Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: Foreign.
Welcome to your life and legacy. I'm Christopher Nudo. This is a space where faith meets finances and where we talk honestly about the decisions that shape not only the life we live, but the legacy we leave behind.
Today we're talking not just about finances, but financial milestones. We're talking about retirement as a stewardship decision because for many people, retirement brings a deeper question than do I have enough?
It asks, what am I responsible for? What do I value? How do I protect my family?
And how do I make wise decisions with what I've been entrusted with?
My guest today is Kirsten Crumb, a wealth advisor with SRG Financial Advisors out of Osage Beach, Missouri. Kirsten works with with pre retirees and retirees to build retirement income strategies, Social Security plans, tax efficient approaches, and long term financial confidence. Kirsten, welcome to your life and legacy.
[00:01:36] Speaker B: Thank you for having me, Chris. It's so awesome to be here and being able to talk to you about this today.
[00:01:41] Speaker A: Our viewers are going to be thrilled with everything you have to share. And I need to ask you right off the bat, what, what really drew you into financial advising and retirement planning?
[00:01:53] Speaker B: Yeah, what really drew me into financial advising is one that I think there's such a lack of financial literacy out there. As I was growing up, I saw it in my own life. I saw it in families around me.
And then, especially when I got to college, I really started to realize, you know, this is something that I want to be very passionate about. I see so many folks, you know, we learn so much in school and then financial literacy is just kind of pushed to the side. We're expected to make these major financial decisions in our life and we have little to no preparation. And so that's kind of what led me to wanting to dive deeper into finance. And now I get to help families do it for themselves, plan their lives out. And it's very rewarding to be able to see them feel more confident in their plan when being able to talk about these things with them.
[00:02:37] Speaker A: Oh, and I'm sure your clients absolutely are blessed by the fact that you make such a passion out of this education.
And you've been known to say that, you know, especially women do not receive enough financial education.
Tell us about that revelation.
[00:02:56] Speaker B: Yeah, I mean, I think you see it in a lot of aspects that sometimes women just this isn't necessarily their go to field.
A lot of times even growing up or, you know, you think that the spouse or the man of the household ends up taking on the finances and that we can just see that there's problems in that for so many different reasons. One, you know, the household finances are something to be a decision made together.
Even when we're talking to clients, it's, you know, we want to understand where both of you guys are at with finances. Not just one person. This is your guys's livelihood together, not just one person. So being able to understand how they are as a pair as a household and making that female in the household also feeling more confident that they can understand what is happening as well.
[00:03:40] Speaker A: And you know what? I'm absolutely going to ensure that my wife watches this because, you know, women really need to feel an equal in these financial decisions. And it is fantastic that you really champion that. You know, when retirement strikes fear in everybody. I know myself that when I think of retirement, there's the exact things we opened with, you know, do I have enough? How do I.
Because I have it. How do I make it last? All of these fears, you know, and misconceptions that play in our brain.
So when it comes to retirement, what are the greatest fears and misconceptions that you hear most often that you have to really deal with?
[00:04:28] Speaker B: Yeah, I mean, I think one of the obvious fears is, am I going to run out of money? I have all of these plans, I've worked my entire life now I have all these things that I want to do and am I going to run out of money? Am I going to be okay? Is my spouse going to be okay? Are my kids, my grandchildren going to be okay?
So that's the biggest fear and also just the overwhelming going back to the financial literacy problem, that you just simply don't know what you don't know.
And a lot of that. Then, you know, like you said, there's misconceptions that come with it. They think we can read a headline online and say, okay, this X amount of your income is what you need to be taking once you hit retirement. And there's never one cookie cutter plan for anything. I think that's the biggest misconception, is that if I just follow this one rule or make a plan one time in my life, that it's good and set to go. And that could not be further from the truth. Planning is truly dynamic to, to everyone's life and it's going to be different from your neighbor or anyone else in your life.
[00:05:27] Speaker A: I.
It's so well said. And can you give, like, let's kind of bring this down to, you know, earth to like the 1000 foot. Give us like, practical things. So you're Sitting with a client. You know, they've done really well, built a huge 401k and maybe even have diversified into, you know, a rental property or something. And like, what are some of, you know, and they're, let's say retirement age. So you pick the age. You know, what are just practical things that you're going to want to review with them?
[00:06:02] Speaker B: Yeah, well, I think the first thing that might surprise folks is the first thing we want to review with them is a little bit about their life. We want to hear about what's important to them. We like to call these our whys. This is your things, like your family. Obviously, the things we do for our family is very important. It's going to affect what our finances look like, occupation. You know, like you said, maybe they just retired. Maybe they want to be work optional is what we like to call it. Maybe we want to work at the dog shelter down the street and give ourselves some fulfillment of life and recreation. What are those big bucket list plans? What are those things that you just really want to accomplish in this life? Again, they have worked so hard. What are those important things we need to cross off the list? We find those three things really are the why and money is simply the how.
