positively impact the quality of your life and retirement. And now, here's Jim with this week's dollars and cents tip.

Jim Brogan 00:25:16 There's more and more talk out of Washington starting to become prevalent about our coming income tax increase and what we should do. we're having a tax increase at the end of next year because many of the the core components of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act from 20 the beginning of 2018 are expiring. And we're going back to the rates from 2017, adjusted for inflation. And I think it's worthwhile. What can we learn from the history of our income taxes? So if you go back through history, you know, our the income tax system we have today was first instituted in 1914 and it was a marginal system, marginal means, whatever your tax bracket is.

Jim Brogan 00:26:03 you don't pay like if you're in a 22% tax bracket, you don't pay 22% income tax on all of your income. We all pay 10% income tax on the first. If your joint filer about $21,000 of income, the next 70 or so 70 to 80,000. Of income we all pay 12%. So, for example, when we get up over 100,000 of taxable income, we're in a 22% marginal bracket, but we're not paying 22% on all of our income. And that's an important thing to understand when we do our tax planning. Because if we do anything to trigger taxable income, things with investments or Roth IRA conversions, capital gains, whatever, we're going to be taxed in whatever our marginal tax bracket is, whether that's ordinary income or our marginal capital gains rate. The highest income tax in 1914 was 7%, and that was for people with income over $500,000 in 1914. I mean, let's be honest, the Vanderbilts and the Rockefellers, that's about it. now, you know, our highest income tax rate is 37%.

Jim Brogan 00:27:18 But when I look at history, what was our highest income tax bracket in history? 1946, it was 94%. And we had an 18 year period in the late 40s through the 50s and into the early 60s, where the highest income tax bracket was over 80%. All 18 years. And for most of those years, it was over 90%. If you work in a state with a state income tax, there was a point at which you just didn't really make any money. Everything had to go to the government, either the state or federal government. Then the tax rates in the 70s were back down in the 70s. The highest tax rate was 70%. 1980 the highest tax rate went to 50%. Now then in 1986, the highest income tax rate was slashed to 28%. And we ushered in what is a low. ERA of taxation from a federal income tax perspective. Now, it doesn't feel like low taxation because everywhere we turn around we're taxed. We have state income tax. We excuse me, state sales tax.

Jim Brogan 00:28:23 Some states have income tax. We have capital gains tax. We have property tax. We have gasoline tax. We have all these taxes we pay. But when it comes to federal income tax, this last 35 years has been an era of low taxation. When we look at the rest of our US history, yet we have a $34 trillion deficit. We have unfunded liabilities for Social Security and Medicare. So we're getting more and more talk about what's going to happen with taxes just at the top of the hour. Just now at 9:00, we had the news saying that Republicans are pushing to extend the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, and the Democrats are resisting that. There's always going to be an argument. Now we're kind of coming into the election. So things are very, very politically driven, of course. The bottom line is our taxes are going up at the end of next year. And the tax deduction, the the standard deduction is going down. The average two two household two income household in East Tennessee.

Jim Brogan 00:29:30 If you're, you know right around low six figure income combined. You know you're looking at about a $3,000 increase in taxes just from the standard deduction going down. But then where are we going to be ten years from now with our income taxes. So in my opinion, we're in the lowest tax environment for federal taxation that we're likely to be in for the rest of my life. I'm 54 years old. So what should you be doing to take advantage of lower income tax rates today? Maybe I should pay a lower tax rate today in order to not pay a higher tax rate tomorrow. And that's where we do things like we consider Roth conversions. We consider things like harvesting capital gains. A lot of people talk about tax loss harvesting, but tax gain harvesting is extremely powerful and valuable. So be sure you address your tax plan is a core component of financial planning, and be intentional about how you structure investments and when you're retired, retirement income so that you can control what shows up on your tax return and what does not.

Jim Brogan 00:30:48 And when you pay that income tax.

Jim Brogan 00:30:56 That's our dollars and cents segment for this week. You can find this week's Dollars and Cents segment and others by visiting Brogan Financial.

Jim Brogan 00:31:08 Fellowship. State is having their their one night class tax planning and your retirement. It's coming up I'm teaching it. It's on May the 7th. It's a week from Tuesday. So it's a Tuesday evening, 630 to 8:30 p.m.. It's just a one night class pillow. City, state, Hardin Valley. I'm going to cover the main things I think everybody needs to know about tax planning and your retirement, whether you're retired or not. You know, if you're within 7 or 8 years of retirement, or you're retired, this class would be for you will focus entirely on tax planning, income taxes, investment, taxation, social security, taxation. We're going to look at all of those things. you can find out more go to Pelosi tax planning.com. And you can download a syllabus again Pella city tax planning.com. That one night class again is Tuesday, May the 7th at 6:30 p.m. at Penn State Hardin Valley.

Jim Brogan 00:32:05 Today we're visiting with Abby, Stanley, Jared's, and we're talking about landscaping, gardening. Let's get into gardening. Abby. first off, what should we do if we want to start a garden where there is currently grass?

Abby Stanley Jared 00:32:23 yeah. Well, there are a lot a couple of different options. you can put down cardboard or some sort of mat over top and basically just smother it and kill it. and then and then create your bed from that. you there are a lot of tools that I've personally used that can kind of if that works and if it like, comes up good enough that you can scoop underneath, and create a bed that way. we don't promote the use of chemicals, but obviously that's a that's another route. but, yeah, a couple different types of things that you can do.

Jim Brogan 00:33:11 And then talk about. You mentioned soil earlier, in the show, talk about what, you know, in this red clay environment we have, what should we be mixing in to have a to have a great garden.

Jim Brogan 00:33:23 What should we be mixing into the soil.

Abby Stanley Jared 00:33:26 Yeah. So we really push our soil conditioner. so we've got two different types. the premium is just composted pine bark, but it helps break up the clay and provide drainage. It's all I use in my garden, and it's fabulous. we also have a higher end that has some compost in it, too. so those are good components. that conditioner helps break up the clay and then, compost is good organic material to help feed the soil, so both elements are really good. I hear a lot of people and a lot of, uncertainty over putting potting soil in the ground, and that's just mainly the biggest thing. You don't want to be putting potting soil in the ground. and also mulch really isn't doing anything. Your standard whatever color mulch isn't, isn't providing really anything as far as benefit to the soil, just aesthetics.

Jim Brogan 00:34:26 So does does mulch not, help keep moisture in, you know, or like in periods of intense heat? Does the mulch help somewhat.

Jim Brogan 00:34:34 Keep the keep the soil cooler?

Abby Stanley Jared 00:34:38 Yeah, yeah. And that would be, I guess, the only real, benefit, but it can be the larger particle size can be really suffocating to plants and they need that airflow. They, you know, you just don't you want to create a natural environment for them. And and so putting a turtleneck sweater on top, they kind of suffocate. And they don't like that. So we recommend mulching with our soil conditioner. It's a nice dark brown. And it's not only going to create a nice even color, but also it's going to have the benefits of of not suffocating and decomposing and and breaking down that clay.

Jim Brogan 00:35:20 Now it seems like this would be a good time playing a vegetable garden. I know my wife, she she grew up in South Carolina and they they really calling it a garden wouldn't do. It's really more of a small farm. Almost. she would love to just just eat a tomato. right off the vine. Especially with still a warm in the sun.

Jim Brogan 00:35:41 What are good vegetables to grow in in East Tennessee?

Abby Stanley Jared 00:35:45 Yeah, definitely. Well, tomatoes are the biggest thing, right? Granger County and we grow a ton of different varieties. We grow all kinds of heirloom varieties of tomatoes, but they're also we're rolling into warm season. So you can also do like your cucumbers, zucchini, squash, okra, watermelon, strawberries. nice.

Jim Brogan 00:36:16 Now, strawberries are pretty tough, right? I mean, I've always heard strawberries are hard to grow.

Abby Stanley Jared 00:36:23 No not necessarily. No, they can not really. No.

Jim Brogan 00:36:29 Well, I guess that was a myth then. But I always learned because my grandfather, way back hit a peach orchard down in Lenoir, down in Loudoun County, and then up at his house in ozone, Tennessee, in in Cumberland County. He had he he would grow strawberries and all I heard about my whole childhood was how hard it was for my mom, was how hard it was to ten strawberries. So I guess.

Abby Stanley Jared 00:36:55 That's why if you're doing so on a large scale, you know, that's different.

Abby Stanley Jared 00:36:59 But, but for a home gardener, it's it's it's not anything crazy.

Jim Brogan 00:37:06 Now, gardens can be more than just fruits and vegetables or flowers. I have heard that mixing in flowers is good for pollination and even insect repellent. What plants are a good choice for repelling pesky bugs?

Abby Stanley Jared 00:37:21 Right. So there are a lot of great herbs out there that are good for repelling. one of the tops though, that people usually plant around their veggie gardens is marigolds. marigolds are kind of, a little bit, naturally insecticidal pesticides. to an extent, obviously. But, yeah, marigolds are one of the top things you want to plant around your veggie garden. And then there are a lot of great herbs that are deterrents to a lot of the lemon scented herbs are great for deterring different insects. and lavender and, Yeah, certain.

Jim Brogan 00:38:06 We're visiting with Abby Stanley Jarrett. She's with Stanley's greenhouse. When we come back, we'll have a few last gardening tips, including how do we keep the critters from eating all our produce? Stay with us.

Jim Brogan 00:38:16 This is more living here on Newstalk 987WO.

Jim Brogan 00:38:22 Welcome back to Newstalk 98 Seven's Broken Financial Studios, where Jim Brogan is coming to you live with important news and advice to help you achieve your dream retirement. Get ready to learn and live. Here's your host, Jim Brogan.

Jim Brogan 00:38:38 Welcome back. This is Moore living right here on Newstalk 987 Wookey I'm Jim Brogan. We're visiting with Abbey Stanley Jared's this morning and talking about gardening and landscaping. let's talk about organic. Abbey. organic. You know, even even organics can use pesticides. So what is the difference between how organic and non-organic produce is treated?

Abby Stanley Jared 00:39:08 Oh, goodness. That's another rabbit hole. well, there are or there are, treatments that are certified organic. So that would be or MRI certified, products that you can treat. that basically means that they've gone as big certification process, that they're not harmful, to us or to the environment. to the extent that they're used properly. there are a lot of different products out there. yeah. As far as produce goes, though, it's really it's really sticky.

Abby Stanley Jared 00:39:49 a lot of people don't want to use anything at all. but yeah, there.

Jim Brogan 00:39:55 Has to do some. Yeah. Almost have to do something.

Abby Stanley Jared 00:39:58 You kind.

Jim Brogan 00:39:58 Of.

Abby Stanley Jared 00:39:59 You kind of do. You really do. Yeah.

Jim Brogan 00:40:04 And what about the critters? Pass rabbits, you know. How do we keep them from eating our stuff before we get a chance to harvest it? What's the best way?

Abby Stanley Jared 00:40:14 Yeah. Well, really, no one has a foolproof answer. I mean, nature is nature. You know, and we have to coexist with it as best we can. I would never get any of my blueberries before the birds would get them, but I never tried. the biggest thing is that you could do is create a barrier, obviously. so having some sort of fencing around your vegetable garden, that is tough, that things cannot get through. is one of the best ways to go about that. you can do sometimes bird netting over the top or any sort of netting over the top.

Abby Stanley Jared 00:40:53 Obviously things can chew through things. so again, nothing's foolproof. there are a lot of other ways, too, that, like, people have at home, remedies of putting chili powder around and coyote urine and different predator urine types. and then there are obviously store bought, repellents that sometimes work depending on how hungry the animal is.

Jim Brogan 00:41:22 Now, Jill, who you who you spoke with. Of course. And she's our director of marketing, helps me with the produce the show. she says her aunt told her to sprinkle red pepper flakes on the vegetables. Does that work?

Abby Stanley Jared 00:41:36 Right. Right. I mean, again, does it work? It depends how hungry the animal is, but that's what I mentioned with like the chili powder. That's a common thing. Yeah. Any sort of, like hot substance. that usually is, irritating to the, to most animals. but again, it it always depends how hungry they are.

Jim Brogan 00:42:00 Now, if we don't have a lot of space, Abby, talk about how we can get started with a container garden.

Jim Brogan 00:42:06 What are the type of items we would want to plant in a container garden?

Abby Stanley Jared 00:42:11 Yeah, well, container gardening is big right now, and there are a lot of things that are coming out to be bred to be smaller and more compact for container use. I do all of my herbs and containers because it's just easier that way. Just come and grab a chunk of basil, you know, and and go. so a lot of herbs are just great for that. And then, Tomatoes are perfect for containers. There are varieties that stay smaller and like a better bush type, and you can also use some stakes, but they can be grown in containers. Vining plants are more difficult, but there are a lot of there are a lot of things that you can do. yeah.

Jim Brogan 00:43:00 Okay. Well, Abby, we're, unfortunately, we're out of time. We just have about a few seconds here. Give us your website. How can people find Stanley's greenhouse?

Abby Stanley Jared 00:43:08 Yeah, our website is Stanley's greenhouse.com. we are also on Instagram and Facebook.

Abby Stanley Jared 00:43:17 Stanley's greenhouse. we are physically located at 3029 Davenport Road, which is in South Knoxville, just about five minutes from downtown. yeah. Come and see us.

Jim Brogan 00:43:31 Well, thank you so much for joining us, Abby. It's been great to have you with us today to talk about landscaping and gardening.

Abby Stanley Jared 00:43:36 For having.

Jim Brogan 00:43:37 Me.

Abby Stanley Jared 00:43:38 Thank you for having me.

Jim Brogan 00:43:39 That's Abby Stanley Jarrett. She's with Stanley Jacobs, Stanley Greenhouse, and we've been talking about landscaping and gardening. The greater environment provides for more living so you can live the best years of your life your way. Thank you to Jill for helping produce the show. Thank you to Wayne for helping engineer the show. Thanks for tuning in. Check out our upcoming class Tax planning.com. On May 7th, you've been listening to More Living with Jim Brogan on Newstalk 987 Wookey.

Multiple Speakers 00:44:09 The views expressed by Jim Brogan and his guests are not that of Cumulus Media. Any discussion of financial, legal and tax planning strategies is not intended to be individualized advice and is general in nature.

Multiple Speakers 00:44:21 Always consult with your advisor for advice specific to your needs. This program's content does not represent a recommendation of any particular security strategy or investment by Jim Brogan or Brogan Financial, Incorporated.

In this episode of More Living with Jim Brogan, financial educator Jim Brogan explores why investors feel uneasy despite strong market performance. He addresses the impact of geopolitical conflicts, inflation, and Federal Reserve policies on investor sentiment. Jim warns against common mistakes like chasing returns and sitting in cash too long, emphasizing that market corrections are normal and healthy. He highlights the disconnect between cooling headline inflation and ongoing affordability challenges for families. Jim advocates for disciplined, long-term investing over market timing, encouraging listeners to separate emotional reactions from sound financial fundamentals.

Automatically Transcribed With Podsqueeze

Jim Brogan 00:00:02 You're tuned into more Living with Jim Brogan, broadcast live from the Brogan Financial studios at Newstalk 9087, where old fashioned values, expert knowledge and genuine understanding come together to give you the retirement straight talk you deserve. Jim's a former National Advisor of the year recipient and a financial educator, and he's here today to talk about how you can live out the best years of your life. Jim and the Brogan financial team have been helping retirees and retirees across the southeast for over 20 years in their pursuit of financial independence. You can reach them during the week at 865862 6800. So sit back, relax and get ready to learn, because more living with Jim Brogan starts now.

Speaker 2 00:00:45 Hello East Tennessee, welcome to More Living with Jim Brogan, where it's all about living the best years of your life your way. This is Newstalk 987 wonky. And as we move through spring and prepare for summer, yes, it's that time of year. Pretty exciting. A lot of people are checking their investment accounts and asking a very reasonable question.

Speaker 2 00:01:07 If the markets are doing well. Why does investing feel so uneasy right now? And that has kind of been the case for, I don't know, at least six months, if not a year. We keep seeing strong market figures, but we're also surrounded by headlines about uncertainty, about interest rates, the economy, certainly global events, you know, the geopolitical conflict at the top of the list, especially with the Middle East. And that contrast can make confident investors feel a little bit on edge. You know, strong markets don't always feel calm. And headlines don't always explain what's really driving the instability in the markets. So today we're going to slow things down and we're going to separate markets from the headlines and what the noise says versus how investing actually works. We'll talk about why uncertainty is normal, where fear can lead investors astray, and why patience often matters more than prediction. So you can make decisions based on long term perspective and not on daily headlines. We're also going to talk some about the difference in affordability and inflation.

Speaker 2 00:02:25 Why does life still feel so expensive? And we'll also talk about the Federal Reserve higher for longer. Well our fed rates you know in rate cuts keep getting delayed higher for longer has been really the theme for a while. But let's dive into market uncertainty and all these things because it is it does feel a little unnerving right now for a lot of investors. So why do investors still feel uneasy? And I think the biggest thing is, is because a lot of a lot of the daily headlines, which is driven by number one thing, would be the geopolitical conflict and war in the in the Middle East. There's no question that that is the number one driver right now of people's fears. And I also think that we have to be careful that we don't allow our political lens to affect too much of our market investing fundamentals, and that can be dangerous in multiple ways. You know, if you like what's happening politically, then you can maybe be overconfident in what you expect and what the that you might misinterpret, maybe some of what the data is telling us.

Speaker 2 00:03:42 Likewise, if you're if you're strongly against what's happening politically, you may have an especially bad outlook that may be too pessimistic. And there's some some research and some data that suggests that this is exactly what happens. and that as a rule, as an example, Republican investors tend to be more successful when Republicans are in office, and Democrat investors tend to be more successful when Democrat presidents are in office. Well, the reality is most presidential cycles markets are up. I mean, over a four year period. So what that data is really kind of telling us is that, you know, if if people don't like what they're seeing politically, they pull the data, shows they pull their money out of the market more often. And over time, we need to we need we need our money invested in the market to grow and beat inflation and all those things. And, you know, we never know when the booms are going to happen in the stock market. Now there's there's very often this disconnect between market performance and investor confidence.

Speaker 2 00:04:56 We continue to hit new market highs. Obviously, you know, over the last month or so, you know, with the war in Iran, that hasn't necessarily been the case, but things have been clicking along at a pretty good pace, until the month of March when, you know, we did have a little bit of a, of a, of a pullback. And we're still waiting on April. Of course. but the bottom line is markets have continued to trend upwards. But investors over the past year, year and a half have continued to be somewhat pessimistic about their outlook. And there's really not. We have to be careful because there's really not a direct relationship between investor confidence and long term performance. If anything, when we see good market performance and we see pretty strong economic growth, but investor confidence is low, that usually is a signal that a year from now things are going to be. Markets will probably be up. Now we have to be careful with that because we really don't know that.

Speaker 2 00:06:05 You know, I can look at the historical data of four year presidential terms and know that, you know, the, the the second two years after the midterm elections are usually better in the markets in the first two years. That doesn't mean that's what's going to happen this year or last year or in the next three years. We just don't know. You know, there's we have to be very cautious with how we time things. You know, there's also been a lot of stuff out there about corporate profitability is continues to be very strong. But that share price is relative to corporate earnings. The forward expectations of future earnings, that core stock prices are continuing to trend higher and And valuations are higher. And does that mean that the next ten years is not going to be as good? We don't know. And we're a little bit of a new paradigm with AI and everything that's going on there. So, you know, I think a lot of the nervousness is being driven by headlines rather than actual market fundamentals.

Speaker 2 00:07:16 you know, market corrections are a normal, healthy thing in, in, in normal markets. you know, the average market correction in any given calendar year is about 13 to 14%. So in other words, in a typical calendar year, we're going to see a market correction of over 10%. And in midterm election years that that average is typically higher than that. It pushes closer to the high teens 1,718%. Market corrections can be very healthy for the market. It makes markets efficient. It helps companies be more profitable by focusing on what's most important and all of those things. So one of the reasons I'm saying this is I expect that sometime this year we'll have a market correction. But but that's not a big prediction because that's what happens in most years on average. So it's not like I'm putting my, you know, going out on a limb saying that. So we just have to be careful. Markets do react more to headlines. oftentimes will investor behavior for sure. Now I've also found markets tend to react more to expectations about the future than they do to current news.

Speaker 2 00:08:37 And you know, you may have seen I'm sure you've seen this before. You know, we'll get good news, in the markets and markets will go down. We'll get we'll get bad news and markets will go up. And it's like, what is the relationship here? What in the world is going on? And ultimately the reason this happens. Or there could be a lot of reasons, but as a general, overarching comment on that. When markets react. Markets are pricing things based on where does the market expect to be 6 to 9 months from now? Market is a forward looking instrument. It's if we're looking through the windshield and unfortunately, a lot of, you know, when we get market news, the reality is we're looking through the rearview mirror. We're looking at data that is being reported from the past. And so, you know, the market is typically interpreting that data and saying what is likely to happen in response to this? And what does that mean for the stock market in 6 to 9 months? So it can be very counterintuitive.

Speaker 2 00:09:49 I know, you know, earlier this quarter Well earlier this year. We're now in April. So I'll just say earlier this year, you know, Nvidia which is now one of the two largest capitalized stocks in the world. so, you know, one of the, you know, one of the two most valuable companies, they had a very, very good, corporate earnings report. It exceeded all expectations. And the the stock price went down. And it's kind of like, what in the world is going on? Well, markets are concerned that that AI stocks and well the AI impact on the technology stocks in the Magnificent Seven. People are concerned that it's hitting a bubble. And you know I don't know how you relate higher corporate profitability to the stock price should go down. But that's exactly what happened. So markets are kind of reacting to what we may see in the next 6 to 9 months. So it can be very confusing at times. And you know what? What about interest rate expectations, earnings forecasts, policy signals? All these things play a role in shaping temporary market moves.

Speaker 2 00:11:07 So today's headlines do drive what markets may do in the short term that that that market performance in the short term is looking at how is how are these headlines, how is this data, how is this news going to affect the markets in 6 to 9 months? In my in my experience, you know, over, over time markets overreact in the short term. but the bottom line is we know we can't time that. So what, you know, how do we need to handle this? So when we come back, I'm going to talk about why uncertainty never goes away. It is a it's just a reality of the stock market. And we'll talk about common investor mistakes that we see people make during volatile periods and how to prevent that. So stay with us. This is more living with Jim Brogan here on Newstalk 987 watch.

Jim Brogan 00:12:02 Welcome back to Newstalk 98 Seven's Brogan Financial Studios, where Jim Brogan is coming to you live with important news and advice to help you achieve your dream retirement. Get ready to learn and live.

Jim Brogan 00:12:13 Here's your host, Jim Brogan.

Speaker 2 00:12:16 Welcome back to More Living Here on Newstalk 987 Wookey. I'm Jim Brogan, and today we're talking about why investors feel nervous even when markets are strong. And we're talking about ultimately the market versus the headlines and why we sometimes see a lot of inconsistencies in the headlines and what happens in the markets. So I want to kind of now talk about why uncertainty is never going to go away. Certainly there are periods of heightened uncertainty versus periods where it's not as heightened. But, you know, many investors see uncertainty as a warning sign. The reality is it's a permanent part of investing. If there's two things I feel very, very confident in saying that I think are certain about the stock market. One is that it's uncertain and the two two is it can be very choppy and volatile. With the stock market, you never know what you're going to get in the short term. So, you know, then then we look at periods when the market is very, you know, has more stability.

Speaker 2 00:13:24 We've had a couple of years like that lately where, you know, it feels like markets are more certain. But is that really a hindsight bias? Like are we looking in the rearview mirror? Everything's 2020 through the rearview mirror, our vision. So are we looking through the rearview mirror and saying, oh, I remember when it was more calm. Is it ever really calm or our investors. Ever? Never. Are they really ever not concerned or nervous? I guess there are some markets where they're less nervous than others. But the reality is, if you look at investor behavior, I think there's some hindsight and recency bias in that. I think there's a tendency to chase returns and chase what has already worked. You know, I like chasing returns as an example. Maybe in the last few months you've decided you want to buy, you know, you want to invest more heavily in gold and silver, or maybe you're not invested at all in gold and silver and you. So you invest heavily in gold and silver.

Speaker 2 00:14:34 Well, precious metals the last couple of years has shot up like a rocket, right? The returns have been tremendous gold mining stocks, tremendous booming growth in the in the in the return on gold miners. So that's an example of chasing returns. And I'm not potentially I'm not saying that gold and silver is not going to continue to perform, but we have to be careful that we're not chasing the heart. The hot markets and I'll compare chasing returns to to traffic on I-40 in West Knoxville. So you're going down the interstate, it's three lanes and you're in the middle lane, and it is literally stop and go traffic. I think we all know what that's like here and here in Knoxville. So it's stop and go. and and we look over to the left lane, and that left lane is steadily moving instead of stop and go. So then what do we do? We get over into the left lane now, and then when we get over in the left lane, what happens then? That lane all of a sudden starts doing a stop and go thing.

Speaker 2 00:15:41 And then what happens to the lane? We just left the lane in the middle. It starts moving more steadily. So that's a great analogy. I think I heard that years and years ago. I don't even remember where I heard that analogy, but it's a great analogy of what Chasing Returns looks like and the damage that it can possibly do. If if I have a chart in my office, it's called a periodic table of annual returns. And what it does is it goes back about 15 years or so, and it looks like our old periodic tables from chemistry class. But in this case, there's, you know, we're looking at 15 years of data and we're looking at about 15 different asset classes. What does that mean? Large cap US stocks, small cap US stocks, international stocks US bonds. Now those are the most common. That's what most people tend to invest in. But what about some of the other categories? I said there's closer to 15 on our periodic table. Things like energy, commodities like gold and silver.

Speaker 2 00:16:50 Natural resources. Real estate. Real estate is a fundamental asset class. See, these are asset classes I'm talking about that are considered alternative asset classes. And you know, what you're doing is you're adding more diversification. But I'm kind of getting ahead of myself and going down a little bit of a tangent there. The bottom line is you look at this periodic table and what it's doing is it's showing you in any given year, in the last 15 years, what asset class did the best, which one did the second best? They're rated first to worst. And every year is rated on its own. And on my periodic table they have each every asset class is a color. So maybe large cap US stocks are red. Well, they're always red. And then small cap stocks may be orange or whatever. You get the point. But if you the reason those colors are effective, if you look at this chart. There's just no no patter, no rhyme or reason. If you look at what does in the what's one of the best 3 or 4 asset class performers in a particular year? It's it's usually not the next year.

Speaker 2 00:17:59 And that's a great example of chasing returns. And so those are very common mistakes that we see is chasing returns. Another common mistake that I see is is investors sit in cash too long after markets recover. And that can cost them a lot of money. See, one of the one of the things we misunderstand about trying to time markets is we don't have to be right. Once we have to be right twice, we have to be right on when we get out of the market. And then we have to be also be right on when we get back into the market. And that's a very dangerous slope. And one of the problems when we have extreme market volatility is you don't want to be out of the market on the wrong day. You know, some of the best days in stock market history historically have happened right after some of the worst days in stock market history. And I'll use the temper tantrums from a year ago as an example. President Trump announced the tariffs. I said temper tantrums. I think I meant to say tariff tantrums.

Speaker 2 00:19:05 President Trump announced the tariffs market was going down precipitously over a period of about a week and a half, if I remember correctly. And then you may remember on a I believe it was a Wednesday morning, President Trump came in, out in the public press and said he was going to he was going to delay the tariffs, the reciprocal terrace. And so in one day, the stock market shot up almost 10%. And I'm talking about the S\&P 500. It shot up almost 10% in one day. If you were not invested in the stock market in that one day, you missed out. I mean, your portfolio today. If you literally got out the day before and got back in the day after, your portfolio stands to be about 10% lower than it would have otherwise been if you're invested in the S\&P 500 specifically. So that's just a good example. People, people, when they're on the sidelines typically sit in cash too long. It's not you know. Now if you come into some cash, you know, or or maybe you've had a piece of real estate and you've sold it.

Speaker 2 00:20:16 So it hasn't been in a diversified market based investment plan. And you're like, man, markets are all time highs. I don't know if I want to invest all this all at once. That's a different question than saying, I'm going to sit on the sidelines because you can look at a systematized, disciplined way to invest that cash over a period of months or even couple of years. So you don't put it all in at once. But the goal. The plan there is to get your plan going and be consistent and be disciplined with it, regardless of what's happening in the stock market. So sitting in cash too long, I think it's very damaging if we overreact to headlines, especially during fast moving news cycles. And that's where we can really it can really be dangerous. and and chasing what's already worked. All of these things can be pretty problematic. Now then we look at economic stress versus market opportunity. You know, markets can still offer offer a lot of opportunity at the same time that the economy feels very, very stressed.

Speaker 2 00:21:24 And that's very common. You know when, Mark when when when investors feel stressed that's when there can be opportunities in the market. Now we're not wanting to try to time markets. I want to be very clear on that. I think I have been what we're trying to do is just we do want to do some management, you know, in some reacting to market opportunities when, when things are happening. And so we want to take advantage of opportunities. We also want to protect ourselves from unnecessary risks. But we don't want to do is make wild changes, make substantial changes in the heat of the moment. What would a substantial change be? Shifting 30% of your money out of equities to bonds at one time. Okay. Now I mentioned gold and silver earlier. You know, if you have a fundamental plan to own, you know, let's say anywhere from 3% to 8% in gold and silver, depending on your outlook, let's say 5 to 10%, that's probably a better average to look at. Let's say you always want to have for for diversification, you want to have 5 to 10% of your portfolio in gold and silver.

Speaker 2 00:22:35 and I'm not saying you should be in that range, but when you're reacting and you're when I say take advantage of opportunities. I would say there are times you might want to be a little bit more bullish than bearish. But if you do more than 10%, which is your threshold now you're starting to bet on gold and silver. And that's where your timing the market. And that's dangerous. Likewise, if your range that you're wanting to have is 5 to 10% and you go down, let's say you sell it all, well, now you're betting against gold and silver. But there's some leeway there to do some active management. And and that's what we do at Brogan Financial. And I think that's what is very, very important because economic stress can lead to a market opportunity. Now recessions and slowdowns and geopolitical concerns do not mean that we're going to get poor long term market results. As as an example, we all know over periods of time markets are very resilient. We also know that regional wars historically, in the longer term, have had a good impact on the stock market.

Speaker 2 00:23:41 Why? Because asset prices historically go up in times of regional conflicts. Now, could the regional conflict spread and become a bigger conflict and be a real problem? Yes. We got to watch that. What we've got to do is be is be careful. We don't overreact to what we're seeing and what's going on base, especially based on what we think and how we feel about those things politically. Okay, we just got to be the, you know, the rational investor. We've got to be rational, with how we do our investing. patience often outperforms trying to predict short term market moves. I often say, you've heard me say it on this show. It's not your timing of the market. It's the amount of time you're in the market. And in the short term, we never know what we're going to get. If you're investing in the stock market for a return over the next 60 to 90 days, for example, that is speculation. We have no idea where the stock market is going to be in 60 or 90 days.

Speaker 2 00:24:45 For that matter, it'd be speculation to invest in the stock market and say, I want to, you know, I'm making a bet over the next 12 months. It's still speculation. Now, if you're invested, the longer the term that you're invested in the stock market, the less you're speculating, because historically, over long periods of time, markets have done very well. Now, how long of a period? It's longer than 4 or 5 years. 3 or 4 years. I see a lot of people say, hey, I just want to, you know, I want to know I can get through a year or two of an economic downturn without touching my market investments, which means you would have to have some more stable and protected holdings in the meantime to be able to get go to for income and for cash needs. so you just want to be very and I kind of kind of lost my train of thought there I was thinking about what we want to cover in the next segment. I'll tell you what.

Speaker 2 00:25:41 Let's go ahead and get to our to our next break. and when we come back, I'm going to dive into the difference in affordability versus inflation. Inflation numbers there up a little bit because of the price of oil. But they have been trending downward. but why does life still feel so expensive if inflation has kind of come under control? Somewhat. Stay with us. This is more living with Jim Brogan here on Newstalk 987 Waukee.

Jim Brogan 00:26:13 Welcome back to Newstalk 98. Seven's Brogan Financial Studios or Jim Brogan is coming to you live with important news and advice to help you achieve your dream retirement. Get ready to learn and live. Here's your host, Jim Brogan.

Speaker 2 00:26:28 Welcome back to More Livingston Brogan, where it's all about living the best years of your life your way. This is Newstalk 987 Wachs and we're with you every Saturday, 9 to 10 a.m. and again from 3 to 4 p.m. you can catch all of our shows there podcast on Spotify and Apple Podcast. We also stream them on our website, not live, but we do have an archive of several years of radio shows, and they're archived by category.

Speaker 2 00:26:55 So you can hear all those shows. If you go to Brogan financial.com and click on radio, you can then listen to old shows. We also have our dollars and cents segments, which are typically about 3 to 5 minute segments that I do when I'm not doing a financial related show that I always do to help you make informed and prudent decisions that can impact the quality of your life. So check us out online. Brogan. Com we've also got a world of resources. If you go to the resources tab, you can click on classes and find out our upcoming class schedule for the rest of the year, both at the University of Tennis. Well, I think the rest of the year is only at Penn State Community College. Our next class at the University of Tennessee adult education is is next February, I believe. but anyway, you can find all of that schedule online, plus all our blogs, as well as our special guides and articles that we've written to help you become informed. As I've said before.

Speaker 2 00:27:56 Let's talk about why does life feel so expensive if inflation is slowing down, if it if headline inflation has cooled off over the last 6 to 12 months. Why do most families say life still feels unaffordable? And why does that disconnect exist? Well, there's a difference between headline inflation and household affordability. Slower inflation does not mean cheaper gas prices. Cheaper groceries. I probably shouldn't have used gas as the example because that's the easy one to beat. That's the easy drum to beat. Let's talk about the other things. Slower inflation does not equal cheaper groceries. It doesn't equal cheaper rent or insurance or health care. So if we look at the things that cost us money on a day to day basis, especially when we go to the grocery store, and pay our bills, we don't. Prices aren't really going down. I mean, we can look at a particular category of all kinds of different prices and say, oh, this category is going down, but overall prices are not going down. They're continuing to go up.

Speaker 2 00:29:03 So if they go up at a 3% annual rate, that's 3% on top of what they already were. So, you know, and and just recently inflation had dropped down near, I believe, 2.5%. It is trending back upward towards three. But the, the that's considered fairly low inflation. Now the target rate for the Federal Reserve is to get it to 2%. I don't see that happening for a long time. you know I don't know. We're already saying higher for longer, which I'm going to talk about, in the next segment about the fed keeping rates higher for longer, but getting down to a 2% inflation rate. I don't think it's going to happen for a long time. I don't think I don't know when we'll see that again if we even do it. Market cycles would would seem to dictate. We will see that eventually. But you know, would that be in the near term? I don't think so. So slower inflation does not mean we're paying less in in these types of costs.

Speaker 2 00:29:59 And what are the categories that are driving most of your pain in your household. Certainly housing costs mortgages rent those kinds of things. insurance costs, insurance costs we know are not going down. Health care costs. You know, health care inflation typically is double the rate of regular inflation. So if regular inflation is two and a half to 3%. Health care costs usually are going to be in that 5 to 6% range. You know, the couple few years ago when we had 8% inflation, Health care costs went up 16. I mean it's about double. So. Insurance costs also in health care but energies and energy and utilities. we see this a lot. Now energy and utilities we we could see those going down even when grocery prices are not. but certainly in today's market with, with the, with the war and with prices of oil, energy and utilities costs are going up. Now, what's going to happen when you know if and when that regional war stops, then, you know, in the Strait of Hormuz opens back up? I mean, I would expect oil prices will come back down some.

Speaker 2 00:31:12 We don't know when that will happen or or why or how. it stands to reason. At some point they will. so we'll just have to see. So, you know, that's a particular category that can go up and down at different times faster than other categories. But, you know, if you think about it, energy costs really can drive the costs on a lot of other things. I mean, if you can think about our logistics and transportation in the United States. I mean, our grocery prices can be affected by oil costs, right? Everything. I mean, a lot of the stuff we buy and the things that we spend money on and the things that we need are affected by oil prices, wage gains. Often when we get raises or increases at work, they often they they often feel to they they often feel like you're not making progress. They're failing to feel like progress because you're you're questioning whether or not you're even keeping up with the cost of living. So practical adjustments that families are making.

Speaker 2 00:32:23 They're doing things like downsizing. They're delaying certain purchases. They're prioritizing spending. They're doing all of these things. So, you know, affordability versus inflation are two radically different things. I think we need to be very aware of that when we, you know, when people are talking about inflation now moving forward, what, what, what moving forward, not just this year. Let's talk about moving forward over the next ten years. I expect that asset prices are going to continue to go up. I think things are going to I think, a good way to say that affordability is going to continue to be an issue. I don't know how much inflation we're going to get, but I think prices are going to continue to go up. And if that's true, more than likely over the next ten years the stock market's going to continue to go up. and I think where we are with our fiscal situation in the United States with federal debt and deficit spending, I think asset prices have to continue to go up.

Speaker 2 00:33:31 Because if you look at our federal debt, you know, the way to look at how much do we owe? It's not looking at a singular number like 35 or $40 trillion. It's what is our debt relative to the size of our economy, debt to GDP. Well, if asset prices are going up, our GDP is going up. And so debt to GDP could actually be going down. You know, economic growth this year is forecast to be between five and a half and 6%. Well that that's growing the economy. Now some of that could be inflationary. But that is economic growth. That is the size of the economy getting bigger. And now the interest on the debt is more than five and a half to 6% a month. It's closer to seven, I believe, if I'm remembering correctly. But if economic growth is becomes higher than the interest on the debt, debt to GDP goes down. So, you know, to solve our I wouldn't say solve to make progress on our debt problem, which I think just about any rational person is worried about.

Speaker 2 00:34:44 It's not just about increasing taxes or decreasing spending. It's about economic growth and raising asset prices and inflation as well. So I think in the next ten years, you got to have a plan that can keep up with inflation after tax. And I cannot impress that enough. Now the problem is that means you need some stock market stuff. and there's different levels of, you know, you can be aggressively in the market. You can be moderately in the taking risk in the market. You could be conservatively taking risk. Now that's a little bit of an oxymoron saying conservative risk. but what do those words really mean? It means, you know, when the market's up or down, you're not up and down as much. And so those are the kind of things you should be measuring in your portfolio. today I'm not going to get into how do you do that? How do you create more diversification in your in your portfolio so that you don't move up and down as fast or as much as the market? but the bottom line is, I think over the next ten years, I think if you're a fairly young investor, from a retirement standpoint, meaning you're in your 50s or early 60s or even mid 60s, I think inflation over your lifetime is one of your biggest risks.

Speaker 2 00:36:00 And I think you have to be careful you're not too conservative. you definitely need to protect short term income. You don't want to depend on the stock market for short term income, but you're going to need your in my opinion, you're going to need your investments to move up at a pace faster than inflation after tax. And a good rule of thumb is you need to beat inflation by 3 to 5% gross. So if inflation is you know, your risk investments if inflation is 3% per year, you need to be earning 6 to 8% per year to to beat inflation. Now, you may have more protected and stable holdings that are set more for stability. You're not going to beat inflation much with those investments. You'd like to beat it by maybe 1 to 2%. You're probably not going to beat it by more than that. so you no longer term those risk investments give you the greatest benefit or the greatest opportunity to fight inflation. but you can't depend on them in the short term. So you've got to have some of the more of those stable holdings.

Speaker 2 00:37:07 So you've got to have the right balance. And then inside that risk bucket, you have the right you have to take the right kind of risk. If the market let me not say if when the market's down 35 to 40%, how much is your portfolio likely to be down? And that's what a typical deep bear market looks like 35 to 40%. What's likely to happen to your portfolio? We don't know for sure. We can't. You know, markets are unpredictable. We can't guarantee things, but we can measure risk and have a pretty good idea, you know, looking at historical risk, which is basically looking at statistical data, we can have a pretty good idea of what future risk metrics are going to look like. Not are you going to make lose money or lose money or how much? But if markets do X, what can you reasonably expect out of your portfolio? And that is an exercise I think you have to do, especially as you get closer to retirement, because you just don't want to get an outcome from the market that that makes you do something that would be that could hurt you, like selling off in a substantial market downturn.

Speaker 2 00:38:12 So now's the time to look at all that market's, you know, through through March. They are slightly down. But markets compared to six months ago are still up. Great time to be looking at the diversification in your plan and balancing your risk investments with your more stable and protected holdings. Now, when we come back from our last break, I want to talk about the Federal Reserve higher for longer. Again, this is what we're seeing with announcements from the Federal Reserve. Rates are likely to hold higher for longer. How is that going to affect you? How does that affect inflation? Mortgage rates? How should you be planning your purchases? Stay with us. This is your living with Jim Brogan here on Newstalk 987 W Cokie.

Jim Brogan 00:38:57 Welcome back to Newstalk 98 Seven's Brogan Financial Studios, where Jim Brogan is coming to you live with important news and advice to help you achieve your dream retirement. Get ready to learn and live. Here's your host, Jim Brogan.

Speaker 2 00:39:12 Thanks for tuning in this week to More Living Here on Newstalk 987 W Cokie, we're with you every Saturday from 9 to 10 a.m. and again from 3 to 4 p.m..

Speaker 2 00:39:23 check us out online at Brogan financial.com. Higher for longer again. What does that mean? The fed continues to delay cutting interest rates. You know, with the, with the uptick in inflation. A slight uptick, but concerns about future inflation, due primarily to the war in Iran, which is my number one concern about the impact in the short term on markets and economic growth. but because of that, you know, the fed is expected. They announced in March they were going to hold rate steady. you know, coming into this year. the economists largely expected no rate cuts in the first six months of the year. However, economists the general consensus was, you know, in the second half of the year, from July through December, we're likely to see a couple of rate cuts of a quarter of a percent, not big rate cuts. And that was the. That was the consensus. Coming into the year. Now we're hearing more consensus that in the last half of the year, we might even see a rate increase in the third quarter.

Speaker 2 00:40:41 Now, I think that is way premature because we don't know what we don't know where we're going to be in even 90 days in terms of what's going on in Iran and the Strait of Hormuz and gas, oil supplies and where that's going to be in 90 days, we just don't know. So I think it's all up in the air right now. But they haven't announced they're going to hold rates steady to spot early or cut expectations. you know, how does this affect you? Should you borrow now. Should you wait? Should you be saving more money? Should I pay off debt or invest the money? Let's address those three questions. First of all, should you save? Yes. you should always be saving. if you're not, if you're not, if you're working, if you have earned income coming in, you should always be saving and investing. Now, if you're retired and you no longer have earned income, you're not going to be saving. Well, you could be, but more than likely you're not going to be saving and investing.

Speaker 2 00:41:43 You're going to be withdrawing and spending. now the exception to that is if, you know, if you're over 73 and you're taking required minimum distributions, maybe you don't need all that money. You're reinvesting some of it after paying the tax, but typically you're not going to pull money out and then turn around and reinvest it. You know, I mean, that's you know, you're not going to pull an extra $500 a month of income so that you can invest 500 a month. I mean, you're just taking it out of one and put it in the other, right? But when you're working, you should always be saving. You should be very disciplined with your saving. If you're not systematically every month investing and saving for your future and you're working, then you've got to get started. And even if you're in your 20s, this is the biggest thing I would impress upon young folks today. And those of you who who helped, you know, speak and teach your kids and your grandkids. Start early.

Speaker 2 00:42:43 The minute you get a full time job, start saving money. The minute you get a part time job, you should really be trying to save money. Now, if you're paying for your own college or your own life experience and getting skills so that you can work, that may be different. But if you're earning money, you really want to be saving money now, especially once you're out of college and full time. If you go to college. And it's a great rule of thumb to try to save 10% right out of the gate. If you can do that, you're going to be ahead of 98% of your peers in terms of creating financial independence and wealth. I know things are expensive today, you know? And you say, how in the world would I save 10% of my income? Well put. You know, track what you're spending for a week. Just for one week. Are you going to Starbucks every morning? You know, just look. What are you spending? I mean, we have these computers that we carry around in our pockets and our purses called telephones.

Speaker 2 00:43:52 How often are we upgrading those phones and paying those costs? And then what? What are our monthly costs on those phones? They're just all kinds of things. If you really prioritize to try to save more money, I bet you can. Now, if you're already working and you've established habits, you know what I'll never forget? Years ago, I spoke at a at a conference in Texas for for younger folks. I mean, most of the people in the room were in their 30s and 30s. I'll say so. I'm in their 20s. There were some in their 50s, but most were in their 20s, 30s and maybe early 40s. And I covered kind of fundamentals about wealth creation and financial independence. And one of the very first things I covered was you have to you have to you have to spend less than you make. You have to spend less than you make. And so you've got to know where those expenses are going. Time has kind of snuck up on me and I'm out of time.

Speaker 2 00:44:50 my apologies to Wayne in the studio. Thanks for tuning in this morning. This is your living with Jim Brogan on Newstalk 987 Wookey.

Speaker 3 00:44:59 The views expressed by Jim Brogan and his guests are not that of Cumulus Media. Any discussion of financial, legal and tax planning strategies is not intended to be individualized advice and is general in nature. Always consult with your advisor for advice specific to your needs. This program's content does not represent a recommendation of any particular security strategy or investment by Jim Brogan or Brogan Financial, Incorporated.

Show Notes:

In this episode of More Living with Jim Brogan, host Jim Brogan interviews Amanda Rich, Director of Marketing for the Knoxville Smokies, discussing the team's second season back downtown at Covenant Health Park. Amanda highlights fan experiences, theme nights, family activities, and community partnerships. Jim also covers key financial topics, including estate planning, the importance of coordinating beneficiary designations with your overall plan, and portfolio diversification, particularly regarding the "Magnificent Seven" mega-cap tech stocks and their outsized influence on S\&P 500 index performance.

Full show transcript:

Jim Brogan 00:00:02 You're tuned into more Living with Jim Brogan, broadcast live from the Brogan Financial studios at Newstalk 98 seven, where old fashioned values, expert knowledge and genuine understanding come together to give you the retirement straight talk you deserve. Jim's a former National Advisor of the year recipient and a financial educator, and he's here today to talk about how you can live out the best years of your life. Jim and the Brogan financial team have been helping retirees and retirees across the southeast for over 20 years in their pursuit of financial independence. You can reach them during the week at 865862 6800. So sit back, relax and get ready to learn because More living with Jim Brogan starts now.

Speaker 2 00:00:46 Hello, East Tennessee, and welcome to More Living with Jim Brogan, where it's all about living the best years of your life. Your way is you're listening to Newstalk 98 seven Waukee. As spring brings a new energy to Knoxville, as it does every year. One of the city's most exciting traditions continues to reestablish itself in the heart of downtown, and it is Knoxville Smokies baseball.

Speaker 2 00:01:12 With the Knoxville Smokies back on the field, fans are experiencing Southern League action in a whole new way right here at home. And today we're joined by Amanda Rich. Amanda is director of marketing, social media and community relations for the Knoxville Smokies. We'll talk about the team's return to downtown Knoxville, how the Smokies are building connections throughout the community, and what fans can expect as the season gets underway. We'll also explore the role sports play in bringing people together, and why the Smokies continue to be such an important part of East Tennessee. Good morning Amanda. Welcome to More Living.

Amanda Rich 00:01:51 Good morning. Thanks for having me.

Speaker 2 00:01:53 Absolutely. It's great to have you. talk to us about. Give us a snapshot for listeners who who may be new to the Smokies of what the Smokies are today compared to who they were.

Amanda Rich 00:02:09 Yeah, absolutely. Well, we're hoping now that we're in the heart of downtown Knoxville with our return last season hitting season two. You know, we're hoping to be that vessel in the community.

Amanda Rich 00:02:19 having the the Knoxville Lions recognize that we are back here, and we hope to be a hub to just bring everybody together, whether it's to enjoy baseball one Knox, the soccer team, or any other special event that we're holding at the stadium this summer.

Speaker 2 00:02:34 Absolutely. Now talk a little bit about your role, Amanda, how did you come to the Knoxville Smokies and describe your role as Director of marketing, social Media and community relations?

Amanda Rich 00:02:47 Yeah, I'm a little bit newer to the team. Still, I come from a background in minor league baseball, so I've been here for almost three months now with the Smokies. But my role is really here to help kind of build those relationships within the community. We're heavily focused on the old city being right next door to us, building those relationships with those business owners and those partners, getting exposure for them, driving business for them, but also bringing more businesses downtown. We're filling the storefronts below the stadium and hoping to create, you know, this area of buzz on game day.

Amanda Rich 00:03:23 We've been activating the plaza for the first time this year with games and activities, live music, giveaways, with the idea that we really want to bring the community out for this event. Whether you have a ticket or not, you can be part of the activities. And then once gates open, go inside and enjoy a great baseball game.

Speaker 2 00:03:42 And it can be a great family activity. And we're going to get into all that today. But, but first you said you've been in minor league baseball. So tell us a little bit about your journey and and what drew you personally to working with the Smokies organization and moving to Knoxville.

Amanda Rich 00:03:58 Yeah, absolutely. I have a huge passion for sports, specifically with baseball and minor league baseball. I love the fun and the community driven experience that we really do have. so I spent five years with the Lansing Lugnuts. they were the High-A affiliate of the Athletics. and as a driven young individual in sports, I wanted to continue to grow and continue to develop my skills.

Speaker 2 00:04:23 So that was that. Lansing, Michigan.

Amanda Rich 00:04:26 Yes. Yes. Lansing, Michigan. Awesome. And so when this go ahead.

Speaker 2 00:04:33 No no no. Go ahead.

Amanda Rich 00:04:35 So just wanting to continue to develop, you know, the the Knoxville Smokies are the Double-A affiliate of the Chicago Cubs. So a higher level of ball, a closer affiliate, at least closer to home for maybe in Chicago, for Michigan. and so it was really appealing. And, you know, Randy Boyd and the Boyd Sports Group. They really have such a great reputation and they're such strong, community driven individuals that my passion just seems to align here perfectly. And the three months I've been here, Knoxville has been wonderful.

Speaker 2 00:05:08 Yeah, Knoxville is a great place. It caught my attention when you said Lansing, because my mother was actually born in Lansing, Michigan. Oh, wow. And, she and she and her parents and, she was the oldest of three kids. They moved down to East Tennessee when she was, I think around 6 or 7.

Speaker 2 00:05:26 But, yeah, she was born in Lansing. Do you like being in the South?

Amanda Rich 00:05:30 I do, I mean, the weather is so much better. So that alone I can't complain about that. But, it's been great. The southern hospitality is no joke down here, and everybody's been so welcoming. It's been wonderful.

Speaker 2 00:05:46 So last year was the first year of the Smokies returning to downtown Knoxville. from your vantage point with everything you've learned in the last three months, what has it meant for the Smokies to return to downtown Knoxville after being away for so long?

Amanda Rich 00:06:02 Yeah, it means everything to us. You know, we feel like we've been now moved to downtown, to the center of all the action where that main hub you pass us, you know, pretty much any direction you come from. So it means a lot to us to kind of be ingrained within the Knoxville community again. And, you know, we've got we've got a long way to go. We're only in year two. So we've got big plans and hopefully, you know, continue to help develop downtown and and create this absolute just entertainment spot where on game day, if you're not there, you're totally missing out.

Speaker 2 00:06:37 So it is the second year. how successful would you say was the first year in terms of the move, the Knoxville embracing the Smokies? Was the organization pleased with attendance? Just talk us about that transition and how the year went.

Amanda Rich 00:06:57 Yeah, overall the transition went pretty well for us. We were really happy with how the inaugural season went. a lot of expectations I say were exceeded. But, you know, there was a lot of issues that also arose from the inaugural season. And something like parking. Parking was a major issue last year, and we worked throughout the season last year to develop parking, make it better, make it easier for our fans. And parking has only gotten better and easier for this year. So, continuing to develop the things that we realized, you know, didn't go as smooth last year, that's our main focus for this year with the idea that hopefully that fan experience is a little bit smoother and an easier process, therefore making the the games a little bit more enjoyable for our fans that are coming to see us.

Speaker 2 00:07:42 A lot of people worry about parking. Can you just talk to us a little bit about the plan for that? What can people expect when they attend to tend to smoke his game.

Amanda Rich 00:07:52 Yeah, we have about 9000 parking spots available that are within walking distance or shuttle distance of the stadium. We'll have three lots that are available for purchase. That's going to be the white, blue and orange. These are located on our website as well as visit Knoxville's website. If you look up parking. Plus we'll have the Langley Garage and Summit Hill Garage, where there will be shuttles running to and from the stadium there. So plenty of parking. We have more options in roughly about 9000 spots available for game days.

Speaker 2 00:08:22 Now those paid spots are those are those game by game. Can they be purchased game by game or are they only season tickets for parking?

Amanda Rich 00:08:31 Yes, they are actually game by game. I think that's probably our biggest difference for this year. Unfortunately, you are no longer able to buy that season pass parking, but they are available game by game.

Speaker 2 00:08:45 Yeah, I'll view that as a positive thing for people that want to try it out. They know if they're a little bit worried about the parking, you know, or they have some issues. Don't want to walk a long distance. They can buy for just that game. That seems like a good thing to me. from your perspective, how have fans in our community responded since the move back to the city center?

Amanda Rich 00:09:06 Yeah, we've had a pretty overwhelming response. You know, on social media. We have a ton of support in the local community. we've worked with UT and being on campus in the athletic department over there. So we feel like we've got a lot of great support. We've got definitely some locals that we've got to convince, our value and what we're bringing to the downtown area. But overall, we feel supported. We feel like the locals enjoy us being here, and we're hoping to just continue to build on that.

Speaker 2 00:09:36 It seems like with the University of Tennessee, and it's great to hear that there's a cooperative spirit there.

Speaker 2 00:09:43 certainly with the with the you know, Tennessee sports is so big in the area, and with the recent success of Tennessee baseball, certainly the community has seemed to really embrace baseball. Do you feel like there's been a carryover effect between the two organizations?

Amanda Rich 00:10:03 Yes, absolutely. We were just talking about this internally a couple of days ago, too, and I think that also emphasizes the importance of the Knoxville Smokies being in Knoxville, because you do have this great collegiate entity in this college sport that different avenues. Right? People are all about the basketball, the football, the baseball. And, for us to be, you know, a professional level, even though we are still a minor league, but that professional level sport in Knoxville. I think, you know, we definitely carry off the backpack from University of Tennessee and those, those sports driven fans and those baseball passionate fans. we're definitely kind of seeing them come to, to at least check us out and see what we're all about.

Speaker 2 00:10:45 Absolutely. Amanda, from your perspective.

Speaker 2 00:10:49 What feels different about Smokies baseball now? From what? From your understanding of the organization compared to previous seasons?

Amanda Rich 00:10:58 Yeah, I think it's really just this, this coming together. You know, we just rebranded and created a new story for this season. That's Smokey's country and hashtag Smokey's country. So we're trying to make it feel like it is. Yes, a baseball team, but something that you can be part of. And everybody knows that they can be part of Smokey's country. And when you come down to that stadium and you're on Jackson Ave or Stadium Way, you're in Smokey's country, and that's kind of Smokey's territory. So really just trying to create ourselves as an identity and give our locals and fans something to relate to that they feel like they're part of.

Speaker 2 00:11:37 We're visiting with Amanda Rich. He is director of marketing, social media and community relations for the Knoxville Smokies as the Smokies get reestablished. This is your number two in downtown Knoxville. It's so great to have them back in town. When we come back, I want to talk about the game day experience.

Speaker 2 00:11:52 What can you expect at the park for, for people who have been and then also especially for those of you that have not been to the park, what can you expect and what type of a family experience is it? So stay with us as we visit with Amanda Rich, you're listening to More Living with Jim Brogan right here on Newstalk 98 seven Waukee.

Jim Brogan 00:12:14 Welcome back to Newstalk 98. Seven's Brogan Financial Studios or Jim Brogan is coming to you live with important news and advice to help you achieve your dream retirement. Get ready to learn and live. Here's your host, Jim Brogan.

Speaker 2 00:12:29 Welcome back to More Living right here on Newstalk 98.7. Wookey I'm your host, Jim Brogan. We're visiting with Amanda Rich this morning. we're talking about Knoxville Smokies baseball. Great to have them back in the city. This is year number two. Being back the way they've invested in the downtown area is pretty remarkable. let's talk Amanda about Covenant Health Park in the game day experience. How does talk how about how Covenant Health Park, how playing there helped shape the experience for fans?

Amanda Rich 00:13:06 New and exciting things.

Amanda Rich 00:13:08 Just from food and beverage to different corners and things you can go to from the fast pitch machine. So it really elevates the experience. You could go into the ballpark for a game, not watch a single minute of baseball, and have an absolute blast from everything else that's going around on the concourse and out front.

Speaker 2 00:13:29 So talk about when people come in. I mean, talk a little bit about some of the things people notice when they walk into the ballpark, like some things that might surprise some people or just what you would notice.

Amanda Rich 00:13:42 Yeah, absolutely. Our main entrance with our big staircase definitely gives you a major league experience when you enter the ballpark. You feel like it's not a minor league ballpark. So I think walking in just the overall energy can kind of surprise fans, because it really does feel like we're a major league ballpark. But then for our theme nights and our promotions, you know, we go all out. So as soon as you enter those gates, if it's Margaritaville night, we have totally taken over the ballpark from head to toe.

Amanda Rich 00:14:13 Decorations, food and beverage, the activities, the games. So it's really this overall encompassing night of entertainment and fun based off of our theme nights where when you enter, maybe it doesn't look like a ballpark so much because we have so much going on and so much entertainment and decoration to kind of fit those themes. it's a it's a full ballpark takeover.

Speaker 2 00:14:36 So really the atmosphere, there's a lot of time put into that. Thematically, it sounds like.

Amanda Rich 00:14:42 Yes, absolutely. We spend postgame there late nights to get ready for the next day, and we're there early to to finish getting ready. But we're really committed to going all out for these team nights and really just bringing that atmosphere.

Speaker 2 00:14:56 I know that, you know, baseball is different than basketball and football. And, you know, I was talking with my son in law who is, just an avid sports fan, and he just moved here after marrying my daughter. And, have we, as we've been at we were at a Tennessee baseball game the other day, and it just baseball has a feel to it.

Speaker 2 00:15:19 It's it's very family oriented. Do you do a lot of things for young kids? Do you see a lot of things with grandparents and grandkids or big families? Talk about how the family experience is affected at Smokies Ballpark.

