Episode 28: Navigating Longevity with Smart Financial Solutions

Oscarlyn Elder:

When you've worked a lifetime to build your savings and investments, you want to have that money working for you in your later years, working to preserve your lifestyle, to meet new goals, and to potentially leave a financial legacy. I'm Oscarlyn Elder, co-chief investment officer for Truist Wealth, and this is, I've Been Meaning To Do That, a podcast from Truist Wealth, a purpose-driven financial services company. We appreciate you listening.

Today we're talking about planning for longevity, in particular, the financial strategies that can keep the wealth you've accumulated productive, no matter how long you live. I have a wonderful guest for this discussion, and it's someone I know well, my colleague, Alex Null, who is the managing director of brokerage products here at Truist Wealth. Thank you so much for joining us, Alex.

Alex Null:

Well, thank you Oscarlyn, and I'm very happy to be here.

Oscarlyn Elder:

Well, let's jump in. Let's start with why we're talking about longevity planning in the first place. Medical and technology advancements have driven longer lives. A study from the Pew Research Center projects that the number of Americans who are 100 years old or older will quadruple by 2054 to around 422,000. Alex, that's a lot of people living a long time. What are some of the challenges that longevity brings?

Alex Null:

It's a fantastic question. The first thing that comes to mind, ultimately, is obviously the longer that we are living, the longer we have to plan. Historically, you've planned retirement, say, 10, 15 years, 20 years, but in today's world, we're actually looking to plan 25, 30, 35 years, even longer because of that increased life expectancy.

When you consider the factors that go into that, not just the regular day-to-day living expenses that somebody needs to cover, but then also things like advances in medical technology to treat various things that can impact people as they age, the increased cost of those technologies, as the new technologies come out. They're not cheaper than the ones from before. They're much more expensive. Many of other things to consider from a cost and just basic inflation perspective that, over that longer duration, can cause some problems if not properly planned for.

Oscarlyn Elder:

Alex, in addition to all the factors that you just talked about, which really focused on healthcare, medical planning, all of those elements, folks also have to think about the markets, potentially. So, as folks age, weathering market volatility becomes a more critical element, I think, of their planning and their considerations around asset allocation.

Alex Null:

That point you made about volatility, that is something that is so crucial to doing any type of plan. Volatility, to your point, it's not a bad thing. It's a thing. It can work for us. It can absolutely work against us. But understanding what volatility does on the positive side as well as how it can impact us negatively, I think, is so important, particularly as you're looking to plan for something over a longer duration than, I think, what has traditionally been done. It's a very critical point of what we're doing.

Oscarlyn Elder:

We've got a lot of ground to cover, so we'll dig into some of the specific strategies that are available to help our listeners on their journey when we come back.

Alex, before we start talking about specific longevity-focused strategies, I want to call out that it's important for folks to understand their investment portfolios. And that can be a combination of retirement-focused portfolios, like 401(k)s, IRAs or even taxable portfolios. After retirement, these portfolios are often an essential source for income needs.

Alex Null:

Absolutely. I think as you're accumulating assets over time at different phases of your life, you'll have different structures, different strategies, different focuses at each of those stages of your career and of your life. As you go ahead and you build your wealth, you use those different accounts. You have the ability to do different things. Everything that you're putting together ultimately is designed to work in conjunction with one another. Each account may have a very specific targeted use case for what they're looking to do for an individual or for an individual's family. But the way that all of those components work together, that ultimately goes to building that plan.

And then inside of each of those accounts, as you consider things like allocation. Oscarlyn, I know that is the focus of what you ultimately do, and you can touch on that a little bit more. But how you allocate each of those accounts, not just on their own, but in conjunction with one another, can really help an individual or a family build that longevity into those assets to make sure they're there when they're needed most and for as long as they're ultimately needed.

Oscarlyn Elder:

Alex, you bring up a great point about allocation. Within the investing world, we talk a lot about asset allocation and all that simply is how much of your assets ultimately are portioned over to equities or stocks. That part of the portfolio tends to be a growth driver. That tends to be why we invest in stocks, to create growth over the long term. Can also produce income, fixed income or bonds, which tend to be the stabilizing force within a portfolio. They provide a stability and income, ultimately, and then in a more simplistic allocation, also cash. And how much current liquidity a client has is often very critical.

