In the season finale of Take Good Care, Drs. Mironda Williams, Deanna Guthrie, and Karen Greene welcome the podcast’s first male guest: Thomas Scott, an independent financial advisor with Mangham-Scott Wealth Advisors and Dr. Williams’ own financial planner of more than twenty years. The episode opens the fourth pillar of this season’s framework, financial care, joining body care, mind and emotional care, and spiritual care as a topic the physicians say is long overdue. Scott shares his path into finance, shaped by watching his father sell life insurance and a childhood mentor at his church who helped him open his first savings account with a single dollar.
Much of the conversation centers on raising financially literate kids, with Scott recommending simple habits like giving a child their own wallet to build a sense of ownership, and including teenagers in meetings with a financial advisor or CPA so the process feels familiar rather than foreign. Dr. Williams shares her own experience hiring Scott after years of avoiding the subject out of professional embarrassment, describing the “homework” of listing her debts and assets for the first time and comparing it to the vitals a patient reports at a doctor’s visit. Scott also walks through Mangham-Scott’s mission of helping clients grow and protect wealth, plan for major life events, and build a lasting financial legacy, including a lesser-known tax strategy: converting a required minimum distribution into a qualified charitable distribution after age 73 to give to a church, alma mater, or charity tax-free.
The episode closes with Dr. Greene posing a question many patients ask: whether it makes more financial sense to claim Social Security at 67 or wait until 70. Scott breaks down the 8% annual benefit increase for waiting, the different considerations for married versus single retirees, and the approximate age-79 break-even point, along with the basics of retirement readiness, including the 4% rule and starting serious planning at least five years before retirement. The conversation continues in the next episode, where Scott and the physicians dig further into budgeting and financial literacy fundamentals.
Transcript:
Dr. Mironda Williams:
Welcome to Take Good Care Podcast.
Dr. Deanna Guthrie:
An endeavor that grew out of our love for obstetrics and gynecology.
Dr. Karen Greene:
Our aim and mission is to serve as a source of vital information for women of all races, ages, and walks in life.
Dr. Mironda Williams:
I am Dr. Mironda Williams.
Dr. Deanna Guthrie:
I am Dr. Deanna Guthrie.
Dr. Karen Greene:
And I am Dr. Karen Greene. Welcome to our show.
Dr. Deanna Guthrie:
Welcome to our show.
Dr. Mironda Williams:
Welcome to our show. Welcome to this episode of Take Good Care Podcast. I’m Dr. Mironda Williams.
Dr. Deanna Guthrie:
I’m Dr. Deanna Guthrie.
Dr. Karen Greene:
And I am Dr. Karen Greene.
Dr. Mironda Williams:
So welcome to this, what will be the finale for this season for Take Good Care Podcast. And as you see, we have a phenomenal guest who’s joining us today, Mr. Thomas Scott, and I’m going to introduce him a little bit more in just a second. He is actually the first guy that we’ve allowed into the queendom.
Dr. Deanna Guthrie:
Yes.
Dr. Mironda Williams:
And so that means he’s very special, and I think you guys will begin to see that as we get along. But as you all know, with this season of Take Good Care Podcast, to our audience who’s been following us, we developed some pillars of intention that we wanted to use the podcast platform for. And those pillars just as a review are body care where we’re really trying to hone in on women’s health, hormones, sexual wellness, sleep, nutrition. Mind and emotional care, where we talked about mental health issues, boundaries, burnout, therapy, joy. Spiritual care, faith, purpose, alignment, rest, values, all of that. And now today, we’re dealing with financial care, money mindset, wealth building, insurance literacy, as well as entrepreneurship. And one of the reasons I think myself and my partners were so excited and felt this was important is because as we’ve had conversations with each other, conversations with patients, family, our staff, we really found that there was even at this day and age, a lack of financial literacy, and a real deficit for women.
Dr. Karen Greene:
Yes.