Amanda Rich 00:15:35 Yes, absolutely. I mean, the families are, you know, our main target audience that we look for as we do tailor a lot of things around. You know, that family friendly kind of kid entertainment. So, our Plaza activities. You know, we've got face painting and caricatures and all those things that you want to do with your family and that the kids want to do. And then when you enter the ballpark, too, we continue those things going on. So we have, our Cub club that is dedicated to our future smokies, and it's free this year, so register your kid for free. You get tickets, you get freebies, you're able to come to a handful of games, and then those games are totally designed around the Cub Club and having those kids in the ballpark.

Amanda Rich 00:16:17 So getting those kids on the field pregame and on those in-between inning games and then post-game, every Cub Club game, the kids get to run the bases. So it's all about the kids and making that Cub Club free. This year, we're hoping that that's more accessible for more people and more families downtown.

Speaker 2 00:16:35 Now the Smokies introduced the NOx Vegas alternate identity. What inspired that?

Amanda Rich 00:16:43 Yeah.

Speaker 2 00:16:44 And what does that look like?

Amanda Rich 00:16:47 We just debuted the uniforms for the first time this last Thursday, so it was really exciting. And we really, really turned the ballpark into this kind of, high rollers, high stakes kind of vibe. So it's been a ton of fun unveiling this and debuting the identity for for Knoxville. The idea really came from, you know, we were inspired by the nightlife and excitement that Knoxville has and specifically, you know, the Cumberland Avenue stories. So wanting to kind of pay homage to the nightlife and excitement that we have. people have heard of Las Vegas and Knox Vegas. So we really thought that's something that, fans and locals could relate to and, incorporating things like the sun sphere and these iconic Knoxville things into then this Las Vegas themed that's also iconic with the sphere and everything.

Amanda Rich 00:17:42 It's been a lot of fun creating the identity but then unveiling it. The merchandise has been flying off the shelves. We had an absolute blast on Thursday and we're excited for more. Thursdays to come is we'll have special themes on some of those not Vegas nights. So Elvis Night is coming up in June, and we're going to have a full Elvis takeover and more giveaways and lots of exciting things to come.

Speaker 2 00:18:03 No telling what we'll see that that day on in June. what insights or feedback have you gained from the fans about alternate identities and brand driven experiences overall? Because it certainly seems like that's a huge part of what y'all are doing, not just with the the, the alternate identity, but the brand driven experiences. It sounds like that's just a central part of what you do.

Amanda Rich 00:18:25 Yes, and it's definitely a pivotal thing within minor league baseball, creating these food identities. But all the idea behind the the alternate identities is that, you know, hyper localism where where the fans are relating. We want it to be.

Amanda Rich 00:18:42 Yes, it's Smokies baseball, but it's Smokies baseball for me, because whether it's the the NOK Vegas identity that you relate to or if it's the Buzz Lightyear One because you're family based and you know your kids love Toy Story. We want to make the Smokies feel like it's made for everyone, and we want everyone to feel like that they have a place or a piece that is for them. So it's so important to really think about these identities intentionally, and what the meaning behind them is and how that ties into the community, because we want the community to feel related to these identities. And that way they wear them and promote them and share them out there.

Speaker 2 00:19:24 You know, it's great to create those kinds of things. One of the things I think about with minor league baseball, you know, to, you know, of course, it's a Double-A franchise for the Cubs. I mean, players are passing through often, right? I mean, they're they're trying they're moving up. Some are moving down.

Speaker 2 00:19:43 They're trying to move up to the big leagues. it creates a little bit of a different dynamic, I think, because, you know, you don't have a group of players that you necessarily are going to follow for the entire year. How does is that a big part of why the branding? Because people, you know, it's not like following your favorite athlete at a major league team or a college team and you follow them through the whole year. Is that accurate?

Amanda Rich 00:20:08 Yeah. Yeah, definitely. You know, we say in minor league baseball that it's not our baseball that sells the tickets. And sure, we might have an uptick if a big prospect or somebody is rehabbing for us, but it's really that atmosphere and experience that sells our tickets because our team is kind of ever changing and we we don't know who our roster is going to be kind of on that day to day. So we definitely, you know, put a focus on the experience versus the baseball to to sell those tickets. And then we do get lucky.

Amanda Rich 00:20:39 And we have had, you know, Matt Shaw and Pete Armstrong who have come through. And we just had sort of Suzuki here for a few days rehabbing. So we get lucky and we get these guys that will definitely pop and sell some tickets for us, but we don't know how long they'll be here. And sometimes it's short and they develop and they're out of here. So, you know, we started this season with over 50% of a new roster. So it is kind of ever changing. And that is kind of why we do focus on the entertainment and atmosphere of each game.

Speaker 2 00:21:10 Yeah. And the themes and the brand identity and all those things. Now in your title there. Amanda, director of Community Relations is part of that. So that's got to be a huge part of your work. Why is that so important to the Knoxville Smokies?

Amanda Rich 00:21:24 Yeah, it's super important for us to just be involved and get out in front of the community. Right. So myself and mascots and different street team with giveaways and freebies.

Amanda Rich 00:21:37 we'll go out to just various events throughout, downtown Knoxville. We've done some stuff with the Girl Scouts. We've done some five KS in marathons at the ballpark. but it's important to us to just be involved. Get out there. have people in the community see us out at other events outside of the ballpark, and just recognize that we are a staple here, and we're here to support and be part of this community. So it's just really important for us to be out there and be visible and just engage with fans. outside of baseball, in the stadium and certainly throughout the off season when we're not playing baseball, we don't want fans to forget about us. So those community events are super important for just keeping us top of mind and and freshen people's brains while while we're in the off season.

Speaker 2 00:22:25 Are there any community initiatives or partnerships that you're especially proud of.

Amanda Rich 00:22:32 Gosh, this is this is right up my alley. Here. So I.

Speaker 4 00:22:35 Would say, you know, I'm.

Amanda Rich 00:22:38 Proud of all of them.

Amanda Rich 00:22:39 A lot of our, kind of cancer initiatives, those hit home for me is I'm really proud of them. We've got a new partnership we're developing with, Survivor Fitness, which is an amazing program for, kind of post-treatment, services and to get feeling better. so that's something that we're really excited to kind of launch and be a part of this year. a lot of our, our school initiatives with the, the reading and pushing attendance is super fun. And we've gone into a handful of schools and connected with the students and have read to them and, and different things like that. So those are always great. and then of course, our bigger partners that we just have so much fun with, like Zoo Knoxville and Dick's House of sports, the different community events that we've been able to be a part of through them have just been so much fun. So I'm really just proud of everything and I love being out involved in the community. That's where my passion is. so we're hoping to just keep adding to that calendar, keep filling our community calendar, and just be present at everything and anything we can.

Speaker 2 00:23:45 That's Amanda Rich, she's with the Knoxville Smokie. She's the director of marketing, social media, and community relations. We're going to get to our second break. When we come back, we'll talk more about the fan family and an experience there and also the accessibility. We'll also have our dollars and cents segment. What I consider to be the the the most overlooked area in estate planning today. So stay with us. This is more living here on Newstalk 98 seven Waukee.

Jim Brogan 00:24:16 Welcome back to Newstalk 98. Seven's Brogan Financial Studios or Jim Brogan is coming to you live with important news and advice to help you achieve your dream retirement. Get ready to learn and live. Here's your host, Jim Brogan.

Speaker 2 00:24:31 Thanks for tuning in this week. This is Moore living with Jim Brogan, where it's all about living the best years of your life your way. We're here every week. Newstalk 98 seven Waukee. We're with you. 9 to 10 a.m. and again from 3 to 4 p.m.. You can also podcast us. we'll have today shows up usually around Tuesday afternoon, but all of our podcasts are on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.

Speaker 2 00:24:55 You can also stream all our shows on our website. If you go to Brogan financial.com and click on radio. we're visiting with Amanda Rich with the Knoxville Smokies. It's so great to have them back in downtown Knoxville has really continued in the in the theme of revitalizing Knoxville. I mean, it I guess we're well beyond being revitalized now. We're thriving, growing, creating such great experiences. before we get back to Amanda, however, it is time for dollars and cents.

Speaker 5 00:25:24 Want to be sure you are getting the most out of your retirement. For all the years of your retirement. That's the primary goal of Moore living with Jim Brogan and our dollars and Cents segment, where we provide you with an important financial tip that will help positively impact the quality of your life and retirement. And now, here's Jim with this week's dollars and cents tip.

Speaker 2 00:25:49 Do you need an estate plan? And today I want to talk about what I consider far and away the most overlooked area in estate planning. But let's start with that question.

Speaker 2 00:26:02 Do you need an estate plan? You know, a lot of times, you know, when people hear about estate planning, they think for people with millions and millions of dollars of assets and they think about the estate tax. And the reality is, the estate tax doesn't affect a lot of people anymore because the exemption now is $15 million per spouse in 2026. So a married couple can get a $30 million exemption on any estate tax. And certainly there are, you know, people listening, people in the community that have more than that. But it doesn't affect a lot of people in our community. And so people, you know, often ask, do I really need an estate plan? If you if you own something and you love somebody, you need an estate plan and estate plans take care of you while you're alive. We have our power of attorney documents. And those are for people to make your medical decisions when you cannot. It's for people to pay your bills and administer your affairs when you cannot.

Speaker 2 00:27:07 Let those take care of you while you're alive. But then there's what I consider the most overlooked area in estate planning today, and that is how you handle your retirement accounts and understanding beneficiary Nations. You know, when you open up an IRA or a 401, or you go to work at a new employer and you, you know, you know, you sign new paperwork, it asks us to name our beneficiaries. And we typically don't even think about it. We put down our spouse. If we're married, we may put our kids as contingent beneficiaries if we have children, but we don't really give it much of a thought. It's very important in estate planning to realize that the beneficiary designation governs the retirement account asset. Anytime you name a beneficiary, it is the document that will govern who gets what, and it is not the will. And when you name a beneficiary, the will has no legal authority if you have a living beneficiary. And that can create some complications. one of the biggest complications, is the tax ramifications.

Speaker 2 00:28:23 you know, people think I don't have a taxable estate. I don't have over $15 million. Well, just about everybody I talk to that comes to my classes and comes and sees me in my office, has money in a retirement account, and and I'm talking about traditional retirement accounts, not a Roth. Well, that money you've never paid the income tax on most, if not all of that money. And if you don't pay the income tax, who's going to pay the income tax? It's going to be your heirs. There's no exemption for this. The estate tax is a completely different item. The income tax that's due on your retirement accounts is going to have to be paid by somebody. And any distributions after the date of death are taxed to the beneficiary. And so it's important to understand that it's also important to understand, you know when we write a will we have a lot of instructions in that we'll we cover a lot of scenarios. What if people don't die in the right order? What if I have a minor child or grandchild that ends up inheriting some assets? What's going to happen to those? You know you cannot.

Speaker 2 00:29:34 If you're 13 years old, you cannot inherit that IRA in your name. I mean, it is in your name, but you can't take possession of it. It's gotta be managed for you. and as a court, going to get involved as a judge, going to appoint somebody. There's just all kinds of things that come up because in a beneficiary designation, you've got a small box on a form that you didn't even give a second thought to. whereas with the will you have all this legal language. The problem is it doesn't mean anything if you have a living beneficiary. So coordinating your beneficiary designations along with your will. And if you have a living trust in any trust documents, you have to me is the most overlooked area in estate planning. attorneys, as a rule, they'll do your legal documents. They'll probably give you guidance of how you need to change your beneficiary designations. Many of the attorneys that we work with will actually do your beneficiary designation for you. but many will just give instruction.

Speaker 2 00:30:37 And I've met people over the years, many, many people in my office, they come in and their attorney might have given them instruction on what to do, but they didn't execute it. They didn't follow through, maybe didn't really understand what they were supposed to do to make sure that the beneficiary designation coordinates appropriately with their other estate planning documents. So coordinating the beneficiary designations with your legal documents and planning for the potential income tax ramifications on the retirement accounts, in my view, is easily the most overlooked area in estate planning today.

Speaker 5 00:31:14 That's our dollars and cents segment for this week. You can find this week's Dollars and Cents segment and others by visiting Brogan Financial.

Speaker 2 00:31:26 Check us out online Brogan financial.com. We've got just an abundance of resources. You can click on the resource tab. you can download reports that we've written white papers, guides on things like estate planning. We have a beneficiary checklist on our website that you can download when you see our beneficiary checklist. I think that it'll really raise your eyebrows as to what all is involved in naming beneficiaries, as opposed to just writing a name down on a form.

Speaker 2 00:31:57 you can also follow us. We put out a bi weekly newsletter, that can keep you up to date of any content we're producing, on the radio or with special guides, blogs. You can sign up for our blogs. So do check us out on Brogan financial.com. And we want to equip you to make informed and prudent decisions that can impact the quality of your life. Today we're visiting with Amanda Rich and the Knoxville Smokies. It's your number two back in downtown Knoxville. really just a tremendous season one and can such a great impact on the community. let's talk about the the fan experience. How do you make Smokies games enjoyable for families and casual fans and non baseball fans?

Amanda Rich 00:32:46 It's a good question. It's definitely, you know, the entertainment. It's the food, the beverage. all the stuff outside of baseball. So we've been adding new food and beverage items to have a returning fans have new items to come check out and try out, but also just keep kind of the classic ballparks, like the burgers and dogs kind of ever changing and fresh.

Amanda Rich 00:33:09 so the food and beverage side of things can certainly stay exciting. and then all that entertainment and stuff that we talked about, whether it's a deal on food and beverage for a night or it's an all you can eat ticket that's a little bit cheaper so that you can bring the family in and everybody can eat and enjoy. we just have a lot of different, opportunities and ticket packages offered that really can reach something special out to everyone.

Speaker 2 00:33:35 So can you talk a little bit about the food? I mean, we think about burgers and hot dogs, talk about some of the things people not may not be aware. Do you have smokers going, you know, talk. Tell me about the different options.

Amanda Rich 00:33:47 Yeah, absolutely. We definitely have smokers go in and we've got a whole barbecue corner. We've got a whole corner dedicated to chicken and fried chicken. So you can try all sorts of grilled and fried chicken sandwiches, wings, things like that. new items for this year. We have a couple of hot dogs, but, we loaded them up to kind of give them some extra little pizzazz, if you will.

Amanda Rich 00:34:10 So, there's 3 or 4 different loaded dogs that you can now try. We've got a Philly steak that we're now offering a shredded chicken steak sandwich that's new for this year. so kind of these, unique twists on those ballpark classics. And then we've also brought some new, exciting items like funnel cakes. We have three different variations of funnel cakes, which to me just really pulls in that classic just outdoor, almost fare type vibe. can't go wrong with the funnel cake.

Speaker 6 00:34:41 Like the Knox County Fair.

Speaker 2 00:34:43 Brings back a lot of memories. I have to say, I'm awfully partial to smoke and meat. anybody listen to me for a very long nose? I love to smoke and cook and grill and do all that stuff, so it's great to go somewhere that has great pulled barbecue and brisket. I imagine y'all have brisket. I mean, they've got great brisket at Tennessee basketball games. You all got brisket too.

Amanda Rich 00:35:04 Oh, absolutely. Absolutely.

Speaker 2 00:35:06 And what makes minor league baseball such a unique and accessible experience compared to other options.

Amanda Rich 00:35:13 Yeah, I think it's just the the inclusivity of everything. Whether you're in that front row seat, you know, down by the dugout and feel like you're part of the game and you're close with the players, you can almost talk to the team or you're just on the concourse. You've got a home. And we, you know, we've been crowned America's friendliest ballpark. And you feel that when you enter the gates, our staff is great. We're welcoming. They're helpful. They're guiding you to where you want to go. If you can't find something, we're helping you out. So it's really just an all inclusive environment where your presence when you enter the ballpark is is felt. It's seen where, you know, you maybe go into a major league ballpark. And I'd say 90% of the staff don't even know that you're there. But 90% of our staff are going to have a touchpoint with you. And it's just really, you know, that theme of inclusivity. Once you enter those gates.

Speaker 2 00:36:05 For someone who hasn't been to a game yet, Amanda, what would you say to encourage them to come out?

Amanda Rich 00:36:12 Oh my gosh, you must see.

Amanda Rich 00:36:14 You must try. You have to do it. There's. There's really no excuse. Especially with the weather being so perfect. It's perfect baseball weather. It's so much fun. like I've been saying all morning, we've got something for everyone, so there really is no excuse to come and check us out. Especially if you haven't been before. I promise you'll come once you're going to want to come again.

Speaker 2 00:36:34 Where can listeners go to learn more? They can see the schedule or plan their next Smokies game.

Amanda Rich 00:36:40 Yeah. If you head the Smokies baseball.com, you can get all information. Theme nights, promotions, gates and game times, parking information and also stay up to date on our social media channels. We'll post all game updates there in terms of weather, special ticket packages and things like that. So social media and smokies baseball.com to get all your information.

Speaker 2 00:37:01 Finally, Amanda, as the season continues, what are you most excited for fans to experience in 2026?

Amanda Rich 00:37:08 Well, that's a good question. I'm really excited for some of our theme nights and promotions to get started.

Amanda Rich 00:37:14 We have a good handful of returning fan favorites like the All You Can Eat Wednesday, The Thirsty Thursday, and our Summer fireworks series. But we also have some new and exciting theme nights and promotions that I'm really excited to roll out. We just debuted the NOx Vegas identity, so that's going to be super fun. We've got Margaritaville coming up, but then we've got some new ones like dancing with the Smokies, special guests, Elaine Hendrix, Country Night, which is going to be super fun and just a lot of stuff to come throughout the summer. Halfway to Halloween. Christmas in July. Big theme nights that are going to be just a ton of fun.

Speaker 2 00:37:53 Well, Amanda, thank you so much for taking time. Again, it's Knoxville smokies.com, is that correct?

Amanda Rich 00:37:59 Yes.

Speaker 2 00:38:00 Knoxville smokies.com. Check it out. We really want to embrace the Smokies. I know that y'all are doing great things in the community. What a great thing to be able to experience in downtown Knoxville. Thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule to share with us this morning.

Amanda Rich 00:38:14 Yes. Thank you. We appreciate it.

Speaker 2 00:38:17 That's Amanda Rich. He is director of marketing, social media and community relations for the Knoxville Smokies. Check him out online at Knoxville smokies.com. When we come back, I want to talk about how to keep The Magnificent Seven from endangering your portfolio. Stay tuned. This is more living with Jim Brogan here on Newstalk 98 seven.

Jim Brogan 00:38:40 Welcome back to Newstalk 98, Seven's Brogan Financial Studios, where Jim Brogan is coming to you live with important news and advice to help you achieve your dream retirement. Get ready to learn and live. Here's your host, Jim Brogan.

Speaker 2 00:38:57 This is more living. Thanks for tuning in. This week I'm Jim Brogan, and in closing, I want to ask you, are you do you have a strategy to keep the Magnificent Seven from endangering your portfolio? You know, for more. For for really well over a decade, it seemed almost difficult not to make money in the stock market. We had the you know, we did had the volatile year in 2022 one of the most volatile markets in years.

Speaker 2 00:39:26 but really through last year, markets with the exception of a correction in, in in actually barely a bear market in 2022, really the stock market has just continued to go up. One major player that are driving the market swings in recent years is The Magnificent Seven. Now what is the Magnificent Seven? It's it's the list of seven mega cap technology stocks composed of companies with market capitalization higher than $200 billion with a B. Now, who are they? They're Microsoft. Amazon, Meta or Facebook, Apple, Nvidia, Alphabet or Google and Tesla. You know, these companies are involved in technologies that are making headlines around the globe, such as AI, web services, quantum computing. Now, their success over the last 5 to 7 years has really created a new problem for investors. A common investment advice is to buy the index. So rather than choosing individual stocks, you buy into a fund that owns stocks in a given index, such as the S\&P 500. And the practice is often seen as safer than directly investing in specific stocks because it avoids unsystematic risk.

Speaker 2 00:40:53 Meaning systematic risk is, you know, the entire market goes down or goes up. You know, a rising tide rises all boats if you're diversified and if you you know but unsystematic risk you buy stock in company X which then experiences a major setback such as a scandal or a significant falloff in business, its stock value will likely decline. And if the company can't recover, you could lose most, if not all, of your investment. Buying an index means you're investing supposedly in multiple stock simultaneously. So even if company X is one of those companies, the other companies that didn't run into trouble are less likely to decline in value, meaning your overall investment may still be more sound. But that's changed a bit because The Magnificent Seven are so large. Rather than simply being part of the S\&P 500, they're driving the index because it is a weighted average index, and the larger the stock, the more it impacts the movement of the index. Now that's great when things are going well like they have the last 5 or 6 years.

Speaker 2 00:42:05 Those who buy the index are buoyed by the success of The Magnificent Seven. Now, I mean, in 2024 alone, Nvidia single handedly that one stock drove more than 20% of the S\&P 500 growth. So it's great when they're doing well. But what about when they're not? The flip side is that the entire index frequently suffers when one or more of these seven stocks are not doing well. So is it as diversified as it looks when the mega cap stocks are having a good run, a truly, properly diversified portfolio may underperform the indexes because they aren't as driven by the Magnificent Seven. And the S\&P is not as diversified as it used to be. So as investors, that can be tough to watch. It seems as if easy profits are passing you by. But it's important to remember that markets can be cyclical and over time the market on average has always risen. But in, you know, in between their growth periods, there are times when investments decline in value. And so if you know if there was a bubble or if we are on a bubble in in AI stocks and technology, which I'm not saying we are, you know what we'll do better in the last in the next five years.

Speaker 2 00:43:27 Will you do better if you're just in the S\&P 500 and being driven by these mega caps, are you better off to be more diversified and have more blue chip stocks and things like that? We don't know the answer. We do know that if you stay in just the S\&P 500, you could be facing more downside risk exposure than you may think. So evaluating your true exposure to a handful of stocks is a very, very important thing. Don't get me wrong I think you need to have an exposure to The Magnificent Seven, but you also need to be careful that you're diversified and don't have too much exposure. Too much of a good thing can certainly end up costing you. We don't know what the future holds. We've got to evaluate and manage risk versus reward. Thank you for tuning in this week. This is more living with Jim where it's all about living the best years of your life your way. Check us out online@brogan.com. Many thanks to Wayne for engineering the show and to Mary Caroline for helping produce the show.

Speaker 2 00:44:32 Have a wonderful and blessed weekend!

Speaker 7 00:44:34 The views expressed by Jim Brogan and his guests are not that of Cumulus Media. Any discussion of financial, legal, and tax planning strategies is not intended to be individualized advice and is general in nature. Always consult with your advisor for advice specific to your needs. This program's content does not represent a recommendation of any particular security strategy or investment by Jim Brogan or Brogan Financial, Incorporated.

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In this episode of More Living with Jim Brogan, host Jim Brogan interviews Sherry Jenkins, Executive Director of the Dogwood Arts Festival in Knoxville, Tennessee. They discuss the festival's 70-year history, rooted in community beautification, and its growth into 21 year-round events. Highlights include the dogwood trails, Chalk Walk, Featured Gardens tour, and the main festival at World's Fair Park. Jenkins also shares details about youth programs and a new Murals and Music festival. The episode concludes with a "Dollars and Cents" segment addressing Social Security's financial challenges and the importance of personal retirement planning.

Automatically Transcribed With Podsqueeze

Jim Brogan 00:00:02 You're tuned into more Living with Jim Brogan, broadcast live from the Brogan Financial studios at Newstalk 98 seven, where old fashioned values, expert knowledge and genuine understanding come together to give you the retirement straight talk you deserve. Jim's a former National Advisor of the year recipient and a financial educator, and he's here today to talk about how you can live out the best years of your life. Jim and the Brogan financial team have been helping retirees and retirees across the southeast for over 20 years in their pursuit of financial independence. You can reach them during the week at 865862 6800. So sit back, relax and get ready to learn because more living with Jim Brogan starts now.

Speaker 2 00:00:46 Hello East Tennessee, welcome to More Living with Jim Brogan, where it's all about living the best years of your life, your ways. You listen to Newstalk 98 seven. Wochit. And it is April now and this time of year, every year I always think of the Dogwood Arts Festival. been around a long, long time. It reminds us how powerful art can be in bringing people together, you know, from local and national artists to live music, hands on activities.

Speaker 2 00:01:13 And of course, the unmistakable beauty of East Tennessee is in bloom. So this festival isn't just an event, it's a celebration of community, creativity and connection. So today we're going to talk with Executive Director Sherry Jenkins with the Dogwood Arts Festival and explore what makes it so special, how it continues to grow and evolve in the incredible artists and partners who helped make it happen each year. We'll also talk about upcoming events with Dogwood Arts Festival, and then also why supporting the arts matters and how it enriches our lives. It does fuel our local economy and create shared experiences that can really stay with us. Good morning Sherry, welcome to More Living. It's great to have you on.

Sherry Jenkins 00:01:55 Good morning. Thanks for having me.

Speaker 2 00:01:57 Absolutely. you know, for listeners, Sherry, that may be new to Dogwood Arts. How do you usually describe what the organization does and means for Knoxville?

Sherry Jenkins 00:02:07 Well, that's I always joke that it's it's hard to have an elevator pitch that that captures what Dogwood Arts is. We do 21 events and programs year round these days, not just in the spring, but spring really is dogwood season.

Sherry Jenkins 00:02:23 so starting with the historic dogwood trails through all of our big events and feature gardens and all the all the lovely things in between. it's just a little bit of something for everyone, and it really is made by the community.

Speaker 2 00:02:36 It really is. for those that aren't familiar. Can you give out a website where people can kind of find out all the upcoming stuff? I want to go ahead and give that out.

Sherry Jenkins 00:02:44 Absolutely. Dogwood arts.com. That's an S on the end of art. Dogwood arts.com is where you find all the information.

Speaker 2 00:02:51 Yeah. It might blow your mind when you see all the different things they've got going on. now, you started with the Dogwood Arts as a volunteer. Is that right? What drew you to Dogwood Arts?

Sherry Jenkins 00:03:02 Well, friends. Friends who were volunteering for Dogwood Arts. My very first job was a wrangler for the balloon wrangler in the parade. That was years ago. And then I did a stint as the as the art coordinator. The artist coordinator on Market Square when the when the Dogwood Arts Festival was there.

Sherry Jenkins 00:03:24 and so and then joined the board and the rest is history.

Speaker 2 00:03:28 So you have a shirt on there says 1955. And that's a long time. The dogwood art has been here for now over 70 years. Why do you think that mission has endured for so long?

Sherry Jenkins 00:03:42 Well, I do think it all goes back to the roots in the community. I think there are generations of Knoxville fans who have poured in to this organization in big and small ways. I mean, we see we see grandparents bringing their grandkids to the trails. We see families coming to art festivals. Families working together at Chalk Walk, making art. And so I think all of those things, that's that's what makes we are embedded in this community. It is. Dogwood Arts is part of the community, and community is part of Dogwood Arts now.

Speaker 2 00:04:14 The organization was born out of a civic beautification effort. There was some harsh national criticism.

Sherry Jenkins 00:04:20 That's true.

Speaker 2 00:04:21 Tell us that origin story and how that affects you today.

Sherry Jenkins 00:04:24 Well, there was a writer who visited, went back he visited, in an unfortunate, spring, I guess, and went back home and wrote that Knoxville was the ugliest city in America.

Sherry Jenkins 00:04:37 And there were.

Speaker 2 00:04:38 Some silly things in here. Now, it's.

Speaker 4 00:04:40 Really beautiful as it is here.

Sherry Jenkins 00:04:42 That's right. There were some, some movers and shakers in the in the garden club in the community here who decided they were going to show him. and so they they got their neighbors together. They decided we're going to make this the most beautiful area ever. It already was. He just didn't come to those areas. And so that's where the the dogwood trails were born. It was really, neighbors and women in particular, who just got their communities activated and started planting blooming things and celebrating that.

Speaker 2 00:05:12 Yeah. On the dogwood trails were the original spark, right. So talk about the role the trails still play today. Well, you know what? I want to tell you an anecdote.

Speaker 4 00:05:21 Okay, great.

Speaker 2 00:05:22 I grew up off Alcoa Highway in Lake More Hills.

Sherry Jenkins 00:05:26 Oh, beautiful.

Speaker 2 00:05:27 So we had the Dogwood Trail running through there when I was a little kid. I mean, it goes back as far as I remember with the pink, you know, and we live at the very end, down way off Maloney Road and off Montlake.

Speaker 2 00:05:42 And, we live in a circle. And for years as a kid, the Dogwood Arts Festival would go around our circle. Right. And then they they they repainted and they took us out of it. oh. But it was just that little circle, right? But but it was beautiful out in South Knoxville, so. And they're all over. So tell us how they're, you know, what's going on with those?

Sherry Jenkins 00:06:03 Right. We actually cut the ribbon on Lakeshore Hills this this week. so we are celebrating the the trails of South Knoxville this year. we have 13 trails in all quadrants of the city. They range from Holston Hills to Farragut. you know, east, west, north and south. And so we we decided a few years ago, instead of celebrating individual feature trails every year, we would we would celebrate kind of areas and quadrants, ideally so that people visiting one trail would automatically know there were 2 or 3 other trails, trails kind of nearby, that they might do them all in one in section.

Sherry Jenkins 00:06:39 So. this year we're celebrating this, the South Knoxville trails and that Lake Moore Hills Trail is just something spectacular. I hope people do not miss it. It's beautiful.

Speaker 2 00:06:49 Yeah, I felt like I grew up in a beautiful area, and it's funny. I haven't been out there in a while. It's been probably a few years since I've driven out there. this would be a great time to do it and enjoy the blooming dogwoods.

Sherry Jenkins 00:07:01 It is peak right now. Those blooms are as big as they're going to get. They're beautiful.

Speaker 2 00:07:05 Now, the Dogwood Arts Festival has been recognized as one of the top ten best art festivals in the United States in 2025. What do you think sets it apart from many of the other festivals nationwide?

Sherry Jenkins 00:07:19 Well, we are kind of in the sweet spot. If you ask the artists who participate and and the and the buyers who come to buy art. we are a great size festival. We're big enough so that you can find all kinds of different mediums, represented by artists from really all over the US.

Sherry Jenkins 00:07:38 I think we usually have 15 or 16 states represented. Artists travel to sell their work at the art festival, but we're also small enough. So there's not just this glut of competition for artists. So we usually have 100 juried artists in for the show. And then we also include makers and some emerging artists as part of the weekend. So it's it's just, you know, something I think it's a it's an approachable size, but it's big enough so that it's got a little bit of everything. I think that's a key. And then we also it's just a celebration. So we always have live music. We have the it's a complete package. When you come to the festival something for the kids. You've got your food trucks. It's an awesome day.

Speaker 2 00:08:18 You know, I remember talking about music 2005. so, the two girls that sing with a little big town are good friends of ours that we've known a long time. We sing with them, especially Kimberly, the blonde girl and her husband at the time, Steve Rhodes.

Speaker 2 00:08:38 He passed away in 2005, actually, and that's why I remember all this. but anyway, they played this was before they they broke out and they played at the Dogwood Arts Festival that April.

Sherry Jenkins 00:08:51 That's amazing. That's great.

Speaker 2 00:08:53 And there were many people there. Now they pack out the arena, right? You know, when they come. So talk about, like many people may not know about all the different things you have coming up music wise. Can you walk us through a little bit of that? I want to talk about some of the stuff coming up.

Sherry Jenkins 00:09:08 Absolutely. So we we frequently with our big events, we frequently have a music component. So as you mentioned it at the Dogwood Arts Festival, we've got a stage. Now this year we are a little bit a little bit compressed. We're we're just on the performance lawn for the festival this year because we're getting a great new facelift at the amphitheater. So we've been used to having that second stage and a bigger stage over there. This year we're just having to to go go without it, but I'm thrilled about that.

Sherry Jenkins 00:09:37 It being resurfaced and upgraded for next year. So, we will have a stage at the on the performance lawn and we're going to be featuring local and regional artists there. And that's what we think is a really important thing to include as part of the art festival. I think there's, you know, the transition between, you know, your practicing in maybe your garage or a basement, and then you're trying to find your leveling up and your and you're finding some smaller venues to play, but you're not ready for, say, the bijou or the mill and mine. You know, this is a great kind of stepping stone for acts that are really kind of just trying to find a, a, a group of people to follow them, and they get to play in front of a bigger audience. And then we've also got murals and music, which is a new festival coming up at the end of May, and that's going to have some great local and regional talent there as well.

Speaker 2 00:10:30 Yeah, let's talk about that.

Speaker 2 00:10:31 What inspired this festival and what makes watching that such a to talk about the the walls and murals.

Sherry Jenkins 00:10:37 Yeah.

Speaker 2 00:10:38 So we did walls murals and murals and music, right?

Sherry Jenkins 00:10:41 Yeah. Murals and music. It's knocks walls is is a is a a brand that we came up with a couple of years ago, we did a large scale mural installation project on the backside of Emory Place. So there are 13 building sized murals back there that we we really want to highlight. They're there just now. This is the second year that they're finished. And and we're ready to to bring people to that space and really activate that space and share those murals with them. But we we always were planning to do this. We'd had this idea for some time. This murals and music festival were calling it Moo Moo Fest for short. And it's going to be something that highlights muralist doing an eight by eight. There'll be ten muralists doing each, doing an eight by eight wall in the street at Emory Place. and we will it'll be a live, art demonstration.

Sherry Jenkins 00:11:34 And then at the end of the day, we're going to do a public vote in the top two winners of that public vote will get permanent commissions, permanent mural walls in the area. And our idea is to do that event every year. Hopefully in a different area of Knoxville, we'll just go kind of where the energy is or where the energy needs to be and try and bring some life to that area.

Speaker 2 00:11:55 We're visiting with Sherry Jenkins. She's with Dogwood Arts Festival. It is that time of year. It's a great time of year here in Knoxville. Dogwood Arts has been a part of our community for 71 years now. When we come back, I want to talk about the fact the festival is returning to World's Fair Park later this month. We'll talk about some of the other upcoming events that you won't want to miss. So stay with us. This is your living with Jim Brogan here on Newstalk 90 87W Cokie.

Jim Brogan 00:12:21 Welcome back to Newstalk 98, Seven's Brogan Financial Studios, where Jim Brogan is coming to you live with important news and advice to help you achieve your dream retirement.

Jim Brogan 00:12:30 Get ready to learn and live. Here's your host, Jim Brogan.

Speaker 2 00:12:36 Welcome back to More Living Here on Newstalk 98 seven. Walker. I'm Jim Brogan and it is that time of year every year where we talk about Dogwood Arts Festival, which is run by Dogwood Arts. Dogwood Arts com is the best place to find all of those great things that are coming up. This year's festival returns to World's Fair Park April 20th 4th to April 26th. What can attendees expect when they walk in the gates?

Sherry Jenkins 00:13:01 They're going to. They're going to get what they have. If they are familiar with the festival, they're going to get the the festival that they love. They're going to have plants. They're going to have amazingly talented artists and artwork to buy. There's going to be a maker experience where you can watch people do the things. You can get some hands on things with your kids. They'll be a creation station area. we'll have some kind of traditional maker type, exhibitors there too. So, you know, honey and jam and some and some soap and lavender products and that kind of thing in an area too.

Sherry Jenkins 00:13:35 So a little bit of everything, as always. and some wonderful stage entertainment as well.

Speaker 2 00:13:41 Now chalk walk.

Sherry Jenkins 00:13:43 Yes.

Speaker 2 00:13:43 Chalk walk kicks off the season on April 11th.

Sherry Jenkins 00:13:46 That's right.

Speaker 2 00:13:47 And you say normally it's this weekend, but it got pushed back a week because of Easter. Draws tens of thousands of people every year.

Sherry Jenkins 00:13:54 It does, it does.

Speaker 2 00:13:55 So what keeps the event such a strong tradition in Knoxville. And what can first time attendees expect to experience.

Sherry Jenkins 00:14:01 Well Chalk Walk is it is our most viral event. So we kind of whisper into the universe that the Chalk Walk applications are open and they fill up immediately. People wait, kids wait. Families wait. Groups wait. we have those all different categories of artists who work, on the sidewalk. And those those categories fill up quickly. So I think that's part of it. The artists themselves are so excited to participate. And then there's nothing better, better than to just be able to walk around in beautiful downtown Knoxville, surrounded by historic buildings and watch people make art.

Sherry Jenkins 00:14:40 And we will have yeah, we'll have more than 300 artists working on that Saturday next Saturday.

Speaker 2 00:14:47 Yeah, I hate I'm going to be out of town next Saturday. I can't believe I can't come because it is awesome. Now, later in the spring, this the or later in April. The Spring Featured Gardens offers rare access to private gardens across the city. So talk about that opportunity for residents.

Sherry Jenkins 00:15:05 That's right. We 18th and 19th, we do feature gardens, and that's a program we've been doing for several years now. And we're just so blessed to have gardens, properties that that are owned by individuals. And they're willing to let us open those to the public for that special weekend every year. So this year it is Chalk Walk next weekend. The next weekend is Feature Gardens. Then Dogwood Arts Festival is that last weekend in April. the feature gardens are just spectacular. And they'll there are different sizes there in different parts of the city. And you know, a little bit of something if you're a gardener or just somebody who appreciates gardening.

Sherry Jenkins 00:15:42 You should come visit.

Speaker 2 00:15:44 Now, the dogwood trails, which we talked about earlier, was kind of the genesis of all this. when do they formally open? Is that next Saturday.

Sherry Jenkins 00:15:51 We actually just did the ribbon cutting in Lakeshore Hills this week, this Wednesday. So they opened on the first. They have open and they will be open through the end of the month. and you will find you'll be able to drive those through those neighborhoods as you always can, but there'll be extra spaces, open gardens that are only open for special. some of them are open the entire month. Some of them are open just for certain weekends. There are there are camera sites along the routes that are just particularly beautiful that you can hop out and take pictures. so look for those special signs in yards that are that are something extra along the trails.

Speaker 2 00:16:27 We live in such a fast paced society. Now, do some of these neighborhoods get complaints just for all the people driving through and looking at the beautiful dog? I mean, to me, like from being from lake more hills.

Speaker 2 00:16:41 That's just such a special tradition. It is what it is. But do you all get flack for that?

Sherry Jenkins 00:16:46 No, actually, I think the, the, the reality is, is those people who live along the trails really take pride in there.

Speaker 2 00:16:54 We did when I was growing up. Yeah.

Sherry Jenkins 00:16:55 They want to share the beauty that they've created. You know, and they and, you know, let's face it, if you're driving the Dogwood Trail, you're probably going slow. So you can take things in and you're appreciating all the beauty around you. You're not kind of whipping through neighborhoods and doing that kind of thing. So we actually find that that the people that who live along the trails are proud to share their work with the community, and they're thrilled to have that highlight that spotlight on their neighborhoods.

Speaker 2 00:17:21 It's almost a chance to kind of step back in time almost a little bit.

Sherry Jenkins 00:17:25 Well, I mentioned the other day when we we cut the late More Hills ribbon cutting at Lake, More Hills.

Sherry Jenkins 00:17:30 I took a minute on the way home and just drove a little bit of the trails, and I felt myself take a deep breath and relax down. You know, when you're in the midst of giant trees and blooming flowers and the air smells clean and great, it's just a it's a great experience.

Speaker 2 00:17:48 Yeah. Well, my mom and dad, I know they took great pride in the dogwoods that they had out in the front yard. You know, especially this time of year. So it's a really neat thing. Talk about the the rail and artwork walk that's coming up opening.

Sherry Jenkins 00:17:59 Oh that's great. We're so thrilled to be part of legacy. Parks has been planning this thing for years and working so hard to make it come to life, and we are thrilled to collaborate with them to help bring the murals and the sculptures. It's it's the Sono Rail Trail and Art walk in South Knoxville. It is a tremendous project that legacy parks in, in the and the railroad has been so generous to donate the land for the use of the trail.

Sherry Jenkins 00:18:28 It's going to connect from Kern's the the food hall at Kearns all the way to IMS Nature Center. And it is it's going to be a wonderful way for the neighborhood and visitors to just go through the community without not in a car. You're walking along this path, and so a big segment of that path is going to have art along the way. There's already some mural work out there that are done by kind of volunteer artists, but we're going to add to that. We're going to add sculpture sites that will become part of our rotating sculpture program, and some large scale mural sites along that route.

Speaker 2 00:19:05 You know, all these events seem to connect Dogwood Arts bigger vision for blending public art, outdoor spaces and neighborhood identity. Is that a good way to say that?

Sherry Jenkins 00:19:14 It is. It's a brilliant way to say it. I think, you know, at the at the bottom, at the core of all of it is really that community togetherness that we believe strongly in. And I think, the, the work that we do is really about, bringing people together and celebrating what happens when those people come together in a good, positive way.

Speaker 2 00:19:34 We're visiting with Sherry Jenkins. She's with Dogwood Arts Festival, and we're talking about all the great upcoming things with Dogwood Arts that they're putting on this spring. I know supporting artists is really central to Dogwood Arts. Talk about how the festival itself impacts working artists locally and nationally.

Sherry Jenkins 00:19:55 Sure. Well, we started a program, a few years ago where we realized, you know, artists don't just don't don't just grow and pop up out of the out of the universe. They there's a path to become a working professional artist. And so we have a couple of different programs where we're trying to help emerging artists is what we call those people as artists who are are just kind of at the beginning of their career or even exploring the possibility of a career in the arts. And so we have some ways for those people to kind of, have an entry point that doesn't cost as much money. I mean, with a booth set up that they can borrow and we pay fees for different things, we invite them to be part of the Dogwood Arts Festival at a very low cost.

Sherry Jenkins 00:20:38 And, and so there are some opportunities along the way where we're, we're trying to grow the young artist, mural workshops, all the different things in between. We're trying to grow young artists or emerging artists, and then we're also trying to facilitate all opportunities for artists to sell their work so they they can do that. We have a small gallery at our offices in the old City that we have rotating exhibits in there, and then we have Maker Exchange, where we represent 115 artists right now. that's in the space between the Marriott and the Tennessee theater. And that's a great opportunity for artists to sell work in that space. So those are the things we really focus on.

Speaker 2 00:21:16 Now, you've spoken, Sherry about creativity being tied to the future of the organization. What does that look like in your day to day leadership?

Sherry Jenkins 00:21:25 Well, we know artists. We know Knoxville is changing and we're thrilled about it because we're we feel the energy and the the vibrancy that I think people are drawn to when they decide to move to Knoxville.

Sherry Jenkins 00:21:39 we are intent that we, you know, after 71 years, one of the challenges for us is to make sure that we're honoring the past, but also staying relevant for the future. And so just kind of, creatively thinking about how and watching how how is Knoxville changing and then considering creatively, how does how do we fit then in the new Knoxville at it as it evolves and making sure we're staying out there present and relevant in all the way, all the different ways that Knoxville changes.

Speaker 2 00:22:12 It's that time of year as we get into April. I always think about it every year. Dogwood Arts, but they do programs year round. When we come back from our break, I want to talk about some of those other year round programs and then talk about just a few of the other things coming up with the festival this year. So stay with us. This is more living. We'll also have our dollars and cents segment. What is the future of Social Security? Look like we. We have a math problem.

Speaker 2 00:22:36 What's the likely outcome to that math problem of how we're going to fund that? So stay with us. This is more living with Jim Brogan here on Newstalk 98 7WO Sky.

Jim Brogan 00:22:48 Welcome back to Newstalk 98 Seven's Brogan Financial Studios, where Jim Brogan is coming to you live with important news and advice to help you achieve your dream retirement. Get ready to learn and live. Here's your host, Jim Brogan.

Speaker 2 00:23:03 This is we're living with Jim Brogan where it's all about living the best years of your life your way. This is Newstalk 98 seven Wookey. We're with you every Saturday, 9 to 10 a.m.. Again from 3 to 4 p.m.. Check us out online. Go to Brogan financial.com and click on radio. You can podcast all of our shows. and we'll have today's show up usually Tuesday afternoon on Spotify Apple Podcast. you can also stream it on our website. So. Check that out again Brogan Financial Comm and click on radio. We're visiting this morning with Sherry Jenkins. She's executive director of the Dogwood Arts Festival.

Speaker 2 00:23:41 It is that time of year. It's what I always think about when we get to April in addition to Dogwood Winters.

Sherry Jenkins 00:23:48 Yeah.

Speaker 2 00:23:49 before we get back to Sherry, however, it is time for dollars and cents.

Jim Brogan 00:23:54 What?

Speaker 5 00:23:54 To be sure, you are getting the most out of your retirement for all the years of your retirement. That's the primary goal of more living with Jim Brogan and our dollars and Cents segment, where we provide you with an important financial tip that will help positively impact the quality of your life and retirement. And now, here's Jim with this week's dollars and cents tip.

Speaker 2 00:24:18 Social security is growing increasingly less secure. For fiscal year 2025. The federal government recorded a budget deficit of almost $1.8 trillion, roughly the same as 2024, which is driven by seven just over 7 trillion in spending and then 5.2 trillion in revenue. So that's a deficit, right? According to the US Treasury, total federal debt, meanwhile, surpassed $39 trillion, part of that driven by higher interest payments. As treasuries come, do the federal government issues new treasuries and their higher rates than they were three, five, seven, ten years ago? This is unsustainable for any business or borrower.

Speaker 2 00:25:03 Even Uncle Sam, the the the Social Security, the Congressional Budget Office projects that the Social Security Trust fund will be depleted in 2032. Now, that doesn't mean it would social security would go away. It just means it would be depleted. We also have to realize, you know, when Social Security was enacted in 1935, first benefits, I believe, were in 1940 and it became pretty full, was full on in 1945. In 1945, for every one person receiving benefits, there were 42 people paying into the system. As of today, for every one person receiving benefits, there are less than three people paying into the system. So again, we got a little bit of a math problem. There are different ways to solve this budget issue. And it's not just Social Security. It's everything. Its Medicare, its prescription drugs. Economic growth is one way to solve that problem. Inflation is another way. But typically the government's going to need to raise more money through taxes, or it's going to need to reduce the benefits or both.

Speaker 2 00:26:15 I just don't see a world where Social Security would go away and fail. But I also don't see a world where Social Security is not changed. So what does this mean for you? it means if you're already over age 60, I think probably not a lot. I just don't see fundamental changes in the system. If you're already over 60, if you're over 55, maybe I'm 56. I may see a change. If if you're, certainly if you're under 50 and especially your younger folks, there are going to be changes. You know, full retirement age in 1935 was 65 years old. Well, it's almost 100 years later in life. Expectancies are off the chart higher, but full retirement age now 67. So that's probably going to change. So we're probably you know I think the biggest thing that we need. The younger you are, the more you need to depend on your own saving, your own retirement, investing and all the things you need to be doing to take control of your financial future.

Speaker 2 00:27:20 If you're approaching retirement or you're in retirement, I don't think you have a ton to worry about. All right, that doesn't mean there wouldn't be any changes, but I just don't think you have a lot to worry about. But the younger you are, the more you're apt to need to depend on yourself. I don't think it'll go away. I think even if you're just now getting out of college, you'll have Social Security benefits when you're retired. But it may look a lot different than what it does now. You know, if they raise full retirement age, they're essentially cutting benefits, because if they raise, let's say they raise full retirement age to 70 instead of 67. Well, that means if I draw at 70, I'm getting a good bit less money. I'm actually getting 24% less income than I would now if I wait till 70. So anyway, either way, something's got to change. We've got to be more reliant on ourselves and on our own financial planning and saving and investing and doing all the things we talk about on this program in order to position ourselves to be financially secure.

Speaker 5 00:28:27 That's our dollars and cents segment for this week. You can find this week's dollars and Cents segment and others by visiting Brogan Financial.

Speaker 2 00:28:38 Check us out at Brogan financial.com also. My my spring class through Penn State is this Tuesday. It's it's actually two Tuesdays. It's the seventh and the 14th at Pillow city state Community college. And confidence with retirement.com is where you can find out more information on confidence with retirement.com we do two two hour sessions. It is through pillow city state at that website at confidence with retirement.com. You can click to register download a syllabus and all those things. I'd love to see you there. I know we are filling up. we we're probably going to have a full house. but I do think there are still a little bit of room maybe for 3 or 4 more registrations of couples. So do check that out. Con Confidence with retirement. For all of our upcoming class schedule, you can go to Brogan Financial. Com click on resources. We've got everything on. There it is April.

Speaker 2 00:29:33 That's Dogwood Arts. I mentioned they're coming into this segment Sherry that the two things I think of with April or Dogwood Arts and Dogwood winters and you kind of chuckled. Can you just comment on that a little bit? And sometimes dogwood winters are like, that hadn't been that this last week hasn't.

Sherry Jenkins 00:29:53 We're not having dogwood winter this year.

Speaker 2 00:29:55 Yeah. Well in I remember last year April was really like May but then May was more like April. It was we had a really cold, rainy April May last year.

Sherry Jenkins 00:30:05 That's right.

Speaker 2 00:30:06 Which I didn't like.

Sherry Jenkins 00:30:07 Know. I know once you get sucked into this kind of beautiful.

Speaker 2 00:30:11 Now we're ready for warm weather.

Sherry Jenkins 00:30:13 And it's hard to go back.

Speaker 2 00:30:14 Yeah, and I went to the baseball game last night with Tennessee. Didn't work out so well, but it was a beautiful environment. It's just a great time to be outside Dogwood Arts with all the different things that they do, is such a great way to get outside. Be with your family. Enjoy artists, enjoy music, you know.

Speaker 2 00:30:31 Let's talk about art. I mean, I think, you know, some of what I did when I was growing up with music and even art I couldn't do today because of all the the academic requirements of all the other subjects. And I think that's kind of sad because I think there's growing up, you know, today's youngsters, it just doesn't seem like art is emphasized the way that it needs to be. I mean you know now the Knoxville Symphony on regularly you know they have great programs for youth. But touch on that a little bit. What Dogwood Arts is doing there just to kind of I mean, you're helping young artists and all those things. So talk a little to us about that.

Sherry Jenkins 00:31:14 Yeah we do. Youth. Youth programming is a really important component of what we do because we do believe that, you know, expressing yourself through the arts is an important way to manage yourself emotionally. creative thought processes are great for no matter what business world you enter into. We think we think art is key, especially in early education, and in helping helping kids have an outlet to express themselves as a really important thing.

Sherry Jenkins 00:31:45 So we, in particular, one of our biggest programs is art kits for kids. We started during Covid and we these days we do. We pack an art kit and give an art kit to every kid in Knox County in fifth grade, Knox Anderson in Blount County, actually, that's currently that's 7500 kits annually. And, we we chose fifth grade because that is the last grade in Knox County where art isn't an elective, you know, until fifth grade, you have art as part of your regular programming. After that, it's an elective. So we thought fifth graders, we want to make sure we hold on to as many of them as we can and give them their own art supplies. And that's been a tremendous program. We also do cool things like we have a relationship with Epiphone guitar. We do a guitar design contest every year that gets hundreds of applications and kids get. We usually get 20 or 25 guitars that they get to paint physically, the guitars themselves. And so we do a whole show and opening with that, we do synergy, which is a use an art educator.

Sherry Jenkins 00:32:47 So it's K through 12 and Art Educators Gallery exhibition at the Clayton Center in Maryville. And that is an important thing. We that that brings families out. We do a closing a show for that. and it gathers about 300 family members to celebrate their young artists. so all of those things, I think, tie in to that long term approach of going back to what we were talking about earlier, of kind of helping emerging artists and really kind of growing our own artists wherever we can. and I think supplying them and then giving them creative outlets that they can think about. I mean, Chalk Walk in particular, we'll have K through 12 groups, participating school groups and family groups with kids of all ages that are participating in that. and then we have a fun zone there too. So even the youngest of of artists can imagine themselves creating artwork there. we put chalk in the hands of toddlers to to make sure we're growing that.

Speaker 2 00:33:50 Yeah, that's all great stuff to hear, because I think the arts are just so important.

Speaker 2 00:33:54 And I think it's important for kids coming up today. just the the way it impacts lives, the way it impacts me and impacted my life growing up and still does to this day. You know, we've talked about telephones and social media and all that stuff. Kids need to be playing outside, doing arts, you know, doing arts and crafts and doing all that kind of stuff for sure. now you emphasize Sherry. Evaluating what works and changing what doesn't. So how is that mindset, that mindset shaped recent festivals and programs and how things have evolved?

Sherry Jenkins 00:34:32 Well, one great example of that is, is, you know, post-Covid, we were trying to bring back the art festival. We missed it that one year, and we have not missed the art festival since 1961, except for the one year for for Covid. So we were intent. We were the first big festival to come back after that. we were determined to figure out how to do it, and we worked with the city closely, and the way we were able to do it is we moved it to the performance lawn at World's Fair Park, and we had staggered entry.

Sherry Jenkins 00:35:02 We could spread everybody out. We made sure we kind of controlled the flow. And what happened was we we surveyed the artist after and they had a wonderful experience. We were worried about leaving that historic Market Square. Market Street vibe was has been such a great space for us for so many years. But what we found was when we moved to the performance lawn out of necessity, what happened was we figured out, wow, this might actually be the better scenario because we we are in a beautiful environment. It's easier to move in, move out. We don't we don't clog up kind of all of downtown. For businesses that really rely on street parking and access for their regular business. And so we can build out a festival over there. Great experience and people can still get there and find us. It's easily walkable from downtown. And so it wound up being this thing where once artists told us they still had a great experience and sold their work as they expected, and then attendees came out and still joined us.

Sherry Jenkins 00:36:06 I mean, that was the kind of thing we looked for, that kind of feedback to make sure we didn't need to go back to Market Square like we thought we would. and, and that's kind of an outcome that happened.

Speaker 2 00:36:16 Now imagine this is a very collaborative effort. Talk about the involvement of Knoxville and then also Knox County and Blount County and some of the surrounding counties.

Sherry Jenkins 00:36:26 Well, we have great support from municipal partners for sure, but volunteers and attendees from all of those areas, I mean, people come from all around to volunteer for us and to and to attend our events, and, and we know we can see it. Visit. Knoxville has a great app. Now that we can see all the traffic that comes from all different areas. But, volunteer, I think is a course, a thing that people, families frequently do together. generations of people have volunteered for Dogwood Arts, and I think there's there's something to, you know, helping bring the thing to life that is such an important part of your community.

Sherry Jenkins 00:37:04 it's a real it's a real family that we build when we have all our volunteers come together.

Speaker 2 00:37:09 That's. Sherry Jenkins is executive director with the Dogwood Arts, And we're talking about. It's that time of year, great time of year. When we come back, I want to talk about what's exciting about what's next. Where's Dogwood Arts heading in the next few years. So stay with us. This is more living with Jim Brogan right here on Newstalk 98 seven Sky.

Jim Brogan 00:37:31 Welcome back to Newstalk 98. Seven's Brogan Financial Studios or Jim Brogan is coming to you live with important news and advice to help you achieve your dream retirement. Get ready to learn and live. Here's your host, Jim Brogan.

Speaker 2 00:37:46 Thanks for tuning in to More Living here on Newstalk 98 seven Wookey. Check us out online Brogan. Financial comm next class. Thrive Financially in Retirement is a two night class coming up this Tuesday, the next two Tuesdays, the seventh and the 14th at Pella City State at their Hardin Valley location. Free parking. it is 630 to 8:30 p.m., so that's two two hour sessions.

Speaker 2 00:38:12 You can go to conference with retirement.com to download a syllabus and then click to register directly with Penn State. and I'd love to see you there. I'm going to tell you as much as I can about being successful, preparing for and then retiring and being successful in retirement as I possibly can in four hours. I promise you, it'll it'll just fly by. today we're visiting with Sherry Jenkins. She's executive director of Dogwood Arts. And the tradition of the Dogwood Arts Festival is what we always think about. Dogwood Arts has expanded and become a much larger organization. I mentioned about you do stuff year round. So there's about 20 year round programs, right? So talk about the evolution of why it was so important to expand beyond a single seasonal event.

Sherry Jenkins 00:39:00 Right? So the history of the festival, obviously it used to has been everything. It's been two weeks long. It's been a month long. It's been you know, there's there's been hundreds of events in and all kinds of things. And back in the day that were associated with Dogwood Arts Festival.

Sherry Jenkins 00:39:16 But these days our staff of six we, we work hard every day to produce big events. But we also know there are other critical things that are part of what our community needs. So our public art is thriving and strong. We do sculptures and murals. we do, of course, our youth facing programs we've already talked about. We do a regional art exhibition that is more of a gallery experience for, for people and, kind of all of those along the way. We also do our still do our House and garden show. That's our annual fundraiser. We always do in February. And that was, greatly attended this year. It's just all of those things happen. And they're also important to the community. The trails component is so important to the community and Brazilian blooms, our tree planting initiatives. So we we figured out that we're kind of, we have so many great things to offer. We need to kind of spread them out a little bit so we can highlight and focus on those individual things and give the community more time to to participate in more of those things.

Sherry Jenkins 00:40:21 You know, if you compress everything into one three week period or a month, it becomes harder for everyone to do a little bit of everything.

Speaker 2 00:40:29 So as you can hear, there's so many things they do. Dogwood arts comm. That's Dogwood Arts with an S dogwood arts.com. You can find out a lot more information of upcoming events, particularly. Sheri, what excites you most about where Dogwood Arts is headed in the next few years?

Sherry Jenkins 00:40:46 What excites me is the growth that's happening in our city, and what that impact is going to be to the organization. We already see new volunteer faces happening. We see we see, you know, houses along trails that maybe have been in decline are now being spruced up by new owners and taken care of. And I think the opportunities are going to be great for, for Dogwood Arts and other nonprofit partners that are. That are in our community. I think it's going to be wonderful.

Speaker 2 00:41:14 What do you hope visitors feel when they leave the Dogwood Arts Festival this year?

Sherry Jenkins 00:41:18 Well, I hope they they feel like they've had a taste of kind of what our community has to offer when we have art and music and fun things for kids and just great opportunity for, for, for people to just hang out and visit and have an uncomplicated, just great, wonderful experience.

Sherry Jenkins 00:41:36 I think that's that's the takeaway. And of course, I hope they've found something special to bring home with them from to, you know, have art in their home that they can appreciate.

Speaker 2 00:41:45 You know what I loved about the way you answered that is you said you want to what the community of Knoxville has to offer. So it's a lot more than just Dogwood Arts. It's it's I mean, you're so connected to the city and the county of Knoxville and the surrounding municipalities and all those things. But that's my favorite part about what you just said, because it does it. Knoxville shines at a time like this. finally, what would you say, Sherry, to someone who's lived in Knoxville for years but has really never taken part in Dogwood Arts?

