Social Security Is Apparently Falling Apart; Did You Know You’re the Solution?

Social Security Is Apparently Falling Apart; Did You Know You’re the Solution?



Social Security is in a bad shape. That, my friend, is basically what the Social Security Board of Trustees told us about the financial health of the program in their annual report a week ago today. The trust funds will run out of money in 2033, three years sooner than predicted just a year ago. Meanwhile the Disability portion will be exhausted much sooner in 2016 – that’s two years earlier than we had thought this time last year.

Obviously this is not good news but yeah, yeah, yeah – we’ve been hearing this for years yet our checks keep coming, so what’s the big deal now? In my humble opinion, the majority of Americans with yet-to-be-taxed 401(k)s and IRAs are literally sitting next to a ticking tax bomb – and don’t even realize it. Of course I’ll explain, but first pay very, very close attention to the reaction of the Commissioner of Social Security, Michael J. Astrue (who’s one of the Trustees who issued this report):

This year’s Trustees Report contains troubling, but not unexpected, projections about Social Security’s finances. It once again emphasizes that Congress needs to act to ensure the long-term solvency of this important program, and needs to act within four years to avoid automatic cuts to people receiving disability benefits.

Most pundits make this complex but I think it’s very simple. Social Security is going broke because Congress has already spent our contributions, and with an estimated 10,000 baby boomers per DAY reaching age 65 for the next 18 years or so, things are getting pretty tight at a very fast pace. So I agree with the Commissioner’s comments that “Congress needs to act.”


But exactly how? Pay back the IOU’s, get more revenue into the system, or tell American seniors to take a hike? Wouldn’t you agree with me that it would take a pretty dumb Congress to try to stick it to seniors? So, in a nutshell, we need to put more money into the system, right? Here’s the thing, though, the ONLY way Congress can get more money is by increasing taxes.


I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but there’s only one way for me to be truthful here: expect massive tax hikes! Would a tax hike ruin your retirement? That’s a question I think you need to explore seriously if you own any kind of tax-qualified plan. I know that most so-called financial advisors/experts think it’s okay to just be passive and go with the flow because, after all, you’re probably not one of those wealthy people the tax increases will affect. But don’t you think that being proactive by positioning your retirement assets in a way that protects them from future tax hikes under IRS rules is much smarter than betting that Congress is only going to stick it to “the rich folks”?
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Contact a professional at Laser Financial Group TODAY to set up your complimentary, no-obligation consultation and discover the easiest way to protect YOUR retirement funds from future tax increases. 877.656.9111 or LaserFG.com

FINALLY – An End to Worry about Outliving Your Retirement Income

FINALLY – An End to the Worry about Outliving Your Retirement Income

Running out of income in retirement is the number one fear of American retirees – more so today than at any time in our history. But the most mind-boggling fact – believe it or not – is that it’s one of the easiest retirement worries to overcome. Really!

It is as simple as attaching an optional mechanism to your retirement account that will guarantee (yes, guarantee) that you – and your spouse, if you include him/her – will never outlive your income, irrespective of how long (both of) you live, regardless of stock market gyrations. The cool thing is that you could attach this option to virtually any kind of money: 401(k), 403(b), Roth IRA, SEP IRA, or even non-qualified funds. And since your guarantee is not dependent on the stock market, you can count on your income being there to support you, whether the market is up or down!

I know! Why haven’t you heard about this? And if this is true, why is outliving one’s income the numero uno problem facing American retirees?

I recently authored a special report, titled “SET FOR LIFE,” that provides the nuts and bolts about how these optional mechanisms work in easy-to-understand, straightforward language. And most importantly, you’ll also learn what you need to look out for in the often-windy fine print that sometimes accompanies these contracts.


Meanwhile, here are some things you may not be aware of: fewer than 25 companies in the entire American financial industry are approved to offer some version of this mechanism to the investing public. Additionally, a financial professional must carry a specific license in order to offer this option to clients. Granted, some guys and gals (like those here at LaserFG) would tell you about options we believe will benefit you even if we were unable to sell them to you, let’s face reality, most people in this industry just don’t do that – period!

Let me be crystal clear, though: This report is NOT a solicitation for the purchase or sale of any security, and you don’t need to buy anything from us to get it – it’s totally COMPLIMENTARY! You may get your free copy at SetForLifeReport.com.

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Contact a financial professional at Laser FG today if you have any questions after you download this free report. LaserFG.com or 877.656.9111.

Invaluable Financial Lessons from Those Who've Already Made Mistakes

Invaluable financial lessons from those who've already made mistakes

Yes, hindsight is always 20-20! But, I think in certain instances (fore)sight is much better than 20-20 vision. Depending on your perspective, there can be good news when bad things happen to those who go before us – in the sense that we have the opportunity to learn from their mistakes and therefore prevent their undesirable outcomes from befalling us, too.


I’m guessing that those of us raising teenagers are shaking our heads in agreement right about now. However, that’s not exactly where I’m going with this. For the moment, let’s talk retirement.