Dr. Mironda Williams:
Whether you’re married, single, divorced, older, younger. And so we really wanted to be able to use this platform to begin to have that conversation, to normalize that conversation. But again, before we get into this too much, we have an awesome guest. In full disclosure, Mr. Scott is my financial wealth planner. I’ve been with him well over 20-something years. We don’t even want to count how many. A long time. And so I personally have benefited from his wisdom, his insight. His personality is one that connected with me, so even though he’s a financial wizard, he can talk to me in a way that I can understand.
Dr. Karen Greene:
And that is key. That is very key.
Dr. Mironda Williams:
And then I can then implement the things that we talk about. So Thomas, tell the audience and my partners a little bit about where you’re from, your background before we get into some of the financial things.
Mr. Thomas Scott:
Thank you so much. And thank you all for having me. I’m grateful. I’m originally from Chattanooga, Tennessee.
Dr. Mironda Williams:
I didn’t know that.
Mr. Thomas Scott:
And I came to Atlanta to go to Morehouse College. Finished Morehouse and I took on a banking career in Chicago and also did graduate study at Northwestern University.
Dr. Mironda Williams:
Okay.
Mr. Thomas Scott:
Returned to Atlanta in 1989 and I’ve been in financial services since.
Dr. Mironda Williams:
Awesome.
Mr. Thomas Scott:
Having worked for Shearson Lehman Hutton, Atlanta Olympic Committee, and AIG Retirement. And began an independent financial journey in 2008, and have been an independent financial advisor since then.
Dr. Mironda Williams:
Awesome. Well, Dr. Guthrie?
Dr. Deanna Guthrie:
So what made you want to go into financial planning? Going from banking, is it seeing customers come in and know how to handle their money? What made you do this?
Mr. Thomas Scott:
I’ll give you three items and I’ll try to be brief. I’m a nerd.
Dr. Deanna Guthrie:
Number one.
Mr. Thomas Scott:
Okay. And so number one, my father sold life insurance, so I shadowed him. I saw my dad helping the community, helping individuals, providing life insurance to individual. I would go to the office with him, and I would play with the adding machine. I was just all around that culture of helping people and finance. Secondly, my sisters, I have two older sisters, and they claim at Halloween I would dress up as a businessman.
Dr. Karen Greene:
Oh, that’s funny. Are there any pictures to prove this?
Mr. Thomas Scott:
I don’t know.
Dr. Karen Greene:
Okay, good.
Mr. Thomas Scott:
And thirdly, one significant event, there was a gentleman in my church, he’s still living, Mr. Floyd Eves, he was a treasurer of a savings and loan company in Chattanooga, Tennessee. And I was somewhat infatuated with money. And he just said, “You can start an account with us with $1.” I said, “Wow.” So the next Sunday at church, I bought him a dollar.
Dr. Mironda Williams:
Aw.
Mr. Thomas Scott:
And the following Sunday, he brought me a pass book. And so that led me onto the journey of saving. So those are three significant events that shaped how I became a financial advisor.
Dr. Karen Greene:
Okay. So do you think that just… Okay, first of all, you said you were very interested anyway. And I guess this is me asking for my kids because the concept.
Dr. Mironda Williams:
Again, tell the audience and Thomas the age of your kids.
Dr. Karen Greene:
Yes. My kids are 21 and 24.
Mr. Thomas Scott:
Okay.
Dr. Mironda Williams:
Oh, Dr. Greene.
Dr. Karen Greene:
I’m sorry, you forgot to turn the.
Dr. Mironda Williams:
Why don’t y’all remind me?
Dr. Deanna Guthrie:
I know.
Dr. Karen Greene:
Because we start to talk.
Dr. Mironda Williams:
We’re so excited because we got a man in the house. So as we used to say, men on the hall, men on the hall in college. So we got a little excited. So audience, before we go any further, I have to remind everyone that we are live and on the air. Dr. Greene, please continue.