Sherry Jenkins 00:42:13 I think you will find something to love if you give it five minutes. Look at Dogwood Arts and figure out the thing that appeals to you and come join us for it.

Speaker 2 00:42:23 Absolutely. So tell us again, Dogwood Arts. Com how can people get more information? How can they get involved? I guess you've got links there for both volunteer work, financial donations, plus all the different upcoming things.

Sherry Jenkins 00:42:35 If you want a volunteer, look under that about tab on Dogwood Arts. Com there's a volunteer easy application process there that can send you reminders, all the things. and then always that that is the single source for schedules and addresses and all the details related to all the things.

Speaker 2 00:42:53 And you're now in your ninth year as executive director.

Sherry Jenkins 00:42:55 I am it has gone by so.

Speaker 2 00:42:57 Fast and started off as a volunteer. Yes, absolutely. And when did you start as the volunteer?

Sherry Jenkins 00:43:01 Oh my gosh, do we even I don't know if we need to talk.

Speaker 2 00:43:04 Okay. We can talk about.

Sherry Jenkins 00:43:06 20 plus I think.

Speaker 2 00:43:07 I completely understand. Well, Sheri, the Sheri Jenkins, she's executive director of of Dogwood Arts. Thank you so much for taking time out of your busy schedule. It's exciting time of year every year when we get into this. And so great to hear all about all the great things that are going on this year.

Sherry Jenkins 00:43:21 Thanks so much for having us.

Speaker 2 00:43:22 Absolutely. That's Dogwood arts.com.

Speaker 2 00:43:25 Sherry Jenkins again, check out all the different things that they have to offer. do again my my last two part class through Palace happy state community College thrive financially in retirement. It's on April the 7th and 14th. That's two two hour sessions at 6:30 p.m. both nights at the Hardin Valley location. Easy. In and out, free parking. Go to confidence with retirement.com and you can download a syllabus and click to register. I have seven main areas I think everybody needs to know about retirement. I will talk at length about some of these fiscal challenges we face today with debt, deficit spending, Social Security, Medicare, all the different. Some of the budget challenges we have today, we've discussed really community because greater community provides for more living. So you can live the best years of your life your way. Many thanks to Wayne for engineering the show. Thank you to Mary Caroline for helping produce the show. Get outside. Enjoy this beautiful weather. Enjoy dogwood art. See all the different things they have to offer.

Speaker 2 00:44:29 Take it. Drive a dogwood trail. Put your phone down or even turn it off. And enjoy East Tennessee. This is more living with Jim Brogan only on Newstalk 90 87W Cokie.

Speaker 6 00:44:41 The views expressed by Jim Brogan and his guests are not that of Cumulus Media. Any discussion of financial, legal, and tax planning strategies is not intended to be individualized advice and is general in nature. Always consult with your advisor for advice specific to your needs. This program's content does not represent a recommendation of any particular security strategy or investment by Jim Brogan or Brogan Financial, Incorporated.

In this episode of More Living with Jim Brogan, broadcast live from Brogan Financial studios on Newstalk 98.7 WOKI, host Jim Brogan outlines five high-impact retirement planning topics for 2026 and beyond. He covers the tax planning sweet spot in early retirement, strategic Roth conversions and capital gains management, fixed versus dynamic retirement income approaches, long-term care alternatives to traditional insurance, and longevity risk planning. Jim emphasizes the importance of proactive financial strategies to help retirees achieve financial independence and maximize their retirement years.

Key points

• Tax planning strategies for retirees between retirement age and RMD age.
• Importance of managing taxable income to minimize tax liabilities.
• Benefits and considerations of Roth conversions and capital gains strategies.
• Different approaches to retirement income planning: fixed vs. dynamic strategies.
• Planning for long-term care costs and alternatives to traditional insurance.
• Strategies for addressing longevity risk in retirement planning.
• Impact of recent legislation on retirement accounts and estate planning.
• Tax implications of Social Security benefits and timing strategies.
• Importance of maintaining a diversified investment portfolio for retirement.
• Resources and tools available for effective retirement planning.

Full Transcript:

Automatically Transcribed With Podsqueeze

Jim Brogan 00:00:03 You're tuned in to Moore Living with Jim Brogan, broadcast live from the Brogan Financial studios at Newstalk 98 seven, where old fashioned values, expert knowledge and genuine understanding come together to give you the retirement straight talk you deserve. Jim's a former National Advisor of the year recipient and a financial educator, and he's here today to talk about how you can live out the best years of your life. Jim and the Brogan financial team have been helping retirees and retirees across the southeast for over 20 years in their pursuit of financial independence. You can reach them during the week at 865862 6800. So sit back, relax and get ready to learn because more living with Jim Brogan starts now.

Speaker 2 00:00:45 Hello East Tennessee, welcome to More Living with Jim Brogan, where it's all about living the best years of your life, your ways. You're listening to Newstalk 98 seven, Waukee. And today we're going to talk about five Specifically five high impact retirement planning topics for 2026 and beyond. These are the kind of conversations that we need to be having that can really create value.

Speaker 2 00:01:11 In your financial plan, what do you need to be aware of starting this year? Can't go back to things that have happened in the past. What are five things we need to be aware of as we head forward? So we're going to dive into all of that and we're going to cover issues from tax planning, real tax opportunities you don't want to overlook. We're going to talk about the most overlooked area in estate planning today in my view, which is how we handle our IRAs and other retirement accounts and what the new laws say about that. We're going to talk about structuring retirement income and the and the and the different approaches to that. Should you be a fixed dollar amount? Should you have guardrails? Should you have a flexible dynamic income plan? We're also going to talk about how to plan for the threat of long term health care. without insurance, what are some different alternatives? And then finally, just considering the impact of longevity planning, people are living longer and longer lives. How do you create a plan that can last as long as you do? And being careful that you don't underestimate what that may look like.

Speaker 2 00:02:22 So we're going to answer your questions about five overlooked topics. Let's dive in. The first thing I want to talk about is the real golden sweet spot of tax planning. I call it the sweet spot of retirement, and it is from retirement age to age 73 or 75. Now, why 73 or 75, 73, or 75 is when you are required to start taking taxable distributions from your retirement accounts if you were born before 1860. The first year of your RMD required minimum distribution is when you turn is the year you turn 73. If you're born 1960 or later, then you don't have to start taking distributions until the year you turn 75. So for now, I'm going to use 73 just to try to keep things kind of straight. But again, if you're born January 1st of 2020 or later, it's actually going to be age 75. So that's the age at which you have to take distributions from your retirement account. So, you know, retirement accounts are great places to accumulate money because while the money is accumulating, number one, when the money goes in, you getting a tax deduction on that money, you're not taxed on it for ordinary income tax.

Speaker 2 00:03:46 If your employer is making a contribution to your 401, you're not being taxed on the contribution and you haven't. You're not having to worry about taxes as that money grows. Well, we have a big opportunity in those early years of retirement to maybe consider how we want to handle this. You know, they are great places to accumulate money. Albert Einstein called retirement accounts IRAs 401 as the eighth wonder of the world. And it's because of the concept of triple compound interest. You know, if I told you I was going to loan you $50,000 and you could do whatever you wanted with the money and just pay me at the end of five years, pay me my $50,000 back. It shouldn't take you any time at all to take me up on that offer, because you can take my money and you can invest it, earn interest on it. You can compound that over five years and then just pay me back my $50,000. Well, having money in a retirement account like an IRA or 401 or 403 B, is like an interest free loan because we don't own all of that.

Speaker 2 00:04:56 It is important to understand we have a partner and our partners, Uncle Sam, and eventually our partner has to get paid. But while the money is in there, we're getting that triple compound interest. So great places to accumulate money. Problematic when we start taking money out, which is in retirement. And, you know, the thinking had always been my tax bracket will go down in retirement, but will it? Now we've made the one big beautiful Bill act has made the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act permanent. Those tax brackets and tax income thresholds that are inflation adjusted. But the reality is they're only permanent in the sense that Congress is permanent. Right. They could change the law. And with our deficit and federal debt, I think it's unlikely that in the next ten years we won't see changes in our tax system. But but let's say we don't we've got this taxable build up in these retirement accounts. So I'm talking about everything. It's a retirement account. Except for a Roth. Roth would be the opposite.

Speaker 2 00:06:01 Roth are tax free in retirement, so we lose some control of our tax planning. The year we turn 73 or 75 is the case. May be because at that point, I have to start taking these distributions from my retirement accounts. So I don't have to do that until I'm either 73 or 75 years old, depending on, you know, whether I was born before 1960 or not. And so, you know, it's about 4% if you just want to use a rough number, it's it's actually just slightly lower than 4% the first year. But, you know, that's an easy number. If you got $1 million in your retirement account, that's a $40,000 taxable distribution. If you got $2 million, that's an eight, that's an $80,000 taxable distribution. So see, we're going to lose. You're going to lose some control of your income tax planning once you turn 73. And up until that point, you don't have to take a penny out of your retirement account. So again, it leaves this sweet spot from retirement age to age 73 or 75 where you can really keep your income tax bracket low.

Speaker 2 00:07:20 You know, think about how much control I often say you have more control over your taxes in retirement than any other time in your life. I mean, think about it. You no longer have earned income, so you're the one deciding where you draw income from, you know, are you going to draw it from, are you going to draw it from your bank account? If I go down to the bank and I pull out $5,000, I don't I don't have to pay tax on that 5000 If I, if I go to if I sell a mutual fund that that is worth 5000, but I paid 3000 for it, then I do have to pay tax on 2000 of that. If I take money out of an IRA or 401 and I take out 5000, I'm probably going to have to pay tax on all of that. Now, of course, a Roth would be tax free. But see, we have control of this in the early years of retirement. I mean, unless all of your money is in almost all your money's in retirement accounts.

Speaker 2 00:08:23 and we see that from time to time. But most people we meet with have money in retirement accounts and have money not in retirement accounts. And that gives us opportunities, because where we go to pull that income affects how what shows up on our income tax return for that year. So if I'm smart about how I structure income, maybe I don't have hardly any taxable income in the early years of retirement because I'm withdrawing from funds that are not largely taxable, either they've already been taxed or most of it has already been taxed. So I'm in control of that. You're also in control of when you draw Social Security, because when you start drawing Social Security, that's those are 1099 you're going to get at the end of the year. And some of that may be or is subject to income taxation. And for all that was said about the one big beautiful bill. Oh we're cut. We're eliminating tax on Social Security. The reality is it did fundamentally nothing to change tax rates on Social Security income. What it did do is for for a four year period, it raised the standard deduction for people that are 65 or older.

Speaker 2 00:09:40 That's all it did. And then in four years that goes away at the end of 2028 2025. Last year was the first year for that Fundamentally, you still get a 1099 from Social Security and you're still going to have to report it. And depending on your other income sources, you may end up paying tax on as much as 85% of that Social Security income. And that's still in the tax law. So one benefit of delaying, and I'm not not telling you in today's show that you should be delaying Social Security. But one potential benefit of delaying is tax planning. You have a lot greater control of your taxes. Now we also have opportunities, you know, how are you taxed on your investments? You know, if I have investments inside my IRA or 401, if I don't withdraw those, I don't pay any income tax on any of that money. If they pay a dividend or a capital gain distribution, or if I sell something and buy something else and I have a long term capital gain if it's inside your retirement account umbrella, think of it as an umbrella.

Speaker 2 00:10:48 It shelters you from income taxes. So any buying and selling, any capital gains, you don't get a 10.99. You only get a 10.99 if you take a distribution. Now if you have investments outside the IRA or 401 K, then any dividend that's paid, you're going to get a 10.99. If you have CDs at the bank or high yield savings, you're going to get a 10.99. And you're going to have to report that on your income tax return. If you have a mutual fund, then you're going to have maybe mutual funds by law at the end of the year. They're doing a lot of buying and selling. If let's say it's a stock fund, they're doing a lot of buying and selling of the stocks. So at the end of the year, whatever the net gains are on all that buying and selling, they have to pay it out to you as a as a capital gain distribution. And many of you have that automatically reinvested. But the bottom line is you do get a ten out of nine on that and have to pay tax on it.

Speaker 2 00:11:50 So if you think about all these things that can impact the tax return in the early years of retirement, you can control, most people can control where they pull their money from and how it is taxed. Most people can control when they draw Social Security. Most people can control how they invest their money from a tax perspective on their investments that are not sheltered from tax inside an IRA 401 or Roth. And then if you're smart about that, you could keep your tax taxable income very low in those early years of retirement. So again, we got this sweet spot between retirement age and age 73. If you're born 1960 or later, it's a it's 75 because that's when you have to take these taxable distributions. So what can you be doing in that sweet spot. I'm going to take a few minutes in the next segment. And we're going to continue this topic on tax planning. What can you do to take advantage of that sweet spot? And then we're going to talk about what happens to your retirement accounts at death, because it is still, in my view, the most overlooked area in estate planning today.

Speaker 2 00:12:56 So stay with us. This is more living with Jim Brogan here on Newstalk 90 87W Cokie.

Jim Brogan 00:13:04 Welcome back to Newstalk 98 Seven's Brogan Financial Studios, where Jim Brogan is coming to you live with important news and advice to help you achieve your dream retirement. Get ready to learn and live. Here's your host, Jim Brogan.

Speaker 2 00:13:19 Welcome back to More Living Here on Newstalk 98 seven KCRW. I'm your host, Jim Brogan, and we're talking today about five high impact retirement planning topics for 2026 and beyond. These are areas that are often overlooked that I think people need, you need to know about in order to retire successfully. And in the first segment, I started about this sweet tax sweet spot In the early years of retirement between retirement age and the age, you have to start taking taxable distributions from your retirement account, age 73 or 75. And I talked about all the control that you have. In many cases, the numbers showing up or not showing up on your income tax returns. So then if you're able to keep that tax taxable income low, how can you then take advantage of it.

Speaker 2 00:14:09 Now you may say, well Jim, if I can do that, then I'm just going to live in that low tax bracket until I'm 73. Then I'm not. I'm going to lose that control because I have these taxable distributions from retirement accounts. But a question I would have then is even if we if we assume tax rates are not going to increase in our future, which I think is very unlikely, it is unlikely to happen before January of 2029 because of the current president. But let's just say they stay the same. You're still going to lose a good bit of control at age 73. If you have much money in retirement accounts and you have these taxable required minimum distributions. So what can you do in the meantime? I would say, you know, if you can consider doing Roth conversion, especially if you're in a ten or a 12% tax bracket. You know, what we have to look at is what what is your taxable income now where you have a lot of control and what is your taxable income look at to look like when you're 73 or 74, 75.

Speaker 2 00:15:15 And you have to start taking these taxable distributions. And how does that compare to the current tax brackets. Because you may find right now you have an opportunity to be in a 10 or 12% tax bracket. And once you turn 73 you're never going to see that again. And then it goes from 12% to 22%. And that's a huge increase in the income tax bracket. Think about that 12% to 22%. That's not a 10% increase. That's over an 87% increase in the tax bracket going from 12 to 22. Well, if I'm 68 years old and I'm controlling the numbers on my income tax return within reason. I mean, we don't want to get the cart for the horse. The most important thing is to maximize retirement, earnings, investments, growth, all those things. But we want to be cognizant of taxes. If I can keep the taxable income low, I might could do some extra Roth conversions in this interim. And if I can do that at a 10 or 12% tax bracket, and I know that once I'm 73, I'm never going to see this tax bracket again, why would I not want to do that or at least consider doing that now? Why would you not want to do it? Well there is an upfront tax cost.

Speaker 2 00:16:31 So you do have to look at you know, what's that upfront tax cost. How are you going to pay that tax and how is that going to impact you long term. But many people can afford to do a, you know, a conversion of, let's say you do a $50,000 Roth conversion. You're, you're you're taking a taxable distribution from your IRA and you're converting it to Roth. So you do pay income tax on the 50,000. But let's say that's at 12%. Well that tax is going to be $6,000, right. You convert 50,000. You pay a $6,000 tax. Ideally you would pay that tax out of other money, not out of the Roth itself, because you want to turn around and have to pull money out. You want that money to be tax free. And after five years, all the earnings on that 6000 on that $50,000 becomes tax free. So I can basically say I'm going to pay 12% tax today so I don't have to pay 22% tax tomorrow. Now again, can you afford to pay that tax.

Speaker 2 00:17:32 You got to have money to pay it. And then it is going to decrease your investment base. So that has to be carefully calculated and measured. But what a great opportunity. Now, you may be already in a 22. Oh, let's talk about where these tax brackets stand. I mean, if you're a joint filer, the 22% bracket kicks in on taxable income around $100,000. But remember that's after the standard deduction or your itemized deductions. You know a married couple 65 and up now has a standard deduction of almost $50,000. So you could have let's say you have $120,000 of of adjusted gross income, 120,000. Then you apply the standard deduction. Now you're let's say 73 74,000. Well now you could do you could consider doing a Roth conversion of maybe $25,000 and staying in a 12% tax bracket, because again, if you're at 72 or 73,000 and you can go up to 100,000 in the 12% bracket. We know what that tax cost is going to look like. So that's something to consider. We also need to under con.

Speaker 2 00:18:49 We also need to consider long term capital gains. You know now this is one of the most overlooked areas I see in tax planning. Maybe the most is understanding tax rates on long term capital gains. Our Congress has given us some wonderful things with tax rates on long term capital gains, their their their preferred to ordinary income. Now, what is the long term gain? It's where you own an investment for more than one year and then you sell it. If it has a gain that's a that's a long term gain. And the rates are better than ordinary income brackets for most people. So earlier, you know, I said you can have taxable income of almost $100,000 and have it all be have it be in a 12% marginal tax rate. Well, the long term capital gains rate up to about 98 $99,000 is 0%. In other words, any portion of that taxable income this long term gains if your total income is under about 98 99,000. Your tax rate for long term capital gains is zero. So in other words, if you have a stock and let's say you paid $10,000 for it, let's say you go to Apple stock, you pay 10,000.

Speaker 2 00:20:03 It's worth 40,000. You could sell it. And if your taxable income is less than 98 $99,000, you pay no tax on that sale. You may say, well, Jim, I want to, I want to I want to continue to own Apple stock. We'll just buy it right back. And now your tax basis is 40,000 instead of 10,000. Meaning now by buying it back at 40,000 when the future you're only going to pay tax if it's worth more than 40. So that's that's even better than Roth conversion. Any kind of time I can understand how I can fill up these lower tax brackets with taxable income. And yes, that does mean incurring a tax now. But anytime I can do that, if I can afford it and pay a lower tax later, I want to sign up for that. So and again, the Social Security strategy is a big piece of that. So we want to be very conscious of all of these things. Our ability to control income taxes in the early years of retirement.

Speaker 2 00:21:06 And then how do you take advantage of those very things? So now then, the other thing I do want to talk about before we get to our next break is I want to talk about the beneficiary rules for when people inherit an IRA. You know, this has long been, in my view, the most overlooked area in retirement planning today. And it's even more so now because there have been two changes in the law in the last six years with Secure Act and Secure Act 2.0. So beneficiary rules are very widely misunderstood. When you have a retirement account, an IRA or a 401 and a 403, be a 457, a 401, a, a tsp. You know, all these different plans when you name a beneficiary, those accounts are going to go directly to the beneficiary at death. But remember, you haven't paid any of the income taxes on most, if not all that money. So as I mentioned in the first segment, you've got an IOU to the IRS and it's going to start coming do once you pass away it comes.

Speaker 2 00:22:18 It starts coming due when you turn 73 or 75 because you have those required taxable distributions. But then it really comes due when it goes to your kids. So we think about, you know, the new the new estate tax exemption at 15 million per person. We think, oh, I don't have a tax issue at death. Well, you still got all the income taxes due on the retirement accounts. And under the new rule, most non spousal beneficiaries have to empty out those retirement accounts within ten years and pay all the income taxes within the ten years. If it's in a 401 or a company plan, more than likely you're going to have to take it either in a lump sum or over five years. And if you've named a trust beneficiary, the trust, you may have to take it over a five year period. Ideally, your beneficiaries would have to take it over a ten year period. This makes tax planning and estate planning and integrating those two things even more critically important. When your kids inherit the money.

Speaker 2 00:23:28 Understanding. I mean, if they got to pay tax over a ten year period and whatever's there in the 10th year has to all come out and be taxed. That's going to affect what I do in year one and year two and year three and year four, etc.. Now, to not change the subject too much because it is kind of the same subject. What about a Roth? If you have a Roth IRA or Roth 401 K, it is tax free to your heirs. They also have to take it out within ten years in most cases other than than a spouse. So, you know, if I have a tax free money and I can let all that money grow tax free, I'm going to maximize that. You know, if I need money for something else, I'll take it out of some of these other accounts. I'd hear it. And that Roth IRA, ideally, if I don't need it, I'm going to let it grow for ten years. Then I'll take it all out at the same time because it's because it's tax free.

Speaker 2 00:24:23 So understanding the ten year rule, how trust beneficiaries can complicate things, they can be done. You would do a trust and have as a trust as beneficiary for control purposes. There's a lot of reasons for that. But then there create it does create potential tax implications and complications. And also you don't want to pass away as a rule with a with a company plan because the beneficiaries are probably going to have to take it either in a lump sum or over five years. But dealing with this income tax timebomb is still widely misunderstood, and incorporating it with your overall estate planning is more important than it's ever been. Now when we come back, we're going to get into retirement income planning. There are different ways to structure retirement income from your life savings. What are those strategies? What are the pros and cons of them? Do you want something dynamic that can change over time, or do you want something more fixed where you know what you can depend on? So stay with us. This is more living with Jim Brogan here on Newstalk 98 seven Woking.

Jim Brogan 00:25:30 Welcome back to Newstalk 98 Seven's Broken Financial Studios, where Jim Brogan is coming to you live with important news and advice to help you achieve your dream retirement. Get ready to learn and live. Here's your host, Jim Brogan.

Speaker 2 00:25:45 Thanks for tuning in to More Living with Jim Brogan, where it's all about living the best years of your life your way. Today we're talking about five high impact areas for your retirement financial plan that can really make an impact in 2026 and beyond. Now I do want to mention we got some resources online. You can go to Brogan financial.com. Click on resources. We've got our we got all our shows in there. You can also download guides that we publish regularly. You can also sign up for our investment, our E newsletter, where we kind of release the stuff we in one place in one week. Everything we've done in that preceding week, both in terms of radio blogs and information articles. You can also find out my upcoming class schedule. So check us out. Brogan financial comm.

Speaker 2 00:26:40 and, you can take control of your financial future and make informed and prudent decisions that can impact the quality of your life. Let's pivot. We're going to go to income planning. So this is topic number three of five impact areas for 2026 and beyond in your planning. And that's how do you structure your retirement income. Now probably the most common thing people hear is what you hear is the 4% rule. And the idea is look at how much money you have. And in year one of retirement you would take out 4% for income. And this is an approach to a more fixed income where you know what you can count on or you know what you want to live on, and it needs to grow over time for inflation. So if you have $1 million, you're going to start with no more than $40,000 a year of income to supplement Social Security and any other income sources. And then every year, if it's 40,000 in year one, then in year two, it's going to go up for cost of living, and you're going to have those cost of living increases the rest of your life.

Speaker 2 00:27:50 And the idea is with a good financial plan, you can you can support that and not not have much life left at the end of the money. Right. We don't want to run out. Now, there's no sure things. the 4% rule has come under some scrutiny. Some are saying it's too high. some are now saying you can do more than 4%. My personal opinion, if you're in your 60s, early or mid 60s, I think three and a half to 4% is pretty doable with a good financial plan to support that income. but it is more of a fixed Approach. Now, the one thing I like about the about doing starting with a fixed amount and increasing it over time is you can depend on what you're going to get in the sense that, you know, you can plant it in your budget. You can plan your healthcare expenses. You can plan your discretionary spending, your travel, your fun stuff. And every year it's going to go up. now, what some people like to do is more of a dynamic spending strategy.

Speaker 2 00:28:57 And they create guardrails. Now what's what are guardrails? So let's say you have the same million dollars. Your guardrail might be 3% to 5%. In other words, you're going to draw anywhere from 3% to 5% of your savings in a given year. If your savings are growing a whole lot faster, then you're taking money out. You may find in a few years you're taking out less than three, and then you bump it up to 3 or 3 and a half now. Likewise, that means that when we go through difficult periods in the stock market. Well, if you if your distribution rate is creeps up over 5%, you then have to cut your spending. So that is a legitimate style. I think of that almost like an endowment approach. You know, if you think of charities and foundations that have endowments, they want to be able to have predictable income and they draw a certain percentage. and it has ranges, so, you know, and that's a legitimate strategy. Many people I talk to, the one thing they don't love about that is, well, that means if you had a tough stock market in the first five years of retirement, you got to spend less.

Speaker 2 00:30:11 And those are the years you want to be living the most. Okay. So, you know, maybe you set guardrails, but you you know, you have hey, these are the expenses I know I have to pay. Here's some that that, you know, I want to be extremely confident that I can have this discretionary spending. And then there might be a couple things, like, you're doing a big trip with your family for an anniversary in a couple of years, but you have some flexibility when you could plan that and you build your you built that into your plan with some flexibility based on how your performance on your investments is going. but it's it's important to understand that we don't retire on assets, we retire on income, and we have to take our life savings and convert it into stable income. You know, we don't want the short term stock market to drive our income because we have no control, no predictability is short term market conditions. Now the flip side is what what the stock market gives us is the ability to fight inflation over time, and you better be worried about what things are going to cost in ten or 15 or 20 years.

Speaker 2 00:31:27 You may say, well, Jim, I won't. I won't want to spend as much money. And that is true probably for discretionary spending. But your medical costs are going to go up late in life. So you need to be worried about what things cost in 10 or 15 years. And the best. You know the problem with protecting all your money. You know, it makes things predictable. But man, every year that you're you're you're having that inflation eat away at your standard of living. So you need stable income in the short term and in the long run. You need and you need growth to fight inflation. So you can use a guardrail approach. You can use a dynamic approach where you do, over time to time, change your spending based on how the investments are doing. You could also use more of a fixed approach. I like a kind of a mix of the two I like to build, and I have found people we meet with like to they like to build a foundation based on the fixed approach, but then they need some flexibility for things that come up.

Speaker 2 00:32:30 Maybe a special, you know, 50th anniversary trip or 70 year old birthday party or or retirement party at 64 or whatever the case may be, you may find that you, you know, have some dynamic spending in there, but ultimately it's based on a fixed approach. But whatever it is, there are strategies that can support this from an investment and income perspective. And so it's important that you identify what you feel like you can work for you, and it's going to meet your lifestyle desire, and that you then invest your life savings to support that income plan. Okay, we're going to get to our last break. When we come back, we're going to talk about the final two areas high impact retirement planning topics for 2026 and beyond. They both have to deal with longevity. People are living longer and longer lives. One is long term care funding for health care catastrophe without using traditional insurance. And then? And then the second is how likely is it that you live into your 90s, and how relevant is that, and how might that affect some of your decisions now? So stay with us.

Speaker 2 00:33:41 This is more living with Jim Brogan here on Newstalk 98 seven Woking.

Jim Brogan 00:33:49 Welcome back to Newstalk 98 Seven's Brogan Financial Studios, where Jim Brogan is coming to you live with important news and advice to help you achieve your dream retirement. Get ready to learn and live. Here's your host, Jim Brogan.

Speaker 2 00:34:04 Thanks for tuning in this week. This is Moore living here on Newstalk 98 seven Wookey. We're with you every week from 9 to 10 a.m. and again from 3 to 4 p.m. you can stream us live at Newstalk 98, Seven's website. You can also catch all our podcasts. You can go to Spotify Apple Podcast. You can also go to my website and listen directly there and stream the shows after the fact. at Brogan Financial Comm, click on radio. Today we're talking about five high impact retirement planning topics for 2026 and beyond. And so in this last segment I'm going to talk about numbers four and five. And they both have to do with longevity. So number four is how do you fund for healthcare catastrophe and specifically long term care risk without insurance.

Speaker 2 00:34:58 You know insurance policies are becoming more and more expensive. They have underwriting challenges. If you're taking a memory pill, you're probably not going to get long term care insurance. And my biggest concern with traditional insurance is you don't know what you're you don't know what it's going to cost you in the future because they the the insurance company can increase your premium at any time. So how do you plan for it without traditional insurance? And one is to self insure. You just need to make sure you know pay for it out of your own pocket. Keep in mind you're still going to have retirement income, you know, and you're not going to be doing all the discretionary spending. You know, even those that have insurance realize they don't need something to pay for the full cost of a nursing home. So some people can self-pay, but just understand that that long term care costs are going up at about double the rate of inflation. So if inflation is around 3% right now, that means long term care costs are going up about 6%.

Speaker 2 00:35:57 But that's a that's a that's a legit strategy. Another is some of these hybrid life and long term care solutions. And these are becoming increasingly popular where you have a base life insurance policy that's guaranteed. Let's say it's a $200,000 policy, but if you need it for long term care, They'll advance the death benefit to help pay for that long term care. Now, there are different criteria. It may say we'll advance it 50,000 a year for four years. Then there are other policies that even add on an extension. So it's like having this base life insurance policy. And if you use up that 200,000 and you still need it, you've got benefits for however long you need it. That's kind of a use it or lose it. One of the reasons people like to base life insurance is because, you know, somebody's going to get the 200,000. That is an asset that's in your estate. Either you're going to get it for your long term care needs or your kids, or your heirs, your spouse, somebody's going to get it.

Speaker 2 00:36:57 So all of these are important to understand because, you know, when you're 65, you have about a 70% likelihood you're going to need long term care. And that means the married couple is going to have about a 50% likelihood that both of you are going to need long term care. So doesn't mean you need to rush out and ensure it, but it means you need to plan to deal with the risk. And then finally, longevity planning. People are living longer and longer lives, and most people live longer than they expect. Clients are outliving their planning assumptions. You know, if you're a married couple age 65, would you believe that the average couple age 65 is going to see one of you live in your bodies? 92, 93 years old would just be average, and almost 25% of married couples in their mid 60s are going to see one of you live to 98. When you get up overnight into the 90s and you get to 93 and 94, 95 years old, how much are things going to cost? What are medical costs going to be? All that stuff's important.

Speaker 2 00:38:02 And you can't just assume you're not going to live that long. And be careful looking at your own family tree, because God works in mysterious ways sometimes. So, you know, this could affect how we plan our Social Security income. This could affect, I mean, whether we want to offer, you know, whether we want to add some sort of guaranteed longevity annuity. You know, a longevity annuity is where you set aside a small amount of money now and then it starts providing income at 85 years old. So it provides some longevity protection. So some people call that longevity insurance. And you can add features where you know, if you don't make it to 85, it still provides some sort of a benefit death benefit to your heirs. it means you you you really need to be careful with your investment plan, that it can support inflation and cost of living increases for the remainder of your lifetime, which could be 25 to 30 years. So all of these things are critically important and high impact areas to plan for in 2025 or 2026 and beyond.

Speaker 2 00:39:11 do you can check us out online Brogan Dot com. Click on resources. We've got all our upcoming classes through Fellowship State and the University of Tennessee. You can also download special guides that we've put out and listen to past radio shows. Thank you for tuning in. This week we've discussed your wealth so you can provide for more living so you can live the best years of your life your way. Many thanks to Wayne for helping engineer the show and to Mary Caroline for helping produce the show. Have a very blessed weekend as you've been listening to More Living with Jim Brogan only here on the news and talk of East Tennessee Newstalk 98 seven Waukee.

Speaker 3 00:39:48 The views expressed by Jim Brogan and his guests are not that of Cumulus Media. Any discussion of financial, legal and tax planning strategies is not intended to be individualized advice and is general in nature. Always consult with your advisor for advice specific to your needs. This program's content does not represent a recommendation of any particular security strategy or investment by Jim Brogan or Brogan Financial, Incorporated.

This episode originally aired on August 16, 2025

show notes:

In this episode of "More Living with Jim Brogan," host Jim Brogan interviews acclaimed actor and humanitarian Gary Sinise. Sinise discusses his journey from Hollywood to founding the Gary Sinise Foundation, which supports veterans, first responders, and their families through programs like building smart homes and mental wellness retreats. He also shares the story of his late son Mack, whose music now supports the foundation’s mission. The episode highlights Sinise’s dedication to service, the foundation’s impact, and the power of community and resilience. Listeners are encouraged to learn more and get involved.

transcript:

Automatically Transcribed With Podsqueeze

Jim Brogan 00:00:03 You're tuned into more Living with Jim Brogan, broadcast live from the Brogan Financial studios at Newstalk 9087, where old fashioned values, expert knowledge and genuine understanding come together to give you the retirement straight talk you deserve. Jim's a former National Advisor of the year recipient and a financial educator, and he's here today to talk about how you can live out the best years of your life. Jim and the Brogan financial team have been helping retirees and retirees across the southeast for over 20 years in their pursuit of financial independence. You can reach them during the week at 865862 6800. So sit back, relax and get ready to learn because more living with Jim Brogan starts now.

Speaker 2 00:00:46 Good morning, East Tennessee. Welcome to More Living with Jim Brogan where it's all about living the best years of your life your way. You're listening to Newstalk 98 seven. And I'm excited today to have acclaimed actor, director, producer, musician and humanitarian Gary Sinise. As you know, on this program, we have been extremely supportive, have many veterans over the years, many, many charities and foundations and organizations that serve veterans and first responders.

Speaker 2 00:01:17 Of course, as you know, Gary won a Golden Globe, a Tony, a primetime energy, excuse me, Emmy and four Screen Actors Guild Awards. He's best known for his role as Lieutenant Dan in Forrest Gump, which hurt, which earned him an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor. He turned his passion for those who serve in our military, which he's had a passion for for over 40 years, and he turned that into an opportunity to serve them when he established the Gary Sinise Foundation in 2011. Good morning Gary. Welcome to More Living.

Gary Sinise 00:01:51 Hey, thanks so much for having me. It's great to be with you.

Speaker 2 00:01:53 Great to have you with us. I certainly want to get into your incredible foundation. I'd be remiss if we didn't talk about your acting career as well. Was acting something you wanted to always do, Gary, when you were growing up? Tell us how you you evolved into that career.

Gary Sinise 00:02:11 I well, from sophomore year in high school, that's when I, that's when I got into my first play in high school.

Gary Sinise 00:02:21 And I was kind of a struggling student at the time. I was really not doing well in school. And then all of a sudden I fell into the theater department and fell in love with acting. I the the musical West Side Story was being done, and I got a little part in it, and all of a sudden I had this, this whole new group of friends, and I just felt very comfortable in the theater department. I started doing every play I could possibly do throughout high school, and once I graduated from high school, I wanted to continue doing that. I wasn't going to go to college, and I ended up starting a theater company with my friends back in 1974. And that theater company, is called Steppenwolf Theatre, and it's it's now it's a giant multi-million dollar building in Chicago. on the right, on the north side. It's a it's a giant theater complex. And it started with a bunch of kids. And that all started when I when I started acting in high school.

Speaker 2 00:03:31 Yeah. That's a that's a great word. So you've been from small theater? Of course. Major motion pictures. I guess it's been 40 years. You've been you've been really supporting the military. And of course, you had your role as Lieutenant Dan in Forrest Gump, which was has been one of your most impactful roles. Talk about that experience and how that fed into your desire to serve veterans and military.

Gary Sinise 00:03:57 You know, some of the military work. The the genesis and origins of a lot of that comes from my family history, my on my side of the family, many veterans on my wife's side of the family, Vietnam veterans. Back in the 80s, when I was at Steppenwolf, I started doing more. I ended up doing a play that was written by a group of Vietnam veterans. We started supporting local veterans then and then in the 90s, when I auditioned for Forrest Gump, I played a Vietnam veteran, and that led to supporting many different veterans organizations back in the 90s. And then after, after September 11th, when we were attacked, I just felt like with the family history and the the organizations that I'd been supporting prior to that terrible day, I was teed up in a way to just reach out and try to help our active duty folks who were deploying to Afghanistan and Iraq and volunteered for the USO and just kept going out there.

Gary Sinise 00:05:02 And that all turned into a full time mission that that evolved into the creation of a nonprofit, the Gary Sinise Foundation.

Speaker 2 00:05:11 So 911 really became a pivot point for you in your journey there? Sounds like.

Gary Sinise 00:05:17 No. No question. I wrote a book, that came out in 2019. It's called Grateful American A Journey From Self to Service, and it kind of tracks a lot of that. A lot of the early work that I was doing in theater and movies and all that. But then how that career kind of after September 11th, turned into a service mission. And there's a chapter in the book called Turning Point and really a turning point for me. I felt like what I had done in the 80s with some Vietnam veterans groups and the 90s with working with our wounded after playing the wounded soldier in Forrest Gump. I was just sort of teed up in a way to to do more. And September 11th was a turning point toward a full time mission of service. And now we've raised, you know, we launched the foundation in 2011.

Gary Sinise 00:06:12 We've raised hundreds of millions of dollars and deployed those resources all over. And and the military community and veterans, community, first responders, children and families of our fallen heroes. We we built homes for our wounded. In fact, just recently, we we handed over the keys to a double amputee in Nolensville and built a home there. We're going to we're going to reach 100 specially adapted smart technology, mortgage free homes that we've built. our 100th home will be right around Veterans Day this year.

Speaker 2 00:06:52 Yeah. And that's part of your Rise program, and I certainly want to get into that. before we get to that part, what there are a lot of great veterans, charities and foundations and organizations out there. so, you know, the nine over 11 was kind of a pivot point for you. What inspired you to make your commitment permanent with the Gary Sinise Foundation in 2011?

Gary Sinise 00:07:18 You know, one of the I mentioned that I had volunteered for the USO after September 11th. I started going out on tours with the USO.

Gary Sinise 00:07:27 I started taking a band on tours with the USO. I started when I really dug in after nine over 11 and wanted to help. I started going to the war zones and visiting the hospitals, and I would meet different people that also that had nonprofit organizations that were trying to help the men and women who were serving our country. and I had been involved with a few. Prior to September 11th, like the Disabled American Veterans. I got involved with them after I played Lieutenant Dan in Forrest Gump, but then I found that there was a way for me to do a lot more for our defenders and their families than just, you know, visiting the hospital or going on a USO tour or something. I started supporting a lot of these various nonprofits that were popping up, and they were, you know, engaged in supporting, like the children of our fallen heroes or, you know, the home building stuff, all these different things and all the different programs that we have now at the Gary Sinise Foundation.

Gary Sinise 00:08:40 The origins of a lot of those programs came from what I was doing before, and I was supporting a lot of different nonprofits out there that are involved with helping our military and our veterans, first Responders, and I learned a lot from a lot of these nonprofits, and based on the missions, and I was I would go and fundraise for them. I would do PSA's to create awareness for what they were doing. you know, I, you know, and whatever I could do to do more to help more people by supporting a lot of different organizations. That's what I was doing. And then when I decided, hey, this is for keeps, I'm really in, in in this this is something I really am passionate about. I want I can see the impact that's being made by just showing up and helping. And so then I decided the next step was to create a foundation of my own to to stand up a nonprofit of my own so that I could raise additional funds, create programs. And if you look at the Gary Sinise Foundation, we have a very broad, wide range of things that we're doing.

Gary Sinise 00:09:52 We're not like an organization. Just does one thing. We do multiple things. And that's because that's what I was doing before I had the foundation. I was, you know, putting my, you know, my support toward many other activities and organizations that were doing a number of great things to support our defenders. So we have a broad mission at the foundation. And, you know, if you want to know more about it, you can go to Gary Sinise Foundation. Org.

Speaker 2 00:10:21 We're visiting with Gary Sinise. We're talking about his foundation, which does wonderful things. And that was one of the things that was eye opening for me in preparing for this show is all the different things and programs that you do have. So when we come back, he mentioned that the 100th custom built, specially adapted, mortgage free smart home, that that will be, coming right after Veterans Day, right here in Tennessee. That's the Rise program. We come back from our break. I want to dive into that and some of the other great things that the Gary Sinise Foundation is doing.

Speaker 2 00:10:49 So stay with us. This is more living with Jim Brogan here on Newstalk 98 seven Wookey.

Jim Brogan 00:10:56 Welcome back to Newstalk 98 Seven's Brogan Financial Studios, where Jim Brogan is coming to you live with important news and advice to help you achieve your dream retirement. Get ready to learn and live. Here's your host, Jim Brogan.

Speaker 2 00:11:11 Welcome back. This is Moore living here on Newstalk 98 seven Wookey. We're visiting with Gary Sinise of the Gary Sinise Foundation. You can go to Gary Sinise Foundation to find out more information about their many, many programs. And you mentioned the 100th custom built, I guess as of right now. You've done, I think, 96 custom built homes. Is that right? Gary.

Gary Sinise 00:11:34 Yeah. Yes. That that that actually that number starts before. these are all homes that I've been involved in since I started. So the foundation has built, you know, a significant amount of about 70 of those 96 or so. But that number starts back in 2010, when I did my first home before I had the Gary Sinise Foundation, I was raising money to build a home for the first surviving quadruple amputee.

Gary Sinise 00:12:10 His name is Brendan Marocco from Staten Island, New York, and he lost both his arms and both his legs back in 2009, and I came together. I had done some good work in New York after nine over 11, supporting the fire department in New York and whatnot, and I had raised money with a concert to build a memorial in Coney Island back in 2007. And when I was shooting CSI New York in New York, the commissioner of the fire department came to me and wanted to ask me to get involved in building a house in Staten Island for Brendan, who had lost both his arms and both his legs. And I said, you know what? I saw Brendan in the hospital at Walter Reed about two weeks after he arrived there, and I would be honored to to do a concert. So I did a concert to raise money to build that home. And that started the home building process. And now and then when I created the Gary Sinise Foundation, we created our Rise program, which is focused on restoring independence and supporting empowerment.

Gary Sinise 00:13:25 And we do specially adapted smart technology homes that are mortgage free. We do mobility devices like wheelchairs, Segways, that kind of thing, and specially adapted vehicles. Whatever we can do with our Rise program to create more independence for the wounded service member and also for their families. And now we're approaching. Yeah. We did. We've done, you know, from the very beginning, we've done 96 of these houses. And by, by Veteran's Day, we'll turn over the keys to, to our 100th home.

Speaker 2 00:14:01 And that 100th home. We'll be right here in Tennessee. Is that right?

Gary Sinise 00:14:05 Yes, it's in Cedar Hill, Tennessee. And this is, this is for one of our wounded named Joe. Joe Bowser, a US Army veteran. And I happen to meet Joe almost 20 years ago. he had been blown up on a military base in Iraq that I had actually visited back in 2003, and he was wounded and lost a leg. And, I've, you know, known him for several years.

Gary Sinise 00:14:36 He never asked for anything. And then, you know, he finally I kept encouraging him, and he finally applied for the program. And we're going to be doing a house for him and his wife.

Speaker 2 00:14:46 That's just awesome and in awe inspiring to hear that that story from 2007 2010 with the first home you mentioned, this foundation does not offer just one type of program. And I'm looking at a flyer here. There's so many different things here. There's Soaring Valor events, serving Heroes initiative. You've got a really cool thing with the Marine Corps. Talk a little bit about some of your other programs besides the Rise program and what you're doing to serve both military and first responders.

Gary Sinise 00:15:21 Yeah, you mentioned Soaring Valor. So Soaring Valor was started. I have a great relationship with the National World War II Museum in New Orleans now, which started back in 2009. Before I had a foundation or anything like that, I actually was asked by Tom Hanks to do a voice. They have a movie at the National World War II Museum called Beyond All boundaries.

Gary Sinise 00:15:47 And in the movie it's about 45 minutes long. It's the kind of the history of World War Two, and they have a lot of voices, people that are actually reading letters and, you know, from people that actually served during World War Two. And he asked Tom asked me he was working with the World War II Museum on that, and he asked me to do the voice of Ernie Pyle, the journalist, Ernie Pyle, who was killed during the Battle of Okinawa. And, Ernie was an incredible writer, did some incredible work documenting what was going on during the war. And I was I was, you know, just honored to do it. And that started a relationship with the National War with two Museum. I started sending my uncle down there who's, who was a navigator on a B-17 bomber. And after and they recorded him, they record World War Two veterans at the National World War II Museum on video and audio, and they preserved those records, audio and video in their archive at the museum.

Gary Sinise 00:16:58 And they did one for my uncle. Well, my uncle died in 2014, and I called him up and I said, Will you send me that, that video? and I watched it and I was very moved by it. And I called him up and I said, you know, everybody should who has a World War II veteran in their family should have a video like this. can we support, you know, getting more of these videos done? And they said, yeah, you can sponsor historians who will go out with video cameras and, and, you know, document World War Two veterans. So we started doing that. And then I said, you know, I want more World War Two veterans should see the national World War II museum. It's incredible. And so I went to my pals at American Airlines, who had done a whole bunch of things with going back to 2007 and asked them if they would support with travel for World War Two veterans. And then we created our Soaring Valor program, and now we've taken we've taken about 1400 World War Two veterans down to the National World War II Museum.

Gary Sinise 00:18:12 And we started that ten years ago, in 2015 and 2017. I wanted to add an educational component to that. So we started pairing up high school students with World War II veterans, and they get to travel with a World War II veteran on a charter airplane all the way down to New Orleans and tour the museum with a World War II veteran. It's a great program. you know, obviously it's kind of winding down because we have less and less World War Two veterans that are able to travel now. You know, the youngest one is like 98 years old. And, but, you know, we have a trip coming up in just about a, we have a trip coming up next week, and then another trip in September, and the program will kind of wind down in terms of our charter airplane trips, but we will continue to provide opportunities for World War Two veteran families to to go to the museum if they can get there. And we will provide, you know, the travel support for them.

Gary Sinise 00:19:21 It's a great, wonderful program. That's just one of the programs and that came from my uncle. You know, I just my uncle was the inspiration for for wanting to get World War II veterans down to the museum. That's just one of our programs. And we continue to have education programs as part of the Gary Sinise Foundation. It's important for our young people to really understand what service is about, what our you know, what our military and our veterans do for our country.

Speaker 2 00:19:50 Absolutely.

Gary Sinise 00:19:51 We will continue to do that.

Speaker 2 00:19:52 Yeah. You also through strategic partnerships, you have your mental wellness initiatives. You know, soldiers, of course, we've learned more and more about all the mental health challenges, including PTSD, and first responders too. So and military talk a little bit about mental wellness and the need to continue to serve our heroes with some of their mental needs returning from active duty.

Gary Sinise 00:20:22 Well, yes, there's all kinds of challenges there. You know, there are challenges of, you know, post-traumatic stress, people that are dealing with very serious mental health issues because of, you know, what they've seen, what they experienced, you know, the losses of friends, all of that, and people trying to process that.

Gary Sinise 00:20:43 We have a lot of Afghanistan veterans who, after the withdrawal, kind of messed up withdrawal of Afghanistan, that we had a lot of these Afghanistan veterans were just questioning everything. You know, what did we do to for 20 years? And then we gave the country back to the Taliban and all of that. And you had a lot of people that all of a sudden we had a lot of Afghanistan veterans really going through a lot of deep, deep dive, you know, soul searching about that. So we have we have programs and partnerships with all kinds of organizations that we support that where their focus is really seriously on mental wellness. One of those great programs, a buddy of mine, Ken Fulk, started a program, he's a successful businessman. He served in the Navy as an EOD tech did did well in business and wanted. Had some land in Bluemont, Virginia and wanted to build a retreat for, you know, for veterans who were struggling with various, you know, mental health issues or physical disabilities because of their service.

Gary Sinise 00:22:03 And he was building this thing back in 2013. And I met Ken and I said, I want to come see what you're doing. So I went there when they were there were about two weeks from opening and they were still nailing me, you know, putting things up and building the cabins and all that is a beautiful retreat. And he told me what he wanted to do. And just a little while later, I proposed a a plan. You know, I made a proposal to him to team up some of our younger, wounded veterans with, older, wounded veterans from my relationships with the Disabled American Veterans Organization. So we started these retreats where we would send younger Afghan or Iraq veterans to Boulder Crest. It's called Boulder Crest Retreat, and we would pair them up with wounded Vietnam veterans, triple amputees, or, you know, people that are lost limbs and they would go through the retreat program. It's called the Warrior Path program. And over time, that program has just exploded. It's really incredible what it does for service members that are dealing with, you know, serious mental wellness challenges.

Gary Sinise 00:23:22 They want you to get to. Post-traumatic growth is what it's about, and it's a great program. Boulder Crest Foundation, Boulder Crest Retreat. And we we have a great partnership with them or we will support. We provide a lot of funding. We provide you know, we send service members to the retreat, and now they have multiple retreats around the country that they've opened over time. So this is this is if you're if you're a veteran out there and you're struggling, you know, and you're in search of some support, please go to Gary Sinise Foundation or look at our, our, relief and resiliency efforts. And you'll, you'll learn a lot more about some of the programs that we offer and that we support to help people through. We want people, you know, remember the story of Lieutenant Dan. He's struggling. He's mad. He's angry. He's going through a lot of difficult stuff. But in the end, it's a happy ending. Lieutenant Dan is standing up. In the end, he's walking.

Gary Sinise 00:24:24 He's moving on. He's. You know, he's moved beyond the war years. He's processed those and moved beyond them. And that's the story that we want for everybody. So I encourage you to look at that and look at the Gary Sinise Foundation programs.

Speaker 2 00:24:38 Yeah, the mental wellness initiatives. I think it's such a fundamentally important thing. Dealing with some of the really the brain stress of what people deal with when they come back. I think we all know either family members or friends who have returned from active duty that see anywhere from mild to very severe post-traumatic stress. I love what you said there about really being able to thrive and eventually overcome that and, and, and continue to live the way that they want to. Tell you what. We're going to get to our next break. When we come back, I want to talk about the impact of music on Gary's life. Many of you, many of us may not have realized that he's so involved. And you have the Lieutenant Dan band that performs quite a bit.

Speaker 2 00:25:23 So we'll get a little bit into your music background when we come back. This is your living with Jim Brogan here on Newstalk 98 seven.

Jim Brogan 00:25:32 Welcome back to Newstalk 98, Seven's Broken Financial Studios, where Jim Brogan is coming to you live with important news and advice to help you achieve your dream retirement. Get ready to learn and live. Here's your host, Jim Brogan.

Speaker 2 00:25:47 This is more living with Jim Brogan where it's all about living the best years of your life your way. This is Newstalk 98 seven Wookey. We're with you every Saturday, 9 to 10 a.m. and again from 3 to 4 p.m. you can also check us out online. Go to brogan.com. You can click on radio and download and stream our shows. You can also podcast them on Apple Podcast and Spotify. you know, we wouldn't have the freedoms we do without our military, without our veterans, our, our military and our first responders put their lives on the line and ultimately are willing to pay the ultimate sacrifice, to to keep us safe, to protect our freedoms.

Speaker 2 00:26:27 could be really there's almost no greater cause, than supporting those that we're willing to serve, that are willing to serve our country. We're visiting with Gary Sinise of the Gary Sinise Foundation. Many of us know him from his role as Lieutenant Dan. He also was on Forrest Gump. He was also on CSI New York, the Gary Sinise Foundation, Gary Sinise Foundation. Org was started in 2011. And Gary, you moved the foundation from California to Nashville. Talk a little bit about what prompted you to move to Tennessee.

Gary Sinise 00:27:03 It's the Volunteer State.

Speaker 2 00:27:05 Sure is. Have you become have you become a Tennessee fan since you moved here? Are you a are you a Tennessee ball?

Gary Sinise 00:27:13 Absolutely. You bet. I'm a big fan of Tennessee. you know, I, I began coming. The first time I came, was back in the 80s. I was actually working on a screenplay, writing a screenplay with a playwright friend of mine. And we were traveling around, and and we came here, a buddy of mine, actor Albert Finney.

Gary Sinise 00:27:35 I don't know if you remember Albert, but Albert was doing a movie here in in the Nashville area. I spent some time here. I went to the Opry, did a bunch of things, fell in love with it. Then over the years, as I started doing more with the military, I would go and go to Fort Campbell and, you know, spent spend time with the 1/60 Aviation Regiment. the Night Stalkers, played, played concerts out of Fort Campbell. I have friends here in the music business. And as time went on, I started thinking, well, maybe I don't want to continue to live in California. I was in California for many, many years, did well there with the movie business and all that. Started looking at some different no tax states. No state tax states.

Speaker 2 00:28:26 Sure.

Gary Sinise 00:28:26 And and you know, having come here to, to the Nashville area and having friends here and everything, I just started zeroing in on it and I The thing that sealed the deal for me was when I.

Gary Sinise 00:28:38 I asked my daughter, I said, and she was living about oh, just, you know, ten minutes from us in California. And she has three little ones, three little girls. And I said, if I was thinking of moving to Tennessee, would you consider moving? You know, we weren't going to leave if the grandkids.

Speaker 2 00:29:01 So I'm sure.

Gary Sinise 00:29:02 When my daughter said yes, and she started looking for houses and everything like that, that sealed the deal. And I moved my foundation, from Woodland Hills, California, to Franklin in, gosh, it was to 20, 21. And then, our family, eventually moved in 2023, and we're just we're loving it here.

Speaker 2 00:29:30 Yeah. It took a Tennessee is a great place. We're a great geography. We've got people moving all over it from all over the country to Tennessee. And of course, it's it's fiscally responsible as a state. And then, of course, no income tax. Very, very tax efficient with everything that we do here.

Speaker 2 00:29:48 Let's talk about music, Gary. you know, I many people may not have been aware of your music background. and you do have something coming up. You know, we're we're celebrating on September 2nd. 80 years since the end of World War two, and you and the Lieutenant Dan band are performing in Hawaii to commemorate the end of World War two at the end of August. I'm sure that's going to be just an amazing experience. What inspired you to have the Lieutenant Dan Band to be such an integral part of your foundation?

Gary Sinise 00:30:20 Well, you know, I, I started doing the band well over 20 years ago, so. Well before I had my foundation. it was just another way of of of supporting. I started I did my first USO tour. right after we went into Iraq and we went into Iraq in March of 2003, and in June of 2003, they, the USO and a bunch of other sponsors, including Northwest Airlines, who provided a 747, they put together a giant tour to Iraq with all these entertainers, football players, basketball players, comedians, singers, actors.

Gary Sinise 00:31:07 I mean, there are a bunch of us on that trip of about 180 people on a 747, and they called it Project Salute. And I got on the trip as Lieutenant Dan, going over to visit the troops. And I did that. And kid Rock was on that trip. And Leon Womack, some really good people were performing. They did. You know, we did a lot of visiting, you know, going out, visiting the troops, shaking hands, taking pictures, that kind of thing. But there were 3 or 4 performances during that time. I would get up and just talk to the crowd for five minutes and wave. Kid Rock would rock out and Leanne would sing and and all of that. It was a great tour and I wanted to do that some more, so I came. I came home from that tour in June of oh three and said, send me out again. And I just kept going out on these USO tours, and I had some musicians that I played with for fun.

Gary Sinise 00:32:03 It was just like, you know, one of those jamming things. You'd get together and get together every once in a while and play some music. I played as a kid in high school and everything, and it was something I just did for fun. But I talked the USO into letting me take the musician pals of mine on a tour, and we we did that. In February of 2004. We went to Diego Garcia, we went to Singapore and Korea, and that was our first band tour. at that time, I did not have CSI New York. And, you know, I'd done some movies, but I, you know, I wasn't really that well known, but everybody knew who Lieutenant Dan was. So I.

Speaker 2 00:32:48 Yeah.

Gary Sinise 00:32:49 I just named the band, Gary Sinise and the Lieutenant Dan Band so people would know who it is. And since then, we've, we played hundreds of shows. In fact, that show that you mentioned. in Hawaii for the 80th anniversary of the end of World War two.

Gary Sinise 00:33:07 That will be our 600th show.

Speaker 2 00:33:10 Wow.

Gary Sinise 00:33:11 In the last, you know, 20 years. These are all three shows I have to pay to band. you know, I've had to pay the band, you know, from the beginning and figure out how to put the stage up and pay for the lights and the sound and everything like that, but I play for free. So this is, this is 600 something shows. you know, for the mission of supporting and uplifting and raising morale and, you know, raising spirits, raising funds, you know, we've done with the with the band. And the band is a program of the Gary Sinise Foundation. So if you donate to the Gary Sinise Foundation, one of the things we do is provide entertainment and that, you know, the American people help me go around and show our support and appreciation and gratitude for those who are serving there. We play concerts for first responder organizations will do, you know, benefits and fundraisers and all of that. in fact, we have a pretty big event coming up here in Nashville.

Gary Sinise 00:34:22 back in 2014, I did an event in Hollywood called Hollywood Salutes Heroes. And we brought my foundation brought in probably 50 wounded heroes from Walter Reed and Brooke Army Medical Center and some of the different hospitals, and we treated them to to right around the 20th anniversary of Forrest Gump coming out. That happened to be. We treated them to a Hollywood event where we called it Hollywood Salutes Heroes. And now that we're here in Nashville, I wanted to do the same thing here. And we're doing Nashville Salutes Heroes. It'll start on September 5th. They'll all kinds of things for the the heroes to do, the service members, the defenders. And one of those things. And my band is going to play at the Nashville Speedway on on September 6th. so we're going to be doing a lot of great things in the finale will be at the Country Music Hall of Fame in Nashville, and big and Rich are going to play at that one.

Speaker 2 00:35:27 That's great. I guess people can find out more about that at your website at Gary Sinise Foundation.

Speaker 2 00:35:31 Org. I on the National salutes. What's the best way to find out about national salutes? Because that's just, you know, 2.5 hours from here.

Gary Sinise 00:35:40 Yeah. You can. I mean, if you go to, lieutenant and band.com, you can look at the band website. but there's all, like, the Nashville Salutes concert at the speedway is, that's that starts about two in the afternoon, I think at the speedway, there's a lot of stuff with the cars and the wounded folks are going to get to spend time with the cars at the speedway and everything. And then my band is going to play probably around 4:00.

Speaker 2 00:36:09 We're visiting with Gary Sinise, Gary Sinise Foundation. Org. when we come back, we're talking about music. Also, his family has been an integral part of the foundation and his life. And I want to talk a little bit about that when we come back. This is more living with Jim Brogan here on Newstalk 98 seven Waukee.

Jim Brogan 00:36:29 Welcome back to Newstalk 98 Seven's Broken Financial Studios, where Jim Brogan is coming to you live with important news and advice to help you achieve your dream retirement.