So, yes, of course we're going to talk about numbers eventually, but I just think people get surprised when the first conversation we have is really understanding someone, you know, that's great. You have a 401k you've built. I want to know, okay, what are we, what are we trying to even accomplish with this 401k down the line? Do we need to set up sustainable income for you, your spouse, where are we trying to live, accomplish all of those bucket list items? So, yeah, the most important thing is really just talking about their life first.
[00:07:14] Speaker A: Yes. And oh, so incredibly sad because we want to, you know, money is nothing more than a tool that gets us to, as you said, the whys.
So, you know, how do you. How should families really think about money as stewardship rather than control? You know, taking that money aspect and really appropriately placing it in life versus making it everything.
[00:07:42] Speaker B: Yeah, I mean, I think going back to the. The money is simply the how we do all of the things that are most important to us. Right. So it's not just let's make a decision about money today.
It's all about the stewardship. Like you said. What are those fulfilling things in life that we want to accomplish? You know, it's interesting because folks get to retirement, they've worked for a company for so long. Or they've owned a business they've been so passionate about, they get to retirement, and now, you know, it's almost this kind of void they have to fill. Right. So it's not just, you know, how do we solve for the money problem? Maybe it's how do we start to fulfill our life in a little different way now that we actually aren't working?
[00:08:21] Speaker A: What are some of the challenges? So what I'm. I'm thinking, and I'm like, okay, when both people retire, let's assume husband and wife, right?
You know, they both retire. I understand that. You know, they have to come together with their goals and what's next and what's travel? Who? You know, one of them's probably an avid pickleball player. Right. You know, so, you know, but what happens? How do you kind of adjust for one retires and the other one keeps working? Like, how do you navigate that?
[00:08:54] Speaker B: Yeah, there's a few different things that we have to navigate with that. You know, it starts to look at, you know, taxes. Where are we going to be if one person starts to retire now? And then we wait, does that affect kind of what job we want to be working? Does it make sense for us to maybe earn a little bit less or more, depending on what stages of life that we are moving into? Yeah, it definitely just kind of depends on every person's situation is going to be a little different and moving forward. You know, there's so many other decisions like Social Security, and we could do a whole episode on that, but that that goes back to if one person retires versus the other one waiting a little bit, that's going to affect those decisions. And that's why it's important to have both of the couples as a conversation in. In the household.
[00:09:39] Speaker A: So, Kirsten, you bring up such great points. You know, one of the things I think about is what happens when one spouse is ready to retire but the other one's still working. What are some of the considerations that need to be considered in those instances?
[00:09:58] Speaker B: Yeah, we definitely see this often. Not all the time, but there's definitely some instances where this happens.
There's a lot of different things to consider. Things that people don't think about is obviously, how is taxes going to be affected? How does that affect Social Security?
You know, there's so many things we could talk about, Social Security just in that instance, but, you know, for example, we could have one spouse wait to take theirs and potentially get the spousal benefit. There's so many different kind of nuances that happen within that.
[00:10:26] Speaker A: Excellent. Yes. And things that thing, things that couples really need to consider. And that's why, as you've stated so clearly, it's a decision that both have to come to equally and be on the same page because at the end of the day, it impacts their life going forward.
So, you know, these decisions, these financial decisions really need to be made with both confidence but, but a bit of humility. And in the minute we have left in this segment, Kirsten, what are some of those, what does it really mean to have confidence but humility in the financial decisions?
[00:11:05] Speaker B: Yeah, I think in having confidence in the financial decisions is one just understanding what it is that we're even planning for and knowing that we're going to have different contingent scenarios going forward for what life might throw at us. And that gives you a lot of confidence rather than just planning when tragic accidents or tragic things happen in our lives that we want to make sure we have a plan for everything and we can feel confident in that.
[00:11:28] Speaker A: Yeah, absolutely. I mean, it's so common sense, right, that, you know, if you, if you don't have a plan, that's your plan.
[00:11:36] Speaker B: That's exactly.
[00:11:37] Speaker A: But if you plan, especially working with somebody like you, Kirsten, you know, the, the, it's going to be the plan that you guys make will be fulfilled and the outcome will be so much better. I'm telling you, this is such an important starting point because retirement planning is not simply about reaching the finish line. It's, it's about preparing for a season of life with clarity, responsibility and purpose. When we come back, we'll talk about one of the biggest questions retirees face, how to turn savings into sustainable income without letting fear drive every decision.