Dr. Karen Greene:
So I have two young men. My partner calls them my man boys that are 21 and 24. And the concept of saving for them, how do you spark that, I guess, in kids? They’re no longer kids, but I don’t know if they just didn’t get it from us, even though we do do that. We didn’t talk about it enough. How do you spark that interest in saying, “Okay, you got to save for a rainy day.” And of course, they’re in the generation of, we’ve created the month, we’ve created the people that they are in terms of not having to think about stuff like that, but they still should think about stuff like that.
Mr. Thomas Scott:
Absolutely. Good question. My dad, I think, was a consummate father. He made me work. I had a hustle and I was cutting grass. And I was a byproduct of his growing up in that he experienced the depression. So he said, “Son, you got to know the power of a dollar.” And so every dollar has a name. And so that was just drilled in me. And one of the best presents I got for kids, and I know boys because I have two boys, and 34 and 30, give them a wallet when they’re young. Give them a wallet. For me, that represented ownership. That was something I had. That was something that I could put money in and I take out, and charge them with certain responsibilities. As a kid, if I were to go to the ball field and I wanted a Coke, I had enough money to do it myself. I knew not to go to my father to ask for money for potato chips. And so I also kept account that if I was getting low, I knew I didn’t want to blow all my money. So I give them wallets, give them opportunities to earn money and become stewards and shape and talk to them about money.
Dr. Mironda Williams:
I think that’s what’s happening. We don’t talk about. Yeah, go ahead.
Dr. Deanna Guthrie:
Plus, I think parents nowadays want to give their kids everything. Everything that they didn’t have. And earning things sometimes is not forefront for kids.
Dr. Mironda Williams:
It’s a balance because my parents were working class parents, right? So they did give me things, but again, it’s just trying to instill that responsibility. But I can’t say that money was conversations we had. They didn’t talk to me, just it’s good to save. Now, I did go and I remember National Bank of Georgia. I went ahead. They’re no longer around, but opened a savings account and it was fun and exciting, but then that’s where it stopped. There wasn’t any ongoing conversation as I was growing up. Now, once I got ready to get out of high school and go to college, then the money talks started happening because they’re like, “Okay, how are you going to pay for this?” And I had some scholarship aids and things like that academically, but my little happy self decided I wanted to go to Cornell University, and the scholarships didn’t cover everything. And so I had to take out some loans, student loans, my parents and my family. And then the same thing when I went to medical school, so now I’m taking on all this loan debt. So it wasn’t… Then it became more real, you know what I’m saying? The financial conversations we were having. And now I’m trying to make up for that. And it took a while, which is one of the reasons why I’ve sought out some financial counsel when I was able to say, “Okay, I’m in a hole, pretty deep one. How are we going to fix that?” But that was a great question.
Dr. Karen Greene:
Because I think that kids in their generation don’t use money per se. As you said, I don’t remember talking about it with my parents because they were very working class, but somehow I just knew. I knew that I could choose the college based on what we could afford. I was like, “Okay, you’d like to go here, but we can probably afford this one.” And even then, it was loans and things like that.
Mr. Thomas Scott:
Right.
Dr. Karen Greene:
And so it’s just a different, trying to get them not to make some of the same mistakes that I did financially early on. Some things we talked about when every year we have our 401(k) people come and talk to the office and sitting there listening and I was just like, “I wish I had heard this earlier.”
Mr. Thomas Scott:
Exactly.
Dr. Karen Greene:
But was I receptive to it? I don’t know. Because I was in a different space 20 years ago, 30 years ago.
Mr. Thomas Scott:
Well, regarding our kids or young people, force the topic, engage them in conversations. If you have a financial advisor, have them be part of the meeting. At least introduce he or she to them. Have them go to the bank with you. Have them know your CPA. Start acclimating them to the process or the people you engage. Let it not be foreign. Let it not be foreign.
Dr. Mironda Williams:
Yeah. That’s good.