Jim Brogan 00:36:38 Get ready to learn and live. Here's your host, Jim Brogan.

Speaker 2 00:36:43 Thanks for listening this week. For more living here on Newstalk 98 seven. Waqar. We're visiting with Gary Sinise, legendary actor. He most of us know him as Lieutenant Dan from Forrest Gump. We're talking about his incredible foundation Gary Sinise foundation.org. As we found out more and more about that that foundation in the last year or so, we really, really wanted to get Gary on to talk about his foundation. And it's interesting. You know, I was talking about I really want to encourage our listeners to check you all out now that you're in Nashville. I mean, it's 2.5 hours away. And as a matter of fact, I'm going to be heading over there this afternoon because my daughter is a rising sophomore at Belmont University, and we're going to be moving her in for her sophomore year. she is on the cheer squad over there. I know family is a huge part of your life, Gary and the foundation, and they really do go hand in hand.

Speaker 2 00:37:40 I know your son Mack, worked at the foundation helping in education and outreach. Sadly, I know he lost his battle with a very rare form of cancer. I'm so sorry, for that loss. Talk a little bit about Mac and his impact on the foundation.

Gary Sinise 00:37:56 Well, thank thank you for, for asking. yeah, we lost our son, January 5th, 2024 to a very rare cancer that he'd been fighting for about five and a half, six years. The cancer is called Cordova. And, you know, when when I first heard he had that, I mean, I'd never heard of it before. And many, many people haven't. Even doctors. It's so rare That only about 300 people in the US are diagnosed with this per year, like other cancers. you know, sometimes, sometimes about 70% of the time they can go in, they can get the initial tumor and remove it, and and it's cured. It doesn't come back. unfortunately, Mac was in the 30% of people that it it comes back and recurs and it starts to spread.

Gary Sinise 00:38:56 And you know, when you have a cancer that less than 100 people are dealing with every year, of course, there are no pharmaceutical companies that are developing drugs to fight a cancer that only 100 people are dealing with. So you're subject to just whatever is available out there. on the on the cancer drug market and you, you try different drugs. Fortunately for us, there's an organization that was started by somebody who had Cordova when he was a kid, and he survived it, and the tumor was removed and he survived. But he was concerned it was going to come back. And so he started a foundation called the Cordova Foundation to, you know, develop research and pull experts together. And they were very, very helpful during our fight. But Mac continued to to struggle as the cancer disabled him more and more as time went on. He was an incredible musician and composer.

Speaker 2 00:40:00 He was a drummer, right? Went to USC.

Gary Sinise 00:40:03 From the time he was nine years old.

Speaker 2 00:40:05 Yeah. And then, I mean, you all been surrounded by musicians.

Speaker 2 00:40:09 So many of the people you know, and musicians help him finish an entire album of music, right? Entitled Resurrection and Revival. What was that process like working on that album with him?

Gary Sinise 00:40:21 Well, that that was incredible because the cancer had disabled him so much. He wasn't really focusing on music, he was just fighting cancer for the longest time. He couldn't play drums anymore. But you know, the last year of his life, we didn't of course, know that was going to be his final year. But early that year, 2023, he said, he told me, he said, dad, there's a piece of music I wrote in college. I never finished it. I've been thinking about it and I think I'd like to finish it. And he asked me if I thought a couple of my band members would help him work on it. He got together with them, they started working on it. Then out of the blue, this this buddy of his from college who's a fellow composer called him up, didn't really know that Mac had been, you know, struggling so much with cancer.

Gary Sinise 00:41:11 He came over to the house, they started talking. Mac played him the things he'd been working on, and they went to work to finish it. And this was a piece that Mac was working on called Arctic Circles and it is on his YouTube channel, Max, and he's YouTube. There's a bunch of videos of this music. They finished Arctic Circles. They went into the studio in July of 23. They recorded it with an orchestra. And then that led to Mack wanting to do a whole record, and we moved. As I said, we moved in 2023 to Nashville from California. That first session for Arctic Circles was in California. And then they, you know, we knew we were going to move. So we moved here about September 29th, and by November, they were in the studio doing more music here in Nashville. And Matt created a record called Resurrection and Revival, Maxine's resurrection and revival. And, and, you know, he heard all the music. He designed the album cover.

Gary Sinise 00:42:18 He wanted to have vinyl records so he could give to people. It's downloadable too. You can download it on iTunes and Amazon and all the Spotify, all these things. And after he died, I started pouring through his laptop and everything, and I started finding all this other music that he had written and tucked away. So I went to work with his composer buddy Oliver Schnee, who worked with him on the first record, and we created Resurrection and Revival Part two. So both those records are downloadable, but you can also buy the vinyls at Gary Sinise Foundation and Mac. You know, he said, dad, I think I'd like to make 100 vinyls and we'll give them to people. And if we ever sold any, the proceeds could go to the Gary Sinise Foundation. Mac loved the Gary Sinise Foundation. He was a great staff member. He'd be one of our young leaders now, for sure. If he hadn't had a battle cancer. And And now we have two records out there. The proceeds are going to the Gary Sinise Foundation and.

Speaker 2 00:43:27 We got that. And that's the music we're playing right now as you speak, that we've kind of brought up that is that is from his album Resurrection and Revival.

Gary Sinise 00:43:38 What are you planning? I can't hear you.

Speaker 2 00:43:40 Oh, you can't hear the. You can't hear the music. We've been rolling that for about the last couple of minutes. That's Arctic circles. Yeah, we're playing Arctic Circles. Our audience can hear it. I'm so sorry that you can't hear it. So that's that's again, Max and E's. And the title of his album is Resurrection and Revival. And then you did a second part, and people can download that, on your apple, you know, wherever you want to download that. Gary, I guess people can find out more. I hate we're out of time, Gary Sinise Foundation, dawg. Thank you so much for being with us this this Saturday morning. just an incredible foundation. Check him out. Also, check out his YouTube channel with Gary Sinise Foundation because they've got some great stuff.

Speaker 2 00:44:22 You can see they're all the impact they're making. Gary, thank you so much.

Gary Sinise 00:44:27 Thanks so much for having me. Have a great day.

Speaker 2 00:44:29 Yes, sir. You too. That's Gary Sinise. Gary sinise foundation. Org. Also, you can check out his sons music at Mac. It's Max Sinise, and you can download his. Records. Resurrection and revival. We today we've talked about our freedoms because greater freedom provides for more living. So you can live the best years of your life your way. Have a great weekend. Thanks for tuning in. This is Your Living with Jim Brogan on Newstalk 98 7WO.

Speaker 4 00:44:56 The views expressed by Jim Brogan and his guests are not that of Cumulus Media. Any discussion of financial, legal and tax planning strategies is not intended to be individualized advice and is general in nature. Always consult with your advisor for advice specific to your needs. This program's content does not represent a recommendation of any particular security strategy or investment by Jim Brogan or Brogan Financial, Incorporated.

In this episode of "More Living with Jim Brogan," host Jim Brogan welcomes Dr. Tom Prince, a Knoxville allergist, to discuss the causes and management of allergies in East Tennessee. They explore why the region is a hotspot for allergies, the impact of pollution and lifestyle, and practical strategies for relief, including allergy shots and home environment tips. The show also covers food allergies, the role of genetics, and debunks common allergy myths. Jim shares financial advice on maximizing charitable giving, blending health and financial guidance to help listeners live their best years.

Transcript:

Jim Brogan 00:00:03 You're tuned in to More Living with Jim Brogan, broadcast live from the Brogan Financial studios at Newstalk 9087, where old-fashioned values, expert knowledge, and genuine understanding come together to give you the retirement straight talk you deserve. Jim's a former National Advisor of the Year recipient and a financial educator, and he's here today to talk about how you can live out the best years of your life. Jim and the Brogan financial team have been helping retirees and retirees across the southeast for over 20 years in their pursuit of financial independence. You can reach them during the week at 865862 6800. So sit back, relax and get ready to learn because more living with Jim Brogan starts now.

Speaker 2 00:00:46 Hello East Tennessee, welcome to More Living with Jim Brogan, where it's all about living the best years of your life your way. As you listen to Newstalk 98 7WO Sky. You know, East Tennessee is so beautiful And it really is one of the most beautiful places, in my opinion, in the world. I've gotten some beautiful places and you come home and unique, you know, everything's unique, but you come home and it's so lush and green and beautiful.

Speaker 2 00:01:14 We got the mountains in the backdrop. But you know, along with that beauty comes plenty of pollen and seasonal allergies, which of course, we're starting to get into that now. and we're having a lot of weather changes. So today we're joined by our friend, doctor Tom Prince. He's a Knoxville allergist. He's with allergy, asthma and Immunology Center. And, we're he's going to help us understand what's really behind all of that. What you can be doing for all those sniffles, sneezes and itchy eyes, and how you can move forward with a good picture of health. Doctor Prince, good morning. Welcome to More Living.

Tom Prince 00:01:48 Thank you. Jim, I appreciate you having me.

Speaker 2 00:01:50 It's always great to have you. For our listeners who may not know. Tell us a little bit about your background and what led you into the fields of the field of allergies, asthma and immunology.

Tom Prince 00:02:00 I accidentally became a paramedic here in Knoxville and I fell in love. I fell in love with the how much fun it was and how much fun it was to help people.

Tom Prince 00:02:10 And I was originally going to go into pulmonary critical care. I was down at Erlanger in Chattanooga, and the famous doctor, Bob talked me into going on an allergy interview, and that was that was it. I fell in love. I fell in love, not just with the allergy, but the immunology part. It's fascinating and it just becomes more fascinating every day.

Speaker 2 00:02:30 And you grew up here in the area got. Yes. You went to University of Tennessee Medical School.

Tom Prince 00:02:35 Everything. Everything. University of Tennessee College medical school residency, all. University of Tennessee.

Speaker 2 00:02:40 That's great. And, so let's talk about where we are in East Tennessee. We know. Well, I guess we're what, one of the top ten places for allergies in the United States.

Tom Prince 00:02:50 It depends on how they look at it. Some of them look at it by how much? How many, rounds of antihistamines people are taking, how many clinic visits, how many codes get coded as allergy. But it doesn't matter. We are in the top five every year.

Tom Prince 00:03:07 A combination of these massive pollen levels that we have, but also the type of pollution that we have, the diesel based and the sulfur based pollution that is higher here in East Tennessee because of our interstates and because of our coal fired steam plants. that changes your immune system to be to be headed toward more allergies. It's fascinating.

Speaker 2 00:03:32 does, does being in the Valley exacerbate that?

Tom Prince 00:03:35 Absolutely. Yeah. We have a lot of pollen blowing in, but.

Speaker 2 00:03:39 Kind of gets.

Tom Prince 00:03:39 Trapped through it.

Speaker 2 00:03:40 Gets trapped in here.

Tom Prince 00:03:41 We think, also even blowing in from the Carolinas, where it blows over the mountain and again, falls sort of into the bowl that we have here.

Speaker 2 00:03:51 What are you seeing this year? what have you seen and what are you expecting to see?

Tom Prince 00:03:55 Well, the cold keeps everybody indoors and it keeps the pollen, the the dew on the ground and the cold keeps the pollen from, from floating as well. But as soon as we get a good warm day this afternoon, the pollen counts will be super high and people will have problems.

Tom Prince 00:04:13 But when it's real cold, nobody's out and everybody's inside, so they're not getting any pollen.

Speaker 2 00:04:17 So when we get a, you know, we're probably going to get below freezing Monday night. I mean, it's going to be in the 70s today.

Tom Prince 00:04:23 Yes.

Speaker 2 00:04:24 You know, we were pushing 80 last weekend. I think it was. Yes. those types of weather changes. I know I struggle with congestion stuff when we have those weather changes, most people do. What does that do to the allergens, though? I would imagine a hard freeze would kill things.

Tom Prince 00:04:39 it'll slow down the tree. The tree pollen buds will will freeze sometimes, and it'll slow the pollen down for a short period of time. But, you know, we have we have different timing of all the different trees that they pollinate right now, cedar and alder and l'm right now, so that'll slow way down with that phrase. But then there'll be plenty right behind it that'll that'll pollinate.

Speaker 2 00:05:01 Does it need to be a hard freeze or.

Tom Prince 00:05:03 A real hard freeze to, to to kill those the buds that are showing up right now.

Speaker 2 00:05:09 Which I hate to say I don't want to hard for true hard freeze because I just want everything to keep blooming. That's the problem we like.

Tom Prince 00:05:14 Of course we do. It keeps us in business. So I agree with you, Jim.

Speaker 2 00:05:18 Well, but we love the beauty of it.

Tom Prince 00:05:20 Oh, I know it is. It is beautiful. I used to see, you know, we have the largest variety of plant life in the Smokies in the world. It's it's just unbelievable. Four seasons at the top of Mount Lacon. I mean, you just can't beat it.

Speaker 2 00:05:31 So it's all of those different types of vegetation that really contribute to this. Can you touch a little bit more on the pollution side?

Tom Prince 00:05:39 Yeah, the the pollution because we have the two largest interstates in the country merging in Knoxville, Tennessee, Knox County, you've got that diesel based pollution and it, it points the immune system toward it's called a T helper to high position.

Tom Prince 00:05:57 And this is where all the fatigue with allergies come from. people that don't have allergies don't know what it's like to have a bad allergy attack, and you feel like you have a head cold or the flu. and that's, that's the part of the immune system that's activated. Interestingly, that part of the immune system is not activated in third world countries. No allergies in third world countries at all. Zero rare bee sting and fire ants sting allergies, but otherwise not a single sniffle from pollen or anything else in third world countries.

Speaker 2 00:06:33 Really?

Tom Prince 00:06:33 That's correct. Look it up.

Speaker 2 00:06:35 They just don't have a vegetation or.

Tom Prince 00:06:37 No, they got the vegetation. They just their immune systems aren't directed toward allergies. Ours are. we we think it's the hygiene hypothesis. We're too darn clean. But in Europe, where you have literally farms right in the in a neighborhood right next to a homes that have central air and heat. those farmers and their kids have almost no allergies. And they're right next door to a house that has, 20, 25% of the of the of the people that live in the developed houses.

Tom Prince 00:07:11 have that. But a lot of the barns in the UK are, there are houses. They the animals live. The people live in their barns, basically. They have a carved out area in their barn, but they walk out of their kitchen into their barn and milk a cow. Yeah. and those kids that grow up in that setting, especially if they carry those babies into the barn to milk the cows. have the least allergies of all the people in the UK.

Speaker 2 00:07:41 Yeah. So let's dive into that a little bit. You know, we're getting more and more into a society. I mean, you know, we were growing up as kids, Ty. We you know, we were outside playing all the time. Now people are inside. They're on their phones, they're on their gaming system's computers. So, talk about the, you know, being exposed, not being exposed to those things at an early age and how that compounds the allergy issues.

Tom Prince 00:08:05 Well, it also has to do with the microbiome of the house.

Tom Prince 00:08:10 For example, we've got overwhelming evidence that if you have a pet in your house, a cat or a dog or any other animal that goes in and out of your house, it changes the microbiome of your house and those people will have less allergies. Everybody thinks that you're going to see an allergist, and we're going to tell you to get rid of your pets. Absolutely not.

Speaker 2 00:08:31 helps build up your system.

Tom Prince 00:08:32 You're going to build your system up. You're going to get tolerant to that animal. But also maybe we think it changes your bacteria in your house, on your floors and on your countertops, that it's a ground based bacteria from those animals coming in and out all the time.

Speaker 2 00:08:50 So the more we can be exposed, especially as kids.

Tom Prince 00:08:53 Yes.

Speaker 2 00:08:53 And I guess.

Tom Prince 00:08:54 But that pacifier back in your kid's mouth. Don't go wash it. Stick it back in there. Step on it and stick it back in there. I'm teasing.

Speaker 4 00:09:01 Of course. Yes.

Speaker 2 00:09:03 So I guess when you treat allergies.

Speaker 2 00:09:06 And we'll talk about this a little bit later when we get into treatment. But I guess when you treat allergies, you're ultimately exposing people to allergens so that their immunity can naturally build up.

Tom Prince 00:09:15 When we're when we're doing allergy shots. Exactly. And they they've I've got an article from 1896 where a doctor ground up straw and injected it into a patient that had hay fever. And that's how it got started. Officially got started in about 1905 to 1910. we just had our 120th anniversary a few years back of of allergy shots. But, yeah, you're taking exactly what they're allergic to and refining it, of course, and injecting it in there. but at a very, very slow rate. We can we can desensitize anybody to any allergen whatsoever. Chemotherapy, antibiotics. You just got to start out at a, at a 1 to 1 million concentration and work up to about a 1 to 100, 1 to 20 concentration.

Speaker 2 00:10:04 That kind of scares me a little bit.

Tom Prince 00:10:05 Well, it scares a lot of people.

Tom Prince 00:10:07 But interestingly, the FDA didn't get involved until the 90s. They they they knocked on our door and said, hey, we don't even know what you all are doing. It's time to regulate you. They didn't know how to regulate it, but it's worked out well.

Speaker 2 00:10:20 We're visiting with Doctor Todd Prince and we're talking. He's he's a allergist immunologist. He's with us. He we always have him in in the spring. Sometimes in the fall. He's with allergy the allergy asthma and immunology center. When we come back, we'll have more about the allergies in East Tennessee. We'll also talk some about asthma and some of the challenges with asthma. So stay with us. This is more living with Jim Brogan right here on Newstalk 98 seven Sky.

Jim Brogan 00:10:49 Welcome back to Newstalk 98 Seven's Brogan Financial Studios, where Jim Brogan is coming to you live with important news and advice to help you achieve your dream retirement. Get ready to learn and live. Here's your host, Jim Brogan.

Speaker 2 00:11:04 Welcome back to More Living Here on Newstalk 98 seven Wlky.

Speaker 2 00:11:08 I'm Jim Brogan and we're visiting with doctor Tom Prince, Knoxville allergist and an immunologist. And it's that time of year we're starting to get into allergy seasons. what are the biggest allergy triggers in the spring in East Tennessee?

Tom Prince 00:11:24 tree and tree pollen mold for sure.

Speaker 2 00:11:28 So mold talk about inside the house.

Tom Prince 00:11:32 Yeah, mold. I mean, anywhere you have humidity greater than 60%, you're going to grow mold. So all your closets, your closets are like one of those big giant filters that you put in your central air system. So all the spores will go through your clothing. I've got it in my closet. I can't get it out of there. You'd have to take all your clothes out and have them all cleaned, and then figure out a way to keep the air circulating in there without being stale. And I just hadn't been able to accomplish that. But, you need to take a humidity gauge around your house and make sure it's staying below 60%. And the way you don't use a dehumidifier, those are those are expensive.

Tom Prince 00:12:12 And they're actually they've been recalled in some cases for fire hazard. But make sure you have good airflow going through your house. Put your fan speed on low in your house, put a really good filter in your central air system, and then make sure that air is running all the time at low fan speed, where it's the air is continuing to to, go in and out of those rooms to keep the humidity down.

Speaker 2 00:12:38 So we should say it, when we have our air conditioner on, we should set the fan to be all always on.

Tom Prince 00:12:44 That's correct. But you need your heating and air People to put it on low speed. Now, the disadvantage of a low speed is if you go out of town and you either have your air conditioner or heat on low, even though you have your air circulating, it's going to take a while to get it back to that temperature that you like. But a lot of people have, you know, we have it. You probably have it too. Where you have it online, you can just, you know, a few hours before you go in there, turn it down.

Tom Prince 00:13:08 But but that lower fan speed is going to keep the air circulating at a, at a normal level. And then also it's not going to stir up as many particulates if it's running on high.

Speaker 2 00:13:21 I always get Im fascinated when we talk about filters. What are the right filters to put in our.

Tom Prince 00:13:26 You can put in the best filter you want to gym, but it's you're not going to, clean your air any better than you are with a high efficiency filter. So the good ones have Merv Merv ratings on them. It's a filtration rating. a good 12 to 14 Merv rating is all you need. And even if you don't have allergies, you need that to keep your air ducts clean.

Speaker 2 00:13:48 And so we could do two. We could get air filters that really are frankly too thick and don't allow enough flow.

Tom Prince 00:13:54 You you'd be surprised how many units will shut down if you put an allergy filter in there. Talk to your heating and air people. they sometimes want to sell you a super duper filter.

Tom Prince 00:14:04 But here's the problem. The problem is, when the air goes out of that system, it floats through an air duct. Some of them that haven't been cleaned for 10 or 20 years or longer. And then when it blows out, it stirs up a lot of particulates. So, we've done air samples in houses that have high efficiency filters in them and then replace them with a allergy filter and then do the air samples. There's no difference in the particulate counts in those houses that have an allergy filter in it. with a Merv rating of 18 to 22, versus a high efficiency filter, 12 to 14.

Speaker 2 00:14:40 So DD and I, we had some water. We had a water issue in our house. It's kind of a fluky thing. we had a plumbing thing that it was just a very, very slow leak in the plumbing line, and it took a while to show up. And so we had some mold. Yes, and had to get rid of it. And then they recommended that we clean out the ducks, and that's what we did.

Speaker 2 00:15:03 We got I guess they got those scrubbers that go through it and just really clean it out.

Tom Prince 00:15:06 It's expensive to.

Speaker 2 00:15:07 Do. It is. But they said we really should do that periodically. How often.

Speaker 4 00:15:10 Should they say over.

Tom Prince 00:15:11 Ten years. You know, it's hard to hard to tell Jim, because you got the people that are providing the service that are that are, making the recommendations. But, you know, look down your air ducts. A lot of, lot of people have debris in their in the opening of their air ducts where it's been swept in there or fallen in there. But look in your intakes, take that filter out. Look in your intake. See how dirty your air ducts are? That's the way to do it. take a flashlight. take the register off and look down in there. Or take a flashlight and look up in there. you can also see around the vents, whether or not you've got a lot of particulates, or mold growing out of those, the molds are going to have little satellite lesions around it.

Tom Prince 00:15:53 It's going to be in the wherever the moisture, collects, usually in the cracks. And you'll see little satellites, and it's slimy. So when you wipe it off, it'll it's like a slime layer, but the particulates are just, brown to black dirt, gritty. And they won't wipe off, like, mold dust.

Speaker 2 00:16:17 when it comes to seasonal allergies. So let's kind of move outside the house. although I guess, as you said, a lot of that comes into the house. I mean, so it's.

Speaker 4 00:16:28 It's really low.

Tom Prince 00:16:29 Levels, but it's high enough to trigger off allergies indoors depending on how much you have there. But it's nice. You know, a lot of our patients who are able to turn off their allergies for shots they get to enjoy opening their windows at night. You know, a lot of people that's that's an old thing, too. Jim, you're your parents and my parents, we.

Speaker 4 00:16:49 All know we love growing.

Tom Prince 00:16:50 Up. Open those windows. I remember going up in the Smokies and having a cabin and leaving the windows open at night.

Speaker 4 00:16:56 Oh, I love that. It's nice.

Speaker 2 00:16:58 But ultimately, over time, that's going to build up our immunity, right?

Speaker 4 00:17:03 that's,

Tom Prince 00:17:04 You know, it's multifactorial. I hear what you're saying, but, you know. Yes, if you you build up your immunity when you take the allergy shots.

Speaker 4 00:17:12 Of course.

Tom Prince 00:17:13 but, but, yeah, it's, you know, like I say, it appears to be that the microbiome of the house makes the biggest difference. And parasites, if you get a parasite, heaven forbid, your allergies will turn off temporarily. It by tracks, it bypasses that and occupies that allergic track. So we've got some evidence that the people in the third world countries that that do move to a to a developed country and lose their parasites, gain allergies, but they lose them when they go back. There's a famous article out of Caracas, Venezuela. You can look it up where those people in that primitive tribe would lose their allergies when they went back to their tribe. But when they came in to Caracas and they would get doused, they would develop severe allergies in some cases.

Tom Prince 00:18:08 It's really neat.

Speaker 2 00:18:09 It's always fascinating talk about this stuff. I can see why you chose to specialize in allergy, asthma and immunology. Are there cycles throughout the day like if somebody has particular times of the year? Yeah. Talk to us.

Speaker 4 00:18:23 Absolutely.

Tom Prince 00:18:23 Yeah. Your pollen counts are going to be lowest in the mornings. Early mornings. especially when dews on the ground. But does that do, dries up and evaporates. And especially if the wind blows, that's when it's going to the pollen levels are going to jack up. You also have a rebound of the tree pollen after a rain. the rain clears out the pollen temporarily, but then the trees rebound, almost like they're trying to survive, you know, pass on their kids. there's a higher level that we think, 10 to 2, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. is the highest, but they're it depends on, the heat, the wind. you know, let's say if you you had a really heavy, a heavy dew in the mornings, it might take till, you know, 1 or 2 to dry out.

Tom Prince 00:19:13 Then your pollen is going to shoot up at that point.

Speaker 2 00:19:16 We're visiting with Doctor Todd Prince. He's with the allergy, asthma and Immunology Center. when it comes to the home, I know, I know carpet, you know, is a bad thing, right? I mean, hardwoods great. Or any kind of hard floors. if we have rugs, which a lot of people, you know, if you don't have carpet, you have rugs.

Speaker 4 00:19:37 Yeah.

Speaker 2 00:19:38 Should we? Should we be taking those out of the house every once in a while and having them professionally?

Tom Prince 00:19:42 It would help, you know, the the carpeting is is good for my business as an allergist because it traps everything in there. It's got a nice little, rubber pad underneath it. And then that jute, backing to the carpeting, especially if you get moisture in there. You got mold for the life of that carpeting in there. And so it gets disrupted when you vacuum it, and when you walk across it, it'll release all that.

Tom Prince 00:20:07 And that's, that's another, another fallacy of the of the filters for things like dust mites and animal pollen, animal landers. It doesn't matter how good a filter you have, it's going to hit you before it hits the, the the filter system, the central system. So your carpeting and your upholstered furniture and your bedding that your cat likes to sleep on, that's going to hit you. You're going to go lie down on your bed or walk across your carpeting. You can have the world's best filter in your central air system is not going to do you any good, because it's going to hit you before it hits that.

Speaker 4 00:20:45 Yeah, that's a great word.

Speaker 2 00:20:46 you know, cats are interesting. we have a cat. and, my best one of my best friends is allergic to cats. And then my brother can be allergic to cats. And it's funny, because I have a leather. I have two leather chairs in our in our den. And so that's where they sit.

Speaker 4 00:21:05 Yes.

Speaker 2 00:21:05 And and we keep the door to our guest room closed so the cat doesn't go in there.

Speaker 4 00:21:10 Yeah.

Speaker 2 00:21:10 What is it with cat? Pet dander.

Speaker 4 00:21:12 And dander will.

Tom Prince 00:21:13 Fill your entire house up. The people allergic to cats, your your brother. Whoever comes over that, that has a problem. when they. When you open your door to that house, that cat dander is going to hit them. I had, I've had two patients have anaphylactic reactions at Dixie Stampede from the horse dander, and both of them anaphylaxis. Right when those horses came out. Not, you know, when they, when they just got into the arena, but right when those horses come out. But the people, you know, people allergic cats will have a problem as soon as they walk into the house.

Speaker 4 00:21:46 Yeah.

Speaker 2 00:21:47 I've always, because they're both alert my brother and my best friend. But they're able to come over to our house. They seem to.

Speaker 4 00:21:54 I know it depends on how bad.

Tom Prince 00:21:55 The allergies are, but a lot of people don't realize this. But cat dander levels are high in your neighbor's house.

Tom Prince 00:22:02 If you have a if you have a neighbor has a cat, it will be high in your house as well too. It's a it's the first chapter of my allergy textbook is devoted to cat dander allergies. It's the perfect allergen. It floats for a long time. It stays in the air. It gets into your nasal passage all the way down to your lungs. It's a tiny particle. For every dog allergic patient. There's ten cat allergic patients. Just to give you an idea of how bad.

Speaker 2 00:22:29 I don't hear much about people allergic to dogs.

Tom Prince 00:22:31 it happens, but it's not. Not common. especially again if you. I'm not promoting having your getting a pet before you have a child, but if you have a child that is born into the house with an animal, and a, I'm certainly not promoting them sleeping with them. But if a child is born into a house of an animal, a cat or a dog, that's been shown, and especially if they sleep with them, they not only have less allergies to those types of pets, they have less allergies in general.

Tom Prince 00:23:03 Again, it might go back to that hygiene hypothesis, and I'm not promoting doing that. But if you already are doing it, your cat, these pets, especially dogs, they'll, they'll call, curl up next to a baby a lot of times.

Speaker 2 00:23:17 Well, and that that kind of goes back to, environment versus versus how we're born.

Speaker 4 00:23:25 Yes.

Speaker 2 00:23:25 So so can you talk about the I would imagine those are both important. I mean.

Tom Prince 00:23:29 Very important genetics, are huge with, with allergies. If you have one parent has allergies, you've got a 4,050% chance of each child having allergies. But if both parents have allergies, it can go up to 80 to 90%. And a lot of it depends on how bad they suffer if you have. If you have two parents that had severe allergies, especially if they had eczema and asthma, we're going to have a lot of business. So we encourage those parents to have a lot more kids.

Speaker 4 00:24:02 Smoking.

Speaker 2 00:24:03 Spoken like a business man. We're visiting with Doctor Todd Prince.

Speaker 2 00:24:06 We're talking about allergies and immunology. We're going to talk about asthma a little bit later. when we come back for our from our break, we'll have more with him and especially dive into treatment and management and also myths and misconceptions about treatment. we'll also have our dollars and cents segment. How can you make the most of your charitable giving? You know, not many people are itemizing anymore with the new standard deductions that came into play several years ago. And then we got the new extra senior deductions in the in the One Big Beautiful Bill act. So how can you really use the tax code to minimize your taxes when you make charitable gifts? So stay with us. This is more living with Jim Brogan right here on Newstalk 98 seven. Waqa.

Jim Brogan 00:24:49 Welcome back to Newstalk 98 Seven's Broken Financial Studios, where Jim Brogan is coming to you live with important news and advice to help you achieve your dream retirement. Get ready to learn and live. Here's your host, Jim Brogan.

Speaker 2 00:25:08 Welcome back for more living with Jim Brogan, where it's all about living the best years of your life your way.

Speaker 2 00:25:13 Today we're visiting with Doctor Tai Prince. We're talking about allergies and and all that stuff. I mean, we're getting into that time of year before we get back to Doctor Prince. However, it is time for dollars and cents.

Speaker 5 00:25:24 You want to be sure you are getting the most out of your retirement for all the years of your retirement. That's the primary goal of Moore living with Jim Brogan and our Dollars in Sin segment, where we provide you with an important financial tip that will help positively impact the quality of your life and retirement. And now, here's Jim with this week's dollars and cents tip.

Speaker 2 00:25:50 How can you maximize the value from a tax perspective of your charitable giving? You know, this is becoming a bigger, bigger issue because it's estimated that over 90% of people now do not itemize their deductions. and that started really with the, you know, with the increase in the standard deduction under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. And then of course, now the one big beautiful bill continues to have those tax deductions behind.

Speaker 2 00:26:18 And if you're 65 or older. Not only do you not get not only do you get a $1,600 extra deduction, that was in the old law. You also get potentially an up to $6,000 deduction per person, you know, for the next four, three years last year plus the next three. So the reality is fewer and fewer people are itemizing. And what that means is that when you make a charitable gift, when you do a cash gift, you write a check or whatever you're not getting. If you're not itemizing, you are getting no literally zero tax benefit for making that charitable gift. And, you know, if you listen to my program over the years, I'm a huge fan of charitable giving. I think I think the power of giving in a financial plan is goes it's it affects you in so many areas quality of life, everything. But if we're going to do it or when we do it, we want to get a tax benefit. Well, when you do a cash gift, you're not getting that if you're not itemizing.

Speaker 2 00:27:18 So anytime we can give something to a charity or a church that we've not paid all the income tax on that money, then that's the biggest win we can do. So as example, let's say I've I've got a stock and I've, you know, let's say I bought the stock for $5,000 and it's worth $10,000, you know, and I'm wanting to make a $10,000 cash gift. I've got some money set aside and I'm just using numbers. You know, I'm trying to use round numbers. You can use whatever numbers that you want. Well, if I give that stock directly to the church or charity, then, number one, I do not have to pay the capital gains on the $5,000 of appreciation. Now, if I am itemizing, I also get the deduction. So I went on both sides. But if I'm not itemizing, I at least am able to give something to the church or charity that I haven't paid tax on that gain. And you may say, well, Jim, I want to continue to own the stock.

Speaker 2 00:28:21 We'll take the $10,000 in cash that you were going to give to the church and just buy the stock back. And now your tax base is in the stock is 10,000 instead of 5000. And you didn't have to pay any tax on that gain. So that's so overlooked. And you know what churches and charities don't do a great job at educating people these kinds of things. The other is when you can donate directly from your IRA. Now, you can only do this if you're 70.5 or older, but that's particularly powerful when you become RMD age required minimum distributions and have to start taking money out of your IRAs because that's a tax, fully taxable distribution. Any of it that goes directly to a church or charity comes straight off your adjusted gross income, even if you're not itemizing, if you're itemizing and you make other and you have other benefits, then you get both. So you really want to be thinking now that so few people are itemizing, how can you really you know, when you can minimize taxes.

Speaker 2 00:29:25 It allows you to either give more and make an even bigger impact. Or you keep giving what you're you're giving, but you keep more money in your own pocket. So always be smart about how we use the tax code. We give because we give to causes we believe in that we're passionate about. Don't give just for a tax deduction. It still costs you money even after you take the deduction we want to give to help other people. But if we're going to do that or when we do that, let's get every.

Speaker 4 00:29:57 Tool.

Speaker 2 00:29:58 In the toolbox that we can to save money on our income taxes.

Speaker 5 00:30:02 That's our dollars and cents segment for this week. You can find this week's dollars and cents segment and others by visiting Brogan Financial. Com.

Speaker 2 00:30:14 Check us out online Brogan financial.com. You can click on resources. Also under our resources tab we've got our upcoming classes, classes I'm teaching throughout the rest of the spring through at Pella City State at the Hardin Valley location. I'll be teaching more classes in the fall, but I'm always publishing articles, guides, blogs, all that kind of stuff so you can make informed and prudent decisions that can impact the quality of your life.

Speaker 2 00:30:40 So go to Brogan Financial Comm and take advantage of those resources. We're visiting with our friend doctor Tom Prince. He is with allergy, Asthma and Immunology Center here in East Tennessee. Been a long time friend of the show. Frankly become a good friend of my of my own on personal level. Just a great guy. Always share such great information with us. let's talk about food allergies. How how, you know, that seems to be in the much talked about a lot more. How accurate are food allergy tests?

Tom Prince 00:31:13 Very inaccurate, Jim. And like any inaccurate medical tests, you've got to bring in more medical information. If you read any good article written about, allergy Food testing. It's going to emphasize how important it is to listen to the patient. But there's been three gigantic changes in our approach to food allergies. The biggest thing that's happened in my career for food allergies is now we have a nasal epinephrine. We couldn't get people to use their their epinephrine shots because they, in the package insert says, you got to go seek medical help if you use it.

Tom Prince 00:31:50 So patients were not using it because they didn't want to go to the hospital. so now the nasal epinephrine does not have that in the package insert. And you didn't have to do it anyway. It's up to you whether or not you seek medical help if you use an EpiPen. But people were not using it because they thought they had to do it. But with the nasal epinephrine, you don't even have to. Especially with a child. You don't even have to sniff it in. The studies were done where you just sprayed it. It's in that same little, dispenser as the Narcan. and you just spray that in your nose. If you even if you think you're having a severe attack. you're not sure? instead of waiting to see if it gets worse, squirt it in your nose and and see if it if if it's a bad reaction, you turn it off in the beginning.

Speaker 2 00:32:42 So if, if food allergy tests are very inaccurate, you know, my family gives me a heart. My wife and both my daughters, because it seems like 7 or 8 times out of ten when I eat, especially if it's eating out, they notice I'm, you know, I've sinuses afterwards, I got sinus issues going on.

Speaker 2 00:33:03 How can what's the best way to identify our food allergies?

Tom Prince 00:33:06 Well, I mean, we, we we do both the scratch test and the blood test. Now if you have if if you do have a strong history for a specific food allergy and it does turn up significantly positive either on the skin test or the blood test or both especially. Then it gives the test a better positive predictive value. And that's true with all medical test. A lot of people come to see me and they say, well, I've got lupus. What do you mean you've got lupus? You look perfectly healthy. Well, I had a positive lupus test. Well, one out of ten people have a positive, normal people have a positive lupus test. So what you do is you ask them a lot of questions and do a thorough exam to look for evidence of that. So but there's there's a lot of myths. There are a lot of misconceptions about food allergy testing out there. And that's that's why you really need to sit down with a professional and find out for sure if, if you need food allergy testing.

Tom Prince 00:34:05 But I'm certain about the about the it's called a nasal spray is the best device for preventing a severe reaction.

Speaker 2 00:34:14 Now talk about the difference in a food allergy versus a food sensitivity and how that impacts us different.

Tom Prince 00:34:19 Yeah, that's huge because we got a lot of people with food sensitivities, even more people with food intolerances, where either they don't break it down well or they break it down differently than other people do. and you see, I've seen literally thousands of people that will go to a milk free and gluten free diet and see a lot less inflammation in their body, a lot less digestive issues, that kind of stuff. You just got to be careful with your, you know, you it's best to, in those cases, to maybe see a nutritionist to make sure you're getting your your a balanced diet. but, a lot more intolerances than food allergies. The there's only about 1 or 2 people per year, per state per year, that die of food allergies. It's very, very, very uncommon.

Tom Prince 00:35:09 But we have a lot of E.R. visits, hospitalizations for food allergies that I'm certain would be prevented if they used the epinephrine early in the in the ballgame. And the reaction.

Speaker 2 00:35:20 It seems like food sensitivities have been just to become such a larger part of our culture. Yes, I know a few years ago, I basically did an elimination diet. I did a whole 30. and you, you know, you stripped down and for 30 days, you only eat, you know, no gluten, no sugar, no dairy, and then you start adding stuff back.

Speaker 4 00:35:43 Yes.

Speaker 2 00:35:43 And I or as I could tell, I don't have an issue with gluten, but I it does seem like I've got some dairy issues, I guess. I guess one of the issues there, Ty's about halfway through, I decided, well, every once in a while in the evening I'm still going to have a glass of whiskey. Yeah, that probably didn't go with the whole 30. I'd have a glass of whiskey. But anyway.

Speaker 2 00:36:03 Oh gracious, we're all good. Off topic. I tell you what, I'm going to get to our break. When we come back, I'm going to talk about a couple of, you know, are there misconceptions and myths about things and ultimately about treatment. So stay with us. This is Moore living with Jim Brogan here on Newstalk 98 seven Cokie.

Jim Brogan 00:36:21 Welcome back to Newstalk 98. Seven's Brogan Financial Studios or Jim Brogan is coming to you live with important news and advice to help you achieve your dream retirement. Get ready to learn and live. Here's your host, Jim Brogan.

Speaker 2 00:36:37 Thanks for listening this week. For more living right here on Newstalk 98 seven KR. We're with you every Saturday from 9 to 10 a.m., and then we run again from 3 to 4 p.m. you can also catch our podcasts at Spotify, Apple Podcast. We'll have today's show up by about Tuesday Wednesday at the latest, usually Tuesday. You can also stream live, of course, at Newstalk 98, Seven's website. You can stream live.

Speaker 2 00:37:01 You can also go to my website at Brogan financial.com and stream our shows after the fact as a podcast. We're visiting this morning with doctor Tom Prince, allergy, asthma and immunologist. It's that time of year. Let's talk about treatments. First off. Is it true that local honey can help with seasonal allergies?

Tom Prince 00:37:23 I've had a lot of patients tell me that we don't know why. I tell you this. The the be pollen, be the honey does not have those pollens in it that we're immunizing people against. But there might be other factors in there. It might be the larger pollens that don't trigger allergies. will are in there and they could possibly keep things down, but nobody's complaining about the, the taste of that treatment, for sure. It's great.

Speaker 2 00:37:52 Yeah. That's right. Now, for someone that is that does suffer. What are with allergies? What are over-the-counter treatments that work best?

Tom Prince 00:38:00 Well, your most effective medicines are the topical, steroid sprays, fluticasone nasal court. Those those type of Flonase.

Tom Prince 00:38:09 And they caught those kind of things. you cannot use those if you have an open angle glaucoma. So you got to check with your eye doctor with that, and you have to use them regularly. They don't show any any effects until 24 to 48 hours after using them. then of course, use your non sedating antihistamines in the daytime. That's Claritin, Allegra, Zyrtec or Zazzle. Be careful with those D products though. The long acting D products will alter your sleep patterns even if you take them in the morning, even if it's a 12 hour. So pseudoephedrine stay away from Sudafed unless you just do the short acting ones and and you gotta watch if you have high blood pressure. But if you have those 12 hour, 24 hour ones, they're going to alter your sleep patterns. You're going to wake up tired after you use those.

Speaker 2 00:39:00 Sometimes when I really get hit with allergies, it's almost the only thing I can do that'll kill it.

Tom Prince 00:39:05 Well, in the daytime, you know, you'll get those, Zyrtec.

Tom Prince 00:39:08 Claritin D Allegra D's. they have a pop to them. They'll open you right up in about 30 minutes to an hour. But it's a high dose of Sudafed. So you'll go to bed that night.

Speaker 2 00:39:19 And you'll.

Tom Prince 00:39:19 Sleep. You'll wake up the next morning tired.

Speaker 2 00:39:22 At what point should someone see an allergist instead of just managing their symptoms.

Tom Prince 00:39:26 And see an allergy for any reason? Of course. But certainly if you're taking medicines every day and if you're having complications of allergies like fatigue or asthma or sinus infections, you really need to get those allergies treated. Do it. Do it professionally.

Speaker 2 00:39:42 Can you? Can you explain for our listeners how allergy testing works and what people can expect?

Tom Prince 00:39:48 Start out little scratches on your back, the ones that are negative on your back. And the adults will do some intradermal tests. We inject about three 3/100 of a CC, a little tiny bubble up under the skin. Kids don't like that, so I'll typically order the blood test. And those if we don't get all the information from those little scratch tests.

Tom Prince 00:40:11 and then of course, if that person decides they want to get rid of the allergies without having to leave East Tennessee. then we put them on shots for that.

Speaker 2 00:40:20 Yeah. So is that still the gold standard of treatment? Is the shots?

Tom Prince 00:40:24 Absolutely. You're immunizing them against those those allergens. You're also turning that allergic pathway off to prevent the development of more allergies and asthma and eczema and things like that as well. To gets rid of the complications of those allergies.

Speaker 2 00:40:38 Can allergy shots be dangerous?

Tom Prince 00:40:40 You bet. You have to be very careful. We we and, you're not allowed to take them at home. You have to take them in a doctor's office. One out of 100 patients will have a systemic reaction that's typically, people get a lot of congestion and break out in hives, but it can be life threatening. I've seen maybe 2 or 3 what I would consider life threatening reactions in 32 years of practice.

Speaker 2 00:41:06 So I guess you go into the doctor's office, it's medically supervised, and then there's a period of time after the shot that you stay there.

Tom Prince 00:41:12 You like to get people to wait 20 or 30 minutes. that's difficult to do sometimes in the in the UK. They enforced it. they made patients stay in there for, for 30 minutes to an hour, and all of them quit their shots. So most American allergist have been reluctant to put handcuffs on people when they come in. But we put signs up everywhere. And now, of course, we're offering the the nasal epinephrine. If they stay in our shot rooms, they get a nasal spray instead of a shot if they have a reaction. So we've had a few people stay longer for that.

Speaker 2 00:41:50 Are there other are there other effective treatment modalities that are not shots? There have been things with drops or anything like that.

Tom Prince 00:41:58 No, the drops have a modest response. The Europeans use a lot of drops because they can't afford to have a nurse to be there to inject your shots in a in a convenient manner. But, they, they use 70% drops and 30% shots in Europe because they don't have the manpower, the nurses to give those shots and they they work.

Tom Prince 00:42:21 But if you do the drops, you have to take those every single day and you have to put them on under your tongue, usually on an empty stomach. It has to sit there for two, two minutes before you swallow it. the majority of people on the shots are on it because they're tired of taking medicines. And Americans don't take medicines very well. We're not as good as the Europeans. And the studies have shown that we're not good patients, and I'm not either.

Speaker 2 00:42:51 so, Doctor Prince, how can folks get hold of you? Talk about your practice and how people can check you out online. Yeah. How can people get hold of you?

Tom Prince 00:42:58 Easiest way is Doctor Prince allergy. That's going to take you right to our websites. but, we've we've now opened up our 10th office. we got, we've opened three offices in the last three months. One in Johnson City, one in Kingsport, and we're about to open one up in Morristown. we've got three in the Knoxville area. I got one in Maryville, one at Wise Harbor in Knoxville, and one in Lenoir City.

Tom Prince 00:43:24 So.

Speaker 2 00:43:25 So you're all.

Tom Prince 00:43:25 Over. We're all.

Speaker 2 00:43:26 Over. So, doctor.

Tom Prince 00:43:28 Just doctor Prince allergy.

Speaker 2 00:43:30 And that's doctor. Doctor.

Tom Prince 00:43:32 yes. It's it's going to take you right to our websites.

Speaker 2 00:43:34 Yeah. That's great. It's great to hear how your practice is growing. Okay. Real quickly, we just got about 20 or 30s. How can we build up our immune systems? Naturally.

Tom Prince 00:43:44 Naturally. you know, just, have a good microbiome. Eat. Eat a good balanced diet, get exercise and rest. all all the things your regular doctor and your mother told you as well, too.

Speaker 2 00:44:00 Well, that's doctor Todd Prince, allergy, asthma and Immunology center. you can find out more. You can get to his website. Doctor print. Wait. You said doctor Prince. Allergy calm.

Tom Prince 00:44:11 That will get you. Doctor Prince. Allergy. Knoxville, Tennessee. That'll take.

Speaker 2 00:44:16 You. Okay. Doctor. Prince allergy. Always great to have you, Ty. Thanks for taking time out of your busy skin.

Tom Prince 00:44:20 Thank you. Jim. Always an honor to be here.

Speaker 2 00:44:22 Thank you. That's doctor Ty Prince. We've discussed your your seasonal allergies and and immunology because greater health provides for more living. So you can live the best years of your life your way. Many thanks to Wayne for engineering the show. Thanks to Mary Caroline for helping produce the show. This is more living with Jim Brogan. Have a great weekend! This is Newstalk 98 seven Waukee.

Speaker 6 00:44:44 Thank you Jim.

Speaker 7 00:44:45 The views expressed by Jim Brogan and his guests are not that of Cumulus Media. Any discussion of financial, legal and tax planning strategies is not intended to be individualized advice and is general in nature. Always consult with your advisor for advice specific to your needs. This program's content does not represent a recommendation of any particular security strategy or investment by Jim Brogan or Brogan Financial, Incorporated.

This episode originally aired on June 15, 2024.

In this episode of "More Living with Jim Brogan," Jim Brogan welcomes Jim Simpson, owner of Simpson’s Meats, for a lively discussion on grilling, smoking, and selecting quality meats. Simpson shares insights from his family’s long history in cattle farming, explains beef grading and sourcing, and offers expert tips on preparing steaks and brisket. The episode also covers local food partnerships, restaurant operations, and practical advice for summer cooking. Blending culinary expertise with Brogan’s financial wisdom, the show encourages listeners to enjoy good food and smart retirement planning for a fulfilling life.

Transcript:

Automatically Transcribed With Podsqueeze

Jim Brogan 00:00:03 You're tuned in to More Living with Jim Brogan, broadcast live from the Brogan Financial studios at Newstalk 9087, where old fashioned values, expert knowledge and genuine understanding come together to give you the retirement straight talk you deserve. Jim's a former National Advisor of the year recipient and a financial educator, and he's here today to talk about how you can live out the best years of your life. Jim and the Brogan financial team have been helping retirees and retirees across the southeast for over 20 years in their pursuit of financial independence. You can reach them during the week at 865862 6800. So sit back, relax and get ready to learn because More living with Jim Brogan starts now.

Jim Brogan 00:00:47 Welcome to More Learning with Jim Brogan this morning, where it's all about living the best years of your life your way as you listen to Newstalk 98 seven. It's definitely summer. It's heating up. And you know, one of my favorite things about the summer is outdoor cooking. It's officially grilling season and smoking season. it's kind of funny because up until the pandemic, I didn't really smoke much meat.

Jim Brogan 00:01:12 And then, but I got a smoker about six months before the pandemic and the pandemic hit. And now it's like my biggest hobby. I just absolutely love it. and most of the recipes, though, when we start talking about enjoying summertime with family and friends and fellowship, it's all around meat. Whether you love to cook beef or chicken or seafood or veggies, just about every anything can be cooked on a grill or a smoker. And so I'm really excited to spend the hour talking about one of my favorite things, which is me. And I have a old friend of mine in the studio with me, Jim Simpson. Jim is the owner of Simpson's Meat, their local butcher shop located off Level Road in West Knoxville. Jim's family has been in the cattle and farming business since 1888, and certainly brings a wealth of knowledge about all things meat. Good morning Jim. Welcome to More Living.

Jim Simpson 00:02:06 Good morning. Thanks for having us.

Jim Brogan 00:02:07 Yeah. 1888.

Jim Simpson 00:02:09 Yes, sir. That was my great grandfather, John Simpson.

Jim Simpson 00:02:13 That kind of settled down in the Athens area. and then, of course, my grandfather, Earl Simpson, continued, that legacy. And then, of course, my dad took over. And now my brother and I are, are at the helm of running the farm.

Jim Brogan 00:02:27 And, it started out as a dairy, dairy farm, dairy farm?

Jim Simpson 00:02:31 Yes, sir. We were we were full blown dairy, producing grade-A milk up until the late 60s. And that's when our grandfather started to transition over, to just beef.

Jim Brogan 00:02:43 So did you always know you were going to go in the family business?

Jim Simpson 00:02:47 no, sir. my background was more on the financial side, up until, 2012. And we started looking at opportunities of how to sustain the farming operation and how to go direct with our meats, and that's what we did.

Jim Brogan 00:03:04 Yeah, as a matter of fact, we were talking there off air before we came on air that, when I started Brogan Financial in 2001. Right. Hard to believe it's been almost 23 years.

Jim Brogan 00:03:15 Right? well, no, it has been 20 years. Is this month in 2001, we worked out the same building.

Jim Simpson 00:03:21 That's correct. Yeah, we were in banking. I was in the banking business for 18 years. And then, like I said, we had an opportunity to get a relationship started with Whole Foods. in 2011, 2012, supplying them directly. And that's when I transitioned away from banking and went back to the family farm.

Jim Brogan 00:03:41 Now, when it comes to meat, Jim, you know, we there's been documentaries. There's all this stuff about how meat is processed in the United States, right. So talk to us a little bit about where the beef comes from and how how it raised, how important is it? And how do you raise your cattle?

Jim Simpson 00:03:57 Right? Right. I think there's a lot there that that that stress is a big factor in quality of beef. and anytime that you can prevent cattle from going through the normal chains, the normal process of being put on a truck and transported, to one farm and then transported to a finishing yard.

Jim Simpson 00:04:17 Anytime you can avoid that stress, you're, you're you are actually improving the quality of your meat. And we firmly believe that. So all the cattle that we raise in the farms that participate in our program in Tennessee, this these cattle are maintained on, on individual farms and until time of harvest. And at that point we move those to a processing facility in Kentucky. And we do that on a weekly basis. And then we bring the meat back to our USDA cut shop in Knoxville for further processing.

Jim Brogan 00:04:46 So talk about like our all your do you get all your cattle from Tennessee Tennessee farms.

Jim Simpson 00:04:52 No we do not. We have we have an also have a. We have four participating farms in Tennessee that actually grow in finished cattle for us, that we pick up on a weekly basis. We also have a relationship with a farm out of Texas called 44 farms. And how we got started with them was they probably have. They're the largest Angus breeder in the state of Texas, and they have some of the most the premier Angus genetics.

Jim Simpson 00:05:17 And that's one of the things we also focus on is genetics. Because if you don't if you start with good beef, good genetics, you have an opportunity to to end with good beef, a much better opportunity. So we started partnering with them and buying bulls for them to use in our Tennessee herds. And from that, what happened was they started saying, well, you know, if you guys are going to use our bulls, why don't you start buying our beef? And so we do also market their beef here in Tennessee as well. We actually get beef from them on a weekly basis. And it's a same genetics, the same hormone, antibiotic free, all the same claims that we're selling there in our shop.

Jim Brogan 00:05:52 Now you said USDA. Yes. So does all your stuff come with the USDA grade?

Jim Simpson 00:05:58 That's correct. Not a grade. We're not our. The local Tennessee beef is not technically graded. What we get from 44 farms is graded, but it all is all USDA certified and stamped.

Jim Simpson 00:06:10 Correct.

Jim Brogan 00:06:11 So let's talk about the different cut, the different grades.

Jim Simpson 00:06:14 Yes.

Jim Brogan 00:06:15 Yeah. Right. I guess there's you know there's choice. There's prime there's select, there's standard. There's all kinds of. Yes. talk about the difference from one cut to the next. How big of a difference I mean are typically by choice.

Jim Simpson 00:06:27 Right. You're I mean, in most of the cuts visually you're going to be able to obviously see the difference between a choice and a prime and the marbling of the steaks. Okay. in a, in a filet, are you going to be able to tell that much difference in the eating experience if it's cooked properly? Probably not.

Jim Brogan 00:06:44 So the more fat would be in the meat.

Jim Simpson 00:06:47 That is correct.

Jim Brogan 00:06:48 So the more leaner cuts you're not really going to notice much difference.

Jim Simpson 00:06:51 That's correct. That's correct. And I tell folks all the time, I think going choice is the safest route, because there are certain cattle that have been fed too long where you get into yield grade fours and fives, and they're able to call those cattle prime when they're graded at the finishing facility.

Jim Simpson 00:07:09 And then when you get the steak, it's almost too fatty. You get you get into having gristle in that steak. And that's not a good eating experience.

Jim Brogan 00:07:16 So I guess what they grade it based on, they, they look at a particular specific muscle and see how much fat content there is in that muscle.

Jim Simpson 00:07:23 That's correct. They're looking at the ribeye. They cut the ribeye at the seventh bone. And then they they that's where the grading is all done.

Jim Brogan 00:07:30 So is it in the breeding and the genetics. Is that what makes the biggest difference.

Jim Simpson 00:07:34 From the start. I we are a firm believer. I mean there's lots of different varying opinions that you can feed cattle to a grade. But to me, if you want the right type of marbling, then you need to really push for the proper genetics. I would also mention here too that we have another relationship here locally with the farm in Lewisville called 16 Peaks. And they actually raise a Wagyu. It's a red Wagyu. It's called Akashi beef.

Jim Simpson 00:08:00 And that's a growing relationship where we're starting to harvest more and more cattle. And they really have, really fine tune the process of really giving us a, a prime product. That's a great eating experience.

Jim Brogan 00:08:14 Yeah. And that would be a that's an American walk, right?

Jim Simpson 00:08:17 That's correct.

Jim Brogan 00:08:18 Yes. Yeah. So talk about the difference in true Japanese versus American.

Jim Simpson 00:08:21 Well it's all there. All the genetics came from Japan at one time. So the American is just that. It's more grown here, raised here.

Jim Brogan 00:08:30 Crossed with more American cattle.

Jim Simpson 00:08:32 That's correct. Yes. So with their crossing, taking full blown Akashi, crossing them up with Angus cattle and then then they call them F1's. and it makes it for a very quality product.

Jim Brogan 00:08:44 Well, I do know, you know, I come to your shop frequently there. Yes, sir. I love I love your place. right? I love your meat. That that you all, harvest there. And, I did have one of those American Wagyu from Louis Lewisville, which, of course, I live out in Lewisville, which is kind of funny, right? I figure it was raised down the road for me somewhere.

Jim Simpson 00:09:05 That's correct.

Jim Brogan 00:09:06 Yes. And, it's the first time I've done that and at your shop. And it was unbelievable. But but I have found like it's most of what you sell choice.

Jim Simpson 00:09:16 Most of what we sell was probably what I would call high choice. It's somewhere between choice and prime.

Jim Brogan 00:09:21 Yeah. Because in my experience, gym. Your choice. You say high quality choice. It's just as good as other places I get. That's prime.

Jim Simpson 00:09:30 Absolutely. Yeah, I would agree with that.

Jim Brogan 00:09:32 And that's the combination of the genetics and the raised, the way the cattle are raised.

Jim Simpson 00:09:35 I firmly believe that the way they're raised, we we feel very we've we've been doing this 12 years now and we're just looking for a consistent quality product. And I feel like we've we've kind of honed in on the genetics to where week to week to week. I mean, not to say that we don't get a bad line from time to time. We do because all cattle is different. That's what you know.

Jim Simpson 00:09:56 Everybody has to understand. We get two rib eyes out of one cow and they're all different. But what we're trying to hone in is consistency of quality.

Jim Brogan 00:10:05 We're visiting with Jim Simpson. He's the owner of Simpson's Meats. They've been around since 1888 and they've opened up the well. When did you open your butcher shop out off level?

Jim Simpson 00:10:16 Our butcher shop is really a result of Covid. We were mostly primarily up until Covid in the wholesale business, marketing directly to Whole Foods and other grocery stores and restaurants. And then when Covid happened, we had to look at something different because all of our restaurant business seized. so we started, an online store and started shipping all over the United States. And now, what we did at the time also was we owned our own processing plant up until Covid. And then when Covid happened, we actually sold that plant and then opened this USDA shop here in Knoxville. And that's where we do all of our online shipping, because we ship all over the United States. And then we also have our our retail store there.

Jim Brogan 00:11:01 And the retail store has been open for, what, three years? Three years? Yes. Three years. Yeah. I remember, a friend of mine lives in our subdivision. Was one that told me you had opened a retail shop, and I was like, you're kidding, right? And I was like, oh, I got to get out there and get some of that stuff, right? We're visiting with Jim Simpson. He's with Simpson's Meats. When we come back, we're going to talk about things like, you know, organic versus grass fed. You know, what does that really do to the cattle? We're also going to talk about co-opting a half a cow or a quarter of a cow, or even a whole cow. so stay with us as we talk about meat. It's that time of year. We love to grill. We love to smoke. So stay with us. This is your living with Jim Brogan here on Newstalk 98 seven.

