Intro: [00:00:04] Broadcasting live from the Business RadioX studios in Atlanta, Georgia. It’s time for Atlanta Business Radio. Brought to you by On pay. Atlanta’s new standard in payroll. Now, here’s your host.

Lee Kantor: [00:00:25] Lee Kantor here, another episode of Atlanta Business Radio, and this is going to be a good one. But before we get started, it’s important to recognize our sponsor, Onpay. Without them, we couldn’t be sharing these important stories. Today on Atlanta Business Radio, we have April Reed Crews with Reed Financial Group. Welcome.

April Reed Crews: [00:00:43] Thank you for having me. Lee.

Lee Kantor: [00:00:44] I am so excited to learn what you’re up to. Tell us about your practice. How are you serving folks?

April Reed Crews: [00:00:49] We are a family owned and operated company. We’ve been in the Greater Gwinnett area for over 40 years and originally founded by my father, Gary Reed, and current operations are still all in the family. Um, I’m blessed to work with my sister every day. She is my co CEO, Abby Reed, and my husband as well, who’s our COO, Daniel Cruz. We have a team of fiduciary advisors, and our primary goal is educating our clients to and through their retirement.

Lee Kantor: [00:01:20] So was it kind of destiny you were going to get involved in this organization, or was this something that it just seemed organic and natural for you to follow in your family’s footsteps?

April Reed Crews: [00:01:31] Very organic and natural to follow in the footsteps. I like to say that the industry chose me. I didn’t necessarily choose it. The pieces just really fell into place. And after I finished college, I really just fell in love with it. And you know, here we are almost 20 years later and, uh, couldn’t, couldn’t enjoy what I do anymore than I do today. Very blessed to to work with the wonderful clients that we do on a, on a daily basis.

Lee Kantor: [00:01:59] Now, for the listener out there that maybe hasn’t worked with the financial advisor before, can you share? Like when would you begin for to, uh, consult with a financial advisor? Is this something that people should be doing, like right out of college, or is it something that they should be doing even before that? Maybe their their parent’s financial advisor should be advising the children to at least give them some sort of a roadmap. But when would that first point of entry be in an ideal world for you?

April Reed Crews: [00:02:29] It’s never too early to start. We talked to our clients children frequently, and at least helping them understand and begin to understand the time value of money, the importance of budgeting and having a spending plan, and really monitoring and tracking those things. The earlier that you start those steps, the better off that you will be in the long run and the needs just change from there. Initially, whether it’s in college or right out of college, it can really be as simple as what we just described. And then from there, it really transforms into an ongoing education process of understanding the options of where to invest, how to invest, how much to invest, and beginning to understand the different tax repercussions, both short Tum and Long Terme for those investment dollars. And then once that continues to build and that education process just continues, then we move into more advanced investment planning, retirement planning. If we’re talking specifically about retirement planning, I love when I see people who are in their 40s, early 50s really starting to dig in and make some projections about what is realistic for them, for the lifestyle that they want, making sure that they’re still on track for meeting those goals, understanding Social Security and pension options that might be available to them, and continually adjusting their path along the way to make sure that they have a high probability of getting to where they’d like to be.

Lee Kantor: [00:04:10] Now, um, you know, now that we live in this internet age and there’s so much information out there, um, do you find that your average, uh, client or prospective client is knowledgeable and educated with kind of what you believe, or is there a lot of myths and misconceptions out there?

April Reed Crews: [00:04:31] Great question. There are certainly a lot of myths and misconceptions, and as a part of our education process, with our clients and with our prospective clients, we find it’s very important to include education about understanding biased sources of information. If there’s a source of information that’s out there that is, um, you know, has an ulterior motive or, you know, they’re they’re um. They’re geared towards all towards one area of specialty, or 100% against it all or nothing. As I like to look at it. A lot of times that can be a red flag because we’re not believers, that there’s a universal solution for everyone. There are a lot of different tools and investments that need to be closely considered, and often what might seem to be a reliable source might have an ulterior motive. So understanding where the information is coming from and understanding what good, unbiased sources are available is a really important step in making sure that those myths and misconceptions can be weeded out. Then having a process in place to make sure that you know what questions to ask of anyone you might be considering working with. We have a great library of questions and resources to help people make sure that the firm and or the advisor who they choose to work with is someone who is a good fit, in alignment with their beliefs, and that they have a good holistic understanding of any agreement that they might make.