Dr. Karen Greene:
We get frustrated because we do talk to them about this is this for you and this is what we have. And you can see their eyes glaze over. So I guess repetition is key, as with anything.
Mr. Thomas Scott:
Exactly. Do not back off.
Dr. Deanna Guthrie:
And I think partly too is when you’re talking about the future, when you’re 19, 20, 21, 22, you’re like, “So when you’re 65, 65? What do you think? I have time.”
Mr. Thomas Scott:
Right.
Dr. Deanna Guthrie:
Right? And that concept of looking way down the line and planning for the future can be challenging.
Mr. Thomas Scott:
I’ll lend one more story. Make them struggle. Make them create a little tension. Well, how are you going to pay for X, Y, Z? Charge them to have a plan.
Dr. Deanna Guthrie:
Got a plan?
Mr. Thomas Scott:
You want X, Y, Z. Let them know it’s not-
Dr. Deanna Guthrie:
It’s not just free money.
Mr. Thomas Scott:
As my dad used say, money doesn’t grow on trees.
Dr. Mironda Williams:
Yeah.
Dr. Karen Greene:
There’s no tree in the backyard making money.
Dr. Deanna Guthrie:
Or if you can make a plan with them, if you come up with this amount, then I will help you do this.
Mr. Thomas Scott:
Exactly.
Dr. Deanna Guthrie:
It’s not just, “Mom, can I have this?”
Dr. Mironda Williams:
It’s that balance.
Mr. Thomas Scott:
Exactly.
Dr. Mironda Williams:
And that’s something we’re learning even in the administrative space. I’m sitting here thinking, because we’re so quick to just do it. And now we’re like, “Okay, but what’s your plan?” And at least encourage them to start to think in, okay, what is my plan? And what could be a plan? What are the options for a plan? To engage that. Not to Dr. Guthrie and Dr. Greene’s point about you don’t want to give them everything, but there are benefits to being a part of this family that they should enjoy.
Dr. Deanna Guthrie:
Of course.
Dr. Mironda Williams:
But you just have to balance it. It’s that balance of understanding why you’re able to have certain benefits in this family, but then you have to also begin to have that conversation thinking when I’m out in a full adult adulting that I can still carry on.
Mr. Thomas Scott:
Exactly.
Dr. Mironda Williams:
I was really struck by the mission statement on your website. And again, for those of us who are joining us, we have a wonderful guest in the studio today, Mr. Thomas Scott of Mangham-Scott Financial Wealth Advisors. And that’s M-A-N-G-H-A-M, dash Scott, S-C-O-T-T.com. So please look him up there at his website. But on the website, the mission statement says, “Our mission is to help our clients grow wealth, plan for life events, live their retirement dreams, and leave a financial legacy for generations and organizations that matter.”
Mr. Thomas Scott:
Exactly.
Dr. Mironda Williams:
Yes.
Mr. Thomas Scott:
We want, and we’re committed to helping people grow their wealth. Grow their wealth. Also manage it. Protect it by means of insurance. Plan for life events. Be it college education. Be at a wedding for daughters. And live their retirement dreams, which is a primary focus of ours because everybody’s dealing with when and how do I exit the workforce. And lastly, yes, a financial legacy. Think about how you want to bless your children or your family or organizations that matter, and there are mechanisms to leave monies to institutions that are important to you. Be it your alma mater, be it a American Heart Association, be it the United Eagle College Fund, be it your church. But be visionary and be thoughtful about who you might want to bless with your means after you’re gone.
Dr. Mironda Williams:
And I know you and I have had that conversation. And again, Dr. Greene is married with kids. I’m single, Dr. Guthrie is single, but we have interests. And that’s another thing I think I’ve really been focusing on personally as well as for the practice is a legacy building, and identifying those organizations or those causes, those purposes that I would like to say I had a hand in helping that organization or that purpose, that goal to get to the next level by being able to give some financial gift. And I think the other thing that you have helped me to understand is that everybody doesn’t have that Oprah money. And we don’t. And we don’t.