Jim Brogan 00:11:45 Welcome back to Newstalk 98 Seven's Broken Financial Studios, where Jim Brogan is coming to you live with important news and advice to help you achieve your dream retirement.

Jim Brogan 00:11:55 Get ready to learn and live. Here's your host, Jim Brogan.

Jim Brogan 00:12:01 Welcome back to More Living Here on Newstalk 98 seven Wlky I'm Jim Brogan. We're with you every Saturday from 9 to 10 a.m. and again from 3 to 4 p.m. we're visiting with Jim Simpson. He is the owner of Simpson's Meats and Simpson's Meats, been around since 1888, and they opened up a retail store about three years ago with some of the best meat you'll find in the area, in my opinion. And I've known Jim and his family, actually pretty long time. let's talk Jim about, you know what? Before we get into the specific, let's talk about we got July 4th coming up.

Jim Simpson 00:12:34 Correct.

Jim Brogan 00:12:34 Right. So but one of my favorite times of year, do you have a favorite for July 4th that you like to cook?

Jim Simpson 00:12:39 Yeah, we we do. We we we like the brisket. you.

Jim Brogan 00:12:42 Do a brisket every July 4th.

Jim Simpson 00:12:43 Mocha brisket. Yeah. And it's something tradition. We do that.

Jim Brogan 00:12:47 How do you do Texas style brisket or do you do your own? You know, tell me how you do your brisket.

Jim Simpson 00:12:51 Way more or less are just seasoning and then slow smoking. for about 20 hours.

Jim Brogan 00:12:57 You never wrap.

Jim Simpson 00:12:58 It. we do. We actually wrap it, in an aluminum foil for a certain amount of time. Pull it off, and then we let it rest and then put it back on with butcher paper.

Jim Brogan 00:13:08 So crisp up the bark again.

Jim Simpson 00:13:10 That's correct.

Jim Brogan 00:13:10 Yeah, yeah. You know, I've not heard of people doing that where they do the aluminum foil. Then finish it with the butcher paper. Usually people do one or the other.

Jim Simpson 00:13:17 Right. There's so many different, approaches to this. And that's one of the beauties of actually owning a butcher shop, is we get to learn all the different, techniques that people are trying, and they always report back to the results. And it's always fun to to learn the different approaches.

Jim Brogan 00:13:35 It is. What kind of smoker do you have? I mean, what style? Smoker.

Jim Simpson 00:13:38 We have an old timey. It's a 500 gallon, propane tank that we welded and built and put a firebox on.

Jim Simpson 00:13:46 And that's what we use at the farm to do all of our smoking on.

Jim Brogan 00:13:49 Well, that sounds kind of like my father in law. He has a a big oil drum almost, that he fashioned to make a propane. That's correct. That's kind of funny. Yeah, I do a pellet smoker and I know some people are like, oh, that's too easy, but it's hard to beat the way it smokes. I mean, it produces so much moisture, right? You don't need I never like when I do brisket I want to put water in there. Right, right. Because the pellets produce so much moisture. okay, so I mentioned before the break. Talk about organic and grass. Let's start with grass fed. Right. It does. Grass fed. I know it does chemically change some things. You know, when the cows are fed grain because their natural diet is grass. Right.

Jim Simpson 00:14:28 That's correct, that's correct.

Jim Brogan 00:14:29 So, how does grass fed beef taste compared to grain fed or grain finished?

Jim Simpson 00:14:36 Right.

Jim Simpson 00:14:36 We offer both. We do not have an organic beef product. let me speak to organic just for sure. If you don't mind, just the organic is a is a to be a true certified organic farm. There's certain requirements that you have to meet, and it's like a seven year period that your farm has to be pesticide free, fertilizer free. And there's a lot of other things that you have to do. And we looked at that years back to say, do we want to become an organic farm and what we came to, we do not use pesticides on our farm for spraying of weeds. We use a very intentional rotational grazing plan for our cattle to be rotated from paddock to paddock, and we use that as our control for weeds. But the the only thing that we do that will keep us from being organic is we do fertilize our property in the spring for the grass growth. And what we thought about the organic without fertilizing based on our our grass, our temperatures, it was not sustainable.

Jim Simpson 00:15:32 So we didn't go that route. So that's the organic side. the grass fed, most of our grass fed goes to the whole food stores in Tennessee.

Jim Brogan 00:15:41 Well, it's kind of funny because, like, I don't know that I've had grass fed, but I seem to hear that it doesn't taste the same.

Jim Simpson 00:15:47 It can be different. It's all it's all dependent upon the time of year or two that that you buy the grass fed. It's all based on their diet. Like right now they're heavy cattle or heavy eating a lot of grass. So a true grass fed that comes off currently off the grass is going to have to me a stronger it's going to have a game year taste to it, more grass taste to it versus a grain finish. Now I would say all of our cattle here in Tennessee are what we call pasture centered, meaning they're never put into a true traditional feedlot. So they always have access to grass even though they're eating come, they'll be fed corn silage during the day. They still go back out and eat grass.

Jim Simpson 00:16:28 So our cattle are never intended. The Tennessee cattle are never confined to a feedlot. but the difference between the grass and the grain, there is a taste difference to me.

Jim Brogan 00:16:41 But do you taste more difference than a in a fattier piece? Than a leaner piece or. No.

Jim Simpson 00:16:46 I just think overall, like the grind to me has a game year taste to it for the most part. Not to say that it's bad, it's just different. so I think it's just a preference of what you're looking for. I tell most everybody that comes in the chapel, we will ask them what their preference is, and most people will tell us, well, what do you think? They don't really have a preference. And so we always push them more toward what we call the pastor centered beef.

Jim Brogan 00:17:10 And if it's grass fed and grain finished, is that kind of like, how does that end up being more like a grain product?

Jim Simpson 00:17:17 Yes, it does, because they're going to get about six months of that corn silage, that corn diet.

Jim Simpson 00:17:22 And that's mostly what they're going to eat. the on that. But they, they'll still have access to grass. But their primary diet in that last six months is corn silage.

Jim Brogan 00:17:32 Talk about so because so so the grain finished is about six months.

Jim Simpson 00:17:35 That's correct.

Jim Brogan 00:17:36 Oh yeah I never knew that. I always figured it probably 3060 days. I never knew that.

Jim Simpson 00:17:40 It's typically about truly about six months for you to get them to that finish weight. It's a great thing.

Jim Brogan 00:17:45 Now you USDA.

Jim Simpson 00:17:47 Yes.

Jim Brogan 00:17:47 Talk about the difference in USDA and certified Angus beef.

Jim Simpson 00:17:52 the USDA actually monitors certified Angus beef. Certified Angus beef is when it comes through the harvesting facility. It has to be a certain percentage black hybrid. And it has to meet either be high choice or prime grade. And those are the two stipulations that the USDA graders are looking at for. If it is a true cab harvesting facility, they're the ones that are actually calling it cab or not.

Jim Brogan 00:18:21 And there's not a lot of places to carry that, right.

Jim Simpson 00:18:24 it's more common than it used to be. It's a pretty cut. Most of your larger processing facilities are, do have cab graders on on. Because Angus is your primary breed in the United States. I mean, they've just done a. Dingus Association has done a great job of marketing themselves. And then also, they've done a really good job of capturing the true genetic profiles of the actual breed and what you should expect.

Jim Brogan 00:18:53 So if it says certified Angus Choice, it would be kind of a high grade choice.

Jim Simpson 00:18:58 If it's certified Angus beef, it's a higher than choice. That's correct. It's one step up. At a minimum, it'd be because there's you got select, you got choice high choice and prime and great okay.

Jim Brogan 00:19:09 And most of what your Carrie's high choice.

Jim Simpson 00:19:10 And.

Jim Brogan 00:19:11 You do Carrie.

Jim Simpson 00:19:12 That's correct. Yeah.

Jim Brogan 00:19:12 Yeah. now you can buy a whole cow. People can buy a whole cow.

Jim Simpson 00:19:17 Absolutely.

Jim Brogan 00:19:17 We they can do a quarter cow. Half cow. You ship all over the country.

Jim Simpson 00:19:20 We do. We ship a lot of half cows all over the country, which has been amazing to us. And it all started during Covid when people had a fear of running out of food, I think. But it's continued. We have a lot of reps in this business that people come back and actually buy a half cow or a quarter cow every year now And so yeah it's and I don't and I and you know I always make a strong recommendation and ask people a lot of questions about if you do you truly want to have cow because I want to see people get through that in a year, and we work with them on the actual, actually setting it up to where we be sure they're going to use all the cuts, because if somebody's not going to use a whole brisket, we don't want them to get a whole brisket. We'll go ahead and put that in grind for them. but we, we try to be sure that people, when they buy a half cow, that they're going to be able to get through it in a year, and they're not just buying it out of fear.

Jim Simpson 00:20:13 So anyway, that's something we push.

Jim Brogan 00:20:15 Well, let's talk about storage. I mean, when you buy a half cow or quarter cow or whatever, I mean, you're, you're butchering it and cutting it up and preparing it, all right. Chipping it. Freeze. Yeah. Freeze. Pack. That's correct. how long? So is a year about the the the the the going how long you can keep it in the freezer without damaging or or it's crazy.

Jim Simpson 00:20:35 It's probably longer than that. We have a we do it, we roll stock. Everything has a really good seal to it, so it's probably longer than that. We've never done any test on it, but I feel like if you can get through the meat in a year, it's it's always going to be good. It's probably last longer than that depending upon the conditions that it's in. But, yeah, we, we kind of give it a year to that shelf life.

Jim Brogan 00:20:56 So with the, with your cattle coming, mostly coming from Tennessee farms and you got the Texas farm, right.

Jim Brogan 00:21:03 does that affect much the size of the cattle if they're raised one way versus another? Because and the only reason I think of that is because, you know, you think of chickens, get fed up all this stuff and get bigger and and they're more, wait, what? How does that work with beef?

Jim Simpson 00:21:15 Well, the grass fed obviously finishes at a smaller weight. Those are because in and we harvest those all at about the same age at about 22 months of age. But there are usually about 11 to 1200, 11 to £1200 at the most, really closer to the £100 mark. Okay, because they're just not pushed. they're just they're eating grass, and their average daily gains is going to be about £1.5 a day at most.

Jim Brogan 00:21:40 And how does that compare to a green fed?

Jim Simpson 00:21:42 A green fed is you know they're fed that last six months pushed really hard. They're given all the corn silage they can eat. And they're going to gain 4 to £5 a day. So they're finishing weights going to be closer to 14 1450 okay.

Jim Brogan 00:21:55 So good 25% larger. Yes yes that's a big difference.

Jim Simpson 00:21:58 But most of that weight is going to come and grind. You know 60% of the animal ends up in grind. And that's what people don't understand. So to be in this business you always have to have your outlets for grind. You got to be able to move, grind.

Jim Brogan 00:22:11 We're visiting with Jim Simpson. He's with Simpson's meat says it's that time of summer when we start grilling and cooking out and smoking meat. when we come back, we're going to talk to him a little bit more about what to look for when you're buying meat at the store, and then maybe we'll get him to share a few, really good recipes or seasoning tips for our when we do our steaks. I'll also have our dollars and cents segment. what? The fed made an announcement this past week about interest rates. They're going to hold them steady. What does that mean for you? And why is Fed Chairman Powell saying things look pretty decent in the economy. But people don't feel that way.

Jim Brogan 00:22:49 So stay with us this morning with Jim Brogan on Newstalk 90 87W okay.

Jim Brogan 00:22:56 Welcome back to Newstalk 98 Seven's Broken Financial Studios, where Jim Brogan is coming to you live with important news and advice to help you achieve your dream retirement. Get ready to learn and live. Here's your host, Jim Brogan.

Multiple Speakers 00:23:11 This is your living with Jim Brogan.

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Jim Brogan 00:23:17 We're getting close to July 4th and it's the middle of the summer. And I love this time of year. I love to be outside. I love to grill. I love to cook out. I love to smoke meat. Today we got Jim Simpson. He's with Simpson's Meats. They've been around since 1888. You're right, grandfather, right? That's correct. It's pretty awesome. They got great place out there. Off Lovell Road, a retail store. it's one of my favorite places. Really. My favorite place locally to get meat. before we get back to Jim and talk a little bit about some recipes and how to really pick stuff out of the grocery store.

Jim Brogan 00:23:48 It is time for dollars and cents.

Jim Brogan 00:23:50 Most out of your retirement for all the years of your retirement. That's the primary goal of more Living with Jim Brogan and our dollars and Cents segment, where we provide you with an important financial tip that will help positively impact the quality of your life and retirement. And now, here's Jim with this week's dollars and cents tip.

Jim Brogan 00:24:14 The Federal Reserve met this week to discuss the interest rate, environment and inflation, and this has been my number one issue that I think we face economically. You know, you never know if something's lurking under the surface that might pop its head out and be a real problem. but the Haley inflation is handled and how interest rates are handled. To me is probably the number one thing, at least in my opinion. And they did announce this week no rate cut right now, no rate increase. And according to the notes, all of the policymakers pretty much agreed in their base scenarios. They don't see rate increases. But, you know, we started this year with the fed saying, you know, with with people saying maybe 6 or 7 rate cuts this year and the rest of this year, they're saying the fed now saying one, maybe, maybe two, but it's really shrunk in the number of rate cuts.

Jim Brogan 00:25:08 And the reason for that is inflation has continued to be persistent. Now the numbers that came out this week or have come out in the last couple of weeks, inflation has come down just a little bit. It's back in the low 30s. And according to Chairman Powell there has been, quote, modest further progress toward its 2% inflation objective. And so, you know, they are seeing it start to come down a little bit. But the fed has been very, very telegraphic in saying that they're not going to cut rates if if employment is good there's not high unemployment. If the economy is going well, companies are making money and seeing GDP growth. They're going to be reticent to cutting rates. you know, as long as inflation's up there in the threes. Now interestingly enough, it's come up. Why is the sentiment of everyday Americans so sour on the economy. And it's an interesting question. And I've talked about it a lot on this show. You know you look at the economic data and it really is pretty decent.

Jim Brogan 00:26:20 but but Americans don't feel that way. And I think there are a couple of big reasons why. I think the number one reason is the inflation. You know, it's if they say 3.2. 3.3% over the last 12 months. That's not a huge high number, certainly higher than it was, you know, for 15 years leading up to coming out of the pandemic. But that's on top of that eight and a half, 9% number we had not too long ago. So it doesn't. Prices aren't coming down. And when we go to the grocery store, we feel it. You just can't get out of the grocery store anymore with much stuff for less than $100, I've found. there's a couple of other things. There's this perception versus reality. I think the media coming into a presidential election, you know, they're always going to Grand ise. You know, they're going to always exaggerate things to try to get viewers. And, you know, it's kind of sensational reporting because they want to get eyeballs.

Jim Brogan 00:27:19 But I think the number one thing is inflation and what it's costing you when you live your life, go to the grocery store, all those kinds of things. So. Now what does that mean for you? That means that we don't want to make short term emotional decisions with how we handle our investments. You know, with the fed raising rates the way they did last year, you know, you wouldn't think I mean, typically, if you look at a full economic cycle where they raise rates, they bring inflation down and unemployment starts to creep up, and then and then they start lowering rates again. The last part of that hadn't happened. The slowdown in the economy, and and increases in unemployment, it's up a little bit, but it hasn't really happened. So it's kind of shocking, to be honest with you. People have been predicting recession for a couple of years now. so I guess my takeaway is your investment plan when you invest and take risk in things like stock funds and and diversified portfolios, you're doing it for a point in time, years from now.

Jim Brogan 00:28:25 You're not doing it for next month or next quarter or even next year, because in the short term, the market is completely unpredictable. You want to be shooting for a target at least 5 or 6 years out, and that way you have time to run through some of these cycles.

Jim Brogan 00:28:42 That's our dollars and cents segment for this week. You can find this week's dollars and cents segment and others by visiting Brogan financial.com.

Jim Brogan 00:28:54 Check us out online Brogan financial.com. You can click on radio and podcast our shows. You can also go to Spotify or Apple Podcast. we've also got some great resources online reports on the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act and different things. You know, that's going away at the end of next year. Taxes are going up for all of our resources. Go to Brogan financial.com and click on resources and you can download some complimentary guides. My goal is is to keep you informed so you can make prudent decisions that can impact the quality of your life in a major, significant, positive way. Now, Jim Simpson is with us this week.

Jim Brogan 00:29:33 It's one of my favorite topics is beef and cooking and grilling and smoking. I thought that was interesting that brisket is your go to for July 4th, because in this part of the country, you know, you hear different things. So I want to talk about a few recipes you might have or rubs and things like that, because I know you sell some of that stuff at your retail store or some rubs. And but if first, if, if, if we're going into a grocery store and we're buying meat, right, what should we be looking for?

Jim Simpson 00:30:02 Right. Well, I think the first thing is you want to be sure that it is all comes from the U.S. and that's something I would look very closely for, because we do import a lot of beef into the U.S. so I would try to to look for that stamp of approval that it is U.S. raise beef, but also try to shop at a place where you do have a relationship with the butcher. where you they most of those know what box it came out of.

Jim Simpson 00:30:30 and so I would, talk with the butcher. Have a relationship with the butcher, that that place, and work closely with them on, sourcing the products that you're looking for. I would always try it on certain cuts, such as steaks. I would always try to stay with a choice grade or better. I think if you get down into the select or no roll cuts, then you're going to get into a lot of tough beef.

Jim Brogan 00:30:59 Let's talk about some, maybe overlooked cuts of meat that are really, really good. Right? What would be your favorite 1 or 2 cuts of meat that maybe under the radar that people don't know much about?

Jim Simpson 00:31:12 Yeah, there's there's there's several on the beef side that I think are starting to gain more popularity. I think the tri tip is something from a smoking standpoint that we sell a lot of trades?

Jim Brogan 00:31:21 Yeah, that's real popular out in California, right. But it's spread a lot.

Jim Simpson 00:31:25 That's correct. That's a West Coast, recipe that came this way. we actually have a rub that we suggest for the tri tip.

Jim Brogan 00:31:34 And that's part of ultimately the sirloin, right?

Jim Simpson 00:31:36 That's correct. Yeah, yeah. Very good cut of meat. Cooks up very well and at a lower price point than the tenderloin. And obviously that's what we're trying to do is offer, you know, a tenderloin. you know, an eight ounce filet at our place is, you know, 18 bucks. and we're trying to always look at what can we do at a lower price point for folks, but give them a very similar quality now.

Jim Brogan 00:32:01 a cut that I discovered a few years ago was pecan. Yes. Or the Colette.

Jim Simpson 00:32:06 Yes.

Jim Brogan 00:32:06 Yes, which is also part of the sirloin. Can you talk a little bit like what's the difference between that and the tri tip?

Jim Simpson 00:32:12 it, I.

Jim Brogan 00:32:12 Mean, it's got a big it's very similar.

Jim Simpson 00:32:14 Right? Yeah. If you want to cook up very similar. the culottes going to have a little more fat to it.

Jim Brogan 00:32:19 It's got bigger fits for the fat cap, right?

Jim Simpson 00:32:21 Fat cap? That's correct.

Jim Simpson 00:32:23 Not the internal fat. It's going to be very similar, but the fat cap is going to be larger. So if you wanted to cook something and let the fat roll off of it to get with that flavor, that's typically what people go to.

Jim Brogan 00:32:34 And I guess that's I guess the most popular thing that's real popular. It's like Brazilian steakhouses, a lot of pecan or the Kool-Aid.

Jim Simpson 00:32:40 That's correct. Yes, sir.

Jim Brogan 00:32:41 Yeah. what are a couple of other kind of overlooked cuts of meat that you think work really well, especially if you marinate it or really know how to cook it?

Jim Simpson 00:32:50 Yeah. Prepare your skirt steaks and your flank steaks are good marinating products. And we sell a lot of pre marinated flank and skirt at our shop where we actually go ahead and seal it with marinades in it. And we and we push those for taco and taco meats and things of that nature. Another cut that we sell a lot of that's kind of a new cuts comes off. The chuck is a Denver steak, very well marbled, good eating experience and a much lower price point than a regular ribeye.

Jim Brogan 00:33:19 yeah. And it's not as fatty though, as a rib eye, right?

Jim Simpson 00:33:22 No, no, it is not. And it typically will have a finer fat line to it, meaning very fine marbling type fat in it. And most of the fat will cook down on it.

Jim Brogan 00:33:30 What is your favorite cut of steak? If you got to make a great steak dinner for you and your family, one steak dinner. Watch what you cooking.

Jim Simpson 00:33:38 Yeah, I'm either going to go with the strip or the ribeye. I mean, the wife always goes with the filet. Yeah, I'm a ribeye or a strip guy. Yeah.

Jim Brogan 00:33:46 Yeah I'm I've got all the above, I guess, but I guess my go to is a filet though. I love a good filet. But you know, when it and you know this about me, but, because I've been talking some to Jason out of your shop, I'm going to have him cut up a ribeye for me, because I'm going to separate that cat from the inner part.

Jim Simpson 00:34:04 Right.

Jim Brogan 00:34:05 Do you do do you have any people do that? I mean, that's considered the king's cut of steak, right? The ribeye.

Jim Simpson 00:34:10 Cap. It is. It's it's a we do get requested a lot, but the the challenge for it sometime is what do you do with the rest of the rabbi. So it becomes a pretty expensive endeavor because you're pretty much mess up most of your ribeye when you do that. But we we we do it quite a bit.

Jim Brogan 00:34:26 You can take the center part and cut it in the center cut rib eye fillet.

Jim Simpson 00:34:30 You cut it just makes them smaller. That's correct. Yes.

Jim Brogan 00:34:32 Yeah. But then you're trimming out all that fat.

Jim Simpson 00:34:34 Yes. That's correct.

Jim Brogan 00:34:36 Exactly. All right. We're visiting with Jim Simpson when we come back, Jim, also, he and his partner run, Walnut Kitchen in Maryville, one of the finest restaurants in the in the Knoxville area. So I want to talk to him a little bit about that and then ask him how to cook the perfect thick steak.

Jim Brogan 00:34:53 How do you get a good sear? How do you how do you do it at home? How do you season it, get a great sear and have it even all the way through? So stay with us. This is your living with Jim Brogan on Newstalk 98 seven Waukee.

Jim Brogan 00:35:07 Welcome back to Newstalk 98 Seven's Broken Financial Studios, where Jim Brogan is coming to you live with important news and advice to help you achieve your dream retirement. Get ready to learn and live. Here's your host, Jim Brogan.

Jim Brogan 00:35:22 This is more living here on News Corp 98 seven. I'm Jim Brogan and I'm visiting with Jim Simpson. Old friend of mine. We go way back and he is the owner, one of the owners of Simpson's Meats. they have an on line. They ship all over the country. they sell whole cows, half cows, quarter cows. But then they also have a a retail shop out off Louisville Road. It's really my go to for getting great meat when I want to cook some great steak.

Jim Brogan 00:35:49 But you actually are in the restaurant business too, right? You have Walnut Kitchen. That's correct. When you decide to open Walnut Kitchen, like what led you to doing that?

Jim Simpson 00:35:56 Well, we had we're obviously we sell to restaurants and we had, kind of, created some relationships with chefs in that world. And we had some chefs that had approached us and said, hey, would you ever help us start a restaurant? and when we started those conversations, we were actually looking at trying to open up a burger joint. And because obviously 60% of the animal becomes grind. And so we were trying to figure out how to move more grind at the time. But, you know, we looked for a couple of years about opening a restaurant and finally decided on doing a more of a steak place versus a burger joint. And we opened that in 2017. And it's been a the community in Blount County and Knox County has just been very, very supportive of it. They do use all of our beef there in the restaurant.

Jim Brogan 00:36:45 It's all Simpson's.

Jim Simpson 00:36:45 Beef. That's correct. And so it's it's been a been a good endeavor. It's been a good testing ground for us to be able to know that we're putting the best product out there possible for our customer base.

Jim Brogan 00:36:57 So if I'm cooking a big, thick steak, an inch and a half, two inch steak, that's correct. Fillet or ribeye or strip, whatever it is, right. What's the what's the best way to cook that steak? What's your. Well there's debates. What's your favorite way to cook that steak.

Jim Simpson 00:37:10 Right, right. Well I mean I think trying to get the grill up to the highest temperature possible to sear it first, and then I would go back to always. I'm just a salt and pepper guy. matter of fact, we have a great salt and pepper blend that we get from Joe Dickinson out of West Virginia. That's just, to me, just perfect for the seasoning. So, season at first, sear it very good on both sides. And then bring that temperature up to about one 3135 internal temp.

Jim Simpson 00:37:39 And then, pull it off and let it rest.

Jim Brogan 00:37:41 Do you keep it straight over the heat for the entire cook, or do you move it like when I do it, Jim, I sear it right, and then I move it to to the other side on indirect heat and let it come up to temp. How do you do it?

Jim Simpson 00:37:51 I pretty much keep it the same. But that's not to say that you know your ways, not the best way.

Jim Brogan 00:37:57 You leave the heat real high once you sear it or you say you pull it, you turn it down some. So so it's not too thick in the doneness on the outside.

Jim Simpson 00:38:04 That's correct. So you're not charring it.

Jim Brogan 00:38:06 And you're a salt and pepper guy.

Jim Simpson 00:38:07 salt and pepper. You're a period if you start with real meat. Good meat. you shouldn't have to marinate. You shouldn't have to sue me. You shouldn't have to any of those things.

Jim Brogan 00:38:17 How long should I leave my steak out at room temperature before I cook it? When should I season it? Then how long should I leave it? At room temperature?

Jim Simpson 00:38:26 I mean, I like to leave them out for, you know, 30 minutes seizing them.

Jim Simpson 00:38:30 Leave them out for 30 minutes. But I think the bigger difference is letting them rest before you start to actually eat them after they cooked.

Jim Brogan 00:38:37 Yeah. So I let.

Jim Simpson 00:38:38 Them 5 or 10 minute rest. That's correct.

Jim Brogan 00:38:40 That's crucial. My family, especially my wife's side of the family.

Jim Simpson 00:38:44 Right.

Jim Brogan 00:38:44 And then my two daughters, they are always getting making fun of me and getting all me because I'm like, we gotta let that sit for ten minutes. That's right. But they'll ruin it if they cut in it too soon, right?

Jim Simpson 00:38:55 Right. That's correct. It has to rest.

Jim Brogan 00:38:56 How long do you let your brisket sit in a cooler?

Jim Simpson 00:38:59 matter of fact, the we will briskets. We do smoke tenderloins. A lot of times even we we gotta we smoke a lot of tenderloins there at the shop and we'll wrap them in aluminum foil. We'll hook them to about 120 internal tip wrapping them alone before I put them in a cooler and let them sit for 3 or 4 hours. And I promise you, when you open those up, they're still warm and you slice them, that melts in your mouth.

Jim Brogan 00:39:20 I guess you need at least an hour, but really close to two. That's good. Brisket? Yes. Now what about. Y'all do carry some pork.

Jim Simpson 00:39:27 We do, we do. We carry a creek stone product. It's an antibiotic hormone free, cage free product. It comes out of Kansas. We do not have a local pork product. We tried, some different local, programs, but we just couldn't get the consistency either from a supply or quality.

Jim Brogan 00:39:44 So the focus is beef. Now in your retail shop you do carry some chickens.

Jim Simpson 00:39:48 We carry a variety.

Jim Brogan 00:39:49 Here.

Jim Simpson 00:39:49 And there. Yeah. We carry a.

Jim Brogan 00:39:50 And some seafood.

Jim Simpson 00:39:51 Yeah. We carry some seafood. Wolf's fish out of Boston. We started with them through the restaurant. It's a really high quality product. Really.

Jim Brogan 00:39:59 is that usually frozen?

Jim Simpson 00:40:00 It comes in frozen and we sell it frozen, and we sell most of our pork frozen. And our chicken is fresh for about a week, and then it goes frozen and we use a, Product from Joyce Farms.

Jim Simpson 00:40:11 It's an antibiotic hormone free chicken that's not local. It comes out of North Carolina, but a very, very quality product. We everything we do, we really focus on the quality side.

Jim Brogan 00:40:23 Now you have a salt and pepper blend. You also have some other rubs. We do. And one of them that's smoky. What's it called? The smoky.

Jim Simpson 00:40:29 Smoky.

Jim Brogan 00:40:29 Dust I bought that I hadn't I had not used it. I'm kind of a salt and pepper and in garlic.

Jim Simpson 00:40:34 Right?

Jim Brogan 00:40:35 Right. I'm an SPG kind of guy.

Jim Simpson 00:40:36 Right.

Jim Brogan 00:40:37 And, but I bought that product and it's quite good.

Jim Simpson 00:40:41 Yes, yes. We carry, several different rubs. Their meat church rubs, smoky dust, which I think comes out of Chattanooga, very good product. And, so we have a coffee rub.

Jim Brogan 00:40:51 I think you have a coffee. We do have a coffee. Pretty good. Now, you've got a great coffee rubbed fillet at your restaurant.

Jim Simpson 00:40:56 We do. That's that's a Vienna coffee out of Merrillville.

Jim Brogan 00:41:00 Okay. So they're they're creating the rub points.

Jim Simpson 00:41:02 Correct. They created the rub for us, and, it does very well.

Jim Brogan 00:41:05 But that's not the rub you sell in the store. We do.

Jim Simpson 00:41:08 Sell. I think we actually sell that scrub in the store. I think.

Jim Brogan 00:41:12 Because my wife last two times we gone there, she's gotten that coffee red filet and she just loves it and doesn't have.

Jim Simpson 00:41:18 You can get the rub at the shop.

Jim Brogan 00:41:20 Okay. Well, I'm glad to hear that. We're visiting with Jim Simpson this morning. He owns Simpson's Meats. you know, when you look at going into the summer, what what are your, Do you have favorite side dishes?

Jim Simpson 00:41:34 Yeah.

Jim Brogan 00:41:35 You like to cook, to go with, with grilling or smoking?

Jim Simpson 00:41:37 Yeah. I think this part of the world, what we've learned being in the restaurant business is, the East Tennessee market. Everybody loves potatoes, in whatever form they come in.

Jim Brogan 00:41:47 And that's funny because my wife's from South Carolina, and they're big on rice, right? And I remember when we started dating, I'd always go down there.

Jim Brogan 00:41:53 They'd have rice and I wanted potatoes.

Jim Simpson 00:41:55 That's correct, that's correct. I mean, the I mean, we we debate and go around and around at the restroom all the time about our menu offering. And it's like, can we have too many potato offerings, whether it's a baked potato, whether it's a smashed potato or whatever it is, and I don't think you can. Because people love potatoes.

Jim Brogan 00:42:10 What do you find people like the most for vegetables?

Jim Simpson 00:42:13 I think whatever's in season one of the things.

Jim Brogan 00:42:16 That's a good word right there.

Jim Simpson 00:42:17 Yeah. We try to push at the Walnut Kitchen. You know, the where we call ourselves farm forward. So we're really trying to support when available, what's available in the local market. So we got, you know, right now we've got a new street corn appetizer, which we will be using local corn once it comes in. we'll be using local okra, local tomatoes, all those types of things.

Jim Brogan 00:42:40 So, Jim, how can people find you both online? And then, of course, where your retail shop is.

Jim Simpson 00:42:44 Yeah, yeah. Simpsons meats.com. is our website. You can go there and place your order. I think if you're going to pick it up at our retail store and you want a place order, just call the shop. we'll, we'll take care of you and get your order. It's a little cheaper to pick up at the shop than it is to order online, because we do have some freight built into that. So, I appreciate you having us. And. Yeah.

Jim Brogan 00:43:08 So Simpsons meets the Simpsons. I n p s o n Simpsons meets, and then you're right out there off level, right? That's correct. Just, just west of the Fedex building.

Jim Simpson 00:43:18 That's correct. Ten 830 Murdoch Drive.

Jim Brogan 00:43:20 Yeah. Well, thank you so much for being with us. It's been great to have you on.

Jim Simpson 00:43:24 Thank you for the opportunity.

Jim Brogan 00:43:25 Yeah, that's Jim Simpson. Had he known Jim and his family for a long time. And they just really great quality product out at their store. And then you know, also through their online distributorship and then through their restaurant out at Walnut Kitchen.

Jim Brogan 00:43:38 So many thanks to him. I do want to just mention again, with the interest rate sensitivity right now and the fact that the fed is continuing to hold rates steady to get inflation down. it's just really important to know how to capitalize on today's interest rate environment and insulate your portfolio from short term mistakes. So be sure and measure the diversification in your portfolio. Measure ultimately the risk And make sure that it can withstand your financial plan. And of course, a big part of that is how you structure income. we visited today with GM. As I mentioned, we've talked about great cooking and grilling and smoking meat, because great times and great fellowship provides for more living so you can live the best years of your life your way. Thanks to Wayne for engineering the board. Thank you to Jill for helping produce the show. Thank you so much for tuning in this week as we've been visiting with Jim Simpson of Simpson's Meats. This is Newstalk 98 7WO. Have a very blessed weekend. The views expressed.

Multiple Speakers 00:44:41 By Jim Brogan and his guests are not that of Cumulus Media.

Multiple Speakers 00:44:45 Any discussion of financial, legal and tax planning strategies is not intended to be individualized advice and is general in nature. Always consult with your advisor for advice specific to your needs. This program's content does not represent a recommendation of any particular security strategy or investment by Jim Brogan or Brogan Financial, Incorporated.

Transcription:

Jim Brogan 00:00:02 You're tuned into more Living with Jim Brogan, broadcast live from the Brogan Financial studios at Newstalk 98 seven, where old fashioned values, expert knowledge and genuine understanding come together to give you the retirement straight talk you deserve. Jim's a former National Advisor of the year recipient and a financial educator, and he's here today to talk about how you can live out the best years of your life. Jim and the Brogan financial team have been helping retirees and retirees across the southeast for over 20 years in their pursuit of financial independence. You can reach them during the week at 865862 6800. So sit back, relax and get ready to learn, because more living with Jim Brogan starts now.

Speaker 2 00:00:45 Hello East Tennessee, welcome to More Living with Jim Brogan, where it's all about living the best years of your life, your ways. You listen to Newstalk 98 seven, woke.

Speaker 3 00:00:56 Up and you know you've worked hard to build your financial foundation. saving for retirement, building wealth, planning for the future. But all that progress can be undone by avoidable mistakes, from whether it's inadequate insurance coverages to outdated beneficiary designations, from sophisticated scams targeting retirees to emergency funds that aren't quite adequate for today's challenges.

Speaker 3 00:01:23 These gaps in your financial plan that are often overlooked can derail decades of careful work. Now, the good news is, most of these problems are preventable with the right knowledge and proactive planning. And so today, we're discussing four critical areas where even well-planned finances can fall apart. Insurance coverages, beneficiary designations and how we title our assets. Fraud and scam prevention and how we started. How we handle our emergency fund. So let's dive into to how to protect the plan that you work so hard to build. We'll ask. We'll answer common questions about protecting your financial plan, and we'll discuss solutions to help you avoid the mistakes that can derail even the best laid plans. So let's start with an insurance review and and covering, or closing your coverage gaps before they end up costing you. You know, insurance is one of those things we all have, but few of us really review it regularly. You know, we set it and forget it, and we hope we never need it. You know, we don't hope to have a claim on our homeowners insurance as an example.

Speaker 3 00:02:41 however, insurance markets have changed dramatically in recent years. And what worked for you five years ago or even last year for that matter, may no longer provide adequate protection. You know, we see soaring premiums. There are expiring subsidies in terms of the ACA, the Affordable Care Act, or the Obamacare as it's commonly called, and their coverage gaps many don't know exist. Today's insurance landscape does need your attention. So let's let's discuss today. While reviewing your insurance coverage is critical in 2026. So first off, let's talk about health insurance. The enhanced Affordable Care Act subsidies expired at the end of 2025, and average premiums more than doubled from just under $900 a month to over $1,900 per month. For people that are receiving a government subsidy. About 7.3 million people are expected to drop their ACA coverage that they get in the marketplace. 5 million people will likely go uninsured rather than find coverage somewhere else, and young, healthy people dropping coverage creates a potential death spiral for the marketplace. I mean, think about this.

Speaker 3 00:04:07 It's often younger, healthier people that that drop their coverage and that makes it, you know, the the older and more sick a population is that's being covered for insurance, the higher those costs are. You know, insurance is about the law of large numbers. When you start taking out younger, healthier people, it's completely changes that dynamic. And then when you have more people going off of insurance, then we have more people uninsured that go into emergency rooms, that have accidents, that have things that come up, and ultimately that creates stress on our health care system. Now other insurances are rising. auto insurance premiums were up 12% in 2025, and that was more than 50% higher than they were in 2020. So in five short years, auto insurance has gone up over 50%. Full coverage auto insurance increased for the average household almost $2,700 a month a year. Excuse me? 47% of homeowners reported a premium increase in 2025. And rate increases are happening at really a record pace. things we haven't really seen in decades.

Speaker 3 00:05:35 So, you know, health insurance. Let's start with health insurance premiums. Health insurance premiums for employer coverage reached $27,000 for family coverage $27,000 a year. So that's pretty dang high. nearly 30% of policyholders switch carriers in the past five years. A comparison shopping allows an apples to apples policy comparison now. You know, if you're working for an employer. Most people, they're covered for through their health insurance, you know, through their employer. And so you don't have a lot of control over those things. Now, if you do have control, you should absolutely be shopping your health insurance on a regular basis. You should also look at payment options. You know, sometimes paying for your premium annually instead of monthly can yield some pretty deep discounts. but we have to also understand where policies exclude things. you know, Medicare doesn't cover everything. that's a very common thing. most people cover their gaps with either a medigap plan or Medicare Advantage plan. So we get that people get supplements and there are still holes depending on which supplement you get.

Speaker 3 00:07:01 You know, travel insurance. Many, many people buy travel insurance, especially when they you know, we have a lot of clients that go on overseas trips, go on river cruises in Europe, things like that, and travel insurance. There are a lot of it has a lot of exclusions that people don't really understand. So it it's critically important if we're going to pay for insurance to understand what we're paying for. You know, long term care insurance has become more and more expensive. And in many cases it's just unavailable. So we really should be looking at all of these things and what coverage covers and what it doesn't cover. I know, you know, with things like homeowner's insurance, one thing I've learned over the last 4 or 5 years is insurers are terrified of water damage. And so there are typically limits on your coverage as what those benefits will cover if there's water damage or if there's mold and mildew damage. There are a lot of exclusions, with your auto insurance and and I'm not a licensed insurance agent for auto and homeowners.

Speaker 3 00:08:17 So let's be clear here. But with your auto insurance, you know, do you have a gap in your coverage? If you buy a brand new car and you drive it off the lot, you know, it goes down $10,000 in value oftentimes, or let's say significantly, depending on, you know, how how you know, the value of the car you bought. But then if you turn around and have a significant accident, you may not have enough coverage to cover that. There could be a gap in what the insurance company thinks the car is worth versus what you just paid for it. You know, if you have significant damage to your car. Will your insurance company pay to replace parts that are made by your OEM, your original equipment manufacturer? Or are they going to use cheaper aftermarket parts? So all of these things are important, and these are all conversations you should be having with your insurance agent. What is covered? What is not covered? What limitations are there for things like flooding, water damage, all kinds of things.

Speaker 3 00:09:27 So this is just really important to consider. You know, insurance provides a foundation for financial security. And when you're uninsured, a single unexpected event, whether it be a health care crisis, if it be property damage, a liability claim, you know, if you're sued, you get in a car accident or somebody gets injured at your home. It can wipe out years of savings. And when you're paying for coverage you don't need, you're wasting money that could be working harder elsewhere. So the insurance landscape has changed dramatically over the past 5 or 6 years. There have been premium increases. Changes in the subsidies under the Affordable Care Act, coverage, modifications that may have created gaps in your protection, like water damage and things like that. So, you know, you need to perform regular, comprehensive insurance reviews at least every couple of years to ensure that you have the right coverage at the right price. And honestly, every year when your insurance renews is a great time to be talking to your insurance agent, about these kind of things.

Speaker 3 00:10:36 So I do want to just mention before we end this discussion about insurance, about liability, you know, let's let's talk about our car insurance in particular. You know, we have limits on our car insurance. And what if you get sued for more than that limit? you know, umbrella policies that then kick in an umbrella is like a a policy that then kicks in. If your coverage limits are not adequate enough. So, for example, you might have $1 million umbrella. And that umbrella covers liability. It covers all kinds of things in addition to damage actual damages. So a liability protection is just not that expensive. And adding that or considering adding that to your homeowner's policy is typically not very much money. So we definitely need to make sure that we have adequate insurance to protect us. If we have the the the unthinkable happen. So every year when your policies renew, talk to your insurance agent. you know, be sure you're shopping around periodically from time to time. I'm a big fan of independent agents because they can write business with multiple multiple companies.

Speaker 3 00:11:50 Now, some of these captive agents that only work for one insurance company. Many of those are very good as well. So don't get me wrong, but I am a fan of independent agents that can represent multiple companies and can truly consult. Be a consultant for you in helping you through these kinds of decisions. Now we're going to get to our first break. When we come back, we're going to discuss how outdated beneficiary designations can completely derail your estate plan. We'll also talk about asset titling and understanding the way we title our assets, and what that means in our estate plan, and what it does not mean in our estate plan. So stay with us. This is Moore living with Jim Brogan right here on Newstalk 90 87W Sky.

Jim Brogan 00:12:37 Welcome back to Newstalk 98 Seven's Broken Financial Studios where Jim Brogan is coming to you live with important news and advice to help you achieve your dream retirement. Get ready to learn and live. Here's your host, Jim Brogan.

Speaker 2 00:12:52 Welcome back to More Living Here on Newstalk 98 seven.

Speaker 2 00:12:56 It's a beautiful, beautiful weekend.

Speaker 3 00:12:58 here in Knoxville, Tennessee. Let's talk about beneficiary designations and asset titling. You know, we we how we title our assets, how we name beneficiaries. we we we see horror stories every year about estate planning disasters and understanding what covers what or better yet, you know, what is your will not cover. You've taken time to create a will or trust you. Spell out exactly how you want your assets distributed and you think your estate plan is complete. But there is a silent killer lurking in many estate plans, and that's outdated beneficiary designations and improperly titled assets. You know, these seemingly minor details can completely override your carefully crafted will or your living trust, sending your assets to unintended recipients and potentially creating family conflict that lasts for years. Today, we'll explore why beneficiary designations matter so much and how to avoid some common mistakes with both beneficiary designations and how we title our assets. So it's important to understand beneficiary designations have full control and authority over who gets what for that account.

Speaker 3 00:14:18 They override your will and your trust. And the most common would be our retirement accounts. When you open up a retirement account, an IRA, or a 401 at work on the account form, it asks you to name a beneficiary, and we typically don't think anything about it. We just list our spouse if we're married, and then we list our kids maybe as contingent beneficiaries. Now, one benefit of beneficiary designations is when you name a beneficiary on an account or on life insurance or, you know, anything like that. Those assets pass directly to the name beneficiaries and they bypass probate. And in many ways that is a good thing. But it does create complications because we, you know, we put a lot of legal language in our will, and that legal language is in there for a reason. It's very, very important. It covers a lot of different things, like what if people don't die in the right order? That's a very common problem we see is you name your kids as you know, your beneficiaries.

Speaker 3 00:15:26 Well, what if one of them predeceased you? I mean, knock on wood, but then who gets their share of the asset? Well, you'd like to think it would go to any grandchildren you have, but in most cases it goes to the other surviving siblings. So many people come into our office and that's how they've named their beneficiaries. And if people don't die in the right order, they could end up inheriting an entire arm of the family. And then we see common errors like post-divorce retention. You know, in many cases, the ex spouses are still listed as the beneficiary, despite a divorce years ago. And this was actually tried. It was challenged in the court system and went all the way to the Supreme Court because a husband and wife had gotten a divorce and the husband changed all. He got the retirement accounts. The wife got other assets like the house and the husband. The ex-husband changed his benefit, all his wills and legal documents, but he never changed the beneficiary designation on his 401.

Speaker 3 00:16:39 And years later, he died. and his ex-wife was the primary beneficiary. Now, then his daughter was the contingent beneficiary. Well, clearly the goal the plan was for him to get the retirement accounts he needed his legal planning. But the beneficiary designation listed the ex-spouse and that his daughter sued her own mother. And it went all the way to the Supreme Court, then the Supreme Court. I think it was nine to nothing. It might have been eight one, but I think it was nine to nothing. Clean sweep beneficiary designation. Beneficiary priority rules. That is the law of the land. So this is something you know what? If you get remarried, you know what? If you were in a second marriage and you have a 401 and you get remarried and you've named your kids, your kids are named as your your primary beneficiary? Well, under the law, once you're married for a year, your spouse has an automatic right to that retirement account. Under Orissa law, which governs 401 K's.

Speaker 3 00:17:51 And so what that means is if you leave your kids as the beneficiary without getting a waiver from your spouse, which is what is required, then your spouse, your spouse is legally entitled to your retirement account. Okay. So that's also a very, very important thing to understand with beneficiary designations. Many people, they miss contingent beneficiaries, you know, you name primary, you don't name contingents. And if your primary beneficiary predeceased you, then your assets could end up going into probate. go into your estate and triggering potential extra taxes. If it's a retirement account, if you name a minor child directly, you know it could subject beneficiaries to costly Guardian proceedings if you name the estate as the beneficiary. It forces assets into probate, which negates probate avoidance benefits of naming beneficiaries. So all of these things are very, very critically important now. So your beneficiary designations must align with your overall estate plan. You know, a common plan is to leave assets to a spouse. And then when you're gone, leave it to a testamentary trust for minor children.

Speaker 3 00:19:18 and that's a very common thing because then you can say, who's going to be over that testamentary trust. A testamentary trust is simply a trust that's created when you pass away. If it goes to a minor child and you appoint a trustee to be over that trust, and you lay out the guidelines of how the minor beneficiary can get money from the trust, whether its principal, earnings, income, whatever it is. And when you do that, it creates a lot more clarity. if you name your if you name minor children or minor grandchildren as contingent beneficiaries directly, it can create a lot of problems because the minor child typically cannot inherit that money. And so a court would then have to come in and appoint somebody to be over that money for that minor child. And so it can negate a carefully planned trust structure. Now, how we name, how we title our assets is also very, very important. Many people, many of you listening today have created a living trust. And you created that living trust with the idea that you would put your house and real property in the trust.

Speaker 3 00:20:32 And by doing that, you effectively avoid probate. See the only way in Tennessee. to get assets to your kids without probate is to put it in a living trust. Now, I say that you could put your child's name on a house. and that would, if it's jointly title that would go directly to your child with no probate. The problem with that is you will have made a gift or you inside the gift. Limitations of what IRS allows without filing a estate gift return tax return. and then you've also put your child's name on your house. What if your child is in a car accident and get sued? Well, they could take your house. So there's gifting issues with that. There's also liability and exposure issues. We were talking about insurance coverages in the first segment. These are all things and risks that you can be exposed to. So you know, the only way you really shouldn't put your kids names on your house. So the only way if you don't do that, the only way to get real property to your kids without probate is to put it in living trust.

Speaker 3 00:21:47 But just listing the house or the property in the name of the or in the trust document does not actually put it in the trust. And that's a very common misconception we see all the time. What matters is if I go down to the courthouse and I pull the deed to your property, which is a public record, what is the title going to be? What is it on your house? Is it? Is it Jim Brogan or is it the Jim Brogan Living Trust if it says Jim Brogan? And yet I've got this trust document that says it's in the trust. It ain't in the trust. If I go down and pull that deed to the property, if it's not titled into the trust, it is not in the trust. So again, all of these things are critically important. So beneficiary designations can override your will and trust. assets do pass directly to name beneficiaries. And that allows you to bypass probate. But they don't have nearly as much legal language. And they don't cover things like what if people die in the wrong in the wrong order? So, you know, it's a they're simple forms.

Speaker 3 00:23:01 Beneficiary designations are that have enormous power, and a single outdated form can send hundreds of thousands or even millions of dollars to the wrong person, completely overriding the estate plan that you spent time and money creating. And these are not rare mistakes. These are painful surprises that families discover only after someone has passed away and it's too late to fix it. So as a financial professional, you know, our job at Broken Financial is to help clients conduct comprehensive beneficiary designation reviews. Make sure that they do line up with the with the legal instructions and wills and trust to ensure every account aligns with your overall estate planning. So whether you're you've experienced a divorce, a remarriage, a birth of a child, or you simply haven't reviewed these beneficiary designations in years, we can help you avoid the mistakes that can derail your legacy. So come sit down with us. It won't cost you anything. We'll take time to do a complimentary consultation and we'll look at your beneficiary designations, because and that's the other thing. Oftentimes attorneys, you know, attorneys don't do beneficiary designations.

Speaker 3 00:24:14 They depend on you to do that. Oftentimes I have found that attorneys will write that they'll give you instructions of what to do with your beneficiary designations, but then they don't absolutely make sure that you implement those beneficiary changes. So all of this is critically important when it comes to estate planning. Beneficiary designations. How you title your property. Very, very important. Now, when we come back, I'm going to get into fraud and scam prevention and how you can protect your wealth for criminals. We'll also talk about our upcoming class, Tax Planning and Retirement, which is this coming Thursday at Pella City State. I'll have more information about that when we come back. You're listening to More Living with Jim Brogan right here on Newstalk 98 seven Woking.

Jim Brogan 00:25:05 Welcome back to Newstalk 98 Seven's Brogan Financial Studios, where Jim Brogan is coming to you live with important news and advice to help you achieve your dream retirement. Get ready to learn and live. Here's your host, Jim Brogan.

Speaker 2 00:25:20 Thanks for tuning in this week to More Living with Jim Brogan, where it's all about living the best.

Speaker 3 00:25:24 Years of your life your way. This is Newstalk 98 seven Waukee and we're with you every Saturday, 9 to 10 a.m. and again from 3 to 4 p.m.. I want to invite you to the class I'm teaching at Pelosi State Community College, through their community outreach and adult education programs. It's this coming Thursday night. Tax planning, taxes in your retirement. And I can't tell you how important I think this issue is. You know, we we pass the one big beautiful bill. Last year it did make the tax cuts from the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act permanent. But you know what. Only in the sense that Congress is permanent. You know, it does take a law change to change our current tax structure. But but that that happens. Right. And when you look at our current fiscal outlook, we just have a math problem. It's unsustainable with the levels of debt entitlement programs, the unfunded liabilities for Medicare, prescription drugs, all of these things we know Social Security at some point has got to be revamped somewhat.

Speaker 3 00:26:36 so tax rates are very likely to be higher in the future. And I think it's important to understand the history of our income tax system, understand how our tax system works, how marginal brackets work, and how you can pay less tax over the rest of your lifetime. You know, one of the things that we talk about sometimes is can you live in a 0% tax bracket in retirement? And the answer is many people can. well, everybody could. But, you know, if you've got a good bit of your wealth in qualified retirement accounts like 401 s and you're 60 years old, you know, money coming out of those plans is going to be fully taxable. And, you know, you can do Roth conversion. but that that does create an upfront tax cost. And in many cases people should do that, or at least should consider it. But you know you're not going to do a $1 million Roth conversion. Most people are not going to do that because of the upfront tax cost. So, now younger folks, you can absolutely be structuring things to effectively pay little to no tax when you're retired.

Speaker 3 00:27:50 So we're going to get into all of that in my class. The tax planning and retirement. That's this Thursday. It's a one night class. In two hours I'm going to cover as much information as I can about tax planning, both now and in the future. you can find out more information go to Brogan tax plan.com. you can click on a link to download a syllabus. And you can click a button to register directly with Pillow City State. Again it's Thursday night, 630 8:30 p.m.. We'd love to have you there Brogan. Tax planning.com. You can get more information. Let's dive into fraud and scam prevention. We're talking about avoidable Mistakes. In the first segment, we talked about insurance coverages and gaps. And what does it cover? What is it not cover in understanding the fine print in insurance policies? And in the second segment, we talked about beneficiary designations, how we title our assets, that many times because of how our assets are titled and we and we name beneficiaries our wills and trusts don't even govern those assets.

Speaker 3 00:28:55 And so we gotta understand how the law works on those things. Let's talk about fraud and scam prevention and how you can protect your wealth from criminals. You know, financial fraud targeting older adults has has frankly reached crisis levels. In 2024 alone, older Americans lost up to up to 81.5 billion, with a B billion dollars to scams and fraud. And the numbers are only growing. And these aren't just statistics, because behind every dollar lost is a real person who worked their entire life to build financial security, only to see it vanish in days or even in hours. And the sophistication of modern scams, especially when we combine with technology like AI generated voice, social media targeting it makes everyone vulnerable. And so today, let's discuss a little bit how to recognize and prevent the most common scams that can threaten your financial security. So reported fraud losses for adults 60 and over in 2024 was 2.4, estimated to be $2.4 billion, and that was up 26% from 2023 in 1 year. But real losses are estimated to be anywhere from 10 to $81 billion due to underreporting.

Speaker 3 00:30:19 There's a lot of lot of fraud that goes on that people never report individual losses of $100,000 or more. So think about this where an individual one single family loses $100,000 or more. That accounted for $1.6 billion, which was 68% of the total of the fraud we know about in 2024. And the losses of $100,000 or more increased almost tenfold from 2020 to 2024. Then we also see the most damaging types of scams. We see investment scams, $744 million in losses. Those are the most financially damaging or investment scams. how do you recognize an investment scam? I think that can be more and more difficult in today's world. it's one of the reasons I'm a fan of publicly traded securities, because when you get into now private Placements that are not publicly traded. There are a lot of legitimate good things out there that are worth consideration for high net worth individuals. in order to, put your money in a private placement or a private investment, you typically have to be considered a high net worth investor. And there are rules for that.

Speaker 3 00:31:48 But there are a lot of legitimate things up out there. Probably one of the most common would be private real estate trusts or REITs. But regardless of what the private offering is, you know, there's oftentimes a lot more due diligence that needs to be done to make sure that it's not either a scam or, you know, it might it might have been legitimate in the past, but somebody starts embezzling money. You know that you don't have the same kind of public reporting requirements. You know, many times when that happens, it's called a pyramid or a Ponzi scheme. In many cases, it's just the owners or executives that are just embezzling and stealing money from these private placements. So you just have to be careful. As a rule, we like to stick with publicly traded things I do want. Again, be clear. That doesn't mean that private placements are not good or that there aren't good things out there. They just when you look at those things, they have to be very, very thoroughly vetted.

Speaker 3 00:32:53 We see imposture scams. We see criminals pose as a bank or Amazon or Microsoft. In many cases, people pose, impostors pose as Social Security, or they pose as the Federal Trade Commission, the FTC. So when we get emails and text, we gotta be very, very careful. What is the source of this email or this text? You know, romance scans can be particularly devastating for widows or widowers, people who are recently divorced. In many cases, the scammer will ask for more money or they'll ask for money. Before meeting someone you know. They meet online, they meet with social media or in dating apps, and they want money before they meet. There are certainly tech support scams out there where older adults, frankly, are disproportionately affected. Where you have tech problems and you need help, there can be government in impersonations, especially with things like Medicare, the IRS, local police, even, and impostors. and grandparent scams with AI. Voices can be cloned, and it makes these especially convincing that you're hearing from your grandchild.

Speaker 3 00:34:15 And they're in trouble and they need help. So it's a good idea whenever you're contacted about things that might sound like they're urgent. It's always a good idea to call the numbers that you know are real and verify if if if you have a grandchild supposedly calling you that's in a that's in a a difficult spot. Call them directly on their phone or call their parent or someone else. Call their spouse if they're an adult child that's married. if if it's a an email that you got and it's about your credit card, instead of calling the the number in the email call the number that's on your credit card itself where you know that number is legitimate. So typically, some of the warning signs for these kind of scams, is when you get contacted out of the blue from an unknown source, typically there's going to be a sense of urgency. You know, you have to act immediately. many times they use a lot of fear tactics. If you don't do this, this bad thing is going to happen immediately.

Speaker 3 00:35:27 if you're requested for payments via a gift card or cryptocurrency, certainly cash. If you're asked to wire transfer money from your account to an account that doesn't have your name on it, all of those things are warning signs. if if if you're contacted and the claim is you must decide right now to pay something again. That's that urgency. Oftentimes that's going to be a scam. If, if you're asked to, to to keep a transaction secret from your family, that's a huge red flag. Certainly too good to be true investment returns that can be dangerous. And and many times, you know, when we saw with Bernie Madoff. Now, it's been quite a while now since that big pyramid scheme. But one of the things Bernie Madoff did is he provided returns that were good and consistent, but not so alarming. They would raise a lot of flags. His clients, they they they clicked along, making around 11% per year, which is a very good return regardless of market conditions. So he didn't play into the greed of making 20%.

Speaker 3 00:36:43 but it was an attractive return that people thought they could depend on. So, you know, financial fraud can destroy decades of carefully planning, of careful planning in a matter of days. And the criminals behind these are more and more sophisticated. They're patient. They're ruthless. They exploit trust, they create urgency. And they use technology to make their schemes nearly impossible to distinguish from from legitimate communications. awareness is your first line of defense understanding how these scams work, recognizing the warning signs and having safeguards in place that can protect you and your family. You know, you should be monitoring your credit regularly. You can do credit monitoring. You can do credit freezes, credit warnings, all kinds of things that you can do. So, you know, this is important stuff. It's becoming more and more prevalent in the world we live in. So protecting yourself yourself from frauds and scams, very, very important that you that you don't unwittingly lose potentially hundreds of thousands of dollars overnight. We're going to get to our last break.

Speaker 3 00:37:54 When we come back, we're going to talk about your emergency fund and your debt strategy. How can you build a financial safety net so that you don't have to have things come up that derail years and years of planning? So stay with us. This is your living with Jim Brogan here on Newstalk 98 seven. Wochit.

Jim Brogan 00:38:15 Welcome back to Newstalk 98 Seven's broken Financial Studios, where Jim Brogan is coming to you live with important news and advice to help you achieve your dream retirement. Get ready to learn and live. Here's your host, Jim Brogan.

Speaker 2 00:38:30 Thanks for listening. Good. More living here on Newstalk 98 seven Wookey.

Speaker 3 00:38:36 Check us out online at Brogan financial.com. We got a world of resources, wealth of information there to help you make informed and prudent decisions that can truly impact the quality of your life. My next class, Tax Planning and Retirement, is this coming Thursday. It is through Pella City State's community outreach adult education. It's a one night class. I think the fee is it's either 39 or $49 to fill a city state.