Really, as you walk through life, but especially as you're thinking about longevity planning, and perhaps you're approaching retirement or post-retirement, it's really important to understand your mix of assets. Make sure it's appropriate to your plan and your situation. It aligns with your risk comfort zone. You want to be able to sleep at night. You want to be able to have confidence that you're going to be able to achieve your goals, and that's why we talk about asset allocation, that overall view. Super important.

Alex Null:

The different types of assets that you mentioned, the equities, the fixed income, the different things, they all behave differently in different environments. Of course, we know equities, they're designed to try to help grow our assets. That is so important when you're planning for something over such a longer duration than what we've historically done.

At the same time, you want to make sure you have something that can offset some of that volatility. Remember, as we said before, volatility goes up, which is great, but volatility can work the other way as well. So, helping diversify those equity holdings with the fixed income component can be a way to help narrow down, say, the potential range of outcomes.

And then as you go through and you're doing that diversification, it's a great strategy to help, again, spread out those risks or to help offset certain risks, but it's not necessarily the perfect end-all-be-all strategy. As you and I have talked about before, there's other strategies out there where a client can ultimately leverage somebody else's balance sheet if they don't themselves want to absorb those risks. And as you combine all of those things together, thinking about the different accounts that we talked about, the different types of assets that are out there, and then different strategies where we can leverage other components, different solutions in the industry, I think that creates the holistic look at what you can do when you're trying to create a longevity plan.

Oscarlyn Elder:

All right, Alex, you mentioned a longevity plan. Let's turn to that specifically. At what age do you think longevity planning should enter into someone's conversation with their advisor?

Alex Null:

I love this discussion because it's actively debated. The natural tendency is I'm going to start thinking about longevity when I'm older, but if you think about it, I really want to start considering longevity when I start investing, the very first time I start investing. Because as we're younger, we're early in our careers. We start investing in things like 401(k)s. We start opening up those taxable accounts that you mentioned. We're not investing for typically a two, three, four year period. We're investing for retirement.

Oscarlyn Elder:

We're investing for a lifetime.

Alex Null:

Exactly, you're investing for that lifetime. As you consider that, to answer that question, Oscarlyn, it's you start thinking about longevity really from day one. Whether you realize it or not, you're trying to solve that longevity question. So, then when you come to that time when you retire or you leave one career, go to the other where you need to self-fund some of those things, you're ready. And the earlier you start, the better opportunity you have to be ready when that time comes.

Speaker 3:

How does the discussion around longevity planning change as someone perhaps moves into their forties or their fifties or their sixties? I would love for you to pick a decade that you feel is perhaps the most pivotal, outside of starting the habit of saving and investing young, which we all believe in. The power of compounded growth over time is just, it is one of the most powerful forces within finance. What decade do you think is the most pivotal and garnering people's attention around this topic?

Alex Null:

This is very much the art versus the science. The time of someone's life, our experience has shown when someone enters their forties is when they really start to consider it for their very first time. When people enter their fifties, they typically start to actually take the action. If you think about what that statement means, I start thinking about it when I'm around 40, I might not, on my own, start truly acting on it until 10 years down the road, when I'm 50.

When you consider that, that's a decade that has gone by where we may not be doing that. But within that 20 year span between the ages of say 40 and 60, that is really the most active time where people start to think about longevity in the traditional sense as it pertains to retirement income, not outliving my assets, making sure I can live my life and truly not be a burden to the people I may leave behind.

Oscarlyn Elder:

What kind of conversations would you encourage folks to have with their advisors during their forties and fifties, specifically?

Alex Null:

I think it really comes down to trying to understand what the individual or the individuals want to do. You think, when somebody is 40, they might start thinking a little bit about what they want to do in retirement, but between that age and when they actually retire, things will change. Their opinions will change. Their wants, desires will absolutely change.

