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Best In Wealth Podcast

By: Scott Wellens
  • Summary

  • This is the best in Wealth podcast – A show for successful family stewards who want real answers about Retirement and investing so we can feel secure about our family’s future. Scott's mission is simple: to help other family stewards build and maintain their family fortress. A family steward is someone that feels family is the most important thing. You go to your job every day for your family. You watch over your family, you make sacrifices for your family, you protect your family. I work with family stewards because I am one; I have become an expert in the unique wealth challenges family stewards face. Scott Wellens is the founder of Fortress Planning Group - an independent, fee-only, registered investment advisory firm. Fortress Planning Group is dedicated to coaching clients toward a holistic view of wealth and family stewardship. Scott is a certified financial planner, a fiduciary and has been quoted in the industry’s leading websites including Forbes, Business Insider and Yahoo Finance. Scott is also a Dave Ramsey Smartvestor Pro in the greater Milwaukee and Madison areas.
    Copyright 2024 Scott Wellens
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Episodes
  • How Much Should You Spend on Vacations? Ep #247
    Jul 5 2024
    I’m often asked how much a family should spend on vacations. While that is entirely personal, most experts recommend that 5–10% of your net income can be spent on vacations. Many factors may change this number. Maybe you have a large family or your kids are into expensive sports. You might not have that income to spend on a lavish vacation. But to spend any amount on a vacation, you need to budget. You can’t go into debt. So how do I do it? I’ll share a great strategy in this episode of Best in Wealth. [bctt tweet="✈️ How much should you spend on vacations? How do you budget for them? Learn more in this episode of Best in Wealth! #PersonalFinance #VacationPlanning #WealthManagement" username=""] Outline of This Episode
    • [1:04] We’re heading on vacation to Europe!
    • [2:38] How much you should spend on vacation
    • [6:48] How we budget for vacations
    • [8:20] Be aware of luxury creep
    • [10:02] Be aware of entitlement creep
    • [11:33] Don’t be a vacation scrooge

    How to budget for a vacation You can’t go into debt to purchase a vacation. I’ve done it. I had a great time. But when I got home, the guilt and regret sunk in. That’s why I firmly believe you need to have a spending plan. We set a monthly budget. Then, we have a separate spreadsheet that lists all of our non-monthly line items. It covers things like Christmas gifts, oil changes, car insurance, and vacations. All of these items are added up. If the number is $12,000, we divide it by 12, and save that money in our “escrow savings account.” Every time a non-standard monthly expense comes up, we use that money to pay for it. Those things won’t disrupt our budget. [bctt tweet="🗺️ How do you budget for a vacation? I share my family’s strategy in episode #247 of Best in Wealth! #PersonalFinance #VacationPlanning #WealthManagement" username=""] Be aware of luxury creep If you’re going to Disney, there are a lot of different hotels to choose from in Orlando, right? You can stay at the Holiday Inn and Suites or choose from numerous luxurious hotels and resorts. Don’t let yourself get lured in. Budget within your means. I spent a lot of time budgeting for our trip to Europe and I’ve saved for a couple of years. We’re working within our budget. When it’s all said and done, I’ll be proud. I’m getting to spend time with my family within the budget I’ve set. Be aware of entitlement creep Don’t let entitlement justify overspending on vacation. You’re grinding every day at your job. You’re exhausted being a parent. You deserve a vacation. But don’t spend too much because you “deserve” it. It will eat you up inside. It’s not about keeping up with the Joneses. Just because your neighbor stayed at a five-star hotel and waited on hand and foot doesn’t mean you should. Don’t allow yourself to be talked into something you can’t afford. You know who you are. You’re listening to a financial podcast. You’re a budgeter. But you can’t be afraid to take a vacation. A vacation is investing in your family, investing in improving your mental health, and investing in lasting memories. Remember, vacations with your loved ones are an appreciating asset. [bctt tweet="⭐ Don’t let entitlement justify overspending on vacation. You deserve a vacation. But let’s keep it within budget, shall we? Learn more in episode #247 of Best in Wealth! #PersonalFinance #VacationPlanning #WealthManagement" username=""] Connect With Scott Wellens
    • Schedule a discovery call with Scott
    • Send a message to Scott
    • Visit Fortress
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    16 mins
  • 4 Questions to Help You Decide When to Retire, Ep #246
    Jun 7 2024
    There are a lot of huge decisions you have to make in life. What career are you going to choose? Will you get married? Will you have kids? Will you buy a home? There are many more. But there are not many bigger than this question: When are you going to retire? Maybe that is your only huge decision left. Have you really thought about it yet? Because if you are going to retire early, we have to plan for it. In this episode of Best in Wealth, I cover four huge questions you have to consider to help you make one of the biggest decisions of your life. [bctt tweet="🚨 In this episode of Best in Wealth, I ask 4 questions that will help you decide when to #retire. Check it out! #Retirement #RetirementPlanning #FinancialPlanning" username=""] Outline of This Episode
    • [1:02] What big choices have you made in your life?
    • [2:33] What the 2024 Retirement Confidence Survey tells us
    • [9:48] 4 things to consider when contemplating early retirement
    • [11:04] Question #1: Why do you want to retire early?
    • [12:34] Question #2: What is your plan for retirement income?
    • [15:00] Question #3: Do you have a plan for health insurance?
    • [18:00] Question #4: When are you going to collect Social Security?