Dr. Deanna Guthrie:
I don’t.
Dr. Mironda Williams:
And we don’t. But that doesn’t mean we can’t leave a gift of some sort.
Dr. Deanna Guthrie:
Yeah, of course.
Dr. Mironda Williams:
But I think we need to encourage that.
Mr. Thomas Scott:
Absolutely.
Dr. Mironda Williams:
We need to normalize that it’s not the huge million bazillionaires that are leaving, thank you for leaving the hundreds of thousands of dollars to these institutions, but we can still also do that and lend to that.
Mr. Thomas Scott:
Let me jump in and leave one very simple idea. None of you are of the age, but at 73, retirees are, you’re required to experience a RMD, required minimum distribution. That’s the point in which you have to start taking distributions from your retirement plan if it’s 401(k) or IRA. There’s a tax law that says you can convert that RMD into a QCD, qualified charitable distribution, and it can go to a qualified charity, be it your school, your church, or your alma mater, and it bypasses taxation. That is one critical way that’s underused that people can give. They can give their tithe that way, but they can give to the alma mater and it will bypass taxation. And that’s a required distribution you all will have to do at 73.
Dr. Mironda Williams:
At 73. Nice. Hope y’all wrote that down. So make sure. And please share this podcast, you all know that we’re on all your social media platforms as well as our website and our YouTube channel. So this is vital information, not just for women, but for all of us, for our families, for cousins, godchildren, those kinds of things to just start to normalize having these kinds of conversations. If you could think, what has been either the best or a memorable part of your career to date? What stands out for you?
Mr. Thomas Scott:
Wow. Two things. One, probably 20 years ago, I was a district manager for AIG Retirement. And I had an office, nice office. And an older couple came waddling in and they spoke to receptionists and then I had to come out and greet them and usher them to my office, and they had no idea of why they’d experienced a taxable event and their taxes went up. And so my job was to explain to them that they took a special type of distribution. It was a one time distribution, but it made their taxes balloon. And I took the time to walk them through. They were elderly, and respectful, it was a good meeting, but I resolved it for them. So I told you I was a nerd. That crystallized for me, I really enjoyed helping people. They walked out of there with a concise understanding of what had happened, and how to prevent it in the future. So that’s a corny story, but I’ll never forget it, I can see those-
Dr. Mironda Williams:
See them today.
Mr. Thomas Scott:
… coming down to my office.
Dr. Karen Greene:
Well, I think that’s one of the reasons why we wanted to talk about financial literacy and just as one of our pillars because some of it, it’s great to me. I hear these things, I read stuff and you can Google anything, but I’m like, “That doesn’t make any sense.” Can someone, what is the he says, tell it to me like I’m a three year old. And I need it simple. I need it to make sense. And so for you to be able to do that for that couple, that just, I’m like, “That’s wonderful.”
Dr. Mironda Williams:
Yeah, exactly. Do it for me.
Dr. Karen Greene:
Do it for me because I didn’t get it. I’m not a math nerd. I’m nerd about other things, but sometimes all that just really just, I glaze over like my kids do when it comes to some of those numbers things and figuring out what to do when. And we need that. We need to be able to understand that and hopefully let our family members know that, so it’s kind of, as you say, you establish that kind of legacy of knowledge for your family members.
Dr. Deanna Guthrie:
And knowledge is protection because elderly people are the key, they’re one of the key people that they prey on.
Mr. Thomas Scott:
And very fragile.
Dr. Deanna Guthrie:
Yes.
Mr. Thomas Scott:
Extremely fragile.
Dr. Deanna Guthrie:
In fact, I had a friend of mine whose mother-in-law got scammed, and they had just had a conversation the day before about not opening emails and things like that. And they called her and threatened her and said, “We know where your family is,” and things like that, and she went down to the bank.