Speaker 3 00:39:02 For more information, you go to Brogan tax planning, Brogan Brogan tax planning comm. You can download a syllabus and then you can click and register to register directly with Pella City State. It's 630 this coming Thursday. You know, life can throw curveballs, job losses, medical emergencies, home repairs, family crises. These are unexpected events and expenses that can derail even the most carefully planned budget. The difference between a financial setback and a financial catastrophe often comes down to one thing whether you have an adequate emergency fund. But recent data shows that roughly 3 in 10 Americans have more credit card debt than they do emergency savings, and that leaves them to very vulnerable when life gets turbulent. So we'll discuss how to build and maintain an emergency fund that actually protects you, and how to balance emerging emergency savings with debt management. So many houses, households still haven't rebuilt emergency funds that they've used in recent economic disruptions. Only 18% of Americans increase their emergency savings in 2025 18% one 827% of those who withdrew from emergency savings use their funds for non-essentials vacations.

Speaker 3 00:40:31 Discretionary shopping. An emergency fund is things ideally that are emergencies now for people or unexpected events. Now as you get older and you get into retirement, I would say large purchases as well. Those people who increase savings are four times more likely to have increased household earnings. That makes sense, right? As you make more money, you can create more emergency savings. Now, the standard recommendation that you always hear is 3 to 6 months of essential living expenses. And I think that's a good rule of thumb, especially for those of you younger that are still working. But, you know, when we're retired, that type of thinking just doesn't. I don't I don't know that that holds water because when we're retired, we're not thinking in terms of how many months can I pay my bills if I were to lose my job? We don't have earned income when we're retired. So I think a good rule of thumb is to think about whatever your entire investment base is. Is, is 5 to 10% of that being in emergency savings.

Speaker 3 00:41:40 And I'm talking about liquid investment reserves. I'm not talking about real estate. If you have significant real estate, I'm I'm talking about liquid investment reserves, marketable market, marketable securities that can be traded. Now, a starting target for young folks would be $500. I'm also a fan of a ladder approach. With your emergency savings, maybe you have one month of savings, one month of expenses in a savings account, and in the next few months you have in high yield savings. And if you've got a good six months of emergency savings, maybe, you know money you might not would need for 4 to 6 months, you might have in CDs where you've been able to lock in a rate for six months. A high yield savings are still, in many cases paying over 4%, but certainly in the threes. accounts are FDIC insured, up to $250,000 per institution per depositor. So I do think that's important to keep an eye on. Is FDIC insurance money market accounts many times offer some pretty nice rates.

Speaker 3 00:42:51 so I think one good, one good rule of thumb is to automate deposits. If you're still working, automate deposits on a monthly basis can have meaning for even $50 or $100 a month. Can have very can can really build meaningful benefits over time if you have higher education expenses. Certainly, you know, you might need more emergency savings. You know, if you've got kids in college or getting ready to to go to college. Now, believe it or not. Younger folks, Gen Z post millennials are the most likely demographic now to, increase their savings, which is a great thing for young people today. So focus on the single most important financial priority. Don't try to tackle everything together. It's hard to pay off debt and credit card debt and build substantial emergency savings at the same time. Get something saved, $1,000. Then you can start paying off debt. Then once you do that, start building those emergency savings to 3 to 6 months expenses. So set a target and have a strategy for getting there.

Speaker 3 00:44:04 certainly. as you approach retirement, your emergency savings, it helps protect all of the rest of your investment so you don't have things come up where you have to sell an investment at the wrong time. What if the market is sharply down? You don't want to have to sell a CD early. So having emergency savings is a critical component of a financial plan. Today we've discussed avoidable mistakes because greater wealth provides for more living. So you can live the best years of your life your way. Thanks for tuning in. Thank you to Wayne for engineering the show. Thank you to Mary Caroline for helping produce the show. Have a very, very blessed weekend. You've been listening to More Living with Jim Brogan right here on Newstalk 98 seven.

Speaker 4 00:44:46 The views expressed by Jim Brogan and his guests are not that of Cumulus Media. Any discussion of financial, legal and tax planning strategies is not intended to be individualized advice and is general in nature. Always consult with your advisor for advice specific to your needs. This program's content does not represent a recommendation of any particular security strategy or investment by Jim Brogan or Brogan Financial, Incorporated.

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Transcript:

Jim Brogan 00:00:02 You're tuned into more Living with Jim Brogan, broadcast live from the Brogan Financial studios at Newstalk 9087, where old fashioned values, expert knowledge and genuine understanding come together to give you the retirement straight talk you deserve. Jim's a former National Advisor of the year recipient and a financial educator, and he's here today to talk about how you can live out the best years of your life. Jim and the Brogan financial team have been helping retirees and retirees across the southeast for over 20 years in their pursuit of financial independence. You can reach them during the week at 865862 6800. So sit back, relax and get ready to learn because more living with Jim Brogan starts now.

Speaker 2 00:00:47 Hello, East Tennessee, and welcome to More Living with Jim Brogan, where it's all about living the best years of your life your way. As you listen to Newstalk 98 seven Waukee.

Jim Brogan 00:00:58 It's February and of course February is Heart Health Month, and heart disease remains the leading cause of death in the United States. But of course, we know in many ways it's preventable.

Jim Brogan 00:01:09 Care and prevention is getting better and better. longtime friend of the show, Doctor Jeff Johnson. He's a cardiologist who over at University Cardiology. He's on with us again today to help us better understand heart health. From prevention and early warning signs to the latest advancements in treatment. So whether you're focused on improving your lifestyle or managing an existing condition, this is a conversation that could truly save a life. Good morning, Doctor Johnson. Welcome to More Living.

Jeff Johnson 00:01:40 Good morning Jim. It's good to be back on with you.

Jim Brogan 00:01:43 Great to have you back on. let's talk about your background first. What what first inspired you, Jeff, to pursue cardiology and what keeps you passionate about it today?

Jeff Johnson 00:01:56 Well, that's an interesting story. I'll try to make a long story short, but I got a job in my hometown of Cleveland, Tennessee, at the home hospital that is still there today. As an orderly, we don't call them orderly anymore, I don't think, but really as an attendant. But there's a mentor there who was an internist and started the large internal medicine group there, and he was passionate about cardiology.

Jeff Johnson 00:02:22 And so I would spend some time with him in the evenings listening to him talk about different things. And, one evening he said to me, Jeff, I think you should go to medical school and come back and be Cleveland, Tennessee's first cardiologist. and it really was almost prophetic. I changed the direction of my life and did do that. I practiced with Chattanooga Heart, and we opened the Cleveland office 20, oh, more than 25 years ago because I've been in Knoxville for 25 years. and, Yeah. I went to medical school knowing exactly that's what I wanted to do. And the heart, you know, connects with emotions and life. People talk about their heart. Today, people talk about a broken heart. People talk about a cheerful heart. I've always appreciated the symbolism there. And speaking like you're dealing with the real person when taking care of their heart.

Jim Brogan 00:03:21 Jeff, for listeners who may not, I mean, there's some misconception about cardiologists. So talk a little bit about what you do on a daily basis and maybe even what you do not do.

Jeff Johnson 00:03:31 I can easily answer that. We see a lot of patients for various symptoms such as chest pain, shortness of breath, heart palpitations, blood pressure issues, management of risk factors that I'm sure that we'll probably talk about during this segment. We sometimes do procedures, non-invasive procedures such as echocardiogram or stress testing, CT scan of the heart. And then we do invasive procedures such as heart catheterization. Cardiologists also do ablation of things like atrial fibrillation and other arrhythmias, and cardiologists also place stents. I don't know of any cardiologist that does all of that. I don't do all of that. I do a lot of what I just mentioned. The one thing that we don't do is when we do a heart catheterization and recommend bypass surgery, or valve replacement surgery or valve repair surgery, the patient will look at me and say, no, you're going to do this right? And I say, oh no, no, no, no, I am not a cardiac surgeon. I'm going to find a cardiac surgeon for you who will do that.

Jeff Johnson 00:04:35 And I'll work in tandem with him or her and get you through this. And then honestly, the surgeons, once they get you through the procedure, they turn you back over to the cardiologist for the rest of your life. So I think that.

Jim Brogan 00:04:48 So really the.

Jeff Johnson 00:04:48 Cardiac sometimes.

Jim Brogan 00:04:50 Yeah. The cardiologist you're managing all of the of the patient's heart health. But then you have other specialists that can sometimes be involved. What makes it, in your view, what makes practicing cardiology? I mean, your university cardiology over at the University of Tennessee. Practicing over there at UT. What makes that unique compared to other institutions in your view?

Jeff Johnson 00:05:14 Well, we're we're a teaching hospital. We call it the academic medical center for the region. And that allows us to teach fellows and residents and even medical students who come over from UT and Memphis. That is one unique aspect of what I do. And one of the reasons 25 years ago that I came to UT. And then the other thing, though, is, this is not always a good thing, but I know all hospitals in town are busy.

Jeff Johnson 00:05:43 I know all hospitals in town are filled to capacity, but at UT the floodgates just need to stay open and we see a wide variety of patients. We see all sorts of pathology and all opportunities for learning, as we say, but also to grow and develop and to be better and to try to stay on top of the field for our patients. So there's never a dull day. At UT Medical Center is something that I like to say.

Jim Brogan 00:06:16 Yeah, I'm sure that's the case. This is a heart health month. We're visiting with Doctor Jeff Johnson over at University Cardiology. Let's get into heart disease itself. Jeff, what is one misconception that people often have about heart disease?

Jeff Johnson 00:06:34 I think that when people think about heart disease, they think about heart disease. And we take care of this, such as chest pain and heart attack or acute myocardial infarction and taking care of them in their setting. And we do do that. I think what people don't realize is that heart disease can be very silent, and I'm sure that we may end up talking about this.

Jeff Johnson 00:06:59 We know that plaque development in the coronary arteries can be very early in life. We also know that people can be born with valvular heart disease, and we also know that your heart can be perfectly structurally normal, and you can still have arrhythmias that cause palpitations or heart racing episodes, and in extreme cases, passing out episodes. And we see those in college students often, or even high school students. So the misconception is that it's an old person's disease and it's just heart attacks and blockage. But it can be so much more, including valvular heart disease, even congenital heart disease and arrhythmias. And then, of course, now that we've had people with all of our amazing, wonderful technology that has evolved, even in my career lifetime, we have patients living older and longer. And so heart failure has basically become a pandemic to even epidemic across this country and around the world. So there's so much more than what people typically think of the chest pain, the heart attacks. there's more to heart disease than that.

Jim Brogan 00:08:09 Well, I think your word there that it you know, it does it it develops over time. It's kind of like, I like, you know, people say cholesterol is a silent killer because it just kind of sneaks up over you on it, sneaks up on you over time along those lines. What are some of the most important early warning signs of heart problems that people tend to ignore or block out or say, that's not that sure. That's not what that is.

Jeff Johnson 00:08:35 I think even in the absence of symptoms, if you have a very strong family history, I think that once you reach and there is no established guideline of this that I'm aware of, whether it's 21 years of age or 30 years of age if you have a strikingly strong family history. Meaning? Your mother or your father had their first heart attack and their 20s, 30s, 40s. I think that even with no symptoms, once you reach adult age, some sort of screening ought to be done either with your primary care physician or with your primary care physician in conjunction with a cardiologist.

Jeff Johnson 00:09:14 I think that especially in the setting of risk factors such as a family history, or if your blood pressure is high, or if you're overweight, or if you're a diabetic and you have any of those symptoms that I mentioned, such as chest pain or shortness of breath or extreme fatigue. I think starting with a primary care physician first or coming straight to a cardiologist is certainly very reasonable. We always say we'd rather check it out and make sure everything is completely fine and good, rather than be surprised at 3 a.m. in the middle of the night with acute symptoms.

Jim Brogan 00:09:50 Yeah I remember. I just we want to be very in tune to our bodies. I remember you may remember this, Jeff, but it's probably 15 years ago. I was in my early 40s, and I just kind of felt kind of strange. Felt some tightness in my kind of in my, in that hard area. And I figured it was probably nothing. But I called you and you're like, you know what, Jim? Let's just be careful coming.

Jim Brogan 00:10:11 Let's do a stress test. And it turned out to be nothing, thank goodness. But man, we gotta start tracking this stuff early on. When, when do you think people should should start getting annual physicals and really do annual checkups and start screening for all their health needs?

Jeff Johnson 00:10:30 I think an easy way to say that is once you've gone through high school and if you end up going to college or some sort of graduate school or even training school after that, once you start your adult life, you know, our kids are all older. Jim and my daughter, who's engaged, lives in Atlanta. And, she's 26 years old. And she has said to me countless times, dad, I'm not really fond of adulting. The last time she said that when she the last time she said that was when she was trying to get a tire fixed on her car. But that being said, I think that once you start adulting, it's a good thing to see your primary care physician once a year. And it's a good thing to see, you know, your dentist once a year and all of those things.

Jeff Johnson 00:11:18 I think that that's that's once we start adulting, I think is good.

Jim Brogan 00:11:23 That's a that's a great word. That's Jeff Johnson, he's cardiologist over at University Cardiology. It is Heart Health Month. When we come back I want to talk more about specific things we should be doing to screen for issues. And I want to talk about prevention and lifestyle. So stay with us. This is Moore living with Jim Brogan here on Newstalk 90 87W Sky.

Jim Brogan 00:11:46 Welcome back to Newstalk 98. Seven's Brogan Financial Studios or Jim Brogan is coming to you live with important news and advice to help you achieve your dream retirement. Get ready to learn and live. Here's your host, Jim Brogan.

Speaker 2 00:12:01 Welcome back to More Living Here on Newstalk 98 seven. Walker. I'm Jim Brogan, it's Heart Health.

Jim Brogan 00:12:08 Month and cardiovascular disease is the number one killer in America. And our guest, doctor Jeff Johnson over at University Cardiology you're saying is people living longer and longer lives. It just makes it even more really an epidemic or even pandemic top levels with cardiovascular disease.

Jim Brogan 00:12:28 doctor Jeff, how often talk about what screening for cardiovascular disease looks like. I mean, to me, I think, okay, at a young age, I'm going to start doing annual physicals. I'm gonna get my blood pressure checked, and I'm going to start getting my cholesterol and other blood work triglycerides. Is that where it starts?

Jeff Johnson 00:12:47 That is where it starts. And then I think after that, your doctor is going to look at your risk factors and decide whether there needs to be more additional testing. I think the most, the latest development since you and I even started doing this, almost annually years ago, is that if there is a strong family history and maybe we can talk about this in more depth, if you like, if there is a strong family history, we can now do a very simple test called a CT coronary calcium score. I think there's a lot of misconception out there now about the calcium score. But when it comes to a screening examination, in other words, this is the typical time that I will order a CT calcium score.

Jeff Johnson 00:13:39 A patient will make an appointment to see me, and I'll walk in and I'm looking at a healthy looking patient, often very fit and active looking. And I'll say, well, what brings you here? And they will say, well, my dad is your patient. He had a bypass eight years ago. Ten years ago. My mom is your patient. She had a heart attack and got a stent. And I look at them and I say, you just want to know if you have your mom or your dad's genes. You just want to know if you have heart disease. Yes. Well, do you have any symptoms? Oh, no, I'm very active. I go to the gym three, four, five times a week. I have no chest pain. I have no shortness of breath. And I look and their blood pressures are good. Their EKG is stable. And I'll say, well, let's just do a coronary calcium score and see if you have any plaque in your arteries.

Jeff Johnson 00:14:30 And if you do, we can start early treatment so that, Lord willing, you will not walk in the same shoes that your dad or your mom did. And then if your score turns out to be zero, I can't say that you're zero risk, but I can say you're extremely low risk to have any kind of cardiac event in the future. And so until that in.

Jim Brogan 00:14:53 The future, meeting in the future, meaning in the future, meaning how many years? I think you said. You told me one time. It's good for five years.

Jeff Johnson 00:15:02 I think. Well, the calcium score, my personal belief is I'm not sure that it ever needs to be repeated, but if your score is zero, I don't know that it would ever need to be repeated. But if your score is, above zero, we say less than 100 is still low risk. 100 to 300 is intermediate risk. We we say okay you have coronary artery plaque there. Let's look at your lipids. And if we look at your cholesterol and your LDL cholesterol is abnormal, then we sometimes can pull out our phone.

Jeff Johnson 00:15:39 And there's an app that I keep on my phone called the ACC Risk Calculator that's developed by the American College of Cardiology. And if your risk is above a certain percentage, we might recommend for prevention going on most commonly statin therapy. And there are now other therapies besides statins that we can use. And if your score is zero or extremely low, I'll just say, you know what? We should look at your lipids again in one year, maybe five years. but if your score is abnormal, then we just follow the lipids and treat accordingly. And there's no real reason to repeat the calcium score. I've seen calcium scores as high as 5000. And I've seen people with strong family histories have a score of zero. And I just look at them and I say, well, it doesn't look like that. You got your dad's genes. And for that you can be thankful. We still encourage a healthy lifestyle, taking good care of yourself, etc. but I think you're pretty low risk for cardiovascular disease. I think for your lifetime.

Jeff Johnson 00:16:43 I think for your lifetime.

Jim Brogan 00:16:46 Now, the calcium score, that's pretty easy to get, right? What's involved? Can can. Does somebody have to have a referral or do they have to have their cardiologist book that for them. How can somebody look at that.

Jeff Johnson 00:16:59 Well it's usually done by referral. But I think that you can call our facility and actually get a calcium score. It is such a cheap and easy test that it's not worth insurance companies messing with it. So it's not covered by insurance. It's $99. And this used to be a joke. I used to say to my patients, it will take you longer to park in our parking garage than it does to get your calcium score. But since our parking garage is so busy and overwhelming to so many people, I don't say that usually anymore. there's no ID, there is no, there's no ID, there's no die. You just lie down on the table and they sweep you through the scanner and then, we actually score the plaque, in your coronary arteries.

Jeff Johnson 00:17:46 I think that you would be more familiar with this than me. Years ago, there was a financial commercial in television. They'd say, know your number, what's your number? And in this case, I say it's a good thing to know your number. What's your coronary calcium score number? and really, it should just be a one time screening thing. I think that's my opinion. There are other people. It's been out long enough. Now that I see people getting repeat scans five years down the road, and I get asked about those. And honestly, I don't know usually what to do with that information, but we figure it out one way or the other.

Jim Brogan 00:18:21 Now, I think people have learned enough about heart disease that we know. You know, you've mentioned family history several times. So genetics certainly can play a part as can lifestyle. talk about the things that we can control. Jeff. you know, it's interesting, I heard a trainer one time. He said 75% of how you look and feel is what you eat.

Jim Brogan 00:18:45 let's start with diet and go from there. There's so much controversy. Low carb. South beach. You know what? What are your what are your views on a healthy, healthy cardiovascular diet?

Jeff Johnson 00:18:58 Early in my career, I actually made it a point to read several of the diet books because I would get asked about this so often. I have read Doctor Atkins book, the original extreme low carb, book, and there are proponents of that who just swear by that. I read you mentioned the South Beach Diet. I read the South Beach Diet book from cover to cover so that I could better educate my patients. I've read a book on intermittent fasting. I have read a book on the carnivore diet. And finally, more diet books kept coming out. And I said, you know, my conclusion. And I've done this from attending conferences and continuing medical education and being interested in this subject not only for myself but for my patients. The one thing, the one thing that impacts our not just cardiovascular health, but overall health and longevity, reduction of cancer risk, joint problems, etc. is caloric reduction.

Jeff Johnson 00:20:07 And maybe I'm an easy answer, high level person to a fault, but what I say is that for some people, intermittent fasting works wonderfully. For some people they acconci. It actually works. For some people, the carnivore diet works. Whatever can help you reduce your calories over time contributes to your longevity. And I think that trying to follow a basic Mediterranean diet of fresh fruits and vegetables, healthy nuts, mainly fish and grilled chicken compared to red meats, etc. is still the overall most healthy approach to not only heart health at general health and for some people. Intermittent fasting helps them do that, and for some people it does not. And I think that sometimes you have to do some self experimentation to see what works best for you. And so that's my spiel that I now share with my patients when I get asked about that.

Jim Brogan 00:21:13 Well, I'm, you've known me a long time, Jeff. You know, I love my DD, and I both are meat eaters. We love our beef. We love our red meat.

Jim Brogan 00:21:23 How harmful is that? How health and health and health. And can I eat red meat? you know, is is if I can stick with leaner meat, does that make a difference if I do grass fed And then what about eggs? I mean, that's a big popular one that people talk about. I mean, I've never thought eating egg yolks, you know, there was much data behind it being that bad for you. But then others say that's not true. What? Talk to us about meat and eggs.

Jeff Johnson 00:21:51 Meat and eggs. there's a lot there. I think my answer to the meat question, first of all, is what I will say to patients. Also, when they ask me about me, they'll say, I have one patient who not too long ago looked at me and said, Doctor Johnson on Friday night, I like to have my steak. And I said, good. I think that's wonderful. You got a tradition? Yes. Yes. My fiance go out every Friday night and I love to have a good steak.

Jeff Johnson 00:22:24 Got a couple of different places. I like to go around town here, and I just love to do that. And I said, great. I think you ought to continue that tradition. Enjoy yourself. You just can't do that every night. He kind of smiled and said, yeah, I get it. I love sweets. if I knew and it was proven that sweets were good for you, I would eat sweets three times a day and then have some peanut butter cookies before I went to bed. I don't do that because I know that that's not very healthy. I, I pick my battles, as they like to say, and I, I do occasionally have dessert and occasionally have, a couple of cookies here and there. Again, I could eat more of them, but I don't. I also jam, this is just me. This is not necessarily the American College of Cardiology guidelines. I know that life is short, and so it's just extremely hard for me to look at a patient and say, you can never have that steak again.

Jeff Johnson 00:23:28 And I know that people have been told that by their doctors, and I'm not necessarily being critical, but I just go, look, if that's a Friday night tradition for you or a twice a week tradition for you, and it makes you happy. As long as you're doing the other things within balance. And we've not talked about exercise yet, if you're walking or doing some sort of cardiovascular exercise 5 to 7 days a week and your weight is stable, your blood pressure is good. We've got you on good treatment for your lipids. Enjoy your steak on Friday night and live your life. What is your slogan? Help you to live your best life.

Jim Brogan 00:24:07 Live you're. Live you. Live your life. The best years of your life. Your way.

Jeff Johnson 00:24:11 Yeah. There you go. That's what I believe in. And that's why I appreciate so much what you do and what you say on your program. So.

Jim Brogan 00:24:18 Well, thank you. But, you know, there's, I mean, food is a big part of our lives, right? I mean, it's a part of our social arrangement, social engagements and a lot of the things we do.

Jim Brogan 00:24:28 So, you know, it's interesting. We say everything in moderation. it's interesting that you ultimately came back to you. You have to have. And it is what nutritionists say. You have to ultimately put your body in a caloric deficit or or if you want to lose weight, but ultimately you have to have a healthy caloric balance. Calories in versus calories out. And I know you said, you know, you you like the Mediterranean diet particularly, but all that's important, we need to be aware of what we're doing, but also not deprive ourselves of something that's a very important part of our lives. This is Doctor Jeff Johnson. He's with university cardiology. When we come back, I do want to get into exercise. we'll also have our dollars and cents segment. Wealth transfer 101. Understanding what what does your will not cover when you pass away? My surprise. You stay with us. This is your living here on Newstalk 98 seven Waukee.

Jim Brogan 00:25:26 Welcome back to Newstalk 98 Seven's Broken Financial Studios where Jim Brogan is coming to you live with important news and advice to help you achieve your dream retirement.

Jim Brogan 00:25:35 Get ready to learn and live. Here's your host, Jim Brogan.

Speaker 2 00:25:42 Welcome back to More Living with Jim Brogan, where it's all about living the best years of.

Jim Brogan 00:25:46 Your life, your ways. You're listening every Saturday, 9 to 10 a.m. and again 3 to 4 p.m.. We're visiting with Doctor Jeff Johnson from University Cardiology at is Heart Health not talking about cardiovascular disease prevention. All those things before we get time or excuse me before we get back to Jeff, however it is time for dollars and cents.

Speaker 5 00:26:07 Want to be sure you are getting the most out of your retirement for all the years of your retirement. That's the primary goal of more living with Jim Brogan and our dollars and Cents segment, where we provide you with an important financial tip that will help positively impact the quality of your life and retirement. And now, here's Jim with this week's dollars and cents tip.

Speaker 2 00:26:33 Understanding how our assets actually pass.

Jim Brogan 00:26:37 When we when we are gone and kind of wealth transfer 101. What is your will cover and what is your will not cover.

Jim Brogan 00:26:45 So it's very very critical to understand these kinds of things. Number one, we have a lot of assets that we own that our will has nothing to do with who gets what. And the essential one would be things we owned jointly. You know, if I own my house with my wife, joint with right of survivorship or joint by the entirety, meaning if I die, she my wife entirely owns the our she has the survivorship benefit. So it doesn't matter if I put something in my will that when I die my house goes to this person. If my wife's name is on the title then she's going to get the house. another thing would be if we name a beneficiary designation, you know, when we open up, our biggest issue here would be our retirement accounts. You know, when we open up our retirement accounts, we were asked on the account application to name a beneficiary, and we typically don't think anything of it. We say, well, I'm going to name my spouse if I'm married and then my kids.

Jim Brogan 00:27:46 What we have to realize is that beneficiary form supersedes the will. It has total legal authority and control over who gets what. If you have a living beneficiary, it doesn't matter what's in your will. This comes with a lot into play with, divorces, second marriages, things like that. We'll see people get a divorce. They redo their estate planning. They redo their wills, all their legal docs. They don't think to change the beneficiary designation on their 401 or their IRA. And they died. And they've named their ex-spouse the beneficiary. Well, that's that takes precedence. That supersedes the will. And then the will is important. Certainly. you know, if if we own real property, the only way that we can get it to someone at our death is through the estate. Or if we were to place it in a trust, then the trust document would govern that. And so that's where the legal documents really come into play. But it's it's it's so important fundamentally to understand some things that I own.

Jim Brogan 00:28:50 You know, how do they get past if I own a property with my brother and we own it? How can we own it? Where my half goes to my kids and not automatically to him? That's a different type of joint ownership called tenants in common. So it's it's just imperative to understand how we title things, how we name beneficiary designations and what the will covers, what it doesn't cover, and how we incorporate a trust. These are the basic kinds of estate planning 101 things that I think everyone needs to know.

Speaker 5 00:29:20 That's our dollars and cents segment for this week. You can find this week's dollars and Cents segment and others by visiting Brogan financial.com.

Speaker 2 00:29:34 I'd like to invite you to my next class. It's through Pella 50 State Community College.

Jim Brogan 00:29:39 It's through their community and out services. It's adult education, and it's coming up on March the 5th. Tax planning in your retirement? It's a one night class, two hours at the Hardin Valley campus about taxes. We need to understand the history of our income taxes.

Jim Brogan 00:29:58 Where are we likely headed in the future? What about the deficit spending and the federal debt? What that mean? Mean for us down the road? Understanding the one big beautiful Bill act. All these things we'll talk about in this class through Pella City state at 630 to 8:30 p.m., again to excuse me, Thursday, Thursday, March the 5th. So a little less than two weeks. Thursday, March 5th. You can go to Brogan tax Com you can download a syllabus again Brogan tax planning.com. And you can also click a button to go register directly with the state. I'd love to see you there. I think that what's going to happen over the next 10 or 15 years with our tax system and what it means for cost of living and inflation and all those things are going to be critically important in our planning. So do check us out. at that class we're visiting with Jeff Johnson, it is Heart Health Month. He is a university cardiologist, long, long time friend of the program, actually very dear friend of DD's and mine as well.

Jim Brogan 00:31:01 Great guy. And, Jeff, let's talk about exercise. You know, there's there's resistance training. There's there's cardiovascular exercise, getting our heart rate up. you know, some people say intense exercise is important. Others say, get out and walk every day. What what's the right amount of exercise? How do we get started if we're not doing anything?

Jeff Johnson 00:31:27 Well, that last question, Jim, is a great question because I think too often we see people decide that they're going to exercise, and maybe they overdo it at the beginning and become sore or excessively fatigued and become discouraged. So anyone who's going to start an exercise program, regardless of what they're doing, I always say start gradual and slow. I remember the old story by motivational speaker Zig Ziglar. He said he was £40 overweight and said he wanted to run, and the first day he made it to his mailbox and almost collapsed. And the next day he made it down the street. By the end of the week, he could run around the block.

Jeff Johnson 00:32:08 By the end of the month, he could run a mile. And then he began running 4 to 6 miles and did that for the next 40 years of his life, which, I share that with my patients often. As far as the types of exercise, I said it walking. You just can't walk too much. The American Heart Association recommends 150 minutes of aerobic cardiovascular activity per week, which is easily broken down into five days of walking 30 minutes a day. If you want a lot more than that, I think that that's great. I tell my patients, you can't walk too much. and then my personal belief I'm not great at this, personally, but my personal belief is that adding in some sort of strength training as we get older, strength and balance training to help reduce the risk of false help maintain muscle mass. all of that is helpful. And as you know, dealing with your clients, gym and, more and more people either have trainers or they go to the gym to help with exercise, such as weights and resistance training.

Jeff Johnson 00:33:20 And yeah, I have plenty of patients who say, well, I walk five, six days a week, or I run or I cycle or I use my elliptical, and then I go to the gym and they help me with some strength training. I think that that's the best overall approach to long term health, again, not just for cardiovascular health, but your overall health.

Jim Brogan 00:33:41 Yeah. And I'm always going to say, you know, as I'm getting older, you know, resistance training doesn't have to mean lifting free weight, or even chains. I mean, with with the different tools that are available, we have our body weight, which provides a natural way to do resistance training. There's a lot of bands and things like that. So it doesn't have to be complicated. It doesn't have to be risky. I think accountability, you know, you said get with a trainer or go to the gym where somebody can spot them. Can you talk about, in your view, and what you've seen in your own life, the importance of accountability?

Jeff Johnson 00:34:16 Oh, it's it's huge.

Jeff Johnson 00:34:20 so many people. I've had so many patients that will come back to me for their annual visit or their six month visit and I'll say, well, how's your walking program going? And they'll look at me and they'll say, well, not as good. I used to have one of my best friends who we would need at the park, four days a week, and we would walk for 45 minutes, and now she's taking care of grandchildren, or now he moved away or something like that. And so once that happened, I kind of fell off, and I've not gotten back into it. So we try to have a conversation about that. I know in my own life, you know, where I live. downtown in a condo building. I get up and have a quiet time very early in the morning and before I run. there's an older gentleman, a little older than I am, but a dear friend who lives here, he's already out there running, and I can see him running with his little flashlight.

Jeff Johnson 00:35:22 And I'm like, okay, Alan's out there running. I know, I gotta go. and then we'll see each other and I'll say to him, you're my inspiration. And, and, I think that accountability helps and matters. And I think that once you realize that you actually feel better, once you develop some sort of routine, some sort of self-discipline, it feeds on itself and it helps it become easier to maintain as opposed to, like I said a couple of minutes ago, you should go out and do something extreme and crazy and become sore and discouraged. I think that, it's going to be harder to maintain a program that way.

Jim Brogan 00:36:03 Yeah. I'm a big believer to Jeff in doing something, an activity. We enjoy your activities that we enjoy, you know, playing tennis, playing pickleball, getting out, walking through the neighborhood. I mean, I hate getting on a treadmill, so I'd rather get out and walk in the neighborhood, even if I have to bundle up this winter, than get on a treadmill and just be looking at a wall or whatever.

Jim Brogan 00:36:24 So I think doing activities that make us active and move around and walk and all those things are so important. We're visiting with Doctor Jeff Johnson at his Heart Health month. He's a cardiologist at University Cardiology. When we come back, I want to wrap up Jeff with technology. Where we headed? What are some new things that are available? What are you seeing in the world of technological advancement in cardiovascular care? And what about AI and its influence? So stay with us. This is your living with Jim Brogan. This is Newstalk 98 seven Wlky.

Jim Brogan 00:36:54 Welcome back to Newstalk 98 Seven's Broken Financial Studios where Jim Brogan is coming to you live with important news and advice to help you achieve your dream retirement. Get ready to learn and live. Here's your host, Jim Brogan.

Speaker 2 00:37:09 And it's Heart Health Month here at Moore Living with Jim Brogan on Newstalk 98 seven Walk-In.

Jim Brogan 00:37:15 We're visiting with Doctor Jeff Johnson from over at University Cardiology. by the way, Jeff and I'll keep this brief, but what's I want the listeners to know a little bit more about you when you talk about Jeff Johnson, the person, what's something about you that a lot of your patients may not know or or realize an interesting personal thing?

Jeff Johnson 00:37:36 Well, an interesting question.

Jeff Johnson 00:37:39 I think that, Yeah. We don't talk a lot about ourselves personally when we're seeing patients, but, I want people to know that I have a strong faith, and I'm committed to that. And I teach a wonderful Sunday school class at Church Street United Methodist Church downtown, with the average age of the class being about 80 to 85. And I just love those dear folks. that's something people don't know about me. I have four adult children who are all wonderful and healthy and good And, I have no grandchildren, yet, but, I don't know. And then I, I've just been passionate about my practice and taking care of my patients. I grew up on a farm. The Phil on the farm in Cleveland, Tennessee, and the Polk County Bradley County area. It's been in my family for five generations. just some unique.

Jim Brogan 00:38:40 I know one thing about you to Jeff. You. You're. And I know one thing. You're a music lover, right? I mean, you you're a singer songwriter.

Jim Brogan 00:38:47 You've got perfect pitch. Quite the musician.

Jeff Johnson 00:38:51 Yes. Well. Thank you, I appreciate that. when people tell me about that, I just say, well, let's keep my day job.

Jim Brogan 00:38:59 no, no, no, no, we used to go over the years, and it's been great. we don't have much more time, but let's dive into technology. What are the most some of the most exciting advancements you've seen in cardiology that's happening right now at the University of Tennessee with technology and those things.

Jeff Johnson 00:39:16 Well, we mentioned the calcium score earlier, which is a CT scan. I think that the next wave of technology in cardiology, when it comes to at least noninvasive procedures, is going to be the CT. Now, when people hear us talk about CT in the heart, the calcium score is one test that we can do, but the next test is sometimes is done is called a CT coronary angiogram where we do inject contrast dye, the same dye that we use in the catheterization laboratory to visualize the coronary arteries and to visualize the plaque.

Jeff Johnson 00:39:57 And you mentioned artificial intelligence. I think that it's already in the marketplace now that there are AI programs that will help us characterize these plaques as being low risk slack intermediate risk plaque or a high risk plaque. A high risk plaque is one that is vulnerable to potential rupture, and a ruptured plaque is what causes an acute myocardial infarction or a heart attack. And right now, the best cardiologist in the world can just look at an angiogram and see plaque there. And maybe it's a 30% plaque or a 70% plaque. But that same angiogram could be repeated in 20 years. And we don't know if the 30% plaque in the 70% plaque are both going to look exactly the same, which they can, or in 20 or 30 years, the patient comes in with a heart attack and we do the angiogram. And one of those, either the fed, the 30% or the 70% plaque has ruptured. And now the patient is having a heart attack. I think that with AI and CT, we are going to better be able to characterize those plaques.

Jeff Johnson 00:41:11 And there would be, of course, treatments developed to help us reduce that. I've always said to say that the person who discovers, or the research team that discovers how to identify the vulnerable plaque, the plaque that's going to rupture to say that they'd win the Nobel Peace Prize. That that's not even as great an honor. It will change the world because, as you said, it's still the number one cause of death in the world today. And we still don't know. Even with all of our technology, how to identify that plaque that's prone to rupture. But I think that CT and AI are going to be maybe the next step in that research and development. And then just one quick thing. As far as technology, my interventional colleagues, I still do heart catheterization, but I don't put in stents like my interventional colleagues. I think that the technologies that they have to fix blockage, to fix plaques continues to evolve in just amazing way. We see people now who are either too sick or their anatomies too complicated for bypass surgery, and my interventional colleagues are able to go in there.

Jeff Johnson 00:42:21 And sometimes it's a prolonged procedure with some risk involved, but actually basically redo the plumbing of their heart, as they say. And I think that that technology continues to evolve. And then one last thing, where technology and cardiology is just amazing is in the arrhythmia space. When atrial fibrillation, arrhythmia, atrial fibrillation ablation procedures first came on the scene several years ago, they were taken for six and eight hours. And with the latest technology, my electrophysiology colleagues are able to do an AFib ablation sometimes now in an hour or even less. And I think that that technology is going to continue. There's new things in valvular heart disease that we probably don't have time to talk about, but it's an exciting time in medicine. And then the final. It's not necessarily a technology, but new drugs for prevention. New drugs for weight loss. New drugs to help people's diabetes regress and become less of a factor in their cardiovascular health. It's an exciting time, and I'm constantly amazed at what continues to be developed in our health care system today.

Jim Brogan 00:43:35 That's Doctor Jeff Johnson from University Cardiology. We've learned so many great things, Jeff, about diet, about exercise, nutrition, screening, all these things. You've always been a great friend of the show. Thank you so much for taking time out of your very busy schedule to come on and share with us some wisdom and great tips about getting healthier, staying healthy, and prolonging a quality of life.

Jeff Johnson 00:43:58 Thank you Jim. It's always fun and I just so admire what you do with the show. You've just I've watched this and listened through the years and I just think you do an amazing job. And you didn't ask me to say that. I just want to compliment you on what you do for our community through your show and and through your firm.

Jim Brogan 00:44:16 Well, thank you so much. I appreciate that. Doctor Jeff Johnson, a long time friend of the show and my DD and my personal friend, known Jeff a long time. He truly cares for his patients. We've discussed your health because greater health provides for more living, so you can live the best years of your life your way.

Jim Brogan 00:44:33 Many things. Thanks to Wayne for engineering the show and Mary Caroline for helping produce the show. This is more living with Jim Brogan only on Newstalk 98 seven.

Speaker 6 00:44:43 The views expressed by Jim Brogan and his guests are not that of Cumulus Media. Any discussion of financial, legal and tax planning strategies is not intended to be individualized advice and is general in nature. Always consult with your advisor for advice specific to your needs. This program's content does not represent a recommendation of any particular security strategy or investment by Jim Brogan or Brogan Financial, Incorporated.

Automatically Transcribed With Podsqueeze

Jim Brogan 00:00:02 You're tuned into more Living with Jim Brogan, broadcast live from the Brogan Financial studios at Newstalk 9087, where old fashioned values, expert knowledge and genuine understanding come together to give you the retirement straight talk you deserve. Jim's a former National Advisor of the year recipient and a financial educator, and he's here today to talk about how you can live out the best years of your life. Jim and the Brogan financial team have been helping retirees and retirees across the southeast for over 20 years in their pursuit of financial independence. You can reach them during the week at 865862 6800. So sit back, relax and get ready to learn, because More living with Jim Brogan starts now.

Speaker 2 00:00:45 Welcome to More Living with Jim Brogan, where it's all about living the best years of your life your way. This is Newstalk 98 seven, Woking. We're honored today to highlight one of our community's most cherished institutions, The Love Kitchen. believe it or not. 40 years ago today, on Valentine's Day, 1986 is when this got started. And joining us in studio today are two incredible leaders caring for the legacy of founders Ellen and Helen.

Speaker 2 00:01:16 And that is executive director of The Love Kitchen Martin and president of the board Ernie. And they're here to show the share the story behind this remarkable organization, the impact of its mission, how they continue serving thousands in our community with dignity, passion and love. So it's a conversation about service, about legacy and the power of showing up for one another. So we're going to kind of dive right in here. So again we've got Ernie Roberts. He's president of the board and we've got Martin Riggins. He's the executive director. And as I said, it started 40 years ago today. Right? I mean, when when we were.

Ernie Roberts 00:01:50 To the day.

Speaker 2 00:01:51 To the day. So when we were talking about what shows we could have in the month of February and we realized this was on Valentine's Day and we always do a heart health show because it's, you know, Heart Health Month. And we're doing that next week.

Ernie Roberts 00:02:04 Good, good.

Speaker 2 00:02:05 But then we were like, oh man, we got to have on the Love Kitchen.

Speaker 2 00:02:08 So we appreciate y'all having on. So talk about the birth of the Love Kitchen. And I mean it seems obvious but it started on Valentine's Day. So is that where the name comes from. Tell us a little bit about the the the founding side of this.

Ernie Roberts 00:02:22 I think with the Love Kitchen itself that I can't honestly say that was it, but I'm sure it certainly went along with Valentine's Day. And the two sisters, Helen and Ellen, just exemplified love, love, love out of it. You can just see it anytime. First time I met them, it was like hug, hug on both sides and I'm going like I was a little overwhelmed, you know? But the the story was, you know, that they just poured out. They really anyone was a welcome stranger, a new person in their lives and stuff. They were always awesome about that. And the fact that it happened, it was probably without any fanfare because they may have had, I don't know, Martin. How many was about.

Ernie Roberts 00:03:00 Did they do 22. I was going to say 22 meals.

Speaker 2 00:03:04 Or 22 meals the very first day in 1986.

Ernie Roberts 00:03:07 And now it's grown and their vision and the story goes, Helen went and woke up Ellen because God had appeared to her in a dream. He said, she said, sis, we're going to we're going to feed people. And Ellen, of course, being Ellen was kind of the more the nuts and bolts person says, go back to bed, sis. It's like, you know, whatever. So but they, you know, that's kind of the story they would tell, you know, about how they got the thing going. But Helen had that vision and she really they retired. They both had been nurses and they were both retired at that time.

Speaker 2 00:03:41 So their inspiration was we just want to feed and help people.

Ernie Roberts 00:03:44 And they felt like, you know, God was pushing it because it's been a faith based organization.

Speaker 2 00:03:49 Yes. And we'll get to that a little bit later. so the word the, the, you know, the title, The Love Kitchen, I mean, it is kind of ironic.

Speaker 2 00:03:58 It started on Valentine's Day, but the reality is that's what their lives were about. Absolutely right.

Ernie Roberts 00:04:03 Yeah. And Martin can vouch for that, too. You know, I was going to say Martin. Martin was kind of hogging the mic here.

Speaker 2 00:04:09 Martin, tell us about your journey and how long have you been with the Love Kitchen as executive director?

Martin Riggins 00:04:14 Well, as executive director, officially, I think it was probably about August of 2022, but in the beginning of or the end of late 2021, the beginning of 2022 is when I kind of started doing it. my brother, Patrick Riggins, who used to have a show here on 98, 87. he was the previous executive director and board president and everything. And, we lost him in December of 2021, to a heart attack. And so I kind of the one of the ladies on the board said, hey, can you come over and help us? And, I'm pretty good at figuring stuff out. And so I went over there and I sat down at Patrick's computer, and I tried to figure out how he did what he did.

Martin Riggins 00:05:00 And after about 6 or 8 months, the board said, hey, would you like to be the executive director? And I said, sure. And you know that that's how I'm here. But now I knew the sisters way back when, and I would help Patrick out on, you know, informal ways. You know, since back 2007, 2008 at least. And he would say, can you come help me do this or that? I've mopped the floors there, I've mowed the yard. I've I've been a janitor. I've been a fixit guy. I've done it all down there. And, you know, it kind of just gets into your blood after a while. And one of the ladies on the board, I was referring to Susan. She said, you know, Martin, the love kitchen sucks you in. And it does. As you start coming down there and going down there, more and more, you see what's going on. You see what happens every day. You see.

Speaker 2 00:05:50 The impact.

Martin Riggins 00:05:51 Yes. And you know, you you want to stay with it.

Speaker 2 00:05:55 And, Ernie, how long have you been to tell? About your little. A little bit about your journey.

Ernie Roberts 00:05:59 My journey there was. It was a very much, I don't know, more random, maybe feel per se, that I wound up dropping. I'd heard about Helen and Ellen. I remember Jackie Brown at the new center. I worked with the empty Stocking Fund and still do, but they, When Jackie would talk about. Well, we're going to keep this because whatever's left over from our distribution, because not everything was picked up on distribution day, and we had to move out of the Jacob building pretty quick. She said, we'll deliver that to the Love Kitchen. That's the love kitchen. And that's, you know, that's where I first had my first hearing of the words. And then I heard a little bit about Helen and Ellen, but I never met them. So I go over I was music, I was going to be an interim 2 or 3 weeks music director at Fifth Avenue Baptist Church.

Speaker 2 00:06:45 So you're a musician by trade?

Ernie Roberts 00:06:47 I, I sing a little, you know.

Martin Riggins 00:06:49 Because.

Speaker 2 00:06:50 You know, my undergraduate degree was music education. Yeah. My wife and I met singing, so.

Ernie Roberts 00:06:54 Well, I will say also that I'm going to put it on a quick plug. Cheap, cheap. Here it is. But I'm right now singing with Barbara Seville. I'm in the men's chorus for for Barbara Seville, with the Knoxville Opera.

Speaker 2 00:07:03 Company.

Ernie Roberts 00:07:04 Playing next weekend. So life is a little busy. That's great. But back to the thing. I was asked to come in and do I to help them out. And that was all random too, because the lady Jean Minot at Fifth Avenue Baptist Church happened to be at a cookout that my mom and my aunt, and she was a friend of my aunt. Mom didn't know her, but they she kept brought her along for a July 4th kick out. And that's where I met them. And she she said, how would you like to.

Ernie Roberts 00:07:30 We need an interim music person. I'm going off on what? Yeah, just. You just met me here. Whatever. So anyway, that's where I met Helen and Helen. Helen was in the choir. Ellen was out front. And so at the end of the service, they both, you know, wanted to get a hug and, you know, that's that's just they way they were, you know, when they met you and they like you. Whatever. And I guess I was likable these enough. So that was it was interesting because it took me probably a year or two before I ever even went into Love Kitchen. I had worked with Ellen, both of them at church, and I stayed at church. By the way, I'm still there at Fifth Avenue Baptist Church, you know, and that's what the longest interim position probably ever happened, because this was about, I think, 2002, 2003, because it was after nine over 11. It happened in 2000.

Speaker 2 00:08:13 You've been involved for quite some time.

Ernie Roberts 00:08:14 I've been I've been there with them. And then a couple of years later, I started just volunteering. I'll be honest with you, I can't remember when they asked me to be on the board, but. And then here I am now, you know. So the journey, like I said, was in many ways random. But like Martin said, it sucks you in once you get there. Because I would be working on Wednesday afternoons helping with meals, and then I'd go off and rearrange stock room because we were always having cans and stuff brought in that needed to be organized and put where it was. So that was one of my jobs too. Plus, it was just kind of good therapy for me to get off and not have to be, you know, it was one of those things you're not. You know what I'm saying? It's sort of like you just go in like you're almost on autopilot. But it was a calming down after a workday because I'm a teacher by trade. Okay, so.

Ernie Roberts 00:09:02 And I don't teach music, I do math.

Speaker 2 00:09:04 Oh, really? Yeah. Math guy. Yeah. And a lot of people.

Ernie Roberts 00:09:08 For a.

Speaker 2 00:09:08 While. Well, actually that's interesting. A lot of people don't know that musicians usually are pretty good at math because of the way the scales are. And yeah, it's a lot of people don't realize that.

Ernie Roberts 00:09:18 The theory of music is patterns.

Speaker 2 00:09:20 It is. So it's very mathematical. okay, so 40 years ago today, 22 meals. Talk about the scope and the impact today. Tell us about the Love Kitchen and how much it impacts the community. Numbers of meals, whatever you like to share in terms of give us an idea of how much it's grown and the impact it's making.

Martin Riggins 00:09:42 Well, I can tell you that in 2025, we provided a total of 1319 meals, all at no charge. To the people that we do homebound, which is we go every Thursday and we deliver a tower of seven meals to between 280 and 300 people. It depends on how many are on that week.

Martin Riggins 00:10:07 And then every Wednesday and Thursday, we serve lunch to anyone that shows up at 1230 sharp.

Speaker 2 00:10:14 And it is pretty much no questions asked, right? I mean, it's really cool. I mean, it's just like, we're going to serve lunch.

Martin Riggins 00:10:20 That is correct.

Ernie Roberts 00:10:21 We've got it there. There's no time to ask questions. And sometimes we have to prepare a little bit more because we have more show up than what we expect.

Martin Riggins 00:10:28 Yeah. The the homebound you do need to qualify for because otherwise we would just be overwhelmed. Sure. But but beyond that, if you show up at the kitchen, we will feed you. And then we also provide food to six other organizations at no charge to them, where we'll just provide them pans of food. And at the end of the day, that puts us in the neighborhood of 3000 meals a week that we're providing to these other organizations, as well as anybody that shows up to the kitchen as well as the people we deliver to. so in 2024, we did 146,000 or so meals.

Martin Riggins 00:11:04 And so we had about a 10% increase. But that came from the fact that we've started distributing these meals to these other organizations that allow them to then distribute it out. So we don't even have to have they don't have to come necessarily to the kitchen. And you still may be eating love kitchen food.

Speaker 2 00:11:25 So, you know, one thing that's interesting to me is, you know, I mean, there's some great charitable organizations here in East Tennessee. So talk about how I mean, I think of we we have we have some really good organizations serve homeless people. We have some really good ones that provide food. Talk about how you all coordinate all that stuff.

Ernie Roberts 00:11:42 Well, we have a basically it's a four day operation.

Speaker 2 00:11:46 I mean, like I would imagine you work very closely with calm.

Ernie Roberts 00:11:49 We do. We do? Yes.

Martin Riggins 00:11:50 I go every Monday and car drives around and picks up all the excess chick fil A patties and such like that that the chick fil A doesn't have. And that was actually started by the guy that owned a franchise in Maryville, and now it's nationwide.

Speaker 2 00:12:05 A chick fil A franchise.

Martin Riggins 00:12:06 Yes. And I thought that was great that it actually started in this area. But so they go around and they pick up the excess, and then on Mondays I go and they give me their excess and we take that and we oftentimes shred it up. And our chef uses it in white chick and chili. She uses it in making barbecue that you would swear was beef barbecue or pork barbecue. But it is not. It is made from shredded chicken salad. Yes. Oh, that's that as well. Wow.

Ernie Roberts 00:12:33 fried chicken salad, which is amazing.

Martin Riggins 00:12:35 And so then after that, anything that we have excess we give to another organization called Granger County Baptist Association. So all of these things. We. We will call them Grainger County. When we have excess calm will call me and say, hey, we've got this, can you use it? So a lot.

Speaker 2 00:12:54 Of a lot of cooperative communication I would think communication would be so important.

Martin Riggins 00:12:59 It is. And you know, we and we've not signed a contract with any of them.

Martin Riggins 00:13:02 It's just kind of like call them up on the phone. Hey, do you want this? Yeah. And so they come down. Grainger County comes down every Wednesday with a box truck. And we load them up with the stuff that we, that we don't need. And they take it up there and they serve thousands of people up there as well. So I mean, it's the way that we all coordinate and everything. It was just organic, the way it all just kind of comes together. It works extraordinarily well. And believe it or not.

Speaker 2 00:13:27 Valentine's Day 1986, that's when the Love Kitchen was birthed. And we have them with us in studio, their current president and executive director. When we come back, we're going to talk a little bit more about their impact. I do want to also talk to them about like the impact not only that they've seen, but if Helen and Ellen could walk in the love kitchen today. How would they be impacted by the scope of the ministry? So stay with us.

Speaker 2 00:13:52 This is more living here on Newstalk 98 seven Woking.

Jim Brogan 00:13:58 Welcome back to Newstalk 98 Seven's Brogan Financial Studios, where Jim Brogan is coming to you live with important news and advice to help you achieve your dream retirement. Get ready to learn and live. Here's your host, Jim Brogan.

Speaker 2 00:14:12 Welcome back to More Living Here on Newstalk 98 seven Wookey where the show where we explore the people, the ideas and organizations that make Knoxville such a special place to call home. And one of those real fixtures in the Knoxville community is the Love Kitchen there with us today. It's 40 years ago today that they got their start with 22 meals that Helen and Ellen served on that day 40 years ago. Ernie, how would, if Helen and Helen walked in the love kitchen today? What moment? Practice. What tradition? What do you think would make them smile the most?

Speaker 5 00:14:47 I think.

Ernie Roberts 00:14:49 They would. And Martin and I have talked about it a little bit just a few minutes ago here and refresh our memories and such. But their line of so many times, whenever they receive something, you don't know how many people this will feed or what.

Ernie Roberts 00:15:04 You know, that was one thing or or how many this will feel so many people. And I think that would be their first thing is that we are doing still feeding people and able to do so.

Speaker 2 00:15:15 I never really got away from the core. Right?

Ernie Roberts 00:15:18 No. And their core and their core values were, well, their father had taught them this and one was.

Speaker 2 00:15:26 Their three three main core values. Right.

Ernie Roberts 00:15:28 The main core values, right there is but one father and that is the Heavenly Father. There is one race that is the human race. And the third was do not take the last piece of bread or food on the table, because you never know who is going to come by in need of it. That was the the three basic prongs. I paraphrased it a little bit, probably there, and I have to admit, the third came to haunt me one night on Christmas night at my house in my neighborhood. I had just had our family Christmas. Everybody gone, you know their ways and knock knock, knock at the door.

Ernie Roberts 00:16:06 And I have no idea who the stranger was, but I had some food or like a sandwich or something and was able to give it to him. And before I could turn around and I gave, I think, a some sort of something to drink or whatever. Before I got back, he had left on back, walking into the fog, so to speak, and I was going, that reminded me that statement right there. You never know when someone's.

Speaker 2 00:16:28 Yeah, that's absolutely right.

Ernie Roberts 00:16:29 And that was one of those real. And to me, Christmas night, it was just, you know, it was really a touching moment for me. And it was a private moment. I was there, it was my own, you know.

Speaker 2 00:16:38 Yeah. You know, I, I mean, I couldn't put myself in their shoes, But, you know, if I did something similar 40 years ago and then I was I passed away and I came back, I think I would be extremely encouraged that the that the, the really the core values, the mission, everything the Love Kitchen does has not lost its that foundation has stayed the same.

Ernie Roberts 00:17:00 And over the years and it's helpful. We've developed the team members each day has a team. Martin can vouch for this because he's on the inside of it on the day to day. But you've got a group that Mondi has cohesive as a team. They love working with each other. They love being there. It's hard. You know, I don't want to turn away your volunteers because we always want to have something because some people can't show up every day and all that. But those folks have gotten used to work, and they really keep that. The duties that go on. He can tell you a little bit of what we do on those days. You know, streamline the Tuesday crew, very tight, very tight group. Also. I was very impressed. And there's a Wednesday crew and a Thursday crew, and they all love each other. They all get along with each other. And so to me that's a very important aspect there again, the love kitchen coming together.

Speaker 2 00:17:47 Yeah. I'll have to say talking to both of you, there's like this magnetic almost in infectious enthusiasm.

Speaker 2 00:17:55 That's extremely refreshing. Martin, talk about your role and then the impact. You have personally seen firsthand of how it impacts lives.

Martin Riggins 00:18:05 I will do that. I want to jump back because, you know, when you talked about Helen and Ellen and how they would react, you know, that reminded me that when they were getting older and their health was kind of failing and such. they asked Patrick, they said, Will you promise to keep the Love Kitchen going after we're gone? And he did promise to do that. And and he did. And Patrick and I were close. And so I, I've taken that on and I and I think Ernie would probably agree with that, that, that that's kind of what it was is this, this whole thing is bigger than than Ernie or me or or Patrick or any of us. This love kitchen was started, and they made this. They made this huge impact, and they continue to make it. You know, they're no longer with us. And and yet this, this thing that they started, I tell people all the time, they started something special with the Love Kitchen.

Martin Riggins 00:18:59 When you come in there and like Ernie was saying, you come in there on a day and you've got people that are in there. They're there because they're there to help people. Now most of our volunteers are either retirees or or student age, but they're they're there because they, like you said, they see that impact of what you do when you see a stack of 600 trays. That's going to be just one of the three meals that our chef cooks that week. You know that we count those out. And so you see this stack. And then when the food that we serve you see Just an entire walk in refrigerator full of meals, you know, in the neighborhood of 2500 to, well, it's you we averaged so far this year, a little over 2900 meals a week is what we have. And so when you see that a walk in refrigerator just full of meals and then into the day Thursday gone. Yeah, we've got about 30 drivers that are all volunteers that come in and they run their route on Thursday and they deliver to what it becomes your people.

Martin Riggins 00:20:10 They they get attached to the people that they deliver to and they feel it when sometimes you go and you deliver and you knock on the door and there's no answer, but the neighbor comes out and said, well, they died Sunday. That's happened to me when I was delivering. You know, that that happens sometimes. And, you know, they you've gotten to know these people because you've delivered to them enough. And so when, when the lady that kind of arranges our drivers tries to tries to make a route a little easier. Maybe it's getting a little big. They're like, no, I want to keep I want to deliver to my people. We've got one guy that drives a mini now. It's a four door mini, but he delivers 31 towers, he delivers to 31 people and most of our routes are 8 to 10. And. But he wants that. And do you want us to knock that down? No, I want to deliver to my people.

Speaker 2 00:21:03 So I mean volunteer help in in any charitable organization is so critically important.

Speaker 2 00:21:10 Can you just expand on that a little bit? I mean, before you do one thing I'll talk about is I talk about the power of giving. And yeah, some of that is financial. Some of it is giving our time and our talents. But when we do all that, what it does is, number one, it helps keep us the why I think that's such a critical part of a financial plan is it gives us perspective. You know, in this society we're so inundated with materialism and images and things like that. And it gives us a life. Money, perspective. Like a balance. But when you get involved. So just talk about the impact. I mean, you kind of already have. But how dependent are you on volunteers in your organization?

Ernie Roberts 00:21:54 Well, very much so. And in fact, there are times when when we have a an illness or someone is unable to make it. Kelly, our driver, our driver coordinator, will sometimes will give me a text and say, hey, can you drive tomorrow? Can you drive today? And I if I can, I'll fill in and and it's interesting when I go there to those homes, it's kind of like they look at me and say, well, you're not the same.

Ernie Roberts 00:22:20 You know, I they'll be back. I'm sorry. And or the other one that's the famous line is because I've just gotten the word that I need to do it and I'm, you know, running behind or I'm on my own schedule to get there, you know, whatever. And I finally get there. You're light. You're all are light. You know, I said I'm sorry. I'm the substitute, you know, so I don't I don't give him any. You know, like a president of the board either. Like, you know, it's just I'm there. I'm there to take em. But I see that they do. They do have that relationship with our drivers and such. And Kelly also has the phrase Jehovah Jireh God provides. That's our. And she has told me times that she'll come in and she'll be three short at the beginning of that day, or four drivers short. And through all these miracles of God, and I see miracles every day at the Love Kitchen, or read about them.