Stay tuned.
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From business and news, lifestyle, culture and beyond, Now Media TV is streaming around the clock. Ready whenever you are. Hey, I'm back with Kirsten Crum, Wealth Advisor with SRG Financial Advisors. In the first segment, we talked about retirement as a stewardship decision.
Now we're moving into practical questions that keep so many families up at night.
How do we turn all that we've saved into income we can actually live on? For many people, the accumulation years are difficult, but at least the goal feels simple.
Save, invest and Prepare retirement changes the question.
Now the focus becomes income, timing, taxes, health care, Social Security risk and how much money and how long the money will last without living in fear.
Kirsten, welcome back.
I want to know really what is the difference between having savings and having a retirement income plan?
[00:14:29] Speaker B: Yeah. Glad to be back. And I think savings for folks is, that's that simple financial snapshot. Like, yes, that's great. We have savings. Here's what it is. Okay, now what do we do with it? Right. Savings is just nothing without a plan.
And that's why we, we talk about holistic financial planning because it's so important for all of the scenarios that are going to happen in life. We want to make sure that we have a goal in mind and a plan to be able to get us there. I want to tell a quick story as far as you talked about the accumulation years and working hard and saving up for retirement. Almost want to think of retirement of climbing a mountain. You have the accumulation years that's climbing up to the top of the mountain. You plant that flag at the very top and bam, that's retirement. Right? You know? Yes. There's ups and downs as you go along that mountain. You're working years, you're starting to build a family. Okay, we get there and we have saved this. Now we're at the very top. Well, a lot of people think you're over and it's done, you've made it to the top of retirement. But now what do you have to do? You got to make it down that mountain. And unfortunately, I don't know if you know anything about mountain climbing stories. A lot of the accidents actually happen on the way down. That's why it's so important not only to just have a savings, not only to just have or hit retirement at the very top. What is the plan to get us down that mountain? So that's just kind of an analogy we like to look at. It kind of changes your perspective when people think about, okay, I've grown this much, but now I actually have to follow a plan to make it safely down this mountain through retirement.
[00:16:00] Speaker A: What an excellent analogy. I love that.
So well said.
[00:16:04] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:16:05] Speaker A: So, you know, I am suspecting that one of the big differences is, you know, let's say they work for a corporation where they were accustomed to money being ached into their bank account every two weeks and now you're, you know, they're not going to receive that paycheck every two weeks and they're accustomed to going to their bank account and seeing a deposit made into their checking account every month for their lifestyle support. So how do you help couples transition from a paycheck mentality to a retirement income mentality?
[00:16:44] Speaker B: Yeah, that's obviously one of the biggest questions that we're trying to solve for. Right. Especially now times companies used to give out pensions, which kind of replaced, like you said, that, ach, every two weeks, you know, they used to give out a monthly pension. And we just don't see that as much anymore with companies. And so the onus is really on the clients. It's on these family members who have built this 401k and they don't know what to do, how to, how to start pulling money out.
So that's, that's everything that we have to solve for. How can we position this money kind of in a few different buckets, if you will, for, you know, long term growth? We won't touch this for 5, 10, 15 years. Okay, here's a position that we have right now. It's going to be a little safer. This is something we can actually start to tap into, pull a monthly income off of and be able to position it in that way where they do have a monthly income coming to them. It just is now coming from their own savings at that point.
[00:17:39] Speaker A: Excellent. And we don't want to forget about Social Security. It's still available in this day and age and people have paid a gazillion dollars into the system. Right. I mean, everybody, everybody thinks that they paid the most into the system. And I appreciate that. And so, you know, we can't ignore Social Security. So talk about the timing and decisions that you help people make with regard to the when and the who and all of that.
[00:18:11] Speaker B: Yeah, you absolutely can't ignore Social Security.
The, the interesting fact, and we've talked about it a little bit as far as the financial l. But if you go onto the Social Security website yourself, it more or less says you need to make an educated guess or an educated decision when it comes to Social Security and figure it out. And so it leaves people with, you know, they've never been taught how or when or when is the best time, how is it going to affect me? And all of a sudden they have to make this huge decision and once they turn it on, that's when they turn it on. Right.
So. So we like to go through a plan and give them different options and scenarios. Okay, maybe the husband takes it now and the wife wa. A little bit. Whichever, whichever one. We just like to build out several different plans.
And so, yes, Social Security is absolutely Part of the conversation, but it needs to be built into the entire financial plan. You just simply can't make that decision on its own.
