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ANNOUNCER: Now WBRZ News at 4:00.
ANCHOR BRITTANY WEISS: Welcome back to News 2 at 4:00. Keeping those financial goals for the new year, well, it’s not so easy, especially if you plan to retire. Financial expert Jerry Linebaugh joins us today. So what should we be focusing on in these next couple days and into the fi rst part of the new year?
JERRY LINEBAUGH, GAME CHANGER WEALTH: Okay, so people have resolutions, so one thing people say is, well, I just don’t know, I can’t save money because I don’t know where I’m spending. That’s probably true. So the fi rst thing is let’s do, let’s create a budget. But I’m a little bit different than most people. Okay? I’m going to tell you that to create that budget, instead of trying to cut expenses cold turkey – because that’s negative – let’s just start in January to February by saving your receipts. This is no pressure. Everybody could do this. Don’t worry about cutting back from January to February. Just monitor what you’re doing. Write it down. Save your receipts. And then you’ll actually get your emotions involved because you’re going to be able to clearly see what you’re spending money on. You’re going to be like, you know what? This is ridiculous. I can’t believe we’re spending that here. That would be a very positive thing. That’s step number one.
So step two, I would say let’s give the retirement savings a boost by getting rid of some credit card debt.
ANCHOR: Oh, yes.
LINEBAUGH: People say, well, how in the world can you do that? I mean, come on. I’ve got more month left than I’ve got money. So how am I going to do that and increase? Well, it’s simple – strategy. Right? So the fi rst thing we’re going to do is we’re going to make a list of debt. It’s three steps. Make a list. Seconds, let’s organize them for the lowest balance, highest payment. And this is totally different than what most people would tell you to do. But then again, an uncommon retirement requires uncommon planning. Okay? If you get your emotions involved, then you’re probably going to continue this. So if you pay off the lowest debt, highest payment, you’re able to get traction.
ANCHOR: Right.
LINEBAUGH: And this is going to stimulate you. So, hey, let’s do some more. Well, we’ll take that budget and put it on the next lowest balance, highest payment. You’ll do this and if you’ve got the fi rst step in line where you’re budget was already in line, you know, from the fi rst step, this is actually – can be dumped straight into your retirement plan with tremendous results for the future.
ANCHOR: Wow. Good.
LINEBAUGH: Now, there's one more thing.
ANCHOR: Yeah, one more. What’s the third?.
LINEBAUGH: Yeah, real quick. The third is incredibly exciting.
ANCHOR: [Laughs]
LINEBAUGH: I tell you, I’m excited. So pensions versus 401K/IRA. What’s the difference?
ANCHOR: Sure.
LINEBAUGH: Okay. Well, first of all, a pension was created as a defined benefit, whereas a 401K/403B was a defined contribution plan, no guaranteed income and it wasn’t portable. That was a problem. Today you can start a private pension (outside of work) and it’s portable. You actually can fund your 401K/IRA and your private pension- -you can do both. So when you start up your (private) pension, you’re actually putting money where you can’t lose it, get a guaranteed rate (in some cases). And then when you start your income from your private pension, you can get increasing income. from some designs.
ANCHOR: All right. Thanks so much, Jerry. We appreciate it.
LINEBAUGH: Pleasure.
Note: These are the opinions of Jerry Linebaugh and the authors and not necessarily those of the Foundations Investment Advisors, are for informational purposes only, and should not be construed or acted upon as individualized investment advice.
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