    What the 2024 Retirement Confidence Survey tells us Deciding when you are going to retire is an enormous decision to make. Americans are not mandated to retire at a certain age. Certain milestones may make the decision easier.
    • Age 62: This is when you are first eligible for social security (though you will take a big hit on benefits)
    • Age 65: This used to be the full retirement age (and is still the age when you are eligible for Medicare)
    • Age 67: This is when you can collect your full retirement benefit from Social Security
    • Age 70: If you wait until 70 to retire, you can collect a larger social security benefit

    A recent survey suggests that most people want to retire in their mid-60s. In reality, many retire earlier. It may be due to downsizing, deteriorating health, etc. According to the 2024 Retirement Confidence Survey, the median expected retirement age is 65. Only 28% of people expect to retire at this age (up 23% from last year). Most retire closer to age 62. 52% of current workers are expecting to retire gradually. 36% are expecting to retire all at once. Yet 74% of current retirees had a full stop to work and only 18% engaged in a gradual transition. These are all things to consider when deciding what age to retire. [bctt tweet="📣 What does the 2024 Retirement Confidence Survey tell us about when and how people are actually retiring? Get the details in this episode of Best in Wealth. #Retirement #RetirementPlanning #FinancialPlanning " username=""] Why people like to retire earlier If you had to choose now, when would you retire? Many people want to retire earlier than the traditional mid-60s. Why? People like to retire earlier to enjoy time while they are healthy and physically active. They can travel everywhere they have been waiting to go. They can play pickleball. As a financial advisor, we play a huge role in helping clients consider the ramifications of their choice (based on both financial and lifestyle factors). When we are helping our clients contemplate early retirement, there are many things to consider. When we onboard clients, we have meetings about investment planning, retirement income strategies, tax strategies for retirement, and insurance and estate planning. That’s before someone is officially signed as a new client. 4 things to consider when contemplating early retirement Here are four things we consider that may help you make this decision if you are doing this on your own:
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    23 mins
  • How to Teach Your Kids How to Budget, Ep #245
    May 24 2024
    I make a spending plan for our family every single month. We account for every dollar coming in and going out. But what about the things that happen quarterly and annually? We add up all of those expected expenses at the beginning of the year and calculate the total approximate cost. That money will be saved every month to go toward those expenses. That is how we allocate money for things like Christmas and birthdays, too. We budget $300 for each daughter’s birthday party and $200 for a present and save for it monthly. But last year, we bought pizza, cake, snacks, etc. Our daughter requested that we take her friends to brunch the next morning. We ended up spending far more than we had budgeted. Now we need to save more in the remaining months of the year to make up for going over budget. When I have to do this, we have to lower our spending or it will not balance out. I vowed that it would not happen again. So this year, we did things a little bit differently. Listen to this episode to learn a unique way you can teach your kids how to budget. [bctt tweet="🎉 In episode #245 of the Best in Wealth podcast, I share a unique way you can teach your kids how to budget that they’ll enjoy, too! #PersonalFinance #Budgeting #FinancialPlanning" username=""] Outline of This Episode
    • [0:35] Why my kids had to take a personal finance class
    • [2:55] Why I make a spending plan every month
    • [5:05] Budgeting for my daughter’s birthday
    • [9:09] How I taught my daughter to budget
    • [18:37] The powerful lesson my daughter learned

    What I plan on doing differently this year My daughter was talking with my wife about her plan for her birthday and I knew I needed to interject. That is when a lightbulb went off in my head. I asked her to share what she wanted to do for her birthday. She planned to have 10 of her friends over for a sleepover. She wanted to decorate our basement with banners and balloons. She wanted to take her friends out for pizza and ice cream. She also wanted to take them to an escape room. Lastly, she wanted to give her friends a cool party favor. I’m sweating profusely at this point, starting to get nervous about my plan. But I took a deep breath and said, “That all sounds great.” I then proceeded to tell her that we had $300 saved for her birthday party and $200 for her birthday present. I told her that she got to plan her party down to the last detail—but that she had to stay within the $300 budget. Even better, if she spent under $300 on the party, I would take the extra money and put it toward her