How Railroaders Prepare for Railroad Retirement

Transcript:

When planning for a Railroad Retirement, which one of these is you?

Welcome everyone to another edition of the Highball Advisors Railroad Retirement Whiteboard. My name's John McNamara, Highball Advisors. And today we're just going to talk about behavior. I don't want to talk about finances, or rules and regulation of the Railroad Retirement. Really talk about behavior, and how Railroaders plan for retirement. And see if I can get some people to maybe just change the way they're thinking a little bit, and get ready for a great Railroad Retirement.

Over the years, I've noticed there's three groups of people that I speak to. Three groups of Railroads. I'll start with the first group, the DIYers, do it yourself, really great. They're curious about planning for retirement. They enjoy it. They like learning about it. How all the pieces of the puzzle fit together, investments, taxes, estate plan. That's great. They're in charge, more power to them. They'll go out. They'll learn. Hey, they'll watch my videos and take some stuff back, which is great. So they can do it themselves.

Now the risk is, are they doing it right? Somebody might be a DIYer just because you have an E-Trade account. Doesn't mean you're a DIYer. So you got to make sure you're doing it right. Because like I say, you only get one chance at this. So that's a DIYer, but the ones that put the effort, and a time in to really understand, more power to them. That's a great way to do it. Then there's other people that say listen, this is big. I don't like it. I don't want to deal with it. They'll go out and look for assistance. So they'll go out, and reach planners and advisors like myself. And well, what these advisors and planners will do, will bring you organization, accountability, objectivity, be proactive.

Let's get things done here. Let's get off the slide. Hopefully the advisors educating you as what they're doing, and why they're doing, that's important. And the partnership. So you have somebody who's helping you, it's back and forth. It's not like the advisor's just talking. You're going back and forth, you're understanding. So now the risk with this process here is, you got to make sure you choose the right professional, who understands your situation as a Railroader. Not every Tom, Dick and Harry. I don't know if that's still expression, is perfect for you. There're some advisors that, hey, they just work with small business owners, and more power to them. They don't know anything about Railroad Retirement. Or there might be some advisors, that are just interested in selling life insurance or annuities. They're not right for you.

So this is a big part to get to that. Find the right person who gets you. So these two are fine. DIYers, do it yourself. Or the person who's going to look for a relationship with somebody to help them. Take care of and get ready for retirement. Those are great. These are the people that we've got to work on. It's the avoidance people, they don't want to think about. That's the big thing. I don't want to think about. Then the other thing that gets me crazy, is something comes up, which is fine. Something always does come up, but you're working for a Railroad. Something's always going to come up. So you've got to take care of this. You've got to find time. If you've got to get up a half hour earlier to do it in the day, do something. Because you guys are working so hard and then, oh something's always come up, and then you're going to retire. And it's going to be too late.

So I'm trying to get people to just move off a little bit. Go do your research, whatever. So that indecisive. And then the other one also is a good one, is the bad stories also. Hey, I got a friend, he got ripped off by this financial advisor blah, blah, blah. I hear that all the time. Bad stories. My mother-in-law. So that why you got to do your research on that, to avoid that. So the risks of this avoidance is okay, hey I've worked so hard working for the railroad. But you might not be able to retire as you wished, because you did no planning.

So first two groups do it yourself, fantastic. Getting assistance, fantastic. This avoidance, please don't. You guys work way too hard, to put this thing off. So I hope you found this helpful. Feel free to reach out to me, go through the boarding for a Railroad Retirement process. That will get the ball started at least, and give you some ideas. And then if you want to avoid it after that, don't please. Subscribe to my YouTube channel, click on the notification bell to get the latest video. And until next time everyone, please stay safe. Stay on track, and take care. So long everybody. Bye.

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Disclaimer: This article is provided for general information and illustration purposes only. Nothing contained in the material constitutes tax advice, a recommendation for purchase or sale of any security, or investment advisory services. Highball Advisors encourages you to consult a financial planner, accountant, and/or legal counsel for advice specific to your situation. Reproduction of this material is prohibited without written permission from Highball Advisors, and all rights are reserved from Highball Advisors, and all rights are reserved.