So, I think having those discussions and digging in, just asking the open-ended questions to begin the discussion with the client, "What might you want to do?" Start to plant the seeds with the client so they start to think about it on a somewhat regular basis when they're meeting with their advisor. Hopefully they're meeting with advisors at least one time per year, if not more. But just use it as an opportunity for the advisor to do a check-in with the client and for the client to do a check-in with themselves. Revisit it on a frequent basis, so as you're going through those years in the forties and fifties, you can adjust your plan to accommodate for what your wants and desires might want to be in retirement.

Oscarlyn Elder:

The way I like to describe it is we're trying to define the road. We may not, at that point, be able tell exactly what lane we're in, but we're kind of building the pathway. And it's coming into sharper focus because your earning years—if you're working in a corporate setting, for instance, most folks are going to retire around 65, let's call it. At that point, you're looking at 20 to 10 years, perhaps, of still actively earning income from your career, and so coming into a little sharper focus. As that happens, you're saying it's really important to clue into and to begin to really evaluate how longevity may impact your financial plan.

Alex Null:

Yeah, it's an active conversation and an active dialogue over an extended period of time, mostly because circumstances change. The path that somebody might be on is going to be adjusted as you go over a period of time that is that long. So, having that active dialogue, understanding that creating an income plan or creating a longevity plan, it's not a one-time exercise. It is an ongoing, living, breathing thing that will ultimately be the vehicle that allows somebody to live the life that they want to.

Oscarlyn Elder:

Ultimately, Alex, we are really encouraging folks, as you move into your forties, into your fifties, really start to have these deeper conversations with your advisors around longevity planning specifically. Ideally, you've started building your wealth much earlier in your career, and you've got the great habits from that lifelong practice. Now, the conversation really starts to focus on what happens after retirement. What happens if I live to 100? What might it look like? And how might I want my financial legacy to play out, if you will?

So, look, when we come back, we're going to turn to discussing the risk associated with navigating a long life and how our wealth planning strategy, so specific strategies, can minimize those risks.

Alex, living for a long time is a good thing, but when it comes to financial planning, is it also fair to say that it's a risk?

Alex Null:

Absolutely. The longer you live, the longer you have to plan for it, the longer you need to make sure your assets are around. The concept of longevity risk, Oscarlyn, that's exactly what it is. It's the risk of outliving your assets, risk of outliving your income, so you're at a point where you may have certain needs that you can't fulfill because everything has been spent before.

Oscarlyn Elder:

And it's really at that point too, when we think about risk that are perhaps adjacent to the longevity risk, you begin to reach a point where you don't have quite as much time to endure, for instance, a market downturn. The potential that your capital, that your investment account experiences a sustained decline becomes more uncomfortable to folks because they're more reliant upon the portfolio for income and for cash flow needs. So, often, what we see is that risk comfort zones really change over time.

Alex Null:

I think, to that point, ultimately your timeline for correction is compressed.

Oscarlyn Elder:

That's right.

Alex Null:

If I have a market movement which is not in my favor, I have time to recover. When I'm getting into those retirement years, I no longer have the benefit of that time. I no longer have that gift of that time. I now have to make decisions in real time because I'm starting to live off of those assets. So, some of the risks that have always been around my portfolio or have always been around my investments now have a much larger place for me to consider as I'm going through and, again, trying to live my life and leverage these assets to go ahead and live life.

As we think of the risks that are out there, there are four main ones that we focus on as we're trying to consider longevity planning. Market volatility, which we've talked about a fair amount. We do break out longevity risk as one of the principal risks when we're building income portfolios.

We also get the risk of taxation, and that's ultimately as we grow assets, we have gains. Unfortunately, those gains don't stay with us. They're not free. The government always wants to take their component of that so we have to account for, with what we make when we start to distribute those assets, what do we need to pay the government to be compliant with the tax code?

And the fourth one, which really doesn't apply so much to this conversation, is then wanting to make sure we're efficiently transferring wealth to the next generation. But that's the fourth risk that we ultimately break things out for. There are subcategories in each of those four components, but those are the four main ones that we ultimately focus on.

Oscarlyn Elder:

Let's turn to the solution, specifically, that you believe can help folks sleep at night when they need to perhaps narrow the range of possible outcomes as they think about their total wealth picture and their longevity planning.

Alex Null:

Yeah, I think where that conversation starts is is working with each individual to help them understand, themselves, what risks they are comfortable absorbing and what risks they're not comfortable absorbing.