Ernie Roberts 00:23:08 And every time I go to the, as I call it, the bank, our post office, I see miracles because here's the donations that, you know, we don't go out and really solicit. We send one letter out of the during a year. But people have have come to the point they include us in monthly giving. You talk about the financial part of it. It's you know, it's just amazing. It just I say I see miracles every day. I go to that post office.

Speaker 2 00:23:32 The love kitchen is always emphasized, serving with dignity. So how do you ensure every meal, in every interaction reflects that core value?

Martin Riggins 00:23:42 Our chef takes every meal personally, and she has said that if she would not eat it, she will not put it out the door.

Speaker 2 00:23:51 And so that's a great word right there.

Martin Riggins 00:23:55 Well, I mean, she I am blown away every week with what she does. We pick up from Costco six days a week and excess food, stuff like that, that, that they don't need excess water that we use to serve for lunch.

Martin Riggins 00:24:11 And what she does is she takes all these disparate ingredients, sets them back in the freezer until she's got enough to make something, and then she'll make this. She makes an Alfredo out of macaroni and cheese that we get from Costco, and it's incredible what she does. She takes this. She's likened it to there's a show called chopped that she says that it's like, but because she has to make something up from what she has. And, but, you know, we. But as far as the dignity goes, that that's part of it. That's the big part of it. And I should have brought a picture of our poster that shows the food that we serve because she cooks real turkeys for Thanksgiving. She cooks real ham for Christmas. That's right. This is not industrial food, but you have in your mind a bowl of soup. Probably in a cheese sandwich. That is not what they get. No, no.

Speaker 2 00:25:00 Yeah, they're getting good quality meals.

Martin Riggins 00:25:02 Yes, sir.

Speaker 2 00:25:03 We're visiting with the Love Kitchen, a real fixture here in Knoxville, Tennessee for 40 years.

Speaker 2 00:25:07 When we come back, we'll have more about their impact and about food insecurity and how that's changed in Knoxville, in East Tennessee over the last 10 to 20 years. We'll also have our dollars and cents segment. How healthy is the stock market as the day on the last week clicked, over 50,000. and what can we learn by looking at the S\&P 500? What is the danger of looking at the S\&P 500? And what can we learn from that. so stay with us. This is more living with Jim Brogan here on Newstalk 98 seven Wookey.

Jim Brogan 00:25:39 Welcome back to Newstalk 98 Seven's Brogan Financial Studios, where Jim Brogan is coming to you live with important news and advice to help you achieve your dream retirement. Get ready to learn and live. Here's your host, Jim Brogan.

Speaker 2 00:25:54 Welcome back to More Living Here on Newstalk 98. Seven welcome, Jim Brogan. We're visiting with The Love Kitchen. Been a fixture in Knoxville for 40 years. Valentine's day 1986. Before we get back to our guests from the Love Kitchen, it is time for dollars and cents.

Speaker 6 00:26:12 What? To be sure, you are getting the most out of your retirement for all the years of your retirement. That's the primary goal of Moore living with Jim Brogan and our dollars and Cents segment, where we provide you with an important financial tip that will help positively impact the quality of your life and retirement. And now here's Jim with this week's dollars and cents tip.

Speaker 2 00:26:36 How healthy is the stock market? You know, here in the last little bit we saw the Dow click over 50,000. President Trump came out and said that by the end of his term it'll click over 100,000. I don't know that I see that, but but, you know, that's what he says. but, you know, I get asked a lot of times, you know, God, how can you keep going up, blah, blah, blah. And it's been choppy the last week or two. Certainly. but I want to use the S\&P 500 and talk about that index and what we can learn from it and what we have to be careful about.

Speaker 2 00:27:13 You know, the S\&P 500 is an index made up of 500 of the largest US stocks. But that can be a little bit misleading in a couple of ways. One. every company does not have an equal impact on the movement of that index. It's not 1/500 each. In other words, the larger the company is, the more it impacts the movement of that index. It's an it's what's called a weighted average index. And so what's happened over the last 5 or 6 years is the Magnificent Seven that you hear talked about so much. You know that's the big you know Nvidia Google Microsoft, Apple, those big technology companies, they have gotten so massively big that they're driving most of the movement of the index. Believe it or not, the top ten companies in the S\&P 500, the largest ten, dropped 40% of the index. And we have had times in the last 2 or 3 years where the S\&P 500 was up a good bit. But if you called out the seven companies that make out the mag seven, all the other 493 stocks were just kind of just kind of clicking along with a, you know, hadn't really made any money in terms of the stock appreciation, more like a zero return where the Mag seven was having such a great run that it was showing a not very nice return in S\&P 500.

Speaker 2 00:28:41 So first you have to be. There was an article in New York Times last weekend that said, how safe is the S\&P 500 and what it postured is. It's not as safe and diversified as it used to be because you've got these big companies driving it. We have to also understand that the the S\&P 500, I say the largest 500 companies, about half those stocks are mid-cap stocks. So it's really the with that weighted benefit. It's very top heavy. And so when we look at where we are today it's interesting because now we're seeing things shift a little bit. We're seeing the earnings and the projections for the mag. Seven stocks start to recede a little bit. And we're starting to see more optimism among the other 493 stocks. Now, what does that mean for 2026? Who knows? I mean, markets are choppy. They're unpredictable. In a typical year we see a market correction of 10 to 15%. That's just average. And that's you know a a typical correction is healthy for markets. The the key here is over time in our next 10 or 15 years, you need to be growing investments above and beyond the rate of inflation.

Speaker 2 00:29:59 And I think that's going to be critically important. We're seeing very good economic growth. They're predicting GDP growth this year 5.7%. Risk assets over time provide the best opportunity to beat inflation. However, in the short term they're completely unpredictable. So it's just critically important to realize when we invade. Are you an investor or speculator? If you're if you're if you're investments, you're worried about what they do the next six months. That's not investing, that's speculating. We just don't know. So there's a huge difference. That means you can't. It doesn't mean you can't speculate on just a small piece of your money. But as investors, we have got to understand that the more diverse and equity based our investment plan is, the more we need time on our side. And so we shouldn't be thinking about where we're going to be in 3 or 4 months. That means we need safe and stability in our assets that provide short term access to money and income. So just be careful with S\&P 500. And what we can learn from that.

Speaker 2 00:31:05 And be sure that you have the true proper diversification where you're not too over hedged in one sector of the industry.

Speaker 6 00:31:14 That's our dollars and cents segment for this week. You can find this week's dollars and cents segment and others by visiting Brogan Financial.

Speaker 2 00:31:26 Check us out on Brogan. Com. We got lots of resources there. If you click on resources you can pull up. We've got blogs. We've got articles. We've got lot papers you can download. we have when you click on resources you can also click on classes. And we got my full spring schedule both through the University of Tennessee Business and Community Outreach and also Pillow City States adult outreach. you can find our full schedule there and click to find out more information, download a syllabus and register for those classes. Most of the classes, the remainder of the spring are one night classes. Income planning, specifically in retirement or tax planning. we do have one two part class at Pella City. That's the financial, you know, thrive financially in retirement.

Speaker 2 00:32:11 So go check out all that. We we try to put lots of resources in our website so that you can make informed and prudent decisions that can impact the quality of your life. Today is Valentine's Day. In 40 years ago today, the Love Kitchen was birthed and it has just made such a tremendous impact on the community. Let's talk about food insecurity. It looks different today than it did 10 or 20 years ago. How have the needs of the East Tennessee community changed, and how has the Love Kitchen adapted?

Martin Riggins 00:32:42 Well, I can tell you, I've only been doing this like we talked about just a few years. But again, I can tell you between 2024 and 2025, we served about 10% more meals than than prior to that. Between those two, I, I don't have records going back 40 years or anything like that. I'm kind of a spreadsheet guy and the numbers guy, and so I, I keep all of that stuff, but it certainly looks like, you.

Speaker 2 00:33:13 Know, I have to I have to mention you're quite talkative for a big numbers guy.

Ernie Roberts 00:33:17 He's learned how to be talkative. Yeah, he was really more of a shy type person.

Martin Riggins 00:33:21 Was he.

Ernie Roberts 00:33:21 Really? I think so.

Speaker 2 00:33:23 Well, most.

Martin Riggins 00:33:23 Numbers.

Ernie Roberts 00:33:24 He's come into his own. He's really I mean, he's I think he's he's thrown into the job and he does a wonderful job. He really.

Martin Riggins 00:33:29 Does. There was a funny story, if you permit me a sidebar for a second, was that this lady one time said, do you have a 32nd elevator speech? I said, no, I can talk to you for several minutes about it, but I you know, I don't have 30s, because, well, as you see, there's just so much that goes along with it. but, I've lost my train of thought. What was your question?

Speaker 2 00:33:51 Well, it was about food insecurity and how the East Tennessee community has changed over the last 10 to 20 years.

Martin Riggins 00:33:57 Yeah. I think like I said, if you look, I don't have numbers for that. However, if you look just kind of around in the Knoxville area, it certainly looks like there's a lot more than there used to be.

Martin Riggins 00:34:10 as far as people that you see that appear to be needy, there's.

Speaker 2 00:34:16 there's a lot of food insecurity. And I know a couple months ago we had on Second Harvest and they had some more data on food insecurity. And it's just which very, you know, great ministry as well, which I'd imagine you're all are very cooperative with, with them too.

Martin Riggins 00:34:29 We do.

Ernie Roberts 00:34:31 We have.

Martin Riggins 00:34:31 Yeah.

Speaker 2 00:34:31 So I just think it's, it's becoming more and more prevalent. It's interesting in Knoxville because as Knoxville expands and, you know, into more and more counties and becomes more, you know, populated. You still drive 20, 15, 20 miles from Knoxville and you're in very rural America.

Ernie Roberts 00:34:49 That's. Yeah, I know pretty much all sides.

Speaker 2 00:34:51 Yeah. And so, there's a lot of food insecurity in rural America, right? so when you look at the tremendous growth the last 20 years, are there any specific milestones that you think would trademark this growth? I mean, I know you said 155,000 meals.

Ernie Roberts 00:35:07 Well, and Covid, of course, we say that Covid changed everything. And it really has in a lot of respects. I think we see I feel like I do, especially in the East Knoxville area. I see more churches that have food pantries, but they're not necessarily feeding. I think Magnolia methodist does one night of the week they have a feeding or something of that nature? They're not Magnolia, obviously, but they're they do their church takes over, takes it on that. But some of these who are churches are either small groups, community groups that start a food pantry. Their hours may be irregular, but they're there and they have or some of them have a set day or a but you got to remember this, this problem exists 52 weeks of the year. And that's one thing about the love kitchen thing. We have a schedule Monday through Thursday every week, whether it's Christmas week, whether it's Thanksgiving, we are, you know, holidays, summer or whatever. We have that obligation to the folks who are recipients.

Ernie Roberts 00:36:08 And it's like, that makes me always kind of nervous, you know? And through the when we lost Patrick, it was all of a sudden, the reason I'm president of the board is because I was vice president when Patrick passed away. and I'm going like, you know, it was so funny. It wasn't funny, but, I mean. All of a sudden I'm looking back at it. I'm going, like, I took on the vice president role because I wouldn't have to worry about things and all. And so Patrick was the executive director as well as the president of the board. And all of a sudden I'm looking they're looking, Ernie, what do we do now? I'm going, like, what do you mean, Ernie? What do we do now? You know? And so when Martin came along, it was awesome. You know, although it took about like I said, it was seven, six, seven months or different time. I can't remember the exact time frame, but that was, you know, it was a welcome godsend when when he said yes and was willing to come in and take care of that.

Ernie Roberts 00:37:02 But I, I'm going back and saying that, you know, things each year is kind of different. But Covid really sent a lot of shockwaves, I think, through community. And it also changed the way a lot of things were done.

Speaker 2 00:37:14 Yeah. And it caused some adaptation that that frankly, has maybe improved things coming out of that. We learn to do things more efficiently, and.

Ernie Roberts 00:37:23 I totally agree on that. That's one thing I feel like we have every day. Our job tasks have become very well oiled machines. They already were productive. Don't get me wrong, they were always doing a great job. But it's just like it's it's really come into its own. And Martin keeps facilitating them. They're, they run very well every day. Those things, they're basically done. I remember days when I first started volunteering there. We might be there sometimes till even close to midnight. And now 2:00, 3:00 in the afternoon, our volunteers get in there. They have the job to do.

Ernie Roberts 00:37:54 They're there for 3 to 4 hours. They work very hard. And then it's all ready to go for the next shift.

Speaker 2 00:38:01 The next day we're speaking with the Love Kitchen. That's Ernie Roberts. He's president of the board. We've also got Martin Riggins in studio with us. He's executive director. When I when we come back, I just really want to talk about challenges, the Love Kitchen faces, how we can get involved in the community to help such a great organization. So stay with us. This is more living with Jim Brogan here on Newstalk 98 seven Wookey.

Jim Brogan 00:38:29 Welcome back to Newstalk 98 Seven's Brogan Studios, where Jim Brogan is coming to you live with important news and advice to help you achieve your dream retirement. Get ready to learn and live. Here's your host, Jim Brogan.

Speaker 2 00:38:44 Welcome back to More Living with Jim Brogan, where it's all about living the best years of your life, your way. On this Valentine's Day 2026, we're visiting with Love Kitchen, which was started Valentine's Day 1986, 44 years ago.

Speaker 2 00:39:00 And we've got on Ernie Roberts, president of the board, and Martin Riggins, executive director of The Love Kitchen. And since we've had more and more food insecurity, more and more demand for meals over the years, what are the biggest challenges the Love Kitchen faces in meeting the rising need.

Martin Riggins 00:39:20 Well, you know, honestly, we are. We are very blessed. The people of Knoxville have supported the Love Kitchen through the years, and we've been able to be very careful with the money. I tell people I can step on a penny and make it scream and everybody down with a great word. because we, you know, it's it's important because we the love kitchen does not solicit nor do we accept any taxpayer funds. So it's all it's all just donors that that have seen the kitchen and have heard of it and believe in our mission. So honestly, the biggest, hardest thing for us is in the summertime when some of our drivers start going on vacation and, you know, that type of thing.

Martin Riggins 00:40:03 but.

Speaker 2 00:40:04 You know, the money side, I think many charities underestimate the the importance of fiscal responsibility. You touch on that?

Martin Riggins 00:40:14 Absolutely. because as I tell people, I, they asked me, can can I bring you cans? Absolutely you can. We'll use them. But I cannot pay my cub bill with cans. And our bill averages between 12 and $1600 a month. And so that's that's a fair amount of money to come up with every single month. And so I and I know and then, you know, at some point you're going to have a freezer go out. And I've had that happen.

Ernie Roberts 00:40:41 The repair work is is pricey.

Martin Riggins 00:40:43 Yeah. And so I replace an evaporator and that's $5,000. Fortunately we've saved through the years and we've put this stuff back. But for these unanticipated costs that can come up. And so we're in a good position. We're we we can do that because we've been careful. And then because the Knoxville community is extraordinarily generous to us.

Ernie Roberts 00:41:05 And it's not just Knoxville.

Ernie Roberts 00:41:06 We get we get donations from outlying areas, outlying states. I mean, it's crazy.

Speaker 2 00:41:12 To see.

Ernie Roberts 00:41:12 The impact.

Speaker 2 00:41:13 Nothing beats the Volunteer State.

Ernie Roberts 00:41:15 Hey, I agree. You know, and it's a wonderful experience to go. And as I say, it's like a miracle. God provides every time I go to the post office and pick up all these checks. We also have a lot of people that donate online. So putting it together, it's we just feel very as Martin said, we are very blessed.

Speaker 2 00:41:34 Beyond meals, what types of other support does the Love Kitchen provide that people might need to know about?

Martin Riggins 00:41:39 It is going to be primarily meals. However, if someone calls us up, we can make an emergency food box, which is of course still just food. So we have an unofficial, there's a lady from the neighborhood and she comes down and people will bring clothes down, but take to her house, and I will set up. She'll tell me how many tables she wants, and I'll move my car out of her way.

Martin Riggins 00:42:05 And I'll either set up 4 or 5 tables, and she will bring the clothes down that our volunteers have brought to her, that other people have brought to her, and she will lay them out and let people just have them, because what has happened is. I've had people tell me I don't want to donate them somewhere because they're going to sell them. I want people to have these clothes. And so I said, well, okay. And so we kind of this thing just kind of came about on its own. Like I said, this just kind of Jehovah Jara type thing. The neighborhood said, you know, I want to do that. And I said, cool.

Speaker 2 00:42:39 So how can I how can the people of Knoxville get involved and help find out more about the Love Kitchen?

Martin Riggins 00:42:44 The love kitchen? Org is our website. You can go there. You can get our phone number which is 546. Oh gosh. Right out of my head. 8248 and good job.

Ernie Roberts 00:42:56 So 55468248 with area code 865.

Martin Riggins 00:43:00 Of course.

Speaker 2 00:43:00 Yes, yes of course.

Martin Riggins 00:43:01 So, but if that's incorrect because I'm on the air, I've screwed it up.

Speaker 2 00:43:05 But the Love kitchen.org.

Martin Riggins 00:43:06 Is absolutely correct. So you can go on there and you can hit things says get involved if you want to volunteer. If you want to donate, you can click the donate button. all of that is available on there, along with with a history of the Love Kitchen and how it came about and how the sisters started. if you're curious about any of that.

Speaker 2 00:43:25 That's great information. Well, guys, thank you so much for sharing your heart, the history, the organization, the remarkable work that's happening right here in Knoxville. Thanks for taking time out of your schedule. I'd imagine you have a busy day today, but you came in this morning to visit with our listeners. So thank you so much for taking time out of your busy schedule.

Ernie Roberts 00:43:43 And a Happy Valentine's Day, full of love to everybody.

Speaker 2 00:43:45 That's a great word. That's a great word.

Speaker 2 00:43:47 So you know Helen and Ellen's legacy with the Love Kitchen. It lives on through every meal, every volunteer and every act of compassion that crosses their doorway. So if you'd like to support the mission, whether by giving time or resources or simply spread the word, go to the Love kitchen.org, the Love kitchen.org. Find out more information. Today we've been we've been discussing food security And ministry and a greater community because a greater community provides for more living. So you can live the best years of your life your way. Many thanks to Wayne for helping for engineering the show. Many thanks to Mary Caroline for producing the show and also to Ellie for helping with the show. You've been listening to More Living with Jim Brogan. Check us out online. Brogan financial.com. If you click on resources, then you can pull up all of our upcoming classes through both the University of Tennessee and State Adult Education one night classes. Have a great weekend. Happy Valentine's Day as you've been listening to More Living Here on Newstalk 90 87W.

Speaker 7 00:44:48 The views expressed by Jim Brogan and his guests are not that of Cumulus Media. Any discussion of financial, legal and tax planning strategies is not intended to be individualized advice and is general in nature. Always consult with your advisor for advice specific to your needs. This program's content does not represent a recommendation of any particular security strategy or investment by Jim Brogan or Brogan Financial, Incorporated.

Automatically Transcribed With Podsqueeze

Jim Brogan 00:00:02 You're tuned into more Living with Jim Brogan, broadcast live from the Brogan Financial studios at Newstalk 9087, where old fashioned values, expert knowledge and genuine understanding come together to give you the retirement straight talk you deserve. Jim's a former National Advisor of the year recipient and a financial educator, and he's here today to talk about how you can live out the best years of your life. Jim and the Brogan financial team have been helping retirees and retirees across the southeast for over 20 years in their pursuit of financial independence. You can reach them during the week at 865862 6800. So sit back, relax and get ready to learn because more living with Jim Brogan starts now.

Jim Brogan 00:00:46 Hello East Tennessee, welcome to More Living with Jim Brogan, where it's all about living the best part years of your life your way. This is Newstalk 98 seven Wookey. And you know, as we look forward, we're really kind of looking out into 20, 2026. Future years. What do things look like? Economically, how would that affect the markets? All of these things.

Jim Brogan 00:01:07 And I think to to understand all that, we also have to have a good we have to be able to look in the rearview mirror. But then ultimately what's most important is how do we view out the the windshield in the front and adjust to likely things to come down the road? So certainly I get asked a lot of questions. So we're going to really dive into markets today. We're going to look at the Federal Reserve and the new nominee for chairman of the fed, and answer your questions about how you can evolve in these changing market conditions. So we're going to take a look at three key areas shaping the financial landscape. So we'll look at the markets. We'll look at AI. We'll look at are we in a bubble. We're going to talk about the fed. And then we are going to talk about the political cycle. Because we now are in a midterm election year. we'll talk about what's happening, and what is the broader political timeline and how does politics really affect the markets? So each of these can plan and play its own role in understanding, having a good view of all of them can help us with the context of today's headlines.

Jim Brogan 00:02:12 And to be careful, we don't overreact to short term news. joining us today is David Wagner, friend of the show, great friend of our company at Broken Financial and a very dear friend of mine and my wife's DD. he's head of equities and portfolio manager at Actis Capital. He's a member of the firm's investment committee. He oversees equity research and selection, evaluates macro level trends, and helps guide views on the current market environment. You may have seen him regularly on CNBC, Bloomberg, The Wall Street Journal, and in Barron's. So he brings just a world of experience for a relatively young guy in his 30s. He's just an encyclopedia on markets. Good morning David. Welcome to More Living.

David Wagner 00:02:54 Jim Brogan, thanks so much for having me. You know You know, Jim. Today is a very special day. Do you know why? Today is a special day.

Jim Brogan 00:03:01 I do because I have two degrees from the University of Tennessee. And where are your degrees from? David Wagner.

David Wagner 00:03:10 I think for your show, I have to say, unfortunately, from the University of Kentucky.

Jim Brogan 00:03:16 That's exactly right. So we have a big game. You invited me up there, but I have other commitments. But, I'll be watching the game this evening for sure. David, let's just kind of let's start talking about the markets. you know, we've we've come off three good years now on the stock market after the bear market in 2022. what's your outlook? It's more and more talk about bubbles. are we in a bubble? Especially an AI bubble. You had a very interesting article this week that you put out on your website, about this issue. Talk to us. What can we expect in 2026?

David Wagner 00:03:55 Yeah. Jim. Juan. Thanks for having me. I think one of the key questions for 2026 is going to be determined by this advanced computing, this artificial narrative that that's very much out there. Obviously, this market, it's in the third year of its bull market rally. And just for context, Jim, the average bull market tends to last about five years. But not only that, from a time duration standpoint, the average like we can look at it from a percentage return standpoint.

David Wagner 00:04:25 And since this bull market started back in October of 2022, the markets rallied almost 100%. But also put that in context. The average bull market tends to have a return closer to 170 and 180% before we see some type of recession. So, you know, Jim, when we always talk, people always ask like, Dave, what inning do you think this this market is in? So let's just say any one is at the beginning of a new business cycle, while any nine is closer towards the end of a business cycle. And it's just so very hard to pinpoint, Jim. But if you look at it from the duration standpoint or the price return standpoint, you know, it tells you that this bull market could definitely have a little bit more legs moving forward into the future. And I would add actually. Go ahead Jen.

Jim Brogan 00:05:13 Well, I was just going to say talk a little bit too about, you know, where we are with corporate earnings and growth projections for GDP here in the United States.

David Wagner 00:05:22 Yes. We're absolutely, absolutely kicking above our weight class from a GDP growth perspective, from an earnings perspective, but also from a consumer spending perspective. And I think, you know, Jim, over the last month, I've gotten a lot of questions like David in January, the S\&P 500, which is kind of the North Star, the benchmark for returns here in the United States, had a return of about 1.5%. They go how did the market have a positive return during a month where there was just so much political jargon, jaw boning, headlines galore. Obviously with Maduro in Venezuela, we had the Greenland effects. We had geopolitics. There is each day, Jim, and its own in the trade was its own ecosystem with new headlines. And so people ask me like, how did the market have such a strong return in a month with all of this noise? Well, Jim, you've heard one of my sayings before, and it's that everyone believes that complex problems require complex solutions. And me and you both disagree with that.

David Wagner 00:06:21 We believe that complex problems are best solved by simple solutions. And while people believe that the market is heavily complex in general, it's really not. It's very simplistic. And, you know, the market tends to have great or strong returns when corporate earnings are strong, when you're having strong GDP growth and when consumer spending is performing very well. And we're seeing all of those right now for context, like the market tends to grow earnings on average 8 to 9% per year. Well Jim I think we've had like six straight quarters of growth of over 10%. So we have unbelievable growth in this market right now. But I would I would say that a lot of the growth that we have seen, it's been on the back. It's kind of hitched its wagon to this overall artificial intelligence trade. There's just been so much CapEx really poured into this market. But Jim, at the end of the day, you know, I firmly believe that, you know, as we'll probably talk about later in the show, that midterm election year, they do tend to be a little bit more volatile than average.

David Wagner 00:07:19 But given, you know, the amount of monetary stimulus we have coming into this market, monetary stimulus is obviously, you know, more has more to do with the fed. We have so much fiscal stimulus coming in from the one big, beautiful bill out of Washington, D.C. and the amount of spending that we're getting on the hyper CapEx side for advanced computing, it's just absolutely not slowing down. We learned that this week. So I'd say that the path of least resistance for this market is likely to be higher.

Jim Brogan 00:07:44 Well, that's pretty interesting. And you certainly see people on TV, many that say valuations are high volatility could spike. talk a little bit about I mean, one of the we know that we can't time markets. People know that. people are still increasingly worried that it just can't keep going up, can it? But it's a real danger. I mean, one of the real keys to successful investing is that you're invested when we have these booms and to be invested when we have the booms, since we don't know when they're going to come.

Jim Brogan 00:08:17 We also have to be invested in the buzz. Can you talk a little bit about the importance of staying invested and and having a longer term outlook when it comes to being an investor and not a speculator?

David Wagner 00:08:30 Yeah, that's one of the best things that you can use in investing. You always talk about arbitrage, and that's basically just having the ability to be more successful in the future. And I think the best arbitrage that an investor can have is to your point, Jim, is through time. And I always say this to a lot of our different partners that it pays to be a rational optimist. So what I would mean by that is pessimism about the long term. It simply does not align in any way with the historic worldview. Investors can choose to believe that right now is the beginning of the end, but that's really just a bet against all of human history and human nature itself. You know, the market has always been, in this case, that progress occurs against an inevitable backdrop against catastrophe.

David Wagner 00:09:15 It always has and it always will. Invariably, you can go out and find what you go looking for, and your investment results will likely probably mimic your overall worldview. And whenever I talk about being a rational optimist, Jim, I say this one key phrase like the world. It can only end one time. Yet every single year, everyone's calling for a pessimistic view in this market that this time is different and trying to bet against the market. And to your point, Jim, what we've learned is that tends to be the wrong side of the bet.

Jim Brogan 00:09:47 Yeah, yeah. And one of the things that I'm reminded of when you talked about that, David, and because in our next segment we're going to talk about the fed. But I remember a few years ago. I don't remember exactly when it was, but we were having this huge quantitative easing, of course. So it was before they started tightening. And you said, Jim, don't ever bet against the fed.

David Wagner 00:10:09 It's the truth, unfortunately.

David Wagner 00:10:11 And I think you'd actually add a second rule here, Jim. Not just don't ever bet against the fed, but honestly don't ever bet against fiscal policy, because once you know, you've opened the wormhole of fiscal policy, injecting capital into the market, it's very hard to to take that back. It's like the old saying that, you know, once you get the the toothpaste out of the tube, it's nearly impossible to get it back in. And so I would say, don't bet against the fed and don't bet against fiscal policy.

Jim Brogan 00:10:40 That's a great word. We're visiting with David Wagner. He's head of equities for captives. Excuse me Baptist capital. When we come back I do want to talk about the new the new nominee for chairman of the Federal Reserve. What does that mean moving forward? Some of his comments about monetary supply. How is that going to affect us in the coming years, assuming he would get approved by the Senate? We're visiting with David right here on more living with Jim Brogan only on Newstalk 98 seven Waukee.

Jim Brogan 00:11:09 Welcome back to Newstalk 98. Seven's Brogan Financial Studios or Jim Brogan is coming to you live with important news and advice to help you achieve your dream retirement. Get ready to learn and live. Here's your host, Jim Brogan.

Jim Brogan 00:11:24 Welcome back to More Living right here on Newstalk 98 seven Wookey. I'm Jim Brogan and today we're talking and we've been talking about market outlook. We've been visiting with David Wagner. He is the head of equities at Aptos Capital. You may have seen him many times on CNBC, Fox Business, Bloomberg, all those places. Just an encyclopedia of knowledge. And David it was interesting you talked there before break about, you know, pessimism in the world can only in once, which I thought was a great comment. If you really think about since 1900 what our markets have been through. I mean, we've had we had two world wars, many, several other wars. We had the Great Depression. Even just recently, we had the Great Recession. We had the.com bubble. We had more war.

Jim Brogan 00:12:13 We had the Great Recession. We we had a global pandemic twice in the last 120 years. Yet the market has continued to perform when looked at as a long term investor.

David Wagner 00:12:29 no, no doubt there, Jim, I think one of my favorite statistics that I could talk to you about, you know, about your time being in the market and not timing the market is this if you go back over the last 100 years. So go back to to 1925, Okay. And. And if you were invested in the market as measured by the S\&P 500 every single day over the last 100 years, your return would be on an annualized rate of about 9.8%. But if you missed out on the 50 best days in the market over the last 100 years, 100 years, your return would be cut in half. And I think the important part is that you actually dissect those 50 best days in the market over the last 100 years. 38 of those 50 days, Jim, that had the best days in the market happened during the Great Depression.

David Wagner 00:13:18 During the financial crisis, the.com bubble during Covid. So said differently when there is blood in the streets or when there is a peak amount of pessimism out there in the market, is actually when you have the best days in the market. And as I just mentioned, if you miss those 50 best days in the market over the last 100 years, your return is cut in half. So it's very, very difficult to time the market.

Jim Brogan 00:13:41 It's and we have to be right twice, right? We have to be right when we get out. But then when do you get back in? And it. And then emotion is such an enemy of that, right.

David Wagner 00:13:53 You know that could be like the Kentucky basketball versus Tennessee basketball last season Kentucky was right twice in the regular season. So can we get it right in the sweet 16 during the tournament? Absolutely not. It's hard to beat, you know a great team twice. It's even harder to do it three times. And I'll tell you this Jim the market's one of the best teams out there.

David Wagner 00:14:12 So it's so difficult to time the market.

Jim Brogan 00:14:14 That's a great word. Let's talk about the Federal Reserve. Trump has nominated the new the new head, the new chairman Kevin Warsh. Is it Walker Warsh Warsh I assume.

David Wagner 00:14:25 Yeah. I'll go see all the above there Jim okay.

Jim Brogan 00:14:28 So he's he he's been nominated. You know, there's been a lot of consternation over, you know, the independence of the Federal Reserve and his Trump trying to influence too much control. what do you think of this nominee? What does this nominee tell us? What is your perspective on the independence of the Federal Reserve and what it tells us about future policy?

David Wagner 00:14:50 Absolutely. I think the latter is actually more important than the former there. I'm very much not worried about the independence of the fed. I think in a world of instant gratification and news sources going 24 over seven and Twitter, I think the there's been a lot of politicization of the fed and that the independence could go to the wayside. But I very much disagree.

David Wagner 00:15:14 There's always been there's always been jaw boning between the president who heads the executive branch. So president of the US versus the fed chairperson. And if you actually go back to 1965 like this is never talked about. Like Lyndon Baines Johnson was the president at the time and he invited the current fed chair. His name was Bill down to his ranch in Texas. And he actually was physically abused by Lyndon Baines Johnson because LBJ wasn't getting the policy through the fed of trying to get rates cut to become have more accommodative policy. Like so there's always been jaw boning between, you know, the president of the United States and the fed chairman. So I think this time is no different between what's going on with Jerome Powell, current fed chair, and Donald Trump. It's just par for the course over time. But to your point, Jim, go ahead.

Jim Brogan 00:16:06 Well, I was just going to ask that, you know, he's been a critic of post the Fed's post 2008 and post Covid balance sheet expansion. so, you know, printing of money, let's call it quantitative easing.

Jim Brogan 00:16:22 it was there a point that you think the fed crossed the line from stabilization into distortion? And if that's the case, how do they unwind that? And what how do you think the new the new nominee would unwind that without triggering recession?

David Wagner 00:16:37 That's the great point that the market's going to have to learn some more information to be able to digest the new policies with the upcoming fed chairman, Kevin Warsh. But Jim, you hit the nail on the head there. Like, you know, Kevin Warsh, much like Donald Trump. And I would say Scott Pinsent, the U.S. Treasury secretary. They're kind of anti utilization of the balance sheet for quantitative easing. So for everyone there's basically two levers that the fed can pull to make policy more accommodative and less accommodative. And that's just through the the federal funds interest rate. Okay. So the fed funds rate and the second one is more of a new phenomena through the utilization of the balance sheet. Basically, when they increase the size of their balance sheet, that is basically injecting more money into the market that can be gone, gone out there to buy risk assets, basically said differently, it can prop up the market.

David Wagner 00:17:28 But that's kind of the key problem at hand here because, Jim, a lot of people well, one, the market tends to challenge the fed chair quickly from a return standpoint. So we'll see if that rings true here with Kevin Morse. But I would say everyone's worried that Kevin Warsh was a huge hawk. Okay. But there's probably first probably two different reasons, Jim, why the market was initially, you know, mildly skeptic or disappointed on the Warsh nomination. And the first one is that he's made less than supportive comments about quantitative easing. I mean, just last summer War spoke about QE being reversed, Robinhood and that it benefits asset holders more than non asset holders. Specifically, Warsh thinks that quantitative easing compounds inequality in the economy into that k shape economy. To be honest Jim he's likely correct. However, to your other point, quantitative easing has become an integral part of fed policy, and many believe that it's very critical to the massive appreciation of assets that we've witnessed over the last 17 years and abandoning or altering, you know, this Fed's reliance on QE would definitely be a huge shift in fed policy and markets probably wouldn't very much like that.

David Wagner 00:18:42 But the second thing like Warsh is trying to do, he's calling for a regime change at the fed, which is essentially saying that the people running the fed so think Jerome Powell right now are the exact same people who let the inflation genie out of the bottle. And because of that, there needs to be new leadership that can restore credibility of the fed to to the public. And, you know, that's not that's not necessarily a bad thing. You know, his comments there probably aren't totally off base, but Marcus, definitely want to hear more specificity on what exactly this regime change means in the coming weeks. But, you know, Marcus, they haven't hated the worst choice, but they view the fed as a major ingredient to the bull market that we've seen in stocks over the last ten years.

Jim Brogan 00:19:24 Well, he has been critical of the fed and how they let, as you say, the inflation genie out of the bottle. He has argued that inflation as much as is as much a credibility problem as it is a technical one.

Jim Brogan 00:19:36 So, you know, does the fed need to restore long term credibility in the public sys. And how do you think they do that moving forward.

David Wagner 00:19:45 You know they have the toughest job. Like to be honest I would not want to be Kevin Warsh right now because he's obviously going to have to be handling Trump on one hand. And, you know, a market that is seeing, you know, revolutionary technology through AI, immigration policy that is affecting the labor market, and then an affordability problem that is also key and center right now. And I would say, Jim, the word affordability really just means inflation. And I think one thing that the market very much gets wrong, especially for, you know, Main Street America economists always talk about inflation growing on a year over year basis. And the Fed's target, though very anecdotal, is about a 2% inflation target per year. Well, I think we have to think about this in reality for the common person, for the main street person like inflation at 2%.

David Wagner 00:20:38 Which one? It's been well above that for about 3 or 4 years now. That means your currency, the purchasing power of your dollar, is debased or decreases on target of 2% per year. And that's not how average Americans need to see, you know, inflation. They need to see it on a cumulative basis, not on a year over year basis. Because if you go back to April of 2020, your dollar has been debased or inflation has had a cumulative growth of 27%. So I don't really care about the year over year targets because they don't paint the full picture. The finer their picture is painted. By looking at the cumulative inflation rate over the past few years, and that is something that's just not going to slow down. So maybe difficult for the fed to regain some type of credibility. So this possible regime change that Kevin Warsh is putting out there, it could be a great idea, not just for the most wealthy people in America, but to be honest, Jim, all of America and Main Street America.

Jim Brogan 00:21:35 Welcome back to Newstalk 98 seven Brogan Financial Studios or Jim Brogan is coming to you live with important news and advice to help you achieve your dream retirement. Get ready to learn and live. Here's your host, Jim Brogan.

Jim Brogan 00:21:51 Welcome back. This is more living with Jim Brogan where it's all about living to fit ears in your live your way. This is Newstalk 98 seven. Whatever. David Wagoner he is the head of equities for Actis Capital and he's just an encyclopedia of market knowledge. Just unbelievable his understanding even for macroeconomics. And David we were talking about the impact of the fed. Of course one thing a lot of people want to know is is the fed going to continue to lower interest rates? I know that that was one thing people, you know, initially were concerned about with Kevin Warsh. Do you think they will continue to to to loosen interest rates?

David Wagner 00:22:33 Yeah, I do, Jim. And, you know, I probably should have told people on air that I was a Kentucky fan. So I'll probably pull the plug of the audio, which I wouldn't blame them for.

David Wagner 00:22:41 I wouldn't want to listen to a sucky fan on a Kentucky versus Tennessee day. Oh, great. But in regards to the fed, you know, the market right now is pricing in two more rate cuts. And really, since the beginning of this rate cutting cycle, the fed has cut rates by 1.75%. Or said differently, seven different cuts of 25 basis points, because 25 basis points is the incremental amount that they use when talking rates. So the market's pricing in two more this year. And what I would say, Jim, is do I believe that to be frank with you I'm not sure. Okay. It's going to come down to the inflation data and it's going to come down to the labor data. But what I do have confidence in, in regards to the straight cutting cycle, is that the rate cutting cycle is getting closer to an end, to a point, Jim, where I actually don't call it a or cutting cycle anymore. I call it a rate adjustment cycle, because what the fed is trying to do is try to find the neutrality rate.

David Wagner 00:23:39 And what the neutrality rate is, is when it has interest rates set at a policy that they believe is neither expansionary or restrictive. So you can let market forces do what market forces do best and create an equilibrium based on market supply. And so while the market's pricing in two cuts this year, I think that next year, if this economy remains very strong because I believe it is a very, very strong economy, you could actually see a like minded version of rate hikes next year as we try to find some type of equilibrium. But obviously the wrench that's getting thrown in the spokes of the bicycle tire right now is this new policy that Kevin Warsh is trying to bring to the fed. And it's not utilizing the balance sheet, and it's utilizing rates as more of a way to enact monetary policy. And he believes that if he can use the fed balance sheet less. He can actually bring rates down much faster, much more than what economist would expect, which would definitely be a beneficiary to all of Americans and more Main Street than just Wall Street.

Jim Brogan 00:24:49 David, I do want to talk to you about the dollar. You know, there's just been so much made coming into this year. The dollar or I guess a year ago, the dollar was so strong and, it's weakened. and so there's a lot of talk that it's going to continue to weaken. did you expect the dollar would drop? I know one of the things you and I talked about is we would expect that we would expect it to drop, regardless of who was elected president. That was one of the things you and I talked about up to the, the last election. is concern over the dollar overblown in your view?

David Wagner 00:25:28 Yes, Simply said, I think it's just a lot of really mad Europeans that are making a lot of noise about this. me and you definitely talk to him about the dollar and its weakening. And actually, during President Trump's first term, the dollar weakened quite substantially. And I think many people would see that as America losing its edge. Well, I could I vehemently disagree with that because it's always been spoken to that President Donald Trump, he's always wanted a strong dollar and the market is now pricing in a weaker dollar.

David Wagner 00:26:01 But I think the market and participants of the market have misinterpreted what Donald Trump means when he says a strong dollar. When Donald Trump talks about a strong dollar, he talks about it being and continuing to be the global reserve currency of the world for for reference, Jim, about 89% of all transactions, all global transactions have a dollar component to it. All right. And when you have that global reserve currency, you tend to have more of a strong base of treasuries and a stronger overall economic domestic system. So that's what Donald Trump means when he wants a strong dollar. But from a business standpoint, President Trump, he actually wants a weaker dollar because a weaker dollar actually benefits the S\&P 500 quite substantially. In fact, a weaker dollar tends to, you know, increase the asset value of almost all asset classes around the world. And that's because about 42% of the revenue generated by all the 500 companies in the S\&P 500, it comes from international sources. So when they bring that capital back to the United States, it's actually an earnings tailwind for a lot of these companies.

David Wagner 00:27:14 So I would say that the US dollar yes, it has weakened about 11% from its historical highs. But the dollar was very strong from 19 2021 in the early parts of 22. And so it's actually just reverting back to levels that we saw in 2019. And I think that's healthy and I think it's normal. And I definitely believe that the, you know, charlatans of the world calling for the the dollar weakening are very much, incorrect.

Jim Brogan 00:27:41 Yeah. So it's really just reverted back to the mean, right? I mean, it has gotten stronger and now it's back where it typically is.

David Wagner 00:27:49 Absolutely. I would say, Jim, that this, you know, dollar move here more recently is probably caught a little bit more attention. Because when you get a weakening dollar occurring, it tends to benefit out of all asset classes, not just U.S. international stocks. The most and international stocks have been out of favor really since 2009. And there's been a lot of people calling for international stocks to outperform US stocks for quite some time.

David Wagner 00:28:16 And last year was really one of the first years that we've seen in quite some time. International beat the S\&P 500. So domestic stocks. So I think that's why the jargon and the commentary about the dollar is so heightened right now because of this international bet that everyone that a lot of people, not myself, have been calling for for about ten years, and they finally got it right for at least one year.

Jim Brogan 00:28:39 Let's pivot, David, if we could, to the, the fact we're in a midterm election year now, and you mentioned earlier in the show that it's typically midterm election years, especially earlier in the year, tend to be more volatile. how do you expect things to evolve this year?

David Wagner 00:28:56 Yeah. Do you know, Jim, history doesn't repeat itself, but it definitely rhymes. Okay. One of the worst things you can say in this market is that this time is different. So one thing that I know I do a ton and I partner with you, Jim, is to to look into the data, look into the facts.

David Wagner 00:29:14 Because obviously when you try to massage and figure out where future returns are going to be, you want to look at the facts. You want to focus on facts, not opinions. But when you look at midterm election year. You're exactly correct. They tend to be more volatile. So let's think about the entire presidential cycle. The entire presidential cycle encompasses four years. We have now just entered year two. So year one would be the first year after the president elected. And year two is going to be the years where you have a midterm election year. And that's exactly the year that we're in right now. And midterm election years, they do tend to see a higher degree of volatility, meaning that they tend to see a larger than average market drawdown during the year. For reference, year one of the presidential election, cycle three and four, they tend to have an average market pullback of about 12%. But year two current year that we're in for the midterm elections tends to see an average pullback of about 19%.

David Wagner 00:30:12 And that's just because, you know the market's trying to digest some different policies enacted by the president. And the first year of a presidential election cycle. The president is going out there to promote policies that benefit his constituents. He's going out to fulfill the promises that he campaigned on to become president. But in year two, he recognizes that he's somewhat lost the popular vote, or at least that Americans don't think of highly as him in year one. So his policies, they brought it out to be a little bit more populist. And that's why you probably had Donald Trump last week come out with a credit card cap of 10%. We're not going to increase the Medicare advanced rate. We're going to keep that stable at zero. So talking about affordability, because that's more of a populist topic because it affects everyone. And the market just has a little bit more difficulty digesting some of these policy changes during the year where you tend to see a little bit more volatility. But I would end by saying, Jim, is, you know, the market, you know, let's just say the market one year after the midterm election, if you go back to 1942, every single one year after midterm market election since 1942 has had a positive return.

David Wagner 00:31:22 So even though the market sees more volatility, more downside in a midterm election year, it's not a reason to become bearish. It's the reason to continue to be optimistic because returns tend to be higher in the future. If you can weather that volatility.

Jim Brogan 00:31:37 Well weathering the volatility. I'm glad you mentioned that because volatility is inevitable. I mean, the great thing about the stock market is that over time, it's been the single best asset class to to grow the value of what our dollars will buy, you know, to beat inflation. But in the short term it is completely unpredictable. So I know, you know, we're talking about a lot of industry trends and kind of what we see. And we're kind of laying the groundwork. That volatility is expected really at any time in any market. you know we're talking about midterm election years. But ultimately, you know, as I mentioned earlier, we want to be investors, not a speculator. We've got to be looking at over a period of, of years.

Jim Brogan 00:32:24 And, you know, in terms of our at risk investments and not just what's it going to be worth next month or next quarter or even next year?

David Wagner 00:32:32 100%. Jim, I mean, with the media and everything, there's always that wall of worry to climb. There's always that reason to be a pessimist. I have a saying, Jim. You've heard it a ton, and it's that bears. They sound smart, but bulls make money, so bears tend to be pessimists. Bulls tend to be optimists on the market, so the pessimists tend to sound smart. But those that are optimists and bulls, they tend to make money. And to your other point, Jim, you know, market pullbacks, they're healthy and they're normal. You know, I would say going back to 1942, the average year of the market tends to see 3 to 5% pullbacks in a year. And then if you want to take that a little bit further, the market tends to see a 10% pullback. Enter your every year and a half A market tends to see a 20% pullback on average every five and a half years.

David Wagner 00:33:24 I would actually say, Jim, we've started to see these tails occur a little bit more often. Both the left tail, which is the bad tail on the right tail which is the good tail because this year, well, one, I just mentioned that a 20% pullback ever happens every five and a half years. Well, in this decade of the 2020s, if you've already seen 320% pullbacks in the span of six years. So we are starting to see more tails. So I think volatility to your point Jim. It's tending to become more prominent and occurs more often. But think about it from the other side. From a return standpoint. We've also had better returns this decade to some more volatility but better returns for risk assets. And so I will leave you this comment for pass it back to Jim. Is that the biggest mistake that investors, in my opinion, can do today is to be too conservative because you're worried about volatility. There's different aspects. You know, that Jim and his team can do over broken financials where they take advantage of volatility, that they harness volatility as an asset class to make sure you remain invested over a longer period of time.

David Wagner 00:34:25 Because, again, the biggest risk I think advisors can take right now is being too conservative. Because that hurdle rate, that rate you have to have a return on an annualized basis is much higher than what you think. To at least allow yourself to have the ability to increase your purchasing power. And so, you know, everyone talks about you need to earn 2% per year, Jim, to not lose your purchasing power. I think that number is closer to 5%.

Jim Brogan 00:34:51 Well, we ultimately that's what we have to do, right? We have to grow our money faster, the rate of inflation. So that's your total return or excuse me, your real return on any investment. And that's a great pivot into what I want to talk about in our last segment, David, which is the fiscal outlook. and your word about, you know, be careful. You're not too pessimistic, in terms of how we handle investments. So stay with us. This is more living with Jim Brogan here on Newstalk 98 seven.

Jim Brogan 00:35:22 Welcome back to Newstalk 98, Seven's Brogan Financial Studios, where Jim Brogan is coming to you live with important news and advice to help you achieve your dream retirement. Get ready to learn and live. Here's your host, Jim Brogan.

Multiple Speakers 00:35:38 Welcome back to More Living Here on Newstalk 90 87W okey where every Saturday 9 to 10 a.m. and you can catch us again.

Jim Brogan 00:35:44 From 3 to 4 p.m.. Check out all of our resources online. If you go to Brogan Financial, you can click on resources under that resources tab. You can also click classes to find out more about all of our upcoming class classes. My next class is at Pella State Community College. It's a one night class in March on tax planning, and I would love to see you at that class. David, we're visiting with David Wagner. He's head of equities for Atlas Capital. And you know, as I've spoken and taught over the years, David, you know, probably one of the most common questions I get is, Jim, what do you think will happen in the market this year? You know, or in the next six months or the next 12 months? And years ago, I would always joke that I had a crystal ball.

Jim Brogan 00:36:26 I used to have a crystal ball in my office and it never worked. And then one year, about 8 or 9 years ago, my staff got me a crystal ball for Christmas. and I have it actually in, in our conference room. But you've seen it there.

David Wagner 00:36:41 I love it.

Jim Brogan 00:36:42 But the reason I'm bringing that up is it's very. It'd be more unusual not to have a correction of over 10% than in a year, than it would be more unusual than an odd to have that right. People have to realize that is a normal thing in markets. And and as you say, it can be healthy for markets.

David Wagner 00:37:03 No doubt Jim. You know, they have an old saying in the investment world is to not listen to CNBC, even though I talk on it all the time. So don't listen to me. I guess it's kind of what I'm saying. But like, they Don't always, every single day, look at your investment statement and the value of your account. Because the more you do that, the more you're going to train your brain into making incorrect decisions or trying to time the market.

David Wagner 00:37:29 Jim, I was saying over here, you know, trading too much is like a pie crust. The more you mess with your investment account through trading, the worse off it gets. So the best thing is to, you know, just keep putting money into your account over a longer period of time. You know, don't look at the account value so you can weather the volatility better. So you make less decisions and less mistakes at your portfolio level.

Jim Brogan 00:37:52 That's a great word. And one of the things we've talked about that I talk about in a long time with my clients is the research. You know, when you look at years and years of data, does not support constantly getting in and out of things, right? I mean, yes, things need to be managed and evaluated and portfolios need to evolve and change. Got to take advantage of opportunities. We have to protect ourselves. Unnecessary, you know, from unnecessary risks. but we just have to be careful with those things.

David Wagner 00:38:22 Yeah. You know, one thing I would say, Jim, is that the financial planning of someone's retirement account or their hard earned investment account is so much more important than the investments themselves.

David Wagner 00:38:33 And that's the one thing that your team over at Brogan Financial does so well is the financial planning side of things. And that's where that's where everyone's attention should be focused, more so than the investments themselves.

Jim Brogan 00:38:45 Yeah. And I would say one of the biggest pieces of that is what do we really want our money to achieve for us? What's the outcome we're after? You know, if somebody comes into my office and say they just want to earn a higher return, you know, my antenna goes up. You know, well, why do you want to earn a higher return? What about the commensurate risks that comes with that approach and all the things? When do you need access to this money? Because certainly in wealth management we don't want people having to liquidate assets when they're sharply down. And so that means we need other assets that we can liquidate when assets are went sharply down like the stock market. But one of the things I want to shift to David here before the end of the show, we've just got a few minutes left, is our fiscal outlook.

Jim Brogan 00:39:24 So, you know, we had the one big beautiful bill act that was passed last summer and it made permanent the tax rate cuts from the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. Now we say permanent only in the sense that Congress is permanent. so they can certainly enact a new law, but that's what it would take to change the tax rates. Yet we do have historically high debt. Debt to GDP is as high as it's ever been in our history. Many people are worried about that. so when you look at the the landscape and you're looking out 10 or 15 years, you know, if I go back, David, and look at the last 50 years, the dollar has really gone down a lot in value, but so have other currencies around the world. What do you think are the major trends that we need to be thinking about when we take a view of where where we're going to head over the next decade.

David Wagner 00:40:17 Yeah, I would say so. Jim, you know, my writing, I write very thematically, like I've written our outlooks on the movie airplane, Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged, but I did write a more recent newsletter, Jim, with a comedian called Mitch Hedberg.

David Wagner 00:40:32 And Mitch Hedberg has a joke because when I get up in the morning, I put my pants on, but I don't know who the real hero is. My belt holds up my pants, and my pants have belt loops that hold up my belt. I don't know who the real hero is of this situation, and that's very true to this market. I don't know what or who is going to be the real hero to this market moving forward over the next 12 months or over the next 15 years. But what I do know right now is that the amount of fiscal policy being injected into the market through the one big, beautiful bill, the different levers the fed has to pull from on the monetary standpoint and the engine of growth from a private market. I think, Jim, all of these five major hyperscalers of Microsoft, Amazon or Oracle, you know, Meta and Google, they're injecting $600 billion of CapEx into this market this year just to build out the cloud and their AI ecosystem. There's so many different heroes that could be a near-term or long term benefit to to this market.

David Wagner 00:41:35 But to curtail that, back to your commentary on fiscal policy and the debt problem that we have here in the United States. Jim, I think we have to see the forest through the trees and evolve and be pragmatic instead of dogmatic as investors that, you know, yes, this US debt is at the highest absolute value it's ever been. It's closing in on $40 trillion. And that's when we have an annual GDP, which is the gross domestic product, basically. Think of the the revenue for the country closer to 28 billion. So our liabilities are greater than our annual GDP, and that worries a lot of people. But I'm not worried, Jim, I think I, I am not in consensus on this, but I think investors need to look at it from a relative perspective that yes, our yes, our debt has substantially grown a ton. But you know what else has grown a ton, Jim? Our economy, our market, because of those heroes of fiscal, monetary and the private spend that we're having in this company, that makes me so excited and optimistic about US assets more specifically moving forward.

David Wagner 00:42:41 I don't want to bet against the United States like the largest companies of today, like back in the day. Monopolies would do anything in everything for the market not to grow because they wanted to keep their monopoly. Nowadays, these mega cap companies, they're the engine of growth spending that $600 billion on AI advancements that could benefit everyone. And that gets me excited. But this debt problem, Jim, there's three ways to beat it. You know, you can have austerity, which we try to do through Doge. That did not work. So that's to spend less. The other way is to grow out of it and to inflate out of it. And that's what the government's going to do here. They're going to try to grow out of the debt problem through fiscal policies. That is hopefully there to spur economic activity like the one big beautiful bill. But they also know that they can inflate their way out of it, too, because higher inflation decreases the value of the overall debt for the US. And I think that's what the US is going to do.

David Wagner 00:43:34 They're going to try to grow their way out of it, and you're going to try to inflate your way out of it. And that's why I told you before. What are the biggest concerns as an investor should be that hurdle rate, that rate that you need to return on an annualized basis to keep your purchasing power. You really need to focus on that, because if you grow out of it, the best grow out of this debt. The best thing to do, the best thing to own is stocks. And if you try to inflate your way out of this debt problem, the worst thing to own honestly is fixed income. Anything with a fixed coupon payment. So I think we have to reimagine on how we attack with the crystal ball you have in your conference room there, Jim. On how to attack this market, because it's very different today than what it was ten years, 20 and 30 years ago.

Jim Brogan 00:44:14 That's David Wagner, he's head of equities at Aptos Capital, also a firm we do quite a bit of work with.

Jim Brogan 00:44:20 They do just great research for us. David, thank you so much for taking time out of your busy schedule. It's always great to hear your. I could just talk to you for hours. Today we just talked about wealth because greater wealth provides for more living. So you can live the best years of your life your way. Have a wonderful weekend. This is Moore living with Jim Brogan here on Newstalk 98 seven.

Multiple Speakers 00:44:41 The views expressed by Jim Brogan and his guests are not that of Cumulus Media. Any discussion of financial, legal and tax planning strategies is not intended to be individualized advice and is general in nature. Always consult with your advisor for advice specific to your needs. This program's content does not represent a recommendation of any particular security strategy or investment by Jim Brogan or Brogan Financial, Incorporated.

Automatically Transcribed With Podsqueeze

Jim Brogan 00:00:03 Your Turned into Boy Living with Jim Brogan, broadcast live from the Brogan Financial studios at Newstalk 98 seven, where old fashioned values, expert knowledge and genuine understanding come together to give you the retirement straight talk you deserve. Jim's a former National Advisor of the year recipient and a financial educator, and he's here today to talk about how you can live out the best years of your life. Jim and the Brogan financial team have been helping retirees and retirees across the southeast for over 20 years in their pursuit of financial independence. You can reach them during the week at 865862 6800. So sit back, relax and get ready to learn because more living with Jim Brogan starts now.

Speaker 2 00:00:46 Hello East Tennessee, welcome to More Living with Jim Brogan, where it's all about living the best years of your life, your way. As you listen to Newstalk 98 seven Walker. Please be careful out. good bit of snow. luckily, it's a dry snow, so just I think the main arteries are doing okay, but just stay in tune to reports and if you can stay hunkered down in your home, you know the new year gives us a chance to reset.

Speaker 2 00:01:12 We can take a fresh look at our finances and build a plan that can really go the distance. So whether you're approaching retirement or already enjoying it, 2026 presents opportunities where you can strengthen your financial foundation. From optimizing cash flow to stress testing your portfolio against uncertainty. This is the time to make strategic moves that set you up for success. So today we're talking about four critical areas getting your cash flow under control. Understanding your budget. Making smart tax moves early in the year, ensuring your portfolio can weather market volatility, and finally checking in on your retirement income strategy for great topics to dive into for 2026. So we're going to explore how you can create a money reset that can build lasting security, will answer common questions about resetting your finances, and discuss solutions to help you build a stronger financial future. Now is the time to take control of your money. So let's start with cash flow. You know, when we when we think about financial planning, many of us are on state straight to investments, retirement accounts.

Speaker 2 00:02:28 Should you buy this fund or that stock or that bond? But the real foundation of financial success is something far, more, far more fundamental. And it's cash flow. You know, whether you run a business, manage a household, or are transitioning into retirement. Understanding and optimizing your cash flow can make the difference between financial stress and financial confidence. And so today we're going to talk about why this is essential for everyone including Affluent planet families as we reset for 2026. You know, I would say that mastering cash flow is arguably the hardest part of all of personal finance in order to master cash flow. Obviously you have to know what you're spending. So there's a two pronged concept. Knowing what it costs to fund your lifestyle, and understanding what you can consistently save and invest. So the second part of that is for those that are not retired yet. Now when you retire, you're not going to be saving investing money anymore. At least most people are not. There are some exceptions, but it's that knowing what it costs to fund your lifestyle, even and and wealthy individuals can really face cashflow challenges when their wealth is tied up in assets rather than liquid cash.

Speaker 2 00:03:49 Especially if you own a business, you know your your business asset may be you're far and away your largest asset, but it's not liquid. So without discipline around cash flow, unforeseen events may force you to tap investments earlier than you planned. So one good rule of thumb. Number one, you've got to get your arms around what you're spending. And I think the easiest way to do that is to just track your spending. You know, first off, you could go back to 2025 and you could look at look at your checking account, how much money is coming into your checking account and then how much money is going out. That can kind of give you a big picture. Another great rule of thumb is just start tracking it now. Start January 1st if you can. And look at okay tracking your spending. Where is it going? One of the big parts I find out is, you know, when people come in to see us, if they're still working and they're in their maybe their last 5 to 10 years before they retire.