Dr. Mironda Williams:
Yeah. Which again, and I’ll give a personal story too with how I even started working with Mr. Scott, but. And I think again, one of the things we always, in all of the different pillars and conversations we have is that it’s okay that you don’t know.
Dr. Deanna Guthrie:
Oh, yeah.
Dr. Karen Greene:
Yeah.
Dr. Mironda Williams:
But I think some of us think, “Well, I should know this.”
Dr. Deanna Guthrie:
Right.
Dr. Mironda Williams:
Because when I started my association with Mr. Scott, I had been working for a while as a physician, making way more money than I ever had though about in my life or my parents’ lives. But I was having a good time. And so it’s bad, all that deferred and delayed gratification-
Dr. Karen Greene:
Try to get it in one year.
Dr. Mironda Williams:
… for being in school-
Dr. Karen Greene:
It happens.
Dr. Mironda Williams:
… forever. And now I had a little cash, some time on my hand.
Mr. Thomas Scott:
But to that point, Dr. Greene, and you mentioned talk to me like a three year old. I would suggest have a coach. Have a coach. In Dave Ramsey’s language, have a coach or an advisor with the heart of a teacher.
Dr. Mironda Williams:
Yes.
Dr. Karen Greene:
Yes.
Mr. Thomas Scott:
And be able to talk to he or she face to face or Zoom or what have you about what are these fundamentals. So I highly believe in having a coach.
Dr. Mironda Williams:
And that is how we connected because I didn’t know what to do. The numbers just didn’t look good, and I forget who referred me now. And I said, “I got to find somebody to help me figure this out.” But I had a sense of shame as well because I’m like, “I am a professional person with little letters behind my name.”
Dr. Karen Greene:
I should know all of this.
Dr. Mironda Williams:
“I should know this.”
Dr. Karen Greene:
No.
Dr. Mironda Williams:
And so when I first met with Mr. Scott and I was… And that was the other thing he did so well, but then helped me not feel afraid about it because of course the first thing I had to do was I had to give him, “Hey, you get your homework, you got to fill out all your things, your debts and your this.” And I was like, “Man, I got to write it down? And then I got to show somebody?” But I did, and so I went in like.
Mr. Thomas Scott:
Well, that’s the core of it. That’s the core of it. Individuals come into your practice. You got to talk about blood pressure, heart rate, oxygen, what have you.
Dr. Mironda Williams:
Yeah.
Mr. Thomas Scott:
How are you feeling?
Dr. Mironda Williams:
Yeah.
Mr. Thomas Scott:
What are the dynamics?
Dr. Mironda Williams:
Yeah.
Mr. Thomas Scott:
Same thing about finance.
Dr. Mironda Williams:
Yes.
Dr. Karen Greene:
Yeah.
Mr. Thomas Scott:
What are your assets?
Dr. Mironda Williams:
Yes.
Mr. Thomas Scott:
What are your liabilities?
Dr. Mironda Williams:
Yes.
Mr. Thomas Scott:
What’s your mortgage? What’s the interest rate?
Dr. Mironda Williams:
Yes.
Mr. Thomas Scott:
How much consumer debt do you have?
Dr. Mironda Williams:
Yes.
Mr. Thomas Scott:
And it is a task for people to know these things. What is your credit score?
Dr. Mironda Williams:
Yes.
Mr. Thomas Scott:
I recognize and respect you all, and we all have our own respective talents and gifts, but the financial space is one that it has metrics that we need to know to give and offer good financial counsel.
