Retire Smart Austin | Episode 176

Cynthia de Fazio  00:27

Welcome to Retire Smart Austin. My name is Cynthia DeFazio, joined today by Phil Capriotti, senior of Empower Wealth and Tax and to our viewers at home, we have a question for you. Do you like golf? That’s how we’re going to tee up this show today. Phil, what do you think?

Philip Capriotti  00:43

I think it’s a great topic. Oh, my spirits right in line with the house we’re looking at on the on the 14th tee over at Summit. So okay, so this is brand this is like brand new material, and-

Cynthia de Fazio  00:56

It is. It’s going to be fun, because I know that you are such an avid golfer. So, what a perfect show to talk about how financial advising actually ties into the game of golf, and you have no idea where we’re going to go today, no, but Phil, again, I have to say this is for you.

Philip Capriotti  01:13

Okay, great. Well, thank God I’m a better financial advisor than I am a golfer. So, but at any rate, you know, we’re always room for improvement here.

Cynthia de Fazio  01:25

So, the house you’re looking at on the golf course, very excited about that.

Philip Capriotti  01:29

So, it’s beautiful. It’s southwest. My wife absolutely fell in love with it. So, here’s the funny thing. She’s like, I don’t want to go see it. I really don’t want to go see. I want to have a house on the lake. Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, like, Honey, we got a house on the lake. It’s on the other side of the lake. She says, I really want it on this side. You’d be closer to golf and this and that. So, I’m perusing through those MSL- the MLS listings. And anyway, I see this, I see this house, and it reminds me of something that we would have seen and when we were up in Santa Fe. Well, my wife loves southwest architecture. Fell in love with Santa Fe when she went there in her early 20s, when she worked with the IRS. At any rate, to make a long story short, I’m looking at it, and it’s about 3,800 3,900 square foot, three bedroom, three bath, but it’s open and it’s gorgeous. It has the cabinets, all wood, beams, and I’m looking at it’s got this big wrap around covered patio and plenty of room. It backs up to the back of the house, backs up to the 14th green. And there’s plenty of- there’s plenty of like, trees and shrubs, so they’re not really looking in at you, right? So, at any rate, so I said, Honey, we got to take a look at this. So, she’s like, now I’m not really interested. So forth and so on. So, we get into the house, she says to me, don’t be excited. Okay, if it’s really nice, don’t be excited. Don’t show the realtor you’re excited about the house. Like, okay, no problem. So anyway, we go in, we’re not there for 10 minutes walking around, and she’s with the realtor. And so, I turned around, I looked at her, she’s like, anyway, it needs work. It needs the needs a little TLC, it needs a pool, and it needs just a couple little touches. But at any rate, we put an offer on it, and I guess you’ll have to wait for another month or so to let you know whether we’re there or not, but-

Cynthia de Fazio  03:25

I love it.

Philip Capriotti  03:26

It’s 40- it’s literally four tenths of a mile from our Horseshoe Bay office. Oh my gosh. She’s like, you can go to the office in your golf cart and then go play golf afterwards. I’m like, God, honey, that’s forward thinking. I like that. So perfect show.

Cynthia de Fazio  03:39

It is a perfect show. So, as you know, Phil obviously, being an amazing financial advisor for so many years, and also being an avid golfer, one of the most important things, the two things that tie together golf and financial advising. Number one is developing a game plan, thinking about your strategies. And let’s talk a little bit about how that correlates with someone that you’re meeting with for the first time, putting a game plan together for them when it comes to their retirement, health and wealth in the future.