[00:19:05] Speaker A: Right. I'm so glad you brought that up because that's exactly what I was thinking. Like it is just one piece of the full puzzle and you're having to integrate that. It can't be siloed on its own.
[00:19:19] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:19:19] Speaker A: So let's move to a topic that nobody likes talking about except a small handful, and that's taxes.
[00:19:27] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:19:27] Speaker A: You know, but yet we pay a ton of it. Right. So what role does tax efficient retirement planning play in the scope of everything you're working with?
[00:19:39] Speaker B: Yeah. Taxes cannot be ignored.
We start thinking about planning and everyone's just thinking about, okay, how much money can I take out of, let's say, the 401k that I've saved for so many years? Years. That's great. But the real question is how much are we truly taking home at the end of the day? Right. Pulling income out of something, it isn't the same number that we take home. Right. And it's weird that we, you know, through our whole lives work, we know taxes come out, but for some reason we don't think of taxes coming out when we have our own savings or investments accounts. It is so important and thinking, you know, my buddy down the street has X amount of dollars in his account and this is how much he's pulling out. Well, his plan is going to look so much different compared to yours if yours are structured in a little bit different way tax wise. And then that starts to get a little bit more in the weeds of, okay, let's sit down and truly have some tax efficient planning. Let's make sure these accounts are all working together and we don't get ourselves into this big tax bill at the end of the year because God knows that's the last thing that we want to have happen. Right?
[00:20:44] Speaker A: That's right. And it. And you know what people, you know, let's just be honest, you know, when April 15th comes, if they owe a big tax bill, they ain't happy, right?
[00:20:56] Speaker B: No, no one is.
[00:20:57] Speaker A: Never, never. Nobody is. Nobody's like, yay. No.
So you mentioned, and you brought up, you know, the neighbor next door and you know, people comparing themselves one to another and what you're really referencing is the fact that people have many buckets typically in which to draw from. They might have the pension bucket, the 401k bucket, the savings, the brokerage account, so on and so forth. And they might have duplicates. Right. Because they have, you know, husband and wife. So how do you decide which bucket to draw from and when?
[00:21:28] Speaker B: Yeah, it goes back to that entire comprehensive planning process.
You know, we have to think of Social Security. We need to think of do they have a pension. We start looking at all of those things. Even your, your 401k bucket. There's probably different tax breakdowns within that bucket that people don't even know about until they retire, which is so crazy. It goes back to all of this. Folks just don't know what they don't know. Right. They retire and they think, okay, now I just need to plan. When in reality, the more you can have a little head start and understand where things are at, where your buckets are even laying at, then we can make a better plan to be able to be one, tax efficient and two, be able to get whatever that lifestyle is that you're looking to live in retirement and make sure we make it sustainable. Sustainable for your entire life.
[00:22:14] Speaker A: That's excellent. And I want to draw into exactly that 401k topic you just brought up where, you know, people don't even know that there's different tax.
Like, I don't know. Can you unpack that for me?
[00:22:28] Speaker B: Yeah, absolutely. And, and you know, unfortunately it's confusing. These 401k statements are not always easy to read and they're not exactly accessible. Sometimes, you know, especially now it might just be digital and if you don't have your login, you might be out of luck. But you know, within that you have different tax breakdowns. So for example, there's traditional 401k. You might have Roth 401k, which means that you've already paid taxes on that and it's actually growing tax free, which is a huge benefit. When we start looking at retirement planning, obviously we have money that's able to grow tax free, which is such a blessing. Right.
And then sometimes we even get a little bit more nitty gritty and people have company stock and that's it's whole other thing that we need to unravel and unpack and be able to move around. And so it just goes back to everyone's situation is truly very different. Just because you have a 401k and your buddy down the street has a 401k. The what's actually inside of those could be very different.
[00:23:22] Speaker A: Yeah, I'm learning so much here. Kirsten, this is great. So we have like, we have less than a minute left as we go wrap up this segment. But what is one mistake that can quietly weaken a retirement income plan.
[00:23:36] Speaker B: Yeah. I think the biggest mistake is waiting for a problem to happen before you try to start planning. We like to, we like to just make sure that we're planning ahead. We like to say there's going to be different milestones that happen in your life, different mile markers that come up, and we want to make sure that we have a plan as we come across each of those rather than just waiting for something bad to happen and then, oh, no, we need to make a quick plan because that's just not going to be as strong as planning ahead. No.
[00:24:03] Speaker A: So well said. You know, this is where practical planning really becomes peace of mind. Kirsten said it so well. Retirement income is not just about how much someone has. It's about how clearly the pieces really fit together.
When we return, we'll talk about financial confidence, especially for people who were never taught how to ask the right questions about money.