Lee Kantor: [00:06:14] Now, are you finding that, um, your clients that say you’ve worked with them since maybe they were executives, or maybe they’re, you know, well into their working career, but they want some advice from you, but they get to the point of, okay, it’s time to retire. And the to go from that kind of world where your client is accumulating wealth is a certain strategy. And then this de accumulating wealth is a different strategy and it’s a different mindset. Do you have a heart? Do you find that people have a hard time kind of shifting gears into going from saving to spending as they age, especially when there’s so many unknowns when it comes to how long you’ll live? You know, what kind of health concerns you’ll have and things like that.

April Reed Crews: [00:06:59] We do and it is a difficult transition. It’s not a natural transition for most individuals who are accustomed to committed savings and not touching those funds their entire working life. And then there’s this transition that happens that you mentioned between that accumulation phase. And then for most, it becomes about preservation and distribution. What those strategies look like, what those. Those social security strategies, filing strategies look like income tax planning. Uh, you know, how do we begin with determining how long that retirement might be and making sure that we’re going to be able to be comfortable during those years? Those are the primary questions that that we hear and the concerns that we see. A lot of people are very concerned about inflation, just about general cost of living at this time and how they can adequately project those into the future. Having a road map and a place to start to make sure that taxes and inflation and of course, health care, uh, primarily long terme care costs, that there are strategies in place and a road map in place for those. Typically the biggest exposures can really help people through that transition and knowing where they’re going and how they need to get there. But it’s not always an easy or a natural transition. Having a process in place and and a hand to hold, so to speak, can be very valuable.

Lee Kantor: [00:08:30] Now, a lot of people, um, try to save up to a certain number. Uh, and then they think they’ve had that number, then that’s going to be good, and then they won’t run out of money. I know that’s a fear for a lot of people who’s running out of money. Do you find that people who have professional help like you and your firm, they have a less likelihood of running out of money?

April Reed Crews: [00:08:53] Absolutely. And a lot of times people exactly what you just mentioned, Lee. They have a number in mind, whether it’s a number that they heard on some, you know, ancient commercial or it was instilled by the parent or a friend or a spouse, whoever that individual may be, where they they are fixated on a number. And the way that we educate is that it is not necessarily about the number of what you’ve accumulated. Retirement and the success of retirement isn’t solely what you’ve accumulated. It’s your spending strategy and the the adequate planning for income taxes, making sure that you’ve saved enough to pay yourself and Uncle Sam and and have a strategy in place for all of those income sources not to be taxable, can provide a lot of peace of mind, taking some of that off of the table with some advanced planning, making sure that. You. You know, what your expenses are now is is key. A lot of people have no idea what they’re spending. And if you don’t know what you’re spending now, it’s awfully difficult to project what you will spend during retirement once you retire. Another way we like to look at it every day is Saturday, and the day that you spend the most money is Saturday. What are you going to be doing to fill your time during retirement? Is it more golfing? Is it more traveling? All of these things, of course, have have an expense and making sure that we know where we are, that we have our spending under control and and having a good idea of what retirement looks like for an individual situation is essential in making sure that you’re going to be able to retire comfortably. And it’s not only about that number, it’s about that holistic retirement income plan and having someone who is an expert at helping you lay that out. We see it’s like a a weight lifted off of people’s shoulders when they, they see where they’re going and how they’re going to get there.

Lee Kantor: [00:10:59] Now, as the baby boomers are aging and, um, hopefully at some point retiring and, uh, and maybe passing on a bunch of money, is this something that you’re seeing as a trend that all of a sudden there’s going to be an influx of lots of money? I don’t know the number, but I would imagine it’s billions of dollars, maybe even larger than that, hundreds of billions of dollars that will be transferred to a group of people that are probably doing okay, but all of a sudden they could be doing extremely okay.