Philip Capriotti  04:07

So, unfortunately, we see many advisors, and I’m going to say probably nine out of 10. Maybe it’s maybe it’s 9.5 out of 10. Have these canned pitch game plans, is what I’m going to call them. And basically, they don’t really look at a Social Security Strategy. They’re not looking at all of the clients, assets. They’re not looking at structuring, RMD, distribution planning. They’re kind of one dimensional. And with that- with that being said, you really only get- And in your words earlier today, one Mulligan, that’s all you get. All you get. You get it on the very first hole, meaning you get it on your- with your very first advisor. For most of us saving for retirement, we’re working with an advisor. If we’re fortunate enough to working with an advisor. Year, they’re more in the accumulation planning phase. When we get into retirement and we no longer have the paycheck coming in, or we no longer have that steady flow, that steady routine, you have to switch gears. You have to move into distribution planning. So, what does that mean? Well, that means you need to work with an advisor who, number one, understands all of the, let’s say, sand traps that you’re going to get that you’re going to hit along the way. So, the one hazard, okay, would be not structuring your Social Security Strategy tax efficiently. That’s a big one. That’s going to cost you at least four or five strokes. Okay? And I’m talking about paying extra to the IRS with respect to taxes. The other thing that we need to look at is picking the right Medicare and Medicare advantage health care plan. Absolutely. So, when you go in and you talk with your advisor, they’re like, they don’t understand that. They don’t- you know, they may. You know what, I have a person that does Medicare, we’ll send you over to them. So, you need to have all of these things in house, because a lot of things you must get right. Number one, a tax efficient retirement income plan has to be number one priority. What does that mean? That means structuring a social security plan that’s tax efficient, getting the most out of Social Security based on what you and your spouse, if you’re married, have paid into it. The next thing is making sure you’re not being pummeled with taxes in retirement. Many financial advisors tell you to go talk to your CPA. Well, the CPA won’t even- many of the CPAs that we train now don’t understand tax planning. They understand providing you with tax services. They’re basically recording history this year. They’re not looking five years down the road, 10 years down the road. I’m still hearing accountants say, put all of your money in your 401(k) tax deferred, because when you retire, I just had this with a client that walked in, when you retire, you’re going to be in a lower tax bracket. Well, I say to the CPA, can you guarantee that? Great point. Can you guarantee that? What is the maximum tax going to be Mr. CPA? And again, they realized that, basically they just stumbled. So, this is all part of that planning. So, you have to use a methodically, a methodical and well thought out plan, just like playing golf, yes. Okay, how far do you want to get on that first shot? How far do you want to get in that first one to three years in retirement? Okay, yeah. How about your next approach- approach shot? What do you want to do? Do you want to hit it left? Do you want to hit it right? Do you want to- would throw a dart right at the flag on the green? Well, as far as I’m concerned, most of the golfers that we play, that we play with, they’re methodical. Everything is planned out, as should be an individual’s retirement income- retirement plan.

Cynthia de Fazio  08:07

Absolutely, it’s so very important and crucial, and it’s so amazing when you think about how the two really do correlate so well together. We’re going to take a commercial break in just a moment, but you’ve actually kind of tied into the next one. Phil adapting to changing conditions. Very important to do in the game of golf, if all of a sudden it begins to rain, and you’ve got to play faster. What about if the market changes? What about if there’s changes with any sort of portfolio situation?

Philip Capriotti  08:33

You have to be tactical- adapt. You have to be tactical. You’re right. You have to adapt. You have to be tactical. You have to know how much risk is too much risk for the return I’m receiving in my portfolio. Meaning, let’s assume that for, God forbid, we saw a- some sort of a catastrophic event that would affect world markets. We saw it in 2008, we’ve saw it in the crash of 1928, 29; look at our debt $36 rapidly approaching $37 trillion. All this- one party wants to do is spend, spend, spend. So, we have to adapt to changing tax plans, new tax laws, and we also have to adapt to what type of return do we want to seek? What is my risk? I have folks that come into our office, and they have great returns, 12, 13, 14% per year, but their drawdown, their risk is 40, 45% and I tell them, think about this. You’re no longer working. You have your 1, 2, 3, 5 million. Doesn’t matter how much you have, how many zeros on the end of that. The fact is, how much can you allow the market to take? Is your financial advisory team, is that family going to pull you out once we’ve reached a downturn or a bottom, a trough of 10%, meaning I don’t want to drop 20, 30, so I’ll ask clients: You have a million dollars. Let’s just use that as an objective number. If the market drops, when the market drops 30 or 40% are you willing to lose 300,000 or 400,000 to make the 11%? Are you? And so, we quantify that. So again, many advisors don’t do that. Again, it’s methodical. It’s planning. I love the game of golf. I’m not very good, but I do strive to get better. Maybe if we get this house on the 14th green, I can at least practice that hole every night after work.

Cynthia de Fazio  10:37

There you go. That’s perfect. And on that note, Phil, you have a very special message to our viewers at home. Let’s talk about what that is.