Of course I don’t know your specific retirement goals, but after almost twenty years in this field, I’m pretty certain that just like most of the folks I meet, you desire to retire comfortably – as in having enough money to kick back and enjoy life, travel, spoil the grandkids, and all the other fun things you can think of, including leaving a hefty legacy for your loved ones. I think everyone deserves just that – and even more – especially after all of those years of hard work to save and invest.


But let’s face it – you know that’s not reality, don’t you? The very sad truth is that more and more Americans wake up on Day 1 of retirement to the harsh reality that their investments didn’t even come close to the rosy expectations their financial advisors painted for them. In my practice, hardly a day goes by that I don’t speak with several retired (or soon-to-be-retired) folks who are facing this unfortunate dilemma – and these are folks who did everything their so-called financial advisors/media gurus told them to do.

So what went wrong?

To sum up the ONE thing that every single one of these disappointed folks tell me: if they were going to do it all over again, they’d be sure NOT to just follow the herd. Instead, they’d seek the expertise of professionals with a SOLID track record. That amplifies a point I’ve been teaching/writing about for years – planning for your retirement is NOT a routine procedure or an experiment!


Often, retirement investors allow financial advisors to sweet-talk them into signing up for plans or strategies without first demanding any real-life proof of these plans’ success. Most people wouldn’t let a surgeon with no real-life success in a particular procedure operate on them, but for some strange reason they forget to apply that principle when it comes to their retirement planning.


As much as I may love them, I would not hire even my spouse (if I had one) or a blood relative as my retirement counselor if they lacked tangible, real-life proof of success – and hopefully you’d do the same.
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Contact a financial professional at Laser FG today to learn about proven strategies that'll improve your financial FORESIGHT. LaserFG.com or 877.656.9111.

Is YOUR Financial Advisor Telling You Everything They Can?

Is YOUR Financial Advisor Telling You Everything They Can?

One thing I’ve noticed is that lots of folks are extremely surprised to learn they hadn’t been made aware of a given financial strategy or product that is better than what they’d been using. As I interact with people, both privately and in public settings, this is a very common question I hear: “How come I’ve never heard about this?”

To be to totally honest, I tend to think that from your perspective as an investor, you should greet this as good news, because if you’d known a better way and hadn’t been using it, you’d be something of an idiot, wouldn’t you? Nevertheless, I understand that as clients, we expect our professionals to always make the absolutely best solutions available to us.

The financial planning field is a completely different animal, however. Here’s something most people may not be aware and, quite frankly, many financial advisors wouldn’t want you to know, if they had their way: A financial professional can sell you only what they are specifically licensed to sell, or the products/services the company they work for offers.

You see, unlike other fields, there are very strict and specific licensing requirements for every single product a financial professional can – or cannot – offer to you. So THE question becomes: Will your advisor tell you everything you need to know, regardless of whether it will benefit his/her pocketbook?


Of course the answer could go either way – but this may give you some insight into why financial advisors highlight certain things, while others are suppressed, sharply criticized, or perhaps never mentioned at all.
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Contact a financial professional at Laser FG today to learn about proven strategies your current advisor may not know about or be able to offer through his or her company. LaserFG.com or 877.656.9111.

Will Your Disappointing Retirement Planning REALLY Fix Itself?

Will your disappointing retirement planning REALLY fix itself?

Let me ask you a question – and I hope you will be honest with your answer. If you had a serious medical condition – something that could be life-threatening if it went untreated – but you caught it early enough to treat it and restore yourself to full health, would you take the steps that were guaranteed to heal you? If your answer, like most, is a resounding yes, I have another question for you: Why wouldn’t we do the same when it comes to our financial health?

Unwillingness to change for the better is something that most of us will rarely (if ever) admit we’re guilty of – especially when it comes to retirement investing. I mean, who in their right mind would not want to see their investments produce the best possible result?


To be fair, though, most financial professionals have been able to convince the investing public to accept a totally ludicrous perception: if you keep throwing money at the wrong strategy, you’ll eventually get it right. The sad truth is that many have bought into that bizarre idea.


In my experience, many of the folks I’ve met who were dissatisfied with the outcomes of their investment strategies/plans didn’t just wake up one day to learn they’d been duped. In fact, most of them knew for years that something wasn’t quite, right but for some strange reason they decided to wait it out – perhaps hoping that things might magically fix themselves?


When it comes to money (and, I think, many other things) something that’s not working now won’t suddenly begin working – won’t work in a million years – unless something changes. Regardless of your approach in the past – or your reason for hanging in there with an inefficient strategy – you no longer need to be a financial jellyfish, hoping all over with no direction. I’m telling you right now, it IS possible for you to have a plan that you know will work because it has clear, specific, and tangible benchmarks so that you can assess progress at any point in time.
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Want to learn more about such a plan? Contact us today to schedule your complimentary, no-strings appointment! LaserFG.com or 877.656.9111.