April Reed Crews: [00:11:31] Well, the estimates range a lot, but the most recent metrics that I’ve seen project that 30 trillion will be passed on by 2030. And some of those estimates show by 2045 it could be as high as 73 trillion. That is a wealth transfer. They’re calling now the great wealth transfer that will take place primarily between baby boomers and millennials, who, as you mentioned, millennials, who might be doing okay now, but they’ve never seen this type of money before. A lot of people now have a lot of of debt. Um, they have a lot of debt for school, for credit cards. Um, and they don’t have a strategy to handle this amount of money that they’re about to receive. So this goes back to the conversation about educating the the child as well. And not so much children anymore. A lot of these, you know, of course, these millennials are all now adults, but younger adults and making sure that they have the tools in advance before they receive this kind of wealth to make sure they’re equipped to handle it in a prudent manner. Um, and they have a track to run on.

Lee Kantor: [00:12:45] Now are these younger people? Are they kind of in the dark that they don’t know this is going to happen because money and a lot of families is kind of hush hush, you know, that people don’t know how much money their parents have that, that are they going to be kind of blindsided by, wow, all of a sudden I get, you know, $3 million or $5 million.

April Reed Crews: [00:13:05] It’s likely to be the case for a lot of people, and that’s why we strongly encourage family discussions, not only about the amount that’s going to be inherited, but about estate planning, about wishes for if you’re ill. Um, what? Just overall what your wishes are and and so that people know what they’re what they’re going to receive what the tax implications of that some might be. There have been a lot of recent changes to tax laws with the Secure act, the Secure act 2.0 and the transfer of wealth is not going to be as efficient as it might have been. Pre 2019 pre secure Act 2.0 as well beneficiaries of qualified assets. So we’re now talking about assets that haven’t been taxed yet. Most of those beneficiaries. And in this instance the millennials that we’re talking about are going to have to have a forced payout over ten years of qualified assets. And that could be a tax burden that they’re not anticipating at that point. A lot of these people might be really reaching a peak in their earning power, have a pretty high level of income, and then all of a sudden they’ll have a period of time where they have to empty out taxable accounts that are coming to them. So the more planning that can be done in advance for that transfer of wealth, the more that we’re going to be able to keep inside each family.

Lee Kantor: [00:14:32] Now, are you finding that people are open or understanding the ramifications? Like, I, I know a lot of people that are older and they don’t want to think about, well, I’m going to die. And, you know, what am I going to do when I die? Like, that’s the last thing they want to think about. So by asking them to go through these exercises where you start planning that stuff, I would imagine is a little trickier. Like it sounds very matter of fact. Of course you should be doing this type of planning. It’s going to benefit your kids and you don’t want to do anything to hurt your kids. But on the other hand, these are people that are like, they don’t want to think about death and the end, that it’s a difficult thing for them to even consider. So I would imagine that sometimes they are hesitant to even engage in these conversations with you.

April Reed Crews: [00:15:21] Know, what I find is that people are very relieved to have somebody who can liaise on that conversation. It’s not a comfortable topic to broach. A lot of times people just really don’t know how to even bring it up. And sometimes it’s not the parents who don’t want to talk about it. Sometimes the parents do want to talk about it. And what we find is that their adult children just they don’t even want to talk about it. They don’t want to have the conversation. They don’t want to think about it. So we we a lot of times will serve as a form of a liaison where we can help facilitate at least the beginning portions of those conversations and kind of, you know, try to make light of it in some way that, you know, there are only two things in life that are certain, as as we’ve all heard, uh, for, for a long time, that that famous adage, death and taxes and the better prepared that we are, the more efficient we can be. Uh, a lot of times it becomes about not leaving a burden. And the less communication there is between generations, the less preparation there is between generations, the more likely it is that a burden will get left, whether it’s a tax burden or whether it’s a caregiving role that hasn’t been adequately prepared for. And when we’re able to shift that paradigm and make it proactive and positive and cohesive team who has an approach to solve these problems before they happen, we find that it’s a much more comfortable position for both sides of that conversation.

Lee Kantor: [00:16:49] Now, I would imagine that it’s also a tricky conversation for the spouses. Uh, a lot of the baby boomers, maybe the male was the primary breadwinner and they were handling this type of thing, and then this might be the first time the spouse has had to deal with the complexity of these kind of financial issues.