Philip Capriotti  10:44

You know, what we’re seeing now, folks is many of you have been watching us for three years, four years, five years, you’ve been listening to us on the radio. And what I’m seeing is a lot of folks are now calling and coming in, and I would say, if you’re new to the program. Or if you have been watching us for the last 3, 4, 5, years, and you’re rapidly approaching retirement, or in retirement, even as far in as collecting RMDs, call our number 888-818-6557, speak to one of our advisors, our telephone advisors. Let them know you’ve been listening or watching for a while, and you want to come in for your portfolio review and a tax efficient, written retirement income plan. Remember, your retirement is going to be full of a lot of is going to be full of a lot of different divots, sand traps and obstacles along the way. Give us a call. We’re experienced. We’ve worked with thousands of folks help plan their tax official retirement. Allow us the opportunity to work with you.

Cynthia de Fazio  11:49

Phil, thank you so much to our viewers at home. That number to call is 888-818-6557, we know that you’ve worked your entire life to get to the retirement years, and you deserve to have peace of mind. Call in to 888-818-6557, or you can grab your smartphone, click on that QR code at the bottom corner of your screen that’ll take you right to the landing page for Empower Wealth and Tax and you can schedule your time accordingly. Don’t go anywhere. We have so much more about how the game of golf goes hand in hand with financial advising. Stay tuned.

Philip Capriotti  12:21

Hello, folks. This is Phil Capriotti, Sr. I want to start by thanking you for putting your trust in me and my team. You’ve allowed us to help you reach a tax free and tax efficient retirement. And for many of you, we have been executing mock tax returns each and every year. By using this strategy, we have converted your IRAs to Roth IRAs in an extremely tax efficient manner. Now here we are, over a decade later, hundreds of our clients are retiring completely tax free, and for many of our newer clients, you have started the process and are well on your way to executing your own individual Roth conversion process. Congratulations to all of you. To celebrate, I want to personally invite each and every one of you to our first annual Retire Tax Free Gala. It will be held at the Horseshoe Bay Yacht Club on December 7, 2024. Festivities will start at 7pm till closing. There will be dinner, dancing, open bar and a complimentary guest room for your overnight stay. Most of all, we will be enjoying each other’s company. It’s really quite amazing that over 250 of our clients have reached tax efficiency in retirement by executing their annual individual Roth conversion strategy. So, thank you very much. I look forward to seeing each and every one of you for an amazing weekend that we’ll never forget. Please call our office to RSVP. God bless you all. See you soon.

Cynthia de Fazio  13:59

Welcome back to Retire Smart Austin. My name is Cynthia DeFazio, joined today by Phil Capriotti, senior of Empower Wealth and Tax. And we’re talking all about the game of golf and how it correlates with being a financial advisor. Phil, this next one, this is very important. All golfers and financial advisors are focusing on the long game. Let’s talk a little bit about that. Obviously, you’re not designing a plan that’s going to last someone for a year or two years or five years. You’re looking at someone’s entire retirement picture. You want to see them sail to the 18^th hole.

Philip Capriotti  14:31

Oh, I love that, the long game. So, one of the very famous golfers one time used to say, you drive for show, but you putt for the dough. Love that, okay? And the fact of the matter is, that’s a lot like and I can see the contrast and draw an analogy to the game of golf. Yes, it’s wonderful to have a nice, long drive. Let’s say 250, 300, right down the center of the fairway, especially on one of these long par fours or par fives. However, the real key when I see that long drive, I’m talking about accumulating literally millions or hundreds of thousands, millions of dollars in assets for retirement. That’s your long game. Yes. Now the short game is getting up and down. And that’s exactly what the term is used: I want to get up and I want to get down, meaning I want to get up onto the green in one shot, and then I want to one putt. Nice. Okay. Okay, so what does that mean? That means I want to make sure that, not only that I had that long drive or have that wonderful retirement account, okay, but I don’t want to give it away. I don’t want to waste taxes. And we’ll call them strokes on chili, dip in the left or slicing right. I want to get up and down. I want to get on the green, and then I want to putt efficiently, one or two putt to make par, possibly birdie. I don’t want to go double and triple bogeys now with you folks, what does that mean? And how do we draw the contrast? Well, the fact of the matter is, saving for retirement is your long drive, getting up and down, and efficient putting is each and every year, taking your retirement income tax efficiently. You see, the less you give back to the government in retirement, they’re like extra putts. You know, right around you went too far. You didn’t go far enough. You fell short. What we want to do is we want to hit it right down the middle. Use the current tax laws each and every year to make that long drive really count. I don’t want to give 20, 30, 40% of my long drive back to the IRS or other different regulations. I want to make sure I get up and down in retirement. And I love this topic, Cynthia, I don’t know how you came up with this, but this is amazing.