Stay tuned.
[00:24:55] Speaker B: Foreign.
[00:25:03] Speaker A: Welcome back to YOUR Life and legacy. I'm continuing my conversation with Kirsten Crumb. And in this segment, we're talking about something that affects far too many families, the financial education gap.
Kirsten has a passion for making complex financial topics easier to understand, especially for people who are never given the tools, the language or the confidence to ask informed questions. This matters deeply because financial confusion can lead to fear. It can lead to avoidance and decisions that do not really reflect family values.
Kirsten, I love the fact that the Lord has given you this passion for education and helping people and so explain how people who don't have this education are really limited in the types of decisions they can make for their family.
[00:26:09] Speaker B: Yeah, folks are really limited in not knowing what they don't know. And it's crazy to think that some folks will spend more time planning like a vacation in their life than they do learning and understanding finances and some of the biggest life decisions that they're going to make. I saw this growing up. I saw this as I went to college.
It's just not taught enough and people don't understand it and they don't even know where to ask those questions at. So being able to sit down, have a conversation like myself or sit down with someone to be able to understand where do I even start? Right? That's normally the hardest question, even asking where do I even start? And how can I just prepare myself better for the future?
[00:26:50] Speaker A: I can really understand, even on a personal level how, you know, thinking of retirement honestly is like viewing into a black tunnel. Like, like, we've done so much. We've, we, but, but but walking into it's kind of scary. What's in there? What do we do? You know, where are we going?
And so I can see you being that beacon of light that just says, oh, it's not so scary in this tunnel.
Tell me about. You know, I'm sure your clients, number one, love you because you're so good at what you do. But number two, that. That the affection they have for you comes because you're shedding light on this fear that we have because looking into the unknown is no fun.
Tell us about the aha moments you see in your clients eyes when they really discover the education and realization that they're okay.
[00:27:51] Speaker B: Yeah, well, first off, I can feel very blessed if I am a beacon of anyone's light as they start looking at financial planning and just thinking about retirement. You know, a lot of the aha moments that I see is the difference between the first couple meetings to once we truly get like this plan on the role. You know, the first few meetings, this is where we're learning about you. We want to see what it is that you want from life, what it is that you want from your retirement lifestyle, and what questions you have. And a lot of times it's like, oh, my gosh, Kirsten, I have had all of these questions, and I wish that I found someone before I came into you. I wish that I started working with you prior to the time I did because I feel like I'd be on a better track.
But it's so awesome that they at least got started. We got to have these conversations and they do eventually feel more confident in everything because, I mean, it is truly like night and day between the first meeting with someone and let's say just by the end of the first year that we start working with someone. Like, okay, I have my retirement, I have my income planning. Obviously, everything is going to be dynamic and fluid with their lives. It's never just cookie cutter going to be one time, but they feel confident that they have a plan for anything coming up.
[00:29:00] Speaker A: Yeah, that's. That's spot on. I want to go back to, you know, something we touched on in our first segment, which is your concern for women and women's financial confidence.
You know, being married for 31 years and actually being the breadwinner and in charge of our finances at home, I understand how my wife does not have the same financial literacy that I have. And, you know, just as full transparency, mine's pretty small.
So, you know, how do you empower women in relationships really to, you know, step in and be part of the program.
[00:29:41] Speaker B: Yeah. Well, for one, we. We need to have both couples in the conversation.
Sometimes we have folks that come in and, you know, okay, he deals with finances, he's going to come to the meetings, but we need both of you there. It's. This is a team thing. This is very important. This is affecting both of your lives. We can't simply make a decision without both of them being a part of the conversation.
And unfortunately, and I hate to even think of this, but if one partner passes away, who was the quote, unquote, like you said, the person who ran the household finances. Well, God forbid something happens to them. And now we have left, say, the wife behind, and she. One doesn't even know where all the accounts are. She doesn't understand why, why we're even in investments that we're in. Doesn't even know who to contact.
That's when we start getting into just huge, huge problems. Right. And then already in such a vulnerable place, and now she has to deal with all of this and try to learn all of this at one time. That's the last time she needs to be doing that.
[00:30:40] Speaker A: Yeah. So you are doing a huge service just for the wives and single women out there by raising them up, empowering them, educating them, and, you know, you're overall making everything better with that couple or that single person. You know, what are some of the emotions? Like, I, I can. I know exactly what they are because I'm feeling them inside of me as we're even having this interview. But explain to our audience what emotions tend to come up when people feel behind or uninformed about money.