April Reed Crews: [00:17:14] Absolutely. And of course, we can’t wind back the clock. But whenever possible, we try to engage both spouses from the beginning of our relationship with a couple for that exact reason. Because when one person handles everything, it can be a immensely more stressful and more difficult time for that surviving spouse, which, statistically speaking, women live six years longer than men, approximately. It’s it’s a lot of time’s going to be the surviving spouse and who is a the wife. And a lot of times it’s it’s they have no relationship with the financial services professional. They have not been the one who has handled the household budgeting or investments or updates to estate planning and beneficiary documents and all of that coming together at a time that is already emotionally challenging and very difficult just adds another layer of immense stress. So if at all possible, even if it’s just at a relationship level, and to start dipping the toe in the water to understand some of the bigger picture items for a spouse that hasn’t been involved, we strongly encourage that from the beginning can make that process a lot easier. Um, when that day does come.

Lee Kantor: [00:18:33] And I would imagine it can be as simple as just putting a book together that lists all the accounts and passwords and things like that. Um, so the person is aware of it.

April Reed Crews: [00:18:43] Yeah, exactly. A lot of times it’s the little things that that really add up and can make a big difference. And, um, you know, those types of things can be very difficult administratively. There are, um, you know, making sure that there is a checklist of things that will need to be addressed at that time, whether there are items that might deal with vehicles, with the home, with beneficiary changes, those get overlooked a lot. A lot of times we talked earlier about misconceptions. A lot of times people feel that as long as their estate plan is updated, then everything is good to go and that is not the case. The beneficiary documents are critical documents to update as well. So a lot of moving parts and we’ve never been there before until that day comes. So having a checklist like you mentioned, a book of passwords of where things are, the more details there, the better to make everything a lot more seamless during those transitions.

Lee Kantor: [00:19:45] And um, for your firm, do you have a sweet spot in the type of clients you serve?

April Reed Crews: [00:19:51] We specialize in retirement planning, so our average client is 60 to 65 years old. Um, and we deal with a lot of different types of professionals. We have a lot of widows. We help, um, and a lot of couples that we help also. But that area that we really focus in on is 60 to 65 is our average clientele. Like I said, you know, if we can, the earlier we can get the ball rolling and, and get everything in good order the better. But that’s really our, our sweet spot, um, of area where we, we can still do a lot of advanced tax planning to help lead and guide through retirement where, where we can really get a hold of social Security strategies before filing has taken place. So that’s that’s a really good sweet spot for us. And there if if not a bidder here.

Lee Kantor: [00:20:42] Now, are they high net worth individuals or is it, um, you know working class folks. Like do you have a mix? Are they, um, you know, entrepreneurs, are they celebrities and athletes or are they, uh, you know, teachers?

April Reed Crews: [00:20:56] We have a really good blend of of types of people that we work with. Um, high net worth, I think is, you know, a bit of a different definition for, for everybody. A lot of the strategies that we utilize do appeal to those that are classified as high net worth, because typically those are the individuals who are going to have the most concern from a tax perspective and retirement income taxes when they have to start taking their required minimum distributions, what that tax impact is going to look like if they have a higher asset base. So by nature, a lot of the folks that we work with are classified as higher net worth. But we deal a lot with middle class individuals, um, who are working towards retirement. And most of those individuals are those who have a 401 K or a 403 B, or some combination where they are contributing the majority of their their savings during their working years exclusively to those types of plans. And they don’t have an overall retirement plan or strategy. A lot of those people are relying on target funds and their retirement plans that adjust the closer they get to retirement. Recent years and the bond market that we have had, the stock market volatility that we’ve seen have really been a challenge for a lot of target date funds. So we find ourselves working a lot with people who fit into that classification as well.

Lee Kantor: [00:22:25] And, um, any advice for the person who maybe is, um, it’s time for them to switch financial advisors? What are what some advice on how to identify and find that next financial advisor? And what are some of the red flags that maybe your financial advisor isn’t doing all they could be doing for you?