Cynthia de Fazio  17:05

It’s perfect for you. It is literally tailored and tailor made, I should say just for you. I mean, it truly is, and it’s something different, and it goes hand in hand with everything you do every day.

Philip Capriotti  17:15

You know, I thought about it too. Much of golf is, it’s a mental game, and so is retirement income planning. It’s a mental game. You have to stay focused for 18 holes, yes, and that means folks, you have to stay focused straight through, not only end of your lifetime, but your spouse’s lifetime, and straight on through to maybe giving back to your children and grandchildren may be a legacy of the money that you don’t use, so remember, the more you get to keep, the more you get to give to your own beneficiaries and your own priorities. Number one priority should be yourself and your spouse in retirement. Go have fun.

Cynthia de Fazio  17:57

Yeah, absolutely. Well, again, the airplane analogy, you put your own mask on first before assisting the person next to you, right? So, you should enjoy your retirement next one. Oh, this is a big one, and this happens quite a bit when you’re playing a new course, something you don’t expect, navigating hazards that come along the way. And I’m going to say probably for a lot of folks, taxes, unexpected taxes, also managing unexpected health care costs, because we all know that those are going up. So, all of this would be hazards that would affect someone’s retirement plan, correct?

Philip Capriotti  18:32

Without a doubt. So, what we use nowadays, like years ago, we used to, we’ll call it eyeball it. Well, the flags about- I’m somewhere between 150 and 170 yards away. Okay, we’ll talk about that retirement. Hold on a second. Let me get my blue tee. Let me zero in on that flag. Okay, with my little GPA, oh, it’s exactly 156. I have a club for that. So, fact is, what we really want to do is we want to know exactly what obstacles are going to be in. How far do we want to hit it? Do we want to overshoot it end up in, maybe the lake, okay? Or the trap, or the or the trap in back of the green, or do we want to hit it spot on? So, with retirement, it’s extremely important that we hit it spot on. We only get one chance. And just like golf, you get one shot. Okay? If you hit it fat, you didn’t hit it right. If you hit it thin, you didn’t hit it right. But if you connect it and you hit it pure, you hit it right. So, hitting it pure is working with a financial advisor who understands the benefits of number one, tactical portfolio management, planning, limiting your drawdown, tax planning, having their own tax department, knowing that. The landscape is going to change each and every year with new tax laws that are either put on the books or taken off the books. And how do we adjust our play? How do we adjust our retirement income plan yearly to accommodate maximum efficiency?

Cynthia de Fazio  20:16

Perfect. Phil, I think that honestly, when we’re talking about the game of golf, like everything that you’re mentioning does tie into the importance of seeking professional advice. So, on that note, there’s a very special message that you have. Let’s talk about what that is.

Philip Capriotti  20:31

Yeah, you know, folks, one of the one of the questions that I get most of all when folks come into our office is, I’ve been working with my advisor for years, actually, for decades, 10 years, 15, 20 years. Why should I allow you or trust you with our wealth? And I tell folks, quite simply, because we are really your one stop shop when you come into our office, not only did we structure your written retirement income plan when you get ready to go on Medicare. We have our own Medicare department. We have our own Medicare Supplements. All of our employees are all licensed and focused and structured in their particular field of expertise. So, whether it comes to long term care planning, Medicare Supplement planning, Medicare Advantage planning, your tax planning, doing Roth conversion, structuring, RMDs, retirement income planning, portfolio management, structuring a portfolio that gives you a great return but limits your drawdown. We’re the one place to come to, and that’s why you want to pick up the phone and dial 888-818-6557, come in for a portfolio review and a tax efficient retirement income plan. Let us show you the benefits of working with a complete professional fiduciary.

Cynthia de Fazio  21:59

Absolutely. Phil, thank you so much to our viewers at home, that number to call is 888-818-6557, you deserve to have peace of mind in your retirement years you’ve worked your entire life to get there just one phone call, 888-818-6557, or you can grab your smartphone click on that QR code at the bottom corner of your screen that will take you right to the landing page For Empower Wealth and Tax we’re going to take a very short commercial break. Don’t go anywhere. We have so much more to talk about, about how the game of golf correlates with working with the right financial advisor. Stay tuned.