[00:31:17] Speaker B: Yeah, I think some of the emotions I see is, is embarrassment. You know, money becomes such a taboo kind of thing, and once they start actually speaking it out loud, it's kind of coming to whatever their truth is. And it's nothing to be ashamed of. There's nothing to be ashamed of from the beginning when we start talking about money. But a lot of people feel that way because they're, they're just embarrassed that they don't even know what they have.
Also see guilt. I like they feel so bad that they haven't even started this plan sooner than they had. But again, I'm so glad they. They are coming in and having a conversation with me. The last thing I want anyone to feel is ashamed or guiltful for starting this journey. That is the most important step. So I commend anyone for even starting to think about their financial plan when we get to retirement.
[00:32:01] Speaker A: Wow. Wow.
So what Are some of those safe spaces for clients to, you know, explain how you create the safe space, I think, is really what I want to ask so that they don't feel embarrassed or ashamed.
[00:32:16] Speaker B: Yeah. I think as far as the safe spaces, I want to teach and educate you as much as you want to be taught without being overwhelmed. Right. Because I can understand you're not the one that's trying to become the pro at this. Right. That's what you have someone like me to lean on for. But I want you to also be able to kind of take a breath of like, okay, that makes sense. I understand why we're doing that. I don't need to know every in and out in the very behind the scenes, but I understand why we're doing that. And so you kind of take a breath, have that peace of mind. We like to talk about things that aren't passing the pillow test. What can we do to make sure that there's nothing that's keeping you up at night when it comes to your finances or anything else in your whole financial life? Your whole life picture that might include finances in one way or another?
What can we do to alleviate that?
[00:33:04] Speaker A: The pillow test?
[00:33:06] Speaker B: Yes.
[00:33:06] Speaker A: What do you do up at night? You know, and I'm sitting here and I'm thinking to myself, the pillow test is people putting a pillow over their head and being like, no, you know,
[00:33:19] Speaker B: they might have a different pillow test. Whatever your pillow test is, we want to make sure we can alleviate what those thoughts are and get all of those things out of our mind. Don't even think of that. Let's make sure we just go up with a plan and we're successful with it and make you feel better.
[00:33:34] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah. And. And one of the things I. I deal with all the time that I think we should talk about are those single people. We don't want to ignore single people. Right.
So we have our widows and we have our divorced individuals or just singles out there.
You know, they have their own challenge.
Tell me a little bit about the voice you want to give to those folks.
[00:34:03] Speaker B: Yeah. It is their own. It's a different process. It absolutely is. You know, we talk about the spouses. We need both of them helping make the decision. The decisions. When we have a single person, what is it that they are living for? What do they want? You know, we start thinking of, okay, maybe after our life here are their kids, are there grandkids, are there family members that we're also planning for on their behalf? Because oftentimes those single people, they still do have some family to lean on. Okay, well, how can we plan to make sure if we're thinking of our grandchildren, that we want to set up for college? Let's make sure we start planning for that.
So it doesn't just stop with the person itself. It still continues to be a planning for what the legacy is that they want to live.
[00:34:46] Speaker A: I love the way that you just transitioned right into what's going to be our next segment, and that's legacy.
So you, you know, in the last minute and a half, two minutes that we have here, how does confidence, you know, because that's what you're doing. You're educating, and educating instills confidence. How does that change when people finally understand their plan?
[00:35:08] Speaker B: Yeah, confidence absolutely does change. Like we talked about that first meeting to the last one at the end of the year, as we start working with clients, it's. It's just a total 180, which is the, the best part about my job is being able to see people go from that very starting point. They have whatever that embarrassment or the guilt or the I should have, could have, would have, I didn't know I should have been contributing this type of tax type versus that type of tax type. The thing is, as long as you start planning and getting to that point of understanding where you're at, we have, we have plans in place for when everything happens in our life, and we can feel confident about that and we can have that education of what it is without being too overwhelmed of what our plan truly entails.
[00:35:51] Speaker A: Excellent. And we still have a small window here before we take a break. And what I wanted to ask Kirsten is some people contribute to their 401k and, you know, they get the. The tax break from that.
Others do the Roth.
How do they really distinguish, you know, is that a whole conversation of how I should contribute based on how they make their income and, you know, whether they're a 1099 W2 type of person?
[00:36:25] Speaker B: Yeah, you. You started hitting all of those points. It absolutely depends on what type of an employee you are as far as your taxes. It also goes back to is it their spouse involved that we need to be taking in consideration what their tax bracket is and what yours ends up being? All of those things are what we consider as part of the entire holistic financial plan. Yes.
[00:36:44] Speaker A: Excellent. Kirsten. This is the part of the conversation where that it was just so incredibly important.