Dr. Mironda Williams:
And he definitely talked to me like I was a three year old, but it was still respectful. And again, I was like, “I don’t know what I’m going to do. I’m not going to be retired.” He says, “Well, let’s first start with the budget.” Because I just, the money came in, the money went out, the money came in, the money went out. And so he just kept saying, he says, “Until you know how your money, you can’t manage your money that you don’t know about. And you’ve got to have a budget so that you can then direct your money to go where your money wanted to go.” But I felt very comfortable and I appreciate what you just said about having a teachable heart because I don’t need someone just, “Well, do this, do this, do this.” Help me understand. And then just help me break it down into bite sized pieces, because at that time it looked like it was a whole huge mountain to get over. He says, “No, you just start here. Just work on this, work on this, work on this. We’ll get back together. Talk to me in six months. I see where you are.” And so having that coach, and having someone that you can connect with. At that time, of course, everything was in person, but now we have all kinds of, now we meet all the time, Zooming in, which is great because it increases the access and being able to do that.
Dr. Karen Greene:
And as always with this podcast, we want our people who read, who listen to us, people who come into our office, our patients, their family, their friends. We want them to feel comfortable asking those type of questions, whether it’s financial, whether it’s coming into the office and asking us a question and expecting to learn something in addition to the answer. I think that is just so key. We want our patients and our people that follow us to learn things.
Dr. Mironda Williams:
So we’ve got a lot of things that we’re going to get into. As you can see, this conversation is going to go into another episode. But before we end this episode, Dr. Greene, you had a question for Mr. Scott, so why don’t we let you ask that question, let him answer, and then we will get into some more nitty-gritty when we have our next episode.
Dr. Karen Greene:
So I’m at the point where I have more years behind me than in front of me.
Mr. Thomas Scott:
You’re not alone.
Dr. Karen Greene:
You start thinking about these things, about the ages. And financially speaking, since most of the time women live longer than men, does it make financial sense to retire at 67 or wait to 70 to maximize your monthly payout? Of course, the government’s hoping we all die and nobody gets anything before age 70, they don’t pay anybody. But now with so many people now at Social Security age, will the funds be there? And is it worth the extra $1,000 a month?
Mr. Thomas Scott:
Okay. Great questions.
Dr. Karen Greene:
Okay.
Mr. Thomas Scott:
So you’re asking about Social Security, but you’re also asking about retirement readiness.
Dr. Karen Greene:
Correct.
Dr. Mironda Williams:
Yes.
Mr. Thomas Scott:
Okay. I’ll start with Social Security first, then I’ll migrate to retirement readiness. I believe the funds are going to be there.
Dr. Karen Greene:
Okay.
Mr. Thomas Scott:
Okay? Things will shift, particularly for younger people. They may increase the age at which you can access the dollars, or make them less in later dollars. But I do believe our friends in Washington will make amends to continue Social Security. It’s too powerful of a lobby. Too many people rely on Social Security, that monthly payment. So that’s number one. Retirement readiness, you ask retire at 67 or wait to 70. The decision to wait is associated with, number one, do you need the money, firstly? Number two, are you married or are you single? If you’re married, in the event you pass, your spouse will benefit to some extent from their Social Security benefit. If you’re single, that’s not so. So often, that could be a motivation for, if you’re single, could be a motivation for individuals to go ahead and commence Social Security. The other decision to wait is associated with, by waiting, you’re gaining 8% guaranteed per year up until age 70. Obviously at age 70, you need to take it. There’s no advantage to waiting. But each year prior to then, it goes up 8%. The last part has to do with, do you have longevity in your family? So I think that those can be, particularly longevity can be a compulsive reason to wait. The breakeven age, if you delay it, it’s about age 79, approximately age 79. That’s a break even to wait until 70. That you would break even at age 79, meaning you would have accomplished the dollars coming in.
Dr. Mironda Williams:
That you put in there.
Mr. Thomas Scott:
Right.
Dr. Mironda Williams:
Awesome.
Mr. Thomas Scott:
Retirement readiness. 67 or 70. Retirement readiness deals with how you want to live. And how you want to live means do you want to travel? You want to be next to your grandkids? Do you have your retirement home? Are you in your, what I call your forever home? What expenses do you foresee in retirement? And a big, I believe in there is longevity. People are living longer, particularly those who pursue healthcare. I mean, every appointment, from my perspective in finance, every appointment we as Americans go on really lengthens our life expectancy because we’re seeking greater and greater healthcare. So longevity is a critical factor. And so again, retirement readiness, I would say, again, how you want to live. Also, how not to outlive your money.