Philip Capriotti  22:33

You know, folks, planning for the future means more than just saving money. It’s about making smart investment decisions that grow without taking on excessive risk. Yes, investment planning can be confusing and risky if you don’t have the right guidance. At Empower Wealth and Tax, our investment planning professionals have assisted thousands of folks just like you. Simplify the process, we offer tailored strategies to help you make informed decisions and grow your wealth confidently. Don’t let uncertainty hold you back. Schedule a complimentary consultation with us today and take the first step towards Smart Investing schedule today, and let’s start building your investment portfolio together.

Cynthia de Fazio  23:27

Welcome back to Retire Smart Austin. My name is Cynthia DeFazio, joined today by Phil Capriotti, senior of Empower Wealth and Tax. And we’re talking all about the fun game of golf and how it correlates with working with the right financial advisor, Phil, this next one, you are so good at this. I’ve known you for so many years in the game of golf. You need patience and you need persistence. And you actually are very good with both. I mean, Jimmy actually, I think, helps with your patience piece, but your persistence is always on target.

Philip Capriotti  24:00

Well, that’s very- there’s very- lot of truth in that Cynthia, that’s for sure. It took me 25 years of chasing the woman of my dreams to finally get her to say I do. So that’s persistence, okay? And patience. It was patience on her part, listening to me all that for all those years. Yup. Combination, just like you can have a bad game of golf or a great game of golf, you can have you can start off your retirement great. And then all of a sudden you get to the next phase of it, which would be we’ll call the RMD distribution phase, and you realize, oh my gosh, now that I’m taking these RMDs, I’m giving half of it back to the government in taxes. And not only am I giving it, half of it back to the government in taxes, I’m using that as an analogy, figuratively, half it might be less or might be more, depending on future. Tax Law increases. But the fact of the matter is, I didn’t do the planning. I didn’t see what was going to happen when I hit 73, 74, 75 based on my birthday, when I have to take my first required minimum distribution. I didn’t understand that my financial advisor didn’t really talk to me about that. They told me to go check with my CPA. With respect to taxes, this is where we put many of our clients right on track. It’s like playing golf. I just really started playing several years ago, and I still haven’t taken any lessons. Well, for many folks working with that same advisor, that’s not a tax advisor or having any legal knowledge or not much legal knowledge, they’re not taking any lessons. Their financial advisor aren’t taking any lessons. They’re not an IRA Master Elite advisor. They’re not doing that continuing education to be able to give tax advice, legal advice, all of it, Medicare advice. So, with that being said, it’s important to work with a 100% 360-degree view of retirement, and your financial advisory team should be your coach. They should be your coach, they should be your retirement coach. They should be your friend. They should be your partner. They should have a vested interest in you and your spouse’s success. So-

Cynthia de Fazio  26:34

They should be your caddy.

Philip Capriotti  26:35

They should be your cadd-. They should be your caddy. 100% Yeah, I love that. Yeah, they should be- they’re your caddy. Now, fortunately, I don’t use a caddy, but I have that little eyeball thing, but yes, they should be your caddy. That’s a great analogy, Cynthia.

Cynthia de Fazio  26:48

It makes perfect sense, Yeah. Because you’re partners.

Philip Capriotti  26:51

Yeah. So, let me ask you this, do you want to go into retirement only having a putter and a seven iron? Or do you want to go into retirement having all 14 clubs in your bag, being able to pull out each club, your tax club, your legal club, your estate club, your Medicare club, your Social Security club, well, we have all 14 clubs in our bag, folks, and that’s why you want to pick up the phone today and dial 888-818-6557, let us be your golf coach, and let’s not worry about having to use a Mulligan

Cynthia de Fazio  27:29

Phil. Thank you so much to our viewers at home. We want your retirement to be a hole in one. That number to call is 888-818-6557, if you have your smartphone handy, go ahead, grab a click on that QR code at the bottom corner of your screen that will take you right to the landing page for Empower Wealth and Tax. Be safe, be happy and be blessed. We’ll see you back one week from today and go out and enjoy that golf game. Take care.