Financial wisdom should not be reserved for people who already speak the magical financial language. When people understand the plan, they can participate in the plan which you are doing so well, Kirsten. And when they participate, they make decisions with greater confidence, dignity and peace.
When we come back, we'll close by talking about legacy, what money can protect, what it can teach, and what families can pass beyond the dollars. Stay tuned.
Welcome back to your life and legacy. Stay connected to this show and every NOW Media TV favorite live and on demand anytime you'd like. Download the free Now Media TV app on Roku and iOS and unlock non stop bilingual programming in English and Spanish on the move. Hey, catch the podcast version at NowMedia TV. From business and news, lifestyle, culture and beyond, Now Media TV is streaming around the clock. Ready whenever you are.
I'm here with Kirsten Crumb, wealth advisor at SRG Financial Advisors.
In this final part of the conversation, we're bringing retirement planning back to the heart of this show. Your life and your legacy.
Money can provide income, security and options, but legacy is bigger than an account balance. Legacy is about the values we teach, the conversations we have and the faith that we model, generosity we practice, and the decisions we make before our families are forced to make them under pressure.
Kirsten, when you hear the word legacy, what does that mean in the context of retirement planning?
[00:39:14] Speaker B: Yeah, I think there's many things that legacy means in the context of financial planning. One, the legacy is what is it that you want to leave behind to this earth? Right. What is that lasting legacy you want to have? And we want to make sure as we're building a plan that we're understanding far more than just the numbers but important things like what is the legacy you want to leave behind?
Another part of it is what is the legacy I want to leave behind to my family members?
What is the legacy I want to leave behind to maybe my church or my organization that I like? What it is that you want to leave behind and make a lasting impression on? We want to make sure that we're planning for that.
[00:39:49] Speaker A: Yeah, we really do. And that really comes down to family values. What do they see themselves today?
What churches, what charities, what, what ministries and, you know, do they want to leave scholarship funds? Explain, explain to our audience just how many different ways you've seen money just be a blessing as they design their lasting legacy.
[00:40:14] Speaker B: Yeah, money can be absolutely a blessing as we're starting to plan, let's say, for the next generation.
And not even money, but maybe it's things like assets like land or family farms or family businesses. You know, all of that is still a very huge component as far as planning and leaving on to the next generation is I think the most blessing one to be able to watch seeing a family leaving behind something that they know that the next generation is going to continue on.
And then we got to do planning for not only them, but then we get to continue planning for their kids, their grandchildren. And it's this everlasting cycle that is really beautiful that we get to have such a strong tie with an entire family as it goes one generation to the next.
[00:40:56] Speaker A: Absolutely. It's really that, that dynasty kind of conversation where, you know, the money you have today can be preserved and used for such great things for generation, many generations to come.
[00:41:11] Speaker B: Yes, absolutely.
[00:41:12] Speaker A: How can parents or grandparents talk with adult children? Or really, I mean, the question really is a how, but it's a. It's more really a when should parents and grandparents talk with their adult children about money and do it in such a way that the people don't have this entitlement kind of mentality.
[00:41:34] Speaker B: Yeah. We never want anyone to feel entitled to Grandma and grandpa's money. Right. That's not what we're looking for. Do we want to have conversations that include the entire family? Absolutely. We want to make sure that, let's say, for example, Grandma and grandpa are going to leave behind their huge accounts or their house. We want to make sure we're a part of that conversation with the kids so they understand what they're getting.
We now have to start thinking of, okay, is this going to be a tax problem now? Are we going to have to start kind of pre planning for what we know we might be inheriting in our future? And so it just opens up this whole thing of how can we have that conversation now while we still have everyone? And so everyone is on the same page. The kids know who to reach out to. We want to make this as seamless as possible because as we know, as we start to transition from one generation to the next, the last thing we want to think of when that happens is I don't know where to start as far as the finances go, where to find everything. We want to know that we are content and understand exactly what is going to happen when that does happen.
[00:42:35] Speaker A: That's right. That, that, that planning ahead of time, that transition, we want it to be as smooth as possible with the greatest amount of knowledge at the forefront.
So, you know, we all, you and I would both agree that, you know, it's never too late, but the earlier the plan, the better, right?
[00:42:54] Speaker B: Yes, absolutely.
[00:42:55] Speaker A: What are some of those. Yeah, so what are some of those conversations families should not postpone?