Dr. Karen Greene:
Right, yes.
Mr. Thomas Scott:
That is the critical point. Often the sources are if you have a pension, which would be a check a month for the rest of your life. Secondarily, Social Security, which would be a check a month for your rest of your life. Again, the pension is option. Everybody doesn’t have a pension. And thirdly, what you save in your 401(k). Therein, in the 401(k), you need to have a sum of money that when you approximately multiply it by 4%, that you should expect it should not run out over your lifetime. That’s called the 4% rule, it’s often debated. Hypothetically, if you got a million dollars, 4% is $40,000 a year. Doesn’t sound like much, but the game and the desire is not to run out of that million dollars over time because if you retire at 70, Lord willing, you’re going to live to 95. That’s real.
Dr. Mironda Williams:
That’s right.
Mr. Thomas Scott:
And you don’t need to be eating up that principle over time. Hopefully that’s helpful.
Dr. Mironda Williams:
Yeah, very helpful. And understandable.
Dr. Karen Greene:
Yes.
Dr. Mironda Williams:
Which is why you all see where I have been with Mr. Scott and will be with him.
Mr. Thomas Scott:
And lastly, that’s a quantifiable number. You run projections based upon your existing balance now and your contributions. And your financial advisor should be able to do that. Look at those contributions and add additions to your 401(k) and how much it can generate for you in income and how much taxes you’re going to have to pay. There is a formula. And so I would charge you to ask your financial advisor to go through those numbers and give you an idea. And in retirement readiness, you should start that conversation at least five years out. That’s called the retirement red zone. And so it won’t be crystal clear five years out, but each succeeding year should get better and better, and if you got gaps, you know about them.
Dr. Mironda Williams:
Exactly. And I have my plan because I have an excellent financial planner, and we started talking about this 10 years ago maybe ago?
Mr. Thomas Scott:
10 years ago.
Dr. Mironda Williams:
And I think that’s the thing. I was afraid to ask because I was like, “Am I ever going to be able to retire?” And because of all the things he just said, he says, “Well, let’s talk about how you want to live with…” And we went through all of that. And as he said, “These are not numbers that you can’t figure out.” And so he presented me, I still have it now. In fact, we had our next checkup and he gives me my nice little portfolio with all of my things. And if you retire at this age and if you do this and if you do that and you do that. And so ladies, this is why when I tell you I’ve been making decisions of how I want to change and adjust my working life, it’s based on that plan. And so I’ve been able to make decisions, not with, I don’t know what I’m going to do with it. Actually, I kind of do know because I got a whole little portfolio that’s been provided for me. Date and age based, that gives me very direct instructions about how to make sure that whenever I stop working, which I don’t intend to stop, I’m definitely going to hit 70 because I need all my money. So for all of the patients who keep asking, “Dr. Williams, are you retiring?” The answer is no. I will not be retiring anytime soon because based on the advice of my advisor, I need to maximize my financial investment into Social Security and other means. So we’re going to really get into this some more. Mr. Scott has some good information about financial literacy, budgeting, just some very practical items that we all need to be aware of. So please make sure you tune in for the next episode of Take Good Care Podcast with our financial wizard, Mr. Thomas Scott of Mangham-Scott Wealth Advisors. You can find him on their website at Mangham, M-A-N-G-H-A-M, Scott, S-C-O-T-T.com, mangham-scott.com so you can find out all about him and his associates and contact him there and he or any advisor of your choosing. The point is to get you a good coach. Don’t be afraid. Start where you are. It’s all good. So until we meet again, I’m Dr. Mironda Williams.
Dr. Deanna Guthrie:
I’m Dr. Deanna Guthrie.
Dr. Karen Greene:
And I am Dr. Karen Greene. Take Good Care.