Oscarlyn Elder:

Can you give us an example?

Alex Null:

Yeah. An example of if we think about, say, things like market volatility, if I have a particular asset invested somewhere, I'm trying to understand how much of that volatility risk that client wants to take on. I might ask the question to that client, if I had a $100,000, and that $100,000 fell to $90,000, would my client still be comfortable holding that position, or would that begin to create some type of concern on the client's behalf? If the answer is the client that would be comfortable there, I might back that down and say, "Well, what if it fell to $80,000?"

If they're still comfortable, I'm going to back it down until I get them to a number where they start to have that facial type of reaction where you can see the eyes squint a little bit, or they might turn their head or something like that where I can start to sense, okay, so now I have an idea for how much risk somebody is willing to absorb and where I might need to be starting to set the point of considering options to help offset those risks. It's at that point we want to make sure we're helping clients stay on task and on plan so that they can go ahead and meet their goals.

Oscarlyn Elder:

And to your point, if folks do reach a point where they feel like liquidating assets, especially taxable assets are in the mix, and it's later in life, often there are gains that are built into those assets. And so there can almost be a multiple impact because of the realized gain.

Alex, let's turn for a moment to some of the specific solutions and strategies that our listeners could use if they have an interest in narrowing the range of possible outcomes within their financial plans.

Alex Null:

Yeah, and ultimately these would be solutions that come into play after diversification really isn't going to be the end-all-be-all solution here. Two that immediately come to mind would be structured products, and then annuity contracts offered by certain insurers.

Oscarlyn Elder:

Okay. Let's start first with structured products. What are structured products? And how do they work?

Alex Null:

Yeah, structured products are ultimately what the industry would call a fixed income instrument. Think of that somewhat as a bond, I think, to put it in more simple terms. Ultimately, what these do is they are structured investments set up to produce a certain type of return, but then also provide a certain level of downside protection. The protection is what can help narrow the range of returns. However, for that there's a cost, and of course that cost is you are limited on your upside compared to investing in something that would be very similar without that protection tied to it.

Oscarlyn Elder:

Can you give us an example of what you're talking about? What does it look like in practice?

Alex Null:

Absolutely. A straightforward example would be we have one of these structured products, and let's say we're going to tie it to what the industry will call an underlier. Think of it as it's tied to a specific investment, many times something similar to an index, say like the S&P 500.

Oscarlyn Elder:

So, S&P 500. An example would be tying the return potential to the return of the S&P 500.

Alex Null:

Correct. And then from the protection perspective is the note would be set up in such a way where, if the S&P 500 had a return anywhere between 0% and say negative 10%, so was down 10%, the client would realize none of that downside.

Oscarlyn Elder:

Okay.

Alex Null:

The cost of that is if the S&P say was up in a year 30%. That particular structured product may only offer a maximum return over a set period of say 15%, maybe 10%. Depending on how things are in the industry, could be something like 7%. So, there's a trade-off on what that potential gain could be, but the benefit to the client is they know that downside is going to be protected.

Oscarlyn Elder:

I want to point out a couple of things to folks as they're listening. The terms of these types of structure products are continually evolving. You're just giving an example. It's really important that if they're in a conversation with an advisor, that they understand the specific terms around whatever their strategy they're considering in that moment. Is that fair?

Alex Null:

Very fair. Very fair.

Oscarlyn Elder:

So, you've got to understand the terms of the product. In essence, what you're saying is that these strategy solutions allow for a certain level of upside, and also provide some protection for a certain level of downside.

Alex Null:

Correct. In that difference between the upside and that downside, that is that narrowed range compared to investing directly into what that particular structured product might be based on.

Oscarlyn Elder:

So, a structured product, what would you say generally this type of product works well for?

Alex Null:

I think it's variety of different uses. I think from a general perspective, they would be suited very well for somebody who wants to participate in a particular market, wants to invest in a certain area of the market. However, they don't have a full appetite to take on all the risk or all the volatility that can come with it. Of course, like we were talking about, the cost for that is your upside opportunity, that growth opportunity.

Oscarlyn Elder:

What don't they work well for?