[00:43:02] Speaker B: Yeah, well, I mean, we call something a family phone call, which is just sitting down with whatever those adults, the. Let's say the grandparents or the adults of their children. Let's get all of those folks together in one phone call so they understand where things are. You know, unfortunately, we have people come to us after this has happened, and again, there's no better time than the present. So if you're coming in for a conversation, I commend you again for coming in to start planning. However, if we can, ahead of time, things like, where does mom and dad have the title to the house? Am I even listed on that? Where is their information about all of their accounts? Where is their bank accounts? Even sitting at all of these things that. Oh, my goodness, that's so overwhelming when someone just passes away. And now I have to think of tracking down all of these different things. That's the last thing we want to have happen. So having a plan, understanding and having that conversation and being very forefront with whatever that next generation is so they know where to go to.
[00:44:01] Speaker A: Yeah. And it, you know, unfortunately, a number of families can be diversified in numerous banks, numerous brokerage houses, not to mention, you know, their work accounts may still be with the custodians from the. You know, and it just goes on and on. And that doesn't even count, you know, whether they have life insurance policies and where are those, and. Yeah. And so really, bringing that all together, do you help families, like, bring that all together, put it in one comprehensive kind of place?
[00:44:37] Speaker B: Yeah, we do. We put it all in this place that's called our vault, where we're able to have folks start uploading and organizing all of those things. So when it passes on to the kids. Okay, I have a folder that has exactly where all of these accounts are. Here are the statements. Here's who's the person on the bank account, all of those things. Because we have literally had people come in with laundry baskets full of mail of, I don't know what to do with this. You know, mom and dad just passed away, or dad passed away and mom doesn't know where anything's at. What do I do now?
Again, I'm glad they're starting to plan and trying to find something now, but it's hard to come up with plans when we're in these times of crisis and something just happens in our life.
[00:45:17] Speaker A: That's right. That's right. And do you help them keep that vault updated? Like, do you. Every year, do you kind of give them a little poke, like, hey, we need to meet? Like, how does that happen?
[00:45:29] Speaker B: Yeah, it's. I mean, it's incorporated to, to our planning sessions throughout the entire year. So we want to make sure. Okay, we're. We just sold a house and we bought a new house. Let's make sure that we have that title up there in that vault. So the kids have that once should something happen. And also for their own records. Cuz goodness, we all have, you know, a drunk drawer at home and we start to lose documents ourselves. So God forbid, trying to even pass that on to the next generation. It's hard to even think of that because we don't even know where our own things are at. Right. It's. It just gets so overwhelming and there's so many different companies and we want to make sure that each meeting we have, we're seeing what's on changed in your life. What do we need to update? What do we need to put in our records so we have that information? Should you start asking us?
[00:46:12] Speaker A: Yeah, and, and you said it out loud, but I was thinking of it, you know, where are my things?
That. And we lose things in our junk drawer. What? Everybody can visualize that because everybody has a junk drawer and most people have no idea what's in there. Except one black Sharpie, you know, so. Yeah, I get you. So, you know, let's go back to financial, Financial security and help. The desire to help others. How can retirees really protect both of those and have those two not be in conflict with one another?
[00:46:48] Speaker B: Yeah, well, when we think of retirees and we think of what their legacy is and you know what it is, money comes after the fact. We touched on this in the previous segment. And really, when it comes to our whys in life, it's your family, your occupation, your recreation.
Do we want to continue to be donating or volunteering? Somewhere we have this void of life, of not working anymore. Maybe we want to spend time at the shelter or at our church or starting to give back to our community.
Well, okay, now we can put that into the plan. And the money is just simply how we end up doing all of these things and how we're able to plan for them.
[00:47:24] Speaker A: And I know that our viewers are going to want to learn more about Kirsten. They're going to want to learn more about SRG Financial Advisors. So what are the best ways they can connect with you? Where should they go?
[00:47:39] Speaker B: Yeah, absolutely. You should check us out on our website. Our website is www.srgfinancialadvisors.com.
my name was Kirsten. Again, we have a wonderful team. We're located in Osage Beach, Missouri, and continue to keep expanding, which is so wonderful. And you can also, if you feel like wanting to have a consultation with us, we're able to meet virtually. So no matter where you're at, you can give us a phone call at 573-302-7212. And we'd be more than happy to have that first conversation with you.
[00:48:11] Speaker A: Kirsten, thank you for bringing so much clarity, care and practical wisdom to this conversation.
Today we talked about retirement income, Social Security, tax efficient planning, financial education, women and the confidence Kirsten can bring to them and the conversation. And we tidied it up with stewardship and a lasting legacy.
And what really stands out is financial planning is not only about preparing for the future, it's about becoming more intentional with with life, family, resources and what God has placed in our hands.
To everyone watching, I want to leave you with this question.
Are your financial decisions aligned with the legacy you hope to leave?
I'm Christopher Nudo, and this has been your life and legacy.
