🏪 A Room with a View

In Michigan, contractors were doing some work on the roof of a supermarket. They discovered an extension cord and got a big surprise when they followed it to the end.

A woman had been living inside the store's sign on the roof for over a year. She created a makeshift apartment, complete with a bed, computer, and coffee maker. 

Police nicknamed the woman "roof ninja" since she was found wearing black clothing and a pair of ski goggles on her head.

With no sign of a ladder, no one's quite sure how the woman got onto the roof.

Wherever the roof ninja goes next, we hope there's a hot pot of coffee!

- Team Advisorist

In Today’s Issue 👇

• Generational wealth building tips for clients

• Advice for clients who want to retire early

• How to cut down noise on phone calls

💰 Building Wealth Beyond Money

Securing wealth for generations to come involves more than just making a ton of money. 

Cash needs to weather economic storms, which takes quite a bit of planning. Fortunately, that's where an advisor's help can be a game-changer for clients. 💡

However, there are also things clients need to do on their end to safeguard their nest egg.

In addition to making their money go the extra mile, you can help your clients avoid some common generational wealth building mistakes. 

Weave these top tips into your next client calls:

👉 Build a strong legacy structure. If your clients are first-generation wealth builders, they might think they're all set with a simple will and trust. 

However, they could be leaving out key language or restrictions on assets, which could spell disaster.

Collaborate with clients to make sure they have a solid financial plan in place. 

Hook them up with an attorney in your network to help them with estate planning. 

👉 Get on the same page. In many cases, wills and estate plans aren't talked about until a loved one dies. 

To eliminate confusion at the eleventh hour, remain open and transparent about how generational wealth will be handled in the family from the start.

Clients could also develop a family mission statement to solidify values and expectations when it comes to money matters. 

Agreeing on a common purpose helps strengthen familiar bonds and fosters mutual respect.

👉 Don't skip family meetings. Regular family meetings also cut down on confusion. They're especially important whenever changes are made to an estate plan. 

It also helps to get the family together to let everyone voice their opinions and have a say in decision making.

Family meetings can also be used to discuss future plans for generational wealth, including plans for charitable contributions and philanthropic efforts.

👉 Get financially savvy. In many families, either one person or a small group of people tend to take responsibility for financial matters. 

However, it's important for everyone to have at least a foundational knowledge of wealth management, especially the younger generations.

When everyone's financially savvy, they're less likely to make money mistakes (like spending all the inheritance in one shot). 

They're also more likely to honor the hard work of their elders and continue to pass wealth down to future heirs.

Headline Roundup

🏠 Affecting Your Clients

• Sales of Newly Built Homes Tank in April, as Prices and Interest Rates Rise [CNBC]

• 15M Americans Still Harmed by Medical Debt Despite Credit Agencies' Changes [FOX]

• Buy-now-pay-later Regulated Like Credit Cards Under New Biden Rule [MW]

📈 Markets & Economy 

• Jobless Claims Fall as Labor Market Continues to Thrive [Y!]

• House Passes Historic Crypto Bill [MW]

• Losses Pile Up in Top-Rated Bonds Backed by Commercial Real Estate Debt [B]

💼 Industry Roundup 

• Congressional Resolutions Could Blow Up DOL Fiduciary Rule [FA]

• New Study Links Partial Retirements to a Surge in Spending [TA]

• 1 in 5 Surveyed Admit Lying on Their Insurance Applications [INN]

😎 The Early Retirement Playbook

Wanna retire early? Join the club! 🤠

• According to a recent survey, one in eight Americans plan to stop working before they turn 61. 

• Additionally, most employees surveyed said they plan on living until they're 100. 

• After doing a little hard and fast math, that means spending at least 40 years living the retired life.

That kind of dream requires a lot of planning and enough money to foot the bill. Although it's a lofty goal, it's not impossible. 

If you have clients itching to retire ASAP, here are some recommendations from financial advisors to help them get there:

💸 Delay Social Security. If you retire early, chances are you'll be retired longer than you work. Stretch your own savings as much as you can before tapping Uncle Sam. 

If you delay your benefits until after full retirement age (62), you'll be eligible for delayed retirement credits and an increased benefit.

With delayed retirement credits, a person can receive their largest benefit by retiring at age 70.

💸 Mix It Up. For the most flexibility, a portfolio should contain a mix of both qualified and non-qualified accounts. 

This helps hedge against the tax implications of withdrawing from retirement accounts, especially if you're under 59 and a half.

💸 Save Lump Sums. When you come into a large chunk of change, it's tempting to want to throw it towards debt or your mortgage. 

However, it may be more beneficial to save that money instead.

Keeping large sums of money compounding for as long as possible means more money for your golden years.

💸 Save, Don't Spend. Spending too much often leads to saving too little, something you need to avoid when retiring early.

A rule of thumb is to save a minimum of 20% of your annual income to get you to your goal.

The earlier you start this habit, the better. Experts advise aiming for a liquid net worth that's 25 to 30 times your living expenses to retire stress-free. 😌

🗓️ Event of the Week

Power Hour: Wednesday at 12pm EST/9am PST

Chelsea Ryckis, BenefitsPRO’s 2024 Advisor of the Year joins us for a deep dive into what the key factors for success are in our industry right now, including:

• Path to thought leadership

• How to become an award winner in your niche

• Using Joint ventures to grow your practice

We’ll also explore when it's time to sell your book and move on to bigger things.

👉 Click here to register for free!

🤖 Tech Tip

Too much background noise on calls? If you have an iPhone, use Voice Isolation mode. 

📲 When making a call, once the recipient answers, swipe down from the top right of your screen to access the Control Center and look for a button labeled Mic Mode. Tap on it and choose Voice Isolation.

📲 On a Samsung phone? Open Settings, then Sounds and vibration, then Sound quality and effects. Look for the Adapt sound feature. There, you can choose a preset option or customize your own.

📲 On a Google Pixel, go to Settings, then Sound & vibration, then Clear calling.

✌️Good Vibes

What do you do with 12 million extra pounds of potatoes? Give them away, of course!

A farmer in Manitoba, Canada wound up with about 100,000 bags of surplus potatoes (a super-rare occurrence). Although he could have sold the excess for cash or turned it into fertilizer or feed, he decided to donate them to folks in need.

The farmer teamed up with the US-based food charity Farmlink and enlisted the help of other farmers to package and transport the potatoes.

The surplus filled an impressive 115 trucks, which transported the spuds to several locations, including California and Ottawa.

Thanks to the help of 50 different local organizations, all of the potatoes were claimed within eight to nine days. Now, that's some food for thought! 🥔🤩

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