Alex Null:

They don't work well for somebody who has a short-term time horizon. I should have said that also. These are meant to be long-term investments. Some of them can be set up for shorter time frames, much like a bond could be. You could have a two-year structured product timeframe. You can also have them set up for, say, seven or eight years. The intent of the product is you want to make sure the assets you're investing will be invested in this product for the duration of whatever is set up at the time.

Oscarlyn Elder:

So, you need to go into it with really a firm understanding that it's likely to best meet your needs if you hold it, in essence, until maturity, for the full life of the vehicle.

Alex Null:

Absolutely. You want to go into these with the understanding, "I am holding this until maturity."

Oscarlyn Elder:

Okay, that's really important.

Alex Null:

Very much.

Oscarlyn Elder:

And then tell us a little bit more around—I think it's really important in this space, if I remember correctly, that there are different entities that create these specific structured products.

Alex Null:

Yes.

Oscarlyn Elder:

Tell us about the role of those entities and what clients should know about, let's call it the financial wherewithal of the issuer. I just want to make sure folks, again, are armed with information, as they're talking with their advisor, to be able to really ask meaningful questions and understand how the product works, and also what the risk may be, and how to evaluate the opportunity.

Alex Null:

Absolutely. Yeah, the technical name for these entities would be the issuer. The way that we'll also phrase that these are the creators of the products. The structured products, because they have a protection component to them, think of that as, conceptually, a piece of insurance. To be able to make sure that value is there, every structured product is ultimately based on what is called the claims-paying ability of that issuer or that underlying product creator to be able to make a client whole based on the promise of how that structured product is ultimately set up.

Said in another way, if we have a scenario where a structured product's protection component ultimately kicks in or becomes relevant, it would be that issuer who is making sure that client gets back every dollar that they are owed as opposed to, of course, the underlying piece tied to it.

Oscarlyn Elder:

But ultimately, as a client, you're entering into an agreement with that issuer, and so it's important that the issuer has the financial backing and stability to be able to make good on that agreement.

Alex Null:

The issuers that are prevalent in the marketplace, these are names that everybody knows these are solid issuers. And then firms like a Truist, we have certain diligence that we do on the issuers to feel comfortable to offer such solutions to clients.

Oscarlyn Elder:

But it's certainly reasonable for a client to ask details about the issuer so that they have confidence that the issuer ultimately does have the strength to pay out.

Alex Null:

Not only reasonable, we would highly encourage it.

Oscarlyn Elder:

Absolutely, okay. And are there any other trade-offs that we would need to articulate for the folks listening?

Alex Null:

Yeah, I think the other consideration we hadn't touched on, and everybody's situation from this perspective is going to be different, is taxation. There are different types of structured products that are ultimately out there. There are things called market-linked CDs. There are things out there called structured notes. Some of them have principal protection features. Others put principal ultimately at risk.

I think, as you're considering these things, consider your tax situation. Always talk to a licensed tax advisor as you're working through these things, but that would be something else that you'd want to make sure you consider.

Oscarlyn Elder:

You want to understand the taxation elements. We're not offering taxation advice. We don't provide that direct advice. So, if you enter into an agreement like this, it's really important that you talk with your tax advisor to understand the tax treatment.

All right. Alex, you also noted annuities. Will you explain to our listeners at a high level, what is an annuity?

Alex Null:

Yeah, at a high level, annuity ultimately is a contract between an individual, who'd be the contract owner, and an insurance company. What that contract ultimately states is my contract owner or my client is going to invest a certain amount of dollars with the insurance company, and they're going to get some type of benefit for that.

Basic benefits would be things like being able to get a certain rate of return with a certain expectation of principal protection behind those. Something else might be a certain amount of protected income over a certain amount of time or either for somebody's lifetime. But ultimately, it's a contract between an individual and an insurance company, where there is some type of promise tied to the benefits of an annuity.

Oscarlyn Elder:

We could talk for hours about this, but what I want to distill for our listeners, when they're having especially the initial conversations around what may be possible from an annuity perspective, what are perhaps the three key areas that you would have them focus on?