Speaker 2 00:04:57 They're looking at their gross income. And they're they're creating budgets off of gross income. But but gross income is not what's actually providing cash flow. You know, if you've got significant deductions going into your 401 K or 403 B, you know, you're that's not part of your of your cash flow. You've got deductions for health insurance, other insurance items. You have payroll taxes. You know, payroll tax is a significant expense item that goes away when we're retired. And that's 7.65% off every paycheck, up to about $160,000. So that's significant. So it's better to look at how much is actually hitting your bank account, and then how much of that money are you actually spending. That's where you've got to start. And you know, most people when they come in my office, they can tell me how much is hitting their bank account net of those deductions from their paycheck, and then they can tell me whether their bank account is growing or shrinking. Are they spending all that money? So it's not too hard to find out.

Speaker 2 00:06:11 to kind of get a good idea for what your budget is and for what you're spending. Now, one good rule of thumb is to, you know, after you pay your essential bills, divide your remaining money into three parts. One third could be for savings, and this could be both your emergency fund and short term goals. Then you could look at one third for everyday spending. This would be groceries, dining out, entertainment, budget, travel, things like that. And then ideally one third for investing, which would be for longer term financial security. 401 says IRAs, brokerage accounts, things that you would be doing for long term growth, and then you can have flexibility to adjust based on priorities like paying off debt or building emergency reserves. So a couple of things to think about for 2026. Create and stick to a realistic budget and just understand where the money is going. Look at what the net deposits are in your checking account, and then how much of that is going out the door.

Speaker 2 00:07:19 That'll give you a great idea for what your your true income needs are when you retire. Also, think about automating your savings and investment plan to ensure consistency. Automation is great. Having a certain amount deducted. Now most of us do that with our paychecks, right? We're automatically contributing to our 401 K. You can also do that with your emergency fund. With non IRA investments you can automate that and have X number of dollars automatically a month deducted straight from your checking account and going into your investments. I think it's a great idea to do that shortly after you receive your your paycheck so that it's done, and then you have to live on what's left. review some thoughtless regular spending to find opportunities. this is something that you should work on at least once a quarter, I think. Look at things like subscriptions, things that you're paying every month that maybe you don't need to be paying every month. And then, determine your savings amounts based on your actual cash flow. Then also take an inventory of your personal interest rate environment.

Speaker 2 00:08:31 What is your cash that's sitting around? What is it actually doing for you? So review your situation. follow the look at the Federal Reserve. What is the Federal Reserve interest rate adjustments? What are those being made? You know, interest rates have come down steadily over the last several months, but a high yield savings you can still get. 3.3, 3.4, maybe 3.5%. The inflation rate is in the low threes. So you're at least keeping up with inflation. You know assess whether you're maximizing returns on your cash holdings. You just shouldn't have a lot of money sitting at the bank in a checking or savings account not making anything. I know that you've got to have some cash in there, especially in a checking account. But, you know, most banks in the area, if you're not making anything on excess cash, talk to them about high yield savings because they should offer you high yield savings. You ought to be able to at least get get over three. Now, one good resource for excess cash that we direct our clients to is Bankrate.com.

Speaker 2 00:09:38 Again, Bankrate.com. They have many, many banks on there. they're typically going to be non brick and mortar banks. they're going to be banks that are you know, more online, but they're they're FDIC insured names, many of them names you've heard of. But you can usually set it up to link it directly with your checking account and just send money back and forth. So it's it's it's liquid. I mean, it might take 24 hours to wire it and have it in your bank account. So it's not quite as liquid as just going to, you know, writing a check or going down to the bank and withdrawing cash. But it's pretty dang liquid. Then consider opportunities to lock in favorable rates. If you have a really, really good emergency fund and you're confident, you know, let's say you've got $50,000 in an emergency fund and you feel like 25 or 30 of that is adequate for short term cash needs. Number one, get most of that 25 or 30,000 earnings over 3%. But then maybe you maybe you latter and you buy a three month CD and a six month CD and you can earn a little bit more money and lock in the rates.

Speaker 2 00:10:44 That way, if the Federal Reserve is dropping rates, you know you've locked in a rate and then also you've got to evaluate that cost. Now, I will say most of the people that we work with in retirement don't have a lot of consumer debt. younger folks, or if you're 10 or 15 years from retirement, you know, usually when we had people come in that are 50, 52, 53 years old, we see people oftentimes do have more consumer debt, credit card debt. And so I think it's essential to get your arms around that. you know, you need to still have emergency cash reserves. I see some people make mistakes where they'll pay off their debt and they don't have any cash, really, for cash reserves for emergencies. And then what happens inevitably, if something comes up and it costs several thousands of dollars? And what are you going to do? You don't have the cash. You have to either go back and borrow the money on a credit card at high interest, or you have to pull money out of an investment prematurely, and you can't maximize long term savings on your investments.

Speaker 2 00:11:53 And what if we're in a substantial downturn and you have to pull out money when it's while it's down? So I think one of the biggest reasons I think people struggle with cash flow is understanding where the money is going and how much you're actually spending. And then I think it's important to determine the right balance between saving money, spending money, investing money, and paying off debt. And that's something we can help you with at Brogan Financial is help balance that, because you really got to kind of be doing all of those things if you're a younger person. And then automation can be a huge thing in cash flow management, automating your savings, your investments, all of those kinds of things. So I think you should really review and adjust your cash flow plan probably on a quarterly basis. But the first step is you have to know what you're spending in order to know what your fixed income needs to look like in retirement. And again, the best way to do that is to just look at what is actually hitting your bank account from your paycheck.

Speaker 2 00:13:00 And then at the end of the day, at the end of the month, how much of that is left over? And you'll have a pretty good idea. We're going to we're going to get to our first break. When we come back, I'm going to talk about tax moves that you need to be aware of. As we as we're in this early 2026, we're already about to head into month two tomorrow of this first quarter. Tax planning is not what we do every year in April, in March and April when we file our taxes. That's tax preparation. How can we truly position ourselves to spend less in taxes and keep more money in our pocket? Stay with us. This is more living with Jim Brogan here on Newstalk 98 seven Wookey.

Jim Brogan 00:13:41 Welcome back to Newstalk 98 Seven's broken Financial Studios, where Jim Brogan is coming to you live with important news and advice to help you achieve your dream retirement. Get ready to learn and live. Here's your host, Jim Brogan.

Speaker 2 00:13:56 Welcome back. This is more living here on news 98 seven Wookey.

Speaker 2 00:14:01 We're talking about doing a financial reset for 2026. And we're talking about four key areas we just talked about. Understanding where your money is going and understanding cash flow. Because hard to retire when you have more of a fixed income when you don't know those things. we're going to get into a lot more. We're going to dive in this segment into tax planning. and I do want to invite you. My first set of classes for the year is through the University of Tennessee. And it's financial survival for retirement. It's through their adult education, community outreach. And it's at it's this coming the next two Thursdays, February the 5th and the 12th. It's at 6:30 p.m. both nights at the downtown Conference center. There is free parking across the street in the Locust Street garage, and I'd love to see you there. In that class, we take two two hour sessions and cover just as much stuff as we possibly can that I think everyone needs to know about retirement and wealth management being financially independent, not depending on an earned paycheck.

Speaker 2 00:15:04 How do you in retirement? How do you create a paycheck that you feel like can provide for your needs and can grow and last and beat inflation and all those things? So if you want more information, you can go to Financial Survival for retirement.com. And you can download a syllabus and click to register. Again. It's this coming the next two Thursdays, February 5th and 12th, 6:30 p.m. both nights. Now, when it comes to taxes, most people think about them once a year. And typically that's when we need to file our taxes. So we're getting near that time when we get into, you know, you're starting to get your 10.9 nines. You'll probably start. Some of you may prepare your returns this month, many of you mostly to, you know, it's March, maybe early April, but the most. That's tax preparation. You know, when we when we prepare our taxes in March, let's say it's in March. We're looking in the rearview mirror. We're looking at things that happened last year.

Speaker 2 00:16:06 If you took a distribution from your 401 to help provide income that's taxable, and there's no way to reverse that. If you had a mutual fund that paid a large capital gain distribution in December, that was a taxable event. If it's not inside of an IRA or 401, you know, if it's a non-qualified account investment account. And once you get once that's done, you get to January, you get that 1099. It's going to go on your tax return. There's nothing you can do about it. The most successful approach to tax planning happens throughout the year, with strategic moves made early and planned for throughout the year. So as we are in 2026, in the first quarter, there are several important tax planning opportunities that can help keep you more, help you keep more of what you earn, and build wealth more efficiently. So today I want to talk about proactive tax strategies you can consider implementing now. So first off let's talk about tax efficient investing. It is critically important to understand the difference tax wise in the account in the investments in your IRA or 401 type account in your retirement account and your non retirement investments that are just in a regular investment account, because that is one of the single most important factors you can control is how you invest your money outside of a retirement account and how it's taxed.

Speaker 2 00:17:40 So asset allocation is critical for tax efficiency. Now what is asset location. Where do you hold certain investments. See no matter how you invest your money inside your IRA. When that money comes out it's taxed as ordinary income. And one of the best things Congress has given to us in our Internal Revenue Code is the tax treatment of long term capital gains. This has been a big incentive for a long period of time for people to invest. And for almost everybody, the long term capital gains tax rate is much friendlier than ordinary income. We also have to understand how those taxes are paid and how they're calculated on your tax return. Without getting too complicated, the capital gains on your income. They they're taxed at the very last. They're the last thing to be taxed. So let me use an example. If the if the 22% income tax bracket for 2025 kicks in around $98,000 of taxable income. So in other words, you start making money over the 98,000 roughly, you know, every dollar is taxed over the 20 to 90 8000 to 22%.

Speaker 2 00:19:10 Okay. the tax bracket for long term gain up to then is 0%. likewise, if you sell something and you have a capital gain, it goes in after the ordinary income. So here's what that means. If your taxable income is $95,000. Your income tax bracket is 95,000 is, excuse me, 12% if you're a joint filer. So you're in a 12% marginal rate. If you then sold a stock or a house. Let's say you got a rental property or anything for that matter, and you had a $50,000 gain. It does not affect the tax rate on your ordinary income. You know, you look at your tax return, now you've got 100. Let's say you had a $50,000 gain. So you had $95,000 of income. This tax is ordinary income taxable after your deductions. Then you've got $50,000 in long term capital gains. Your marginal tax rate for your ordinary income stays at 12%. And then when you get up over the 98,000, all of that is taxed as a long term capital gain.

Speaker 2 00:20:27 And that's 15%. And 15% is better than 22%. And so asset location, you know, understanding where you get capital gains tax treatment, where you don't, you know, tax free municipal bonds provide tax free income. So it's just very, very important to understand those things. I can't tell you how often people come into my office and let's say, you know, they've got a significant investments inside their 401 or IRA, and they've got significant investments outside their IRA or 401. And the thing is, when you have those investments outside the IRA or 401, every dividend that's paid, every interest payment, every capital gain on the sale, or if you had a mutual fund, capital gain distributions in December, everything that happens triggers a potential income tax and triggers at 10.99. Well, I can't tell you how often I see that all the capital investments. Now, what's a capital investment? A capital investment is one where you invest to hopefully see growth in the investment as opposed to an income investment. You know, when we buy a a bond or a CD, you know, we put 100,000 in there.

Speaker 2 00:21:50 We're not doing that to grow the principal. We're doing it to make interest. Now, you may you may let the interest accrue into the principal, but you're earning interest and you're not trying to grow the asset. And and this adds that that interest is taxed as ordinary income. Whereas, when you have a capital asset, you're buying a stock or a or a stock mutual fund or something like that, you're investing in that so that the asset price will grow. You know, you put $50,000 in a stock that might be paying a dividend, you know, and then that dividend would be taxed. But then you're hoping that the stock price appreciates. And when that stock price appreciates, you get that long term capital gain. If you've. Held it for more than one year. So it has to be one day more than a year, 366 days. And most a lot of people come into my office. And with asset allocation, almost all, if not all of their capital investment is inside their retirement accounts.

Speaker 2 00:23:04 And you don't get long term capital gains tax treatment there. And then their all their non IRA investment is in fixed investments like bonds CDs things like that. Those are not capital investments. You're not investing in them to see asset prices grow. The they grow because of the income they produce. But that's that's not great for income tax purposes because it's ordinary income. So it's important to have For most retirees and investors, it's important to have non IRA holdings that can take advantage of long term capital gains tax rates. So that is critically important. so tell you what. We're going to get to our next break. When we come back I want to hit a little bit more tax efficient strategies. and then we'll kind of dive into stress testing your portfolio for market uncertainty. So stay with us. This is more living with Jim Brogan here on Newstalk 98 seven Wookey.

Jim Brogan 00:24:08 Welcome back to Newstalk 98 Seven's Brogan Financial Studios where Jim Brogan is coming to you live with important news and advice to help you achieve your dream retirement.

Jim Brogan 00:24:17 Get ready to learn and live. Here's your host, Jim Brogan.

Speaker 2 00:24:24 This is more living with Jim Brogan. We're it's all about living the best years of your life your way. As you listen to Newstalk 98 seven Wookey. Check us out online. Brogan. Financial comm. We've got a lot of resources. If you click on resources, we've got white papers that you can download for free. We've also got blogs. You can follow us weekly and get our blogs. Get our weekly e-newsletter. Although we're actually starting to go to we're about to go to every two weeks on the e-newsletter. You get timely stuff on how you can make prudent decisions that can impact the quality of your life. So do check us out now. My my next class is through the University of Tennessee. their adult outreach. It's financial survival for retirement. It's the next two Thursdays at 6:30 p.m.. So February 5th and 12th, you can go to Financial Survival for retirement.com. To find out more information and to download a syllabus.

Speaker 2 00:25:18 Tax planning is one of those critical areas that I talk about in that class. And and that's our current topic right now. and I do need to get to stress testing a portfolio. But first, you know, I was talking about asset allocation, but then also, you know, how do you need to be making your contributions? So some key things to know for 2026 catch up contributions. Those are those catch ups you can do if you're 50 years old or, or older. if you make more than 150,000 from your employer, that is it doesn't matter what your spouse makes, it's based on what you make from your employer. If you're over 150,000 in 2026, your catch up contributions have to go into a Roth 401 and not a traditional 401. So that's important to know. Now, if you change jobs, what if you change jobs in your new job? You're starting in July and you're going to make over 150,000 a year, but you're not going to make 150,000 in the calendar year from that job.

Speaker 2 00:26:29 You're not going to have to put your catch up in the Roth, but it's it's essential to understand this. If your employer plan does not offer a Roth option, you are not going to be able to do those catch up contributions. So just be very, very aware that, of course, contributions to to the traditional 401 and IRA are tax deductible. high earners though increasingly are choosing Roth IRA or Roth contributions for tax free future withdrawals. And I think that's critically important to understand. I don't think it's a bad thing to be taxed now and to be tax free later. Now, certainly your last ten years of working are going to be your typically highest earning years. And so you've got to look at what's your taxable income likely to be in retirement. But you also have to factor in once you're 73 and you're taking minimum distributions from your retirement accounts. What is your taxable income going to look like? I have found most people don't see the type of reduction in taxable income they were maybe thinking about.

Speaker 2 00:27:37 You should also be looking at things like your charitable giving strategy. You know if you give an appreciated asset you buy a stock for 5000. It's worth 10,000 if you if you give that to the charity and let them sell it. There's no capital gain tax. But you get the full tax deduction for 10,000. You say well Jim, I may I want to continue to own that stock. Well that's okay. Just buy it right back. And now your tax base is on. The stock is 10,000 instead of 5000. So you've increased your basis with no tax liability. That's a great great thing to consider. Also qualified charitable distributions. If you're 70.5 years of age or older, you can contribute directly to a church or charity from your IRA. And if you're 73 or older, it comes straight off your required minimum distribution. Most people are not itemizing today, and they're not getting the value of those charitable contributions. So all of those things are incredibly important. Again, I do cover this very, very heavily in my class, Financial Survival for retirement coming up this Thursday.

Speaker 2 00:28:48 It's a two part class. It's on the fifth and the 12th. Financial survival for retirement. You can go to Financial Survival for retirement.com. To find out more information and to download a syllabus. You can also click to register. Now we've all experienced market volatility. Those moments when the news sends the markets tumbling. And we wonder if our portfolios can weather the storm. You know the best time to prepare for market uncertainty is not during a crisis and not during market volatility. The best time it's a plan is before that happens. Portfolio. Stress testing helps you understand how your investments may perform under various challenging scenarios, so you can make adjustments now while conditions are calmer. So today I want to explore in this segment why stress testing matters and how to ensure your portfolio is properly positioned for what lies ahead, which we don't know. Now, I want to be clear. I'm saying, you know, you can understand how your investments may perform under various challenging scenarios. That was the quote I used. We know when you're in the market, it's unpredictable.

Speaker 2 00:30:02 There's no sure thing. When we stress test a portfolio, we're actually looking at statistical data from history, and we can kind of get a feel for if the market does X, what would you expect your portfolio to do? And believe it or not, testing a portfolio that way based on historic risk measurements. Volatility in a portfolio. Things like that is actually a pretty good predictor of future risk. So in other words, you you know, we don't know whether you're going to make money, lose money, how much. But we can have a pretty good idea if the market does X, what can you expect out of your portfolio now you could always get a surprise, but it's a pretty good idea for what the potential volatility is in your portfolio. So stress testing is important to insure your properly position. So we have tools that can examine multiple different scenarios. What happens if we repeat a financial crisis like 070809. What happens if the market what happens in the next bear market? You know, a typical bear market if we go to not back to 1900, bear markets mean the stock market goes down more than 20%, and that's happened about every 7 to 8 years, and the average is about 35 to 40.

Speaker 2 00:31:31 Well, we can stress test that and say, hey, let's go back to the last bear market. We have less stress. Test it. Let's take a current portfolio. And look if that happened again, what would we expect you to lose. And you can have a pretty rough idea. Would you lose a, you know or would you lose 80% of what the market loses? You know, if you're in an all stock mutual fund portfolio, no, you'd probably lose closer to 100%. But if you have some more diversification, you might would expect to lose less. Now then that also means hey, let's test it for what happens when we have a really good year. Like 2013, for example, the market was up 32%. What would we expect you to do in a bull market? Because if you don't want to lose as much in the bear market, does it stand to reason that you're probably not going to much as make as much in the bull market. All those things are absolutely true.

Speaker 2 00:32:25 So but we can test that. We can test and evaluate how poor, how portfolios are likely to behave if various events occur. And we can identify weaknesses before they become big problems so we can get out in front rather than reacting in in moments of volatility when we react. That's when investor behavior often makes critical mistakes to their investment portfolio. Now, as you know, a higher risk tolerance allows for more volatile assets like stocks or stock funds. A lower risk tolerance suggests more diversification in things that when stocks zig, maybe the other things zag. Now, the most common thing people think, thing people think of as bonds. Bonds typically have more short term stability than stocks. That's not always the case. You know, in 2022, bond funds were down 1,415% when stock funds were down about 18. But as a rule, bond funds usually provide a little bit more balance and stability when markets are down. The problem with bond funds is, you know, over time, they just aren't effective at beating inflation.

Speaker 2 00:33:41 They can be effective in short time periods, but over time they're just not effective. But if you have other asset classes, you know, commodities, energy, resources, real estate, foreign investment, there are ways to hedge the dollar with foreign investment. There are just all kinds of things you can do so that when markets are sharply down, you've got some assets that are hopefully holding their own pretty well. Now, that means you're also going to own some things that are not doing as well when markets are sharply up. But again, it's investing is all about balancing risk and reward a lower cost. You know, risk tolerance should be aligned with time Harrison and your financial goals. You know, if you're 32 years old and you have a 401. Do you really care what happens in the stock market this year? I mean, yeah, you probably care. But if the market if we go through a deep bear market in the next 12 months, well, you're not touching your money till you're 60.

Speaker 2 00:34:40 You have almost a 30 year investment horizon. If anything, when markets drop, that's the time you can be adding a lot more investment and buying while markets are down. So now if you're retiring in three years, the last thing you'd want to do is have your your income and your one and two of retirement that's designated. You happen to come from stock market type investments. Because what if markets are sharply down? You're probably going to feel like you can't retire. You've got to have assets that you can draw from that are more protected or stable. So very, very important. But, you know, if you measure this stuff ahead of time and the market slides, it's not going to keep you up at night if you know you've got a plan to deal with that. if, if, if your portfolio does keep you up at night worrying about short term market risk, you may need to adjust your plan in your allocation. So near retirees planning to live off a portfolio typically can't stand a it's.

Speaker 2 00:35:44 It'd be difficult to withstand a 40% 3,540% loss in the stock market in the short term, whereas someone early in their career can afford that much, much more reasonably. The sooner and more important your spending goal, the less volatility your portfolio can handle. Because one of the top rules of of wealth management don't spend an investment loss. You know it's okay to sell something when it's down and reinvest it, but you don't want to have to sell it and spend it, which means markets are going to be down sharply. And if you need to liquidate to buy something, you're going to compound that loss. It'll never recover because you've spent it. And that's one of the top rules of fundamental wealth management. So create a strategy before your emotions take over during market swings. Avoid that panic selling during down markets. Part of that is understanding the risk you're likely taking and what you can expect, so you don't get an outcome completely out of the range of what you were expecting. And in others understanding, you've got a plan to to be able to support it where you know you're not going to need that money for a while, where you've got time to for it to recover.

Speaker 2 00:36:54 Avoid rash decisions based either on fear of loss or greed. That FOMO fear of missing out. You want to get in on the hot investment and then stick to that plan when you're Mark. When markets climb, it's harder to stick to a plan when markets are choppy. This allows you to do all those things. So it's a careful balance between growth and protection. It's diversification across asset classes, sectors of the economy, foreign and domestic everything. Regular portfolio reviews can ensure alignment with your goals, and stress testing reveals whether your current allocation matches your risk tolerance. Now there's two big issues here. How much risk can you afford to take and how much risk are you comfortable with. And both of those questions typically need to be answered. We ask that everybody comes into our office, even in a first meeting where we're just getting to know each other. And you're asking us, you know, Jim, hey, I'm concerned about this or I'm concerned about that. We're asking these questions right up front, right out of the gate, because your comfort level with risk, you know, you you may can we may feel like you've got a plan that can afford more risk, but your comfort level may not.

Speaker 2 00:38:14 And we don't either want you to have. You know, the market starts cratering and you're seeing more than you're comfortable with. We don't want you to sell while it's down. But likewise, if you're holding, we don't want you to lose sleep at night. You know, I call it a swan portfolio. Sleep well at night. That's important too. It is important to take risk. We've got to be concerned about inflation and how erodes income in retirement. But it's just important to balance all these things. So we got to determine if your current asset allocation is appropriate. Does your portfolio need to be rebalanced. How should your portfolio strategy changes change as you get closer to retirement and into retirement? What type of diversification do you truly need to protect against short term market volatility? Because we know in the long term, a diversified stock portfolio historically has been the best way to grow wealth. But in the short term, you just don't know what you're going to get. And so you've got to have some Diversification.

Speaker 2 00:39:14 If you're not investing for 15, 20 years from now, and then a retiree has to balance the need for growth over the long term to fight inflation with protection in the short term to protect short term income. So all of these things are critically important. Now, when we come back from our last break, we're going to get into income planning. And one of the things I want to talk about is, you know, if you look at the last 30 years and you look at inflation along with the, the, the devaluation of the dollar, it's amazing how much less our money buys now than it did 30 or 40 or 50 years ago. And going forward with our current fiscal situation in the United States, with our federal debt and our deficit spending, I think that's going to become even more important. So how do you grow income and make sure that your income holds up at various checkpoints throughout your retirement? Stay with us. This is more living with Jim Brogan here on Newstalk 98 seven Wookey.

Jim Brogan 00:40:18 Welcome back to Newstalk 98 Seven's Brogan Financial Studios, where Jim Brogan is coming to you live with important news and advice to help you achieve your dream retirement. Get ready to learn and live. Here's your host, Jim Brogan.

Speaker 2 00:40:52 All right, we're back on the air. My apologies there, Wayne. I accidentally hit the mute button on my headphone set. But anyway, so, thank you for tuning in today. It's Jim Brogan, host of More Living. Let's talk about income planning for retirement. You know, one of the most crucial transition in retirement planning happens when you shift from accumulating assets to distributing or spending those assets. And how much can you safely withdraw each year? How should you coordinate Social Security with your portfolio income? You know what happens if markets decline early in your retirement? That's one of the biggest risks you face. You know, markets may decline substantially in your first year, three to 4 to 5 years of retirement. If you don't have a plan to be able to deal with that potential volatility, it could be catastrophic, quite frankly.

Speaker 2 00:41:44 So let's talk about some income checkpoints. What is a safe withdrawal rate. There's becoming more and more talk about this. You know Bill Berg at Bingen. Excuse me, was the person years ago that created the 4% rule. You take your life savings when you first retire, you can start drawing about a 4% rate. So if you had $1 million, you could draw 40,000 a year. And then over time, that increases to fight inflation. He now suggests that with our current interest rate environment, a safe default rate is 4.7%. Now, Morningstar, an independent research firm, they their 2025 research suggests 3.9% as a safe starting withdrawal rate for a 30 year retirement. Now, what is safe? Those types of rates. They assume a 90% probability of the funds lasting throughout your retirement. Now, one of the things I mentioned that is we do want to be careful you're not cheating yourself early in retirement by withdrawing too little. You know we don't want that fear factor. It goes against the grain when you go from spending your money or, excuse me, saving money to then spending it.

Speaker 2 00:42:54 You've been taught your whole life. Safe. Safe. Save. And now it's time to withdraw and spend. And many people get uncomfortable with that. And so we don't want you to be uncomfortable with that. And so that's one of the biggest, biggest things about creating a comprehensive plan. then how you. But the biggest thing I want to stress, because we're about out of time today is you've got to have that stability in the short term. But long term, I don't want to underestimate the importance of having growth assets, because when you look at our current fiscal situation, there are different ways to solve this budget issue. We have in the United States and our debt problem. The one thing people think about most often is increasing taxes. And I think in the next ten years, something's probably got to give. But another way is by growing the economy. Some are expecting economic growth of over 5.5% next this year. you know, growing the economy. If the economy grows at a rate faster than the than the interest on the debt, that helps the debt problem go away.

Speaker 2 00:44:01 Inflation, it can be a way to you can inflate the date a way. That's exactly what happened in the 50s. And 60s and 70s. Because if the economy is growing through inflation, yeah, we think of that as artificial growth, but is still growing. The economy is getting larger. The debt is getting smaller as a percentage. So I just you've got to have a plan to have your income grow to offset inflation. I think that's one of the greatest risks we face in today's, retirement lifestyle. Thanks for tuning in. We've discussed your wealth because greater wealth provides for more living. So you can live the best years of your life your way. Have a great week. This is Moore living with Jim Brogan here on Newstalk 98 seven.

Speaker 3 00:44:43 The views expressed by Jim Brogan and his guests are not that of Cumulus Media. Any discussion of financial, legal and tax planning strategies is not intended to be individualized advice and is general in nature. Always consult with your advisor for advice specific to your needs.

Speaker 3 00:44:59 This program's content does not represent a recommendation of any particular security strategy or investment by Jim Brogan or Brogan Financial, Incorporated.

In this special July 4th weekend edition of More Living with Jim Brogan, host Jim Brogan interviews Mike Garcia, a US Army veteran, military historian, and author. Garcia discusses his latest book, The Combat Diaries, which preserves true stories from 16 World War II veterans, including a Spitfire pilot and a Navy frogman. The conversation covers the Greatest Generation's legacy, the evolution of veterans' mental health support, and how WWII differed politically from later conflicts. Garcia also shares his experience as a historian on the History Channel's I Was There series.

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Jim Brogan 00:00:03 You're tuned into more Living with Jim Brogan, broadcast live from the Brogan Financial studios at Newstalk 9087, where old fashioned values, expert knowledge and genuine understanding come together to give you the retirement straight talk you deserve. Jim's a former National Advisor of the year recipient and a financial educator, and he's here today to talk about how you can live out the best years of your life. Jim and the Brogan financial team have been helping retirees and retirees across the southeast for over 20 years in their pursuit of financial independence. You can reach them during the week at 865862 6800. So sit back, relax and get ready to learn because more living with Jim Brogan starts now.

Jim Brogan 00:00:45 Happy 4th of July weekend, East Tennessee, and welcome to More Living with Jim Brogan, where it's all about living the best years of your life your way. This is Newstalk 987. Wochit. And you know, as we get ready to celebrate our country's independence this weekend, we're going to reflect on our past. World War II wasn't the longest war that the United States has been involved in, but it it was the deadliest, claiming the lives of up to 50 million people.

Jim Brogan 00:01:16 The war involved virtually every part of the world during the years 1939 to 1945, and it left a devastating and lasting impact on countries throughout the globe. The US soldiers that fought in that war are considered part of the Greatest Generation, a generation who grew up, grew up in the Great Depression and fought in World War Two. The last living members of this generation are in their 90s, and I think that preserving their stories is a necessity, so we can pass on their knowledge and history to the generations to come. Today, I'm pleased to have Mike Garcia on the show. He is a veteran of the United States Army. He's an author and a military historian. He wrote. Hal Moore, A Soldier Once and Always, which was the first ever biography Chronicles chronicling the life of Lieutenant General Harold Moore, whose battlefield leadership was popularized by the film We Were Soldiers, starring Mel Gibson. Mike's latest book, The Combat Diaries, features true stories from the front lines of World War Two. Good morning Mike.

Jim Brogan 00:02:29 Welcome back to Moore Living. How are you today Jim?

Mike Garcia 00:02:33 How are you? It's great to be on the show. Thank you for having me.

Jim Brogan 00:02:36 It's great to have you with us now you're up in Minnesota now, is that correct? How are things in Minnesota?

Mike Garcia 00:02:43 Well, a few degrees cooler than I am used to, but, on the whole, I am no worse for wear.

Jim Brogan 00:02:52 Mike, first, thank you for your for your service to our country. Did. You did. At what point did you decide you knew you wanted to be in the army?

Mike Garcia 00:03:02 Let's see. I think for me, it really started at a very early age. if I can, if I can pinpoint a time frame, probably around the time that I was seven. you know, that was right around the time that the Persian Gulf War was kicking off. And, there was also the, it was also the 50th anniversary of Pearl Harbor. So, you know, just with, all of those great military events in the media at the time, and, the sense of patriotism I grew up with, that's that's when I think, I knew I wanted to serve.

Jim Brogan 00:03:38 And you served on active duty 2008 to 2014 for six years.

Mike Garcia 00:03:44 I sure did.

Jim Brogan 00:03:45 And then talk a little bit about the transition from active duty to becoming a military historian and an author.

Mike Garcia 00:03:53 All righty. Well, I think those two pretty much went hand in hand. when I was in college, I studied history and I was a was kind of an unusual animal in the sense that I was an ROTC cadet while I was a graduate student. so I finished, I finished my, my master's degree in history, right around the, right around the same time that I was pinning on my lieutenant's bars. And, being that, history was a big part of my, big part of my academic career, really wanted to, really wanted to write history books and wanted to tell stories of generations of soldiers who had come before me and, was able to write my first book while I was still on active duty. Matter of fact. And had the, construct where I was a or I was an Army officer by day and a book writer by night, And when my active duty term of service came to an end, I already had a few titles under my belt.

Mike Garcia 00:05:00 So I said, well, now that I'm rejoining the civilian world, I don't know. I carry that momentum forward and just continue writing and telling stories about veterans and all of their experiences and wars past.

Jim Brogan 00:05:13 Your newest book, Mike, is on true stories about the front lines of World War two. of course, it's called The Combat Diaries. How did you come up with the idea to write the book, and why do you think it's so important to ensure these stories are preserved the way that you've done?

Mike Garcia 00:05:32 All righty. Well, let's see. The, the idea came up, came upon me. Really? just, as a function of where we are in the timeline. I think it was around 2015 or so, when it became clear that so many of our World War II veterans were leaving us, you know, at, it's gotten to the point where, our World War two veterans are leaving us at the rate of several hundred per day. And I said, well, you know, given that we are given that we are losing so many members of that generation, I think it's imperative that we get a lot of their stories down on paper and that we preserve their experiences for future generations.

Mike Garcia 00:06:17 And, you know, it hit me with a sense of urgency because I was when I was growing up in the 90s, you know, of many of our World War II veterans were still with us. And, you know, I remember seeing these guys everywhere, these these, these veterans were the gentleman whom I saw day in and day out at the grocery stores. I mean, I saw them in the VFW parades. I saw them at the mall. you know, they were they were, part and parcel to our community and, you know, you almost take for granted and think that. Okay, well, all of these, all of these people are going to be around indefinitely, and then, it starts, it starts to hit you that. Wow. You know, time is short. Time is precious. And, when so many of them start leaving at that accelerated rate. that's when I told myself, wow. You know, I really want to make sure that a part of them is around so that their great stories don't perish with them.

Mike Garcia 00:07:17 And you know, what I tried to accomplish with the book really is just, have an earnest, intimate portrayal of, people who are just like you and me, you know, regular, ordinary, everyday citizens who could very easily be your neighbor, could very easily be your, your uncle or your grandfather who rose to the occasion. And they accomplished heroic things when the chips were down and the odds were stacked against us.

Jim Brogan 00:07:46 You know, I think it's a great thing what you're doing. It does. even when I was preparing for the show. Mike I mean, it is kind of shocking when you think it just seems like it's kind of snuck up on us. in terms of the age, and that they are people that fought in World War II for the most part, are in their 90s at this point, I mean it. Right. It really is kind of shocking because I don't know. I mean, you think, as you said, you kind of think, oh, they're always going to be around, be here for us to learn from.

Jim Brogan 00:08:16 But that's not really necessarily the case. how did you find veterans, Mike, who are willing to share their stories?

Mike Garcia 00:08:25 well, I was very blessed in the sense that I have a lot of veteran friends who are up here. And I also have a membership in a great organization called the World War II roundtable. that is the dominion of a retired colonel and a Vietnam vet. His name is Don Patton. And that organization up here in Minnesota is dedicated to preserving the histories and legacies of all of our World War II veterans. And every month they have a roundtable where they bring in veterans to share their stories in front of a panel of guests and historians. And that was the that was the first inroad that I had to meeting a lot of the veterans who were featured in the book and getting first hand accounts to really getting firsthand access to their stories and what their experiences were. And aside from that, you know, just being able to access the recorded oral histories that have been published through archives and that that are in the hands of, that are in the hands of historians, both here in the state of Minnesota and across the country.

Mike Garcia 00:09:45 So it's the it's, was the right amount of, I'll say, networking and the right amount of luck that put me in contact with, those people who have, either have access to the, veterans themselves or have access to the oral histories that they've recorded in whatever private collections are out there.

Jim Brogan 00:10:07 We're visiting this morning with Mike Garcia on July 4th weekend as we celebrate our independence and our freedoms. he is a Army veteran, and he's an author and a military historian. When we come back, I want to kind of get into some of the stories you share in your book, Mike, The Combat Diaries. in your discussion with some of these World War II veterans. So do stay with us. You're listening to More Living with Jim Brogan right here on Newstalk 987. Cokie.

Jim Brogan 00:10:39 Welcome back to Newstalk 98. Seven's Brogan Financial Studios or Jim Brogan is coming to you Live with important news and advice to help you achieve your dream retirement. Get ready to learn and live. Here's your host, Jim Brogan.

Jim Brogan 00:10:56 This is for living with Jim Brogan here on Newstalk 987 Wookey. We're visiting this morning with Mike Garcia. He is a Army veteran and an author and a military historian. As we celebrate July 4th weekend, you can catch all of our shows podcast on our website. you can go to Brogan financial.com and click on radio. And we have our shows there. We also have our dollars and cents segments there. 4 to 5 minute segments on financial tips for the retirement lifestyle. you can catch us every Saturday. We're here 9 to 10 a.m. and again, 3 to 4 p.m.. Mike, let's dive into some of these stories in your book. Com The Combat Diaries. The 16 stories in the book. They include a ship engineer, a prisoner of war, a postal worker, an army nurse, just to name a few. How do you how different do you think that these veterans jobs were then compared to the jobs that soldiers have today?

Mike Garcia 00:12:02 Well, I think there's a lot of similarity, actually. You know, I think I think really the biggest difference when you look at it is, just the amount of technology that they have access to and a lot of, and just a lot of what is expected of them in terms of administrative duties.

Mike Garcia 00:12:26 But really, when you look at it at its core, I mean, these were these were soldiers who, I think, well, these were soldiers, sailors and Marines who I think are just, in terms of their character are as every bit as capable, you know, back then as they are today. but I think really the thing that ties them together is that even even though they had a certain job and a certain specialty to do, they were often called upon to, to do things and to fight in situations that were beyond the scope of what they were trained for.

Jim Brogan 00:13:06 Now, your first story in The Combat Diaries, Mike is about a young fighter pilot who remains one of the few Americans to fly a British Spitfire into combat. Can you give us some insight into that story?

Mike Garcia 00:13:22 Absolutely. So let's see. Let's wind the clocks back to about 1943. And when we first entered the war, we were at a little bit of a disadvantage as far as our aerial forces were concerned. particularly because we were relying heavily on planes that, for lack of a better term, were outdated and outclassed.

Mike Garcia 00:13:45 You know, we had, you know, we had our, our fighter forces, who were going into aerial combat equipped with, crates like the P-39 and the P-40. And if you do a side by side match up, planes like the P-40 were just no match for a German Messerschmitt or a Japanese zero. So, being that, we were a bit behind the curve when we got into the air combat role. there were quite a few Americans who were privy to fly a plane that we knew could stand toe to toe against the axis, and that, coincidentally, was the British Spitfire. so you had a particular pilot? His name was rod. Rod Meyer. Assigned to the 308th Fighter Squadron. And, you know, he gets off, the he gets off of the, gets off of the boat at the replacement center in Casablanca. And surprise, surprise. hey, Yankee pilot, you are now going to be flying a British plane, with which you have no experience, but you've probably heard a lot about.

Mike Garcia 00:14:53 And you're going to take this, you're going to take this British built contraption and, fly it against, distinguished Nazi pilots who not only have experience flying against the British, but also experience flying against the Russians on the Eastern Front. And, just being in a situation like that where you have to learn how to fight on an entirely new piece of equipment against a, combat seasoned enemy, it's nothing short of daunting. And, to pull it off with the degree of grace that he did and, you know, to rack up the impressive aerial victories that he did, it really is just, nothing short of amazing.

Jim Brogan 00:15:34 Yeah, it's really remarkable to hear a story like that. Another featured story in your book that really caught my eyes about a Navy combat Dyer called a diver who was called a frogman who swam at night among the Japanese held islands defusing underwater mines. you know, I'm fond of the story because of the the the word frogmen, I guess. This was kind of the precursor to what? Or or was this the precursor to what we now know as the US Navy Seals?

Mike Garcia 00:16:04 It sure was.

Mike Garcia 00:16:05 And, this was just an incredible story. especially for how daunting of a task it was itself, because here was a man who had joined the Navy and had every intention of being a Navy construction specialist, because that was analogous to what he had done in the civilian world, but then just innocently writes down on his intake form. Oh, yes, swimming is one of my hobbies. Well, they said, well, hey, you know, if you really enjoy swimming, we've got a job for you. And he was ball and told, as they like to say. To become what was called a frogman. And you were expected to swim and not to swim. Like a few hundred meters. You were expected to swim for miles in the pitch black heavy currents of the Pacific Ocean. You were thrown out of a PT boat, quite literally, into the black, icy waters, and you would swim, at night. You would actually swim to the Japanese held islands and with very primitive notetaking materials, you were expected to sketch out where enemy fortifications were and start laying the foundations for what would be the underwater demolitions.

Mike Garcia 00:17:17 Then you had to swim back to the rendezvous point, and you had to be precisely on time. Because if you missed that PT boat pickup, that was it. You were left out there on your own. You had essentially one of two choices at that point. You could go back to the island and try to hide from the Japanese and stay there long enough until the American invasion force came. Or you had to swim several more miles up to, you know, 20 and even 30 to where the home base was and hope that the sharks didn't get you. Well, it was six of one and half a dozen of the other because, you know, you could either get eaten by a shark. And if the Japanese caught you, well, shoot, you know, that was game over. And they said, if you're about to be captured, here's something you never want to leave home without. This is a cyanide capsule. If you're ever about to be captured, just bite down on this. And even the instruction manual said death will be quick and painless, and will be better than your probable experiences inside of a Japanese POW camp.

Jim Brogan 00:18:19 So the frogman, you know, was the precursor. The underwater demolition teams. You know, it kind of, I guess they were birthed at that point. that's always captured my attention. And I support the Navy Seal Foundation, which helps, you know, Seals or any anybody in Naval Special Warfare Command, especially their families of of those that have been killed in action or killed in training. And they have, they have a big swim down in Tampa. Every year, the Tampa Bay frogmen, where we swim across Tampa Bay, it's a five K swim. And it's such a great, great cause. But that was kind of the birthing of of of what that developed. Right. I mean, that was really the start of what became the Seal teams with the, with the Naval Special Warfare Command.

Mike Garcia 00:19:10 It sure was. It sure was, every every naval, every Navy Seal today can trace its lineage, to the original frogman program for World War two. they're really the ones who set the foundations for basic underwater demolition and, waterborne reconnaissance of any enemy outposts?

Jim Brogan 00:19:32 Yeah, and that is the one thing that really makes the Seal teams somewhat unique among the special operations forces.

Jim Brogan 00:19:39 They're all just incredible. But it's that it's that sea training, the water training and the things they have to do there, in their line of duty. now, World War Two veterans, Mike, are part of what we call the Greatest generation. And as you mentioned, those who are still alive in their 90s to you. Mike, what do you think makes them the greatest Generation?

Mike Garcia 00:20:07 Well, I think that they're the greatest generation in the sense that, they rose to fight what was a qualitative force of evil. And, the, the mission that they were on was one where the stakes were incredibly high and probably much higher, I would say, comparatively speaking, than other conflicts we were a part of, because, you know, when you had the forces of fascism that were rising on a global scale as they were in World War II, for them. For our for the members of our greatest generation to band together and to work as efficiently and effectively as they did, really is not only a testament to their work ethic, but, you know, a testament to how they recognize the threat and how they were able to overcome what looked like insurmountable odds.

Mike Garcia 00:21:05 because, you know, the forces of fascism, the axis military might as it was, was something that was just an incredible juggernaut. And the outcome of the war itself was in question for us for quite a while. And one of the things that I touch on, whenever I speak about the Combat Diaries is that, you know, we, we like to call those soldiers who fought in the war the Greatest Generation. But we have to caveat that by saying that, well, more than one generation actually fought in that war, because we're talking about the greatest generation. You could be talking about the trigger pullers like my grandfather, who was born in 1922. But you also have to include the the generals and the planners and the people who were the muscle behind the logistics. You know, guys like, you know, guys like Eisenhower and Patton MacArthur, who were born in the 1880s, in the 1890s. So more than one generation fought in the conflict. But, you know, the term greatest generation can apply to people of multiple vintages who were there and who were alive and who were contributing to the outcome of our success.

Jim Brogan 00:22:13 Yeah, I think also, Mike, you know, the perspective from people born in that generation, you know, prior to that, of course, they they lived through the Great Depression. So they saw so many economic challenges, and then they saw these different worldviews of how, you know, you know, really how the world should operate. And of course, coming out of World War two. It led to a great surge in really, until fairly recently of globalization. And it's just kind of interesting how things are changing now and countries are trying to become more and more, you know, you know, you have this populist movement. It's kind of just very, very interesting. But to me, all of that really contributes to their perspective. That leads them to be called the Greatest Generation, at least from my perspective. tell you what, we're going to get to our next break. And when we come back, we're going to continue visiting with Mike and talk about kind of some of the implications moving forward with those that serve in our military.

Jim Brogan 00:23:14 So stay with us. This is more living with Jim Brogan right here on Newstalk 987 w Sky.

Jim Brogan 00:23:22 Welcome back to Newstalk 98 Seven's Broken Financial Studios, where Jim Brogan is coming to you live with important news and advice to help you achieve your dream retirement. Get ready to learn and live. Here's your host, Jim Brogan.

Jim Brogan 00:23:38 This is Moore living with Jim Brogan, where it's all about living the best years of your life your way. We come to you every Saturday here at Newstalk 987, 9 to 10 a.m. and again 3 to 4 p.m. you can catch all of our shows podcast on our website at brogan.com. Just click on radio. It is 4th of July weekend. It's a special time of year to celebrate our freedom and we're visiting with Mike Guardia. He is a US Army veteran. He's also an author and a military historian. His latest book is The Combat Diaries, and it features true stories from the front lines of World War Two. Mike, what do you feel are the biggest differences that separate World War Two from other world Wars?

Mike Garcia 00:24:26 Well, I think in a broader sense, in World War Two, the enemy was very clearly defined.

Mike Garcia 00:24:33 Our objectives were clearly defined. And it was a war where. The political management was more flexible than it was in a lot of the future conflicts that we served in. you know, the, the objective was given to our military very clearly. Hey, you have one mission, and that is to defeat the axis powers by any means possible. Exactly how you go about facilitating their destruction is up to you. but the political leadership was, hands off in the sense that they, let the military accomplish their, tactical, operational and and strategic objectives without a lot of, without a lot of unnecessary hamstring, I'll say. And not only that, the higher echelon leadership had had had a desire, really, for absolute victory. And while, you know, of course, other armed conflicts that we've been in since we've had that, we've had that same desire for victory. I'll say that the the war management process has not been as ideal as it was from an operational standpoint, because the very next big conflict we had was Korea.

Mike Garcia 00:25:51 And, you know, from the outset, they made clear, okay, well, this is not a war in the traditional sense. We're not it's not a declared it's not a formally declared war. It's a police action. And the objectives are going to be limited. The, you know, the amount of operational flexibility you have is not going to be to the extent that it was in the war that we fought just five years prior. And then, of course, well, we all know the we all know the disaster and the fire show. That was Vietnam. And, you know, even in conflict since then, it's been much more of a, I'll say, much more of a politically involved process than it has been since the days that World War II ended. So I think that's really the big qualitative difference there. but, you know, on the other hand.

Jim Brogan 00:26:41 Really.

Mike Garcia 00:26:41 Interesting. Yeah.

Jim Brogan 00:26:43 That's just really interesting to me that that was, you know, with that response because, you know, I that was not where I was expecting you to go with the answer.

Jim Brogan 00:26:54 And I think that's really fascinating to think about the differences in the political involvement then versus now, even, even all the way through. To this day, it seems like it's would you say it's become even more and more political even over the last 50 years? It seems like it has.

Mike Garcia 00:27:10 It has. You know, and, I, well, I think there has to be a degree of I think there has to be a degree of political oversight in every conflict, you know, so that it doesn't devolve into the point where you have a military dictatorship or a or a military coup. but, you know, there is a there is a demonstrable point, I think, where you tip the scales in. Okay, you say that, too much political involvement and, too much hand-wringing and too much, too much of an embarrassment of feel good politics does more harm in the long run than it than it does good.

Jim Brogan 00:27:54 I guess it's that balance between accountability and, you know, there needs to be balance between the two structures, the, you know, the politics and then also the, the war machine.

Jim Brogan 00:28:05 But at the same point, the war machine needs to be able to not be handcuffed, you know, at doing what they do is you think that's a good way to say that?

Mike Garcia 00:28:14 Absolutely, absolutely. There's a there's a there's a big difference between oversight and micromanagement.

Jim Brogan 00:28:21 Yeah. Many veterans, Mike, are coming home with PTSD, and it's not surprising when you hear the details of these and other combat stories. what can we do? Do you think to to to more actively help support our veterans?

Mike Garcia 00:28:38 Well, that is one that's one area and one dimension where I think qualitatively we are in much better shape than we were back in World War two. because I take a look at a lot of my brothers and sisters in arms, especially those who have come back from these more recent conflicts that we've had and Iraq, Afghanistan and Syria. And, there is a much more defined, consolidated effort to treat the mental and emotional health of our returning veterans and systems in place to help them properly reintegrate into mainstream society after they leave the military.

Mike Garcia 00:29:16 And a lot of those, a lot of those resources, a lot of those organizations simply did not exist after World War Two. And I think in a broader sense, you know, people at the time and even for many years afterwards, saw World War II as a quote unquote good war where we knew exactly what our objectives were and we knew we were fighting a qualitatively evil force that was out there. So you, as a returning veteran, were expected to find solace in the fact that, hey, we were on board with this crusade and, yeehaw! We won against forces of fascism. So that's really the that's all the therapeutic. that's all the therapeutic treatment you need right there. Just bask in the glory of our victory and go back to what you were doing before the war. but, you know, there was no real attention given to the fact that our soldiers were coming home with PTSD, and they found it very difficult in many ways to reintegrate and try to get a semblance of a normal life.

Mike Garcia 00:30:19 It was really just kind of glossed over. But now we have a much more consolidated and a much more defined effort to say, okay, well, we know the we know what the horrors of combat can do to a person. So, you know, go talk to somebody at the VA, you know, use all of these resources like Wounded Warrior and the and the dad and what have you to, you know, help you decompress and to help you wrestle with whatever, whatever demons that you have and whatever, you know, whatever troubles that you are currently grappling with because we're here to help. We have a we have a wide range of specialists and resources that can help you so that we don't have any so that we don't lose any of our we don't lose any of our veterans to the darker sides of PTSD.

Jim Brogan 00:31:12 Yeah. And I think there's no question we understand those issues a lot better than we did, you know, 80 years ago. Mike, you were twice have been nominated for the Army Historical Foundation's Distinguished Book Award, and you were named in 2021, author of the year by the Military Writers Society of America.

Jim Brogan 00:31:35 talk a little bit about that award and what that meant to you.

Mike Garcia 00:31:40 Well, I think, well, I think the Military writers, Society of America, realized that writing is the only thing I'm good at. So, but no, they, I, I was I was honored even to be considered for the award. that, to me, was, just an incredible honor. And, you know, I, in, I was humbled in the sense that I was thinking, wow, you know, all of the heavyweights within that program somehow thought that I was worthy to be considered for that distinction. And, you know, through the right combination of luck and the grace of God. Hey, someone or someone's decided, well, hey, of all of the potential folks who could get the award this year, I think we're going to give it to this fella, Mike. But, that was just an incredible honor and, one that I was deeply touched and humbled by and just it was for me, it was an affirmation that.

Mike Garcia 00:32:37 Wow. Hey, I think that, telling these stories is something that's important. And I think it's something that that can resonate with broader audiences both in and out of the military. And, that to me, I think was a clarion call. Hey, keep writing these stories and, you know, keep, keep trying the best you can to, be a point of light for veterans out there and for folks who are really interested in hearing the human side of war.

Jim Brogan 00:33:06 We're visiting with Mike Garcia. He's a US Army veteran and a historian and book author. His latest book, Combat Diaries, chronicles several stories from World War Two. Mike, you appeared recently as a historian on the History Channel's I Was There series. Can you tell us a little bit more about the series?

Mike Garcia 00:33:29 Yes, sir. So it is it is an incredible series that is produced by a Minnesota based film company called Committee Films. And, any of your viewers out there might be familiar with a few of their programs recently. they did a series called The Last Pope for the History Channel.

Mike Garcia 00:33:48 they've, they also did a they also did a number of true crime, true crime documentaries, most recently one about the serial killer Todd Cole, which was down in the Carolinas. but they've done a number of award winning documentaries and docudramas for, for, networks like History and discovery and Nat Geo and their more recent one is I Was There, hosted by Theo Wilson. And what it does is it takes the host, Theo Wilson, and kind of a quantum leap set up actually puts him right in the middle of all of these different major historical events that have happened throughout time. And as he's narrating in real time all the events that are happening in front of him, you have cut scenes to any number of historians and experts who are providing additional commentary. And I was cast as one of the featured historians for the episodes on the Johnstown Flood, the Oklahoma City bombing, the Chernobyl disaster, and the Battle of Stalingrad. And it is an incredible series that I think really appeals to a qualitatively younger demographic because, you know, it has a lot of intense action.

Mike Garcia 00:35:02 And it's I think it's an equal parts educational and entertaining, really, to try to, you know, try to get a younger audience excited about, hey, here are all these things that are happening and that are being played out with all of these dramatic reenactments. And hey, you also get to hear from folks who have have written and who have become experts on whatever the topic of this particular episode is. So just a remarkable series, and season one just wrapped this past May, and as of right now, Committee Films is in discussion for the particulars for season two. So it, knock on wood is going to be picked up for another season. And I think it's going to be I think it's going to be incredible.

Jim Brogan 00:35:51 Yeah, that sounds very interesting. So I was there on the History Channel. Mike, you've authored a few other books about military history. where can someone find more information about you and also be able to purchase your books?

Mike Garcia 00:36:05 All right. So let's see. they can go to my website.

Mike Garcia 00:36:10 Com. I also have a YouTube channel where I post, where I post historical footage and, podcast every month. they can also go to Amazon.com to buy my books directly. other books that I've written, they're available pretty much wherever books are sold. Barnes and Noble books a million. And, for any e-readers out there. they're available on platforms such as Kindle and Nook. And aside from that, if, any audiobook fans out there, they're also available through audible and streaming services as well.

Jim Brogan 00:36:45 So Mike Guardia, US Army veteran and a historian and military author. thank you so much for taking time out of your busy schedule. Again, people can go to my guardian. Com. Also you any anywhere books are sold certainly online with Amazon. and then your podcast I sound monthly podcast on YouTube. Mike, thanks so much for your service, and thank you for coming on to be a very busy time of year as we celebrate July 4th weekend.

Mike Garcia 00:37:14 Well, Jim, thank you so much for having me on the program.

Mike Garcia 00:37:16 It was awesome to be here. And so thank you again.

Jim Brogan 00:37:21 Yes thank you. That's Mike Guardian again. His newest book, The Combat Diaries. do pick that book up. It's a very, very interesting read, of 16 chronicling 16 stories, diaries, if you will, of veterans from World War two. when we come back for our final segment, we'll have our dollars and cents feature, and we're going to talk about freedom, financial freedom in retirement and specifically transitioning from accumulation to income in very uncertain economic times. So stay with us as you're listening to More Living with Jim Brogan here on Newstalk 987 w Sky.

Jim Brogan 00:38:04 Welcome back to Newstalk 98 Seven's Broken Financial Studios, where Jim Brogan is coming to you live with important news and advice to help you achieve your dream retirement. Get ready to learn and live. Here's your host, Jim Brogan.

Jim Brogan 00:38:20 Welcome back. On this 4th of July weekend here on Newstalk 987 Wookey. You're listening to Morning Living. I'm your host, Jim Brogan. You can catch us every Saturday, 9 to 10 a.m. again 3 to 4 p.m. also check out our podcasts online Brogan financial.com.

Jim Brogan 00:38:37 You can click on radio. Mike Garcia was our guest, this hour. And, very, very fascinating military historian and book author who just came. His most recent book, The Combat Diaries, chronicles stories from World War Two. it is now time for dollars and cents.

Multiple Speakers 00:38:59 Want to be sure you are getting the most out of your retirement for all the years of your retirement. That's the primary goal of Moore living with Jim Brogan and our dollars and Cents segment, where we provide you with an important financial tip that will help positively impact the quality of your life and retirement. And now, here's Jim with this week's dollars and cents tip.

Jim Brogan 00:39:25 There's a lot of economic uncertainty. Are we in recession? How long will inflation persist? Will it go even higher? A lot of challenges for a retiree today. You know, you spent most of your life and your working years accumulating wealth and saving for retirement. But what comes next? The transition from accumulation to income generation isn't just a snap of the fingers.

Jim Brogan 00:39:52 In fact, it's a whole new approach to thinking about your wealth, your goals for that wealth, and what your money can do for you and with uncertain times ahead. It really does take unique strategies to effectively turn your wealth into a stable retirement income. And I think one of the most important things to realize is you're no longer saving and accumulating money. You're now withdrawing and spending your money. So it really does put a different set of pressures and stresses on the nest egg. And so I've got three tips here this morning of, just to kind of get you in the right framework, in the right mindset of preparing for the retirement phase. tip number one is to review your diversification and measure your risk profile. So, you know, most people that I meet with their risk profile when they see the amount of risk they're truly taking, are really quite shocked. You know, how long has it been since you evaluated the diversification in your portfolio? What is diversification really mean? What's it supposed to do? To me, it means you have a whole lot of stuff in your portfolio that don't just move up and down together.

Jim Brogan 00:41:08 So if one thing zigs, another zags. And with inflation and rising interest rates, it's important to have, let's call it non-traditional types of diversification other than just traditional bonds. And specifically, do you own volatility in your portfolio as an asset class, meaning you have a holding in your portfolio that specifically makes money when when markets are volatile because they're very volatile and volatility is a reality of stock market investing. And tip number two would be structuring income with what I call bucket planning, where you set aside a bucket that's going to provide for more stable income. You don't want to draw a fixed income from a variable investment. You shouldn't be drawing income from investments that are volatile and that are going up and down in the market. Your income in the first really, 5 to 7 years from now really should be coming from more stable holdings. And then you only replenish that bucket when markets are up, not when they're sharply down. And then the third tip would be managing your behavior. You know our behavior human emotion is one of the top enemies of successful wealth management.

Jim Brogan 00:42:30 And I think a big part of that is knowing how to structure things, ahead of time. So you don't get big surprises when markets are inevitably down.

Multiple Speakers 00:42:43 Our dollars and cents segment for this week. You can find this week's dollars and cents segment and others by visiting Brogan financial.com.

Jim Brogan 00:42:56 Check out all our Dollars in Sin segments at Brogan financial.com. Thank you for tuning in. This week we've really relived history because understanding our history gives us a greater understanding and perspective so we can live the best years of our lives our way. Thank you to lot. Mike Garcia. World War two historian. Really? Our Army veteran and military historian and book author for joining us. Have a wonderful July 4th weekend as we celebrate our freedom. You've been listening to More Living with Jim Brogan right here on Newstalk 987 w Cokie.

Multiple Speakers 00:43:31 The views expressed by Jim Brogan and his guests are not that of Cumulus Media. Any discussion of financial, legal, and tax planning strategies is not intended to be individualized advice and is general in nature.

Multiple Speakers 00:43:43 Always consult with your advisor for advice specific to your needs. This program's content does not represent a recommendation of any particular security strategy or investment by Jim Brogan or Brogan Financial, Incorporated.