April Reed Crews: [00:22:45] Uh, first thing that I recommend is doing a good bit of research, making sure that you understand the the level of responsibility and the type of licensure that the individual that you’re considering has. Uh, do a broker check, make sure there are no ghosts in the closet, so to speak. And we have a list that we provide to prospective clients of specific questions to ask to make sure there’s a very good understanding of the way that the the pricing is, the fee structure is is put together, making sure that there are mutual expectations on both sides of what that relationship is going to look like, what the role is moving forward with ongoing monitoring. A lot of times what we find is that things can fall through the cracks. If someone has a tax preparer and an advisor, and it’s important to have a cohesive team to make sure that all of the boxes are checked when it comes to tax planning and investment planning, that there isn’t an assumption or a gray area of what’s being delegated. And we we always recommend having a process where you you vet those individuals by both research and personally anytime. As far as red flags go, any time that someone wants you to move your assets immediately without seeing any sort of a comprehensive plan that’s customized to you at all. To me is is a red flag. I like to see a very well defined process where, uh, like what we do, where we have an introduction call to make sure we might be a fit, and then a three step process of analysis, recommendation and implementation to make sure that education is a part of that process and that all of your questions have been answered before any changes take place. There should be a very streamlined process for those things that you’re comfortable with, and that you feel like you’ve been well educated to make decisions that are in your best interest.

Lee Kantor: [00:24:48] Now, what’s a reasonable amount of time that, uh, you and your financial advisor should at least have a phone conversation, if not a face to face meeting, to make any adjustments to the plan?

April Reed Crews: [00:25:00] We have an introduction called that lasts for about 15 minutes. That’s really a way for us to get to know an individual and determine whether or not we might be a fit, philosophically needs that they have, or whether there might be another structure that might be a better fit for them. And from there, a week or two after that, typically we will schedule an introduction meeting. We really prefer for that introduction and discovery session to be in person whenever possible. This is a very relationship based business and should be. We do have some times where we do those by webinar, but it is not our first preference. We can do it that way and at the end of that meeting, we have a very good idea of where we might be able to assist. We put together a list of priorities along with that individual or that couple, and we spend a couple of weeks going through analysis, recommendation and putting together a customized written recommendation that we provide in that second in-person meeting, typically. And we go over that in detail and send it home with them so that they can read through it, come back to us with any questions. And in that third meeting is where clarification and implementation take place. We find that process helps make sure that we’re a very good fit for the long terme, and that our clients are very comfortable with the decisions that they’re making without feeling rushed to make decisions.

Lee Kantor: [00:26:27] And then once I have you as part of my team, how often, like, you know, were year three, year five into the relationship, do I check in with you every month, every six months, every year? How often do I, you know, stay in contact with you to let you know if anything has changed?

April Reed Crews: [00:26:44] Any time there’s a triggering life event, a job change, a divorce, a marriage, a death, uh, those, of course, can’t be on any set schedule, but it’s very important to make sure that you reach out to your financial service professional any time that any of those triggering life events take place. And as far as a cadence of meetings, we customize that. Um, sometimes people don’t like to do it more than once a year. We have some folks who like quarterly. The most common cadence that we fall into is semiannually with with most of the folks that we work with, and we find that allows us to stay in contact with them close enough to make sure that we’re proactive about any adjustments that might need to be made. And we believe in ongoing education. So the portfolio adjustments that are taking place, the projections that we see alongside our investment committee, that we have those conversations proactively and we’re able to to make any adjustments that are pertinent for each household.

Lee Kantor: [00:27:45] So if somebody wants to learn more, have a more substantive conversation with you or somebody on your team, what’s the website? What’s the best way to connect?

April Reed Crews: [00:27:53] You can visit with us at the Retirement family.com, and you will find both of our phone numbers for both of our offices in Suwanee and Snellville there, as well as the contact us form. If you would like to schedule an introduction, call or learn more. Then that’s a wonderful place to start.

Lee Kantor: [00:28:08] Well, April, thank you so much for sharing your story today. You’re doing such important work and we appreciate you.

April Reed Crews: [00:28:14] Thank you again for having me, Lee.

Lee Kantor: [00:28:15] All right. This is Lee Kantor. We’ll see you all next time on Atlanta Business Radio.