Alex Null:

Yeah, I think focusing on what an annuity does will answer all of these. Ultimately, yeah, there are two main benefits that we think about. One is ultimately being able to protect somebody's investment while they're able to earn some type of rate of return.

Different flavors of this. Some are just ultimately set fixed rates in the case of, say, like a fixed annuity. You have other annuity solutions, say, like what are called index annuities, that are similar in concept to what we discussed around structured products where I may have a higher opportunity for return, but the trade-off for theirs, I may not have as much guaranteed interest that will be dedicated to the contract. The second element that I would mention would be protected income, and this is going to be protected income over either a set amount of time or it could be set up over somebody's lifetime.

Oscarlyn Elder:

And then is there a third element that you would have folks really focus on?

Alex Null:

I think the third element is similar to what we talked about with the issuers or the product creators on the structured product side. It's understanding the underlying insurer and how the underlying insurer ultimately is set up from a financial standpoint, the backing that they have on these contracts, again, to make sure that when those guarantees or when that protection is ultimately needed, it's available.

Oscarlyn Elder:

How should our listeners think about the trade-offs associated with annuities, broadly speaking?

Alex Null:

Anytime you're going to have protection tied into an investment option, whether it's annuity, it's a structured product or something else that can provide the same type of protection, there's typically going to be a trade-off either in the amount of opportunity from a growth perspective somebody has, or there could be a trad-off from a cost perspective. There may be a particular fee or something that is ultimately applied when you're using one of these things.

Oscarlyn Elder:

So, the trade-off there is you're, in essence, buying a form of insurance, if you will, of protection. It could be principal protection. It could be income protection. That protection comes at a cost, and it's either opportunity and growth potential, or it's the fee associated.

Alex Null:

Absolutely, and I think I'll reiterate. An annuity is a type of insurance, so much like you would pay premium for, say, homeowners insurance or life insurance. Annuities do have costs. They have certain costs associated to provide those guarantees, too.

Oscarlyn Elder:

Alex, can you give us a picture of what type of client experience does an annuity work well for?

Alex Null:

Yeah, I think from a high-level perspective, it's a client who's starting to see their retirement years truly come into focus. They're really getting serious about it, and they really want to begin planning for it.

Oscarlyn Elder:

Absolutely. It sounds like, from what you've described, that part of that coming into focus and creating confidence in the financial plan, and the longevity plan, is the ability, especially from a principal protection perspective, for a client to take some assets, part of their overall wealth, if you will, think of it as a slice of their assets, and decrease the level of uncertainty around the return profile for those assets.

Alex Null:

Absolutely. Any solution that, like an annuity or a structured product, it is meant to be a complement to that core. And that complement can be used to offset some of those risks that client doesn't want to absorb for themselves.

Oscarlyn Elder:

And then on the income side, if, again, that retirement picture, is it's coming into sharper focus, on the income side, perhaps for folks who want more predictability around their income stream or their potential income stream, this is a solution that can decrease the level of uncertainty around a portion of their income stream in the future?

Alex Null:

Absolutely. And then what it can also do, because more of the income is known, it allows the clients to invest their other assets in a way that sets them up for better long-term growth or potentially sets them up for better long-term growth. So, it gives the client more flexibility to do more with the other assets.

Oscarlyn Elder:

I think the flip side, are there situations where you believe that annuities don't work well, that they don't really solve the problem or the challenge?

Alex Null:

Yeah, I think we deal with many of these on a regular basis where clients, yeah, have scale of assets where they really don't need this type of insurance. They don't need this protection. They may be willing to tolerate certain risks tied to market volatility. Again, we know it works for us. It can definitely work against us. Clients may be tolerant of it. They may have other things in place, say, like their company offers them a pension. That is how my parents lived through retirement was actually a pension.

Companies don't offer those as much as they used to, but you have situations where you really don't need an annuity. It comes down to, what risks are the clients comfortable taking on? Which ones do they not want to take on? And then the ones that they want to look for a solution, are they willing to ultimately pay that cost, whether it's an actual dollar, like a fee cost, or whether it's giving up potential return opportunity?

Oscarlyn Elder:

So, Alex, we should remember that as we think about our longevity plans, that every decision has a trade-off. It's really basic economics. Every decision has a trade-off. It really speaks to the importance of having a trusted advisor on the journey with us and with you. It's been such a helpful discussion, and we'll wrap up everything here in just a moment.

Alex, as we wrap up here, one question for you. And we have a tradition on I've Been Meaning To Do That that we ask each guest. What's the one thing that they've been meaning to do that they haven't done yet, and that they're willing to commit to publicly on this episode to doing in the near future? What comes to mind for you?

Alex Null:

That's such a good question. It's dangerous too, because I'm putting this out there. I've always heard the old adage that doctors are their worst patients, and a lot of times financial advisors are also their worst clients. I'm a certified financial planner, and one of the things I've been thinking about lately is reviewing certain coverages I have from an insurance perspective.

I have two teenage kids. One is a freshman in college. They've both started driving, and one is driving in a different state. So, reviewing my personal insurance coverages to make sure, one, I have the most cost-effective insurance out there as you have teenage drivers. For those of you who do, you know your premiums go up a little bit. But then also wanted to make sure I have adequate coverage. I have the right coverage for the needs that I have.

Oscarlyn Elder:

That's a fantastic I've Been Meaning To Do That. I will come back to you in a few weeks and see where you are on that particular to-do item. And let me ask. If a listener really wants to commit to doing at least one thing, like one action step on behalf of their own longevity planning after listening to us today, do you have a suggestion for what that one step should be?

Alex Null:

Yeah, I would say if you have not already, make a plan, and if you've made a plan, make sure you're working with a financial advisor, someone who can help you talk through the various issues around where you want to go, and also the risks that you may want to take on and the risks that you may not want to take on.

Oscarlyn Elder:

That's very powerful. You're exactly right. Planning and preparation are key. That's what we want to empower people to do to really take control of planning for their future.

Alex, thank you so much for joining me today. You and I talk about these issues all the time, and it has been great to be able to share some of your wisdom with our listeners.

Alex Null:

Thank you for having me. It was fun.

Oscarlyn Elder:

Since longevity planning has a number of different dimensions, we're going to return to it in a future episode to talk about healthcare needs and healthcare costs as our bodies age. Please, be on the lookout for that episode.

And I want to thank you for joining me today. If you liked this episode, please be sure to subscribe, rate and review the podcast and tell friends and family about it. If you have a question for me or a suggestion for this podcast, email me at dothat@truist.com. I'll be back soon for another episode of I've Been Meaning To Do That, the podcast that gets you moving toward fulfilling your purpose and achieving your financial goals. Talk to you soon.

Speaker 3:

Alex Null is a registered representative, Truist Investment Services Incorporated, and investment advisor representative, Truist Advisory Services Incorporated.

This material is presented for general information only and is not intended to provide specific advice or recommendations for any individual. Keep in mind that investing involves risk. The value of an investment will fluctuate over time, and you may gain or lose money. Asset allocation does not ensure a profit or guarantee against loss.

Any comments or references to taxes herein are informational only. Truist and its representatives do not provide tax or legal advice. You should consult your individual tax or legal professional before taking any action that may have tax or legal consequences.

An annuity is an insurance product designed for long-term savings. There are considerations to keep in mind, such as a surrender charge period on full surrenders and on certain withdrawals. Account value will be impacted by withdrawals. These vary by contract, so you want to ensure you are aware of these elements before you purchase an annuity.

Withdrawals may be subject to federal and or state income taxes. An additional 10% federal tax may apply if individuals make withdrawals or surrender their annuity before age 59 and a half.

Structured investments are not suitable for all investors. Investors should carefully review product and risk considerations in investor offering documents, which should be read carefully prior to investing.

Structured investments are intended to be buy-and-hold investments and are not liquid investments. Investment value prior to maturity will be influenced by many factors including interest rates, the level of the reference asset, implied volatility, and the time remaining to maturity. Investors may lose some or all of their investment in connection with some of these instruments.

Investing in the bond market is subject to certain risks, including market interest, rate issuer and inflation risk. Investments may be worth more or less than the original cost when redeemed.

The S&P 500 is an unmanaged index comprised of 500 widely held securities considered to be representative of the stock market in general. An investment cannot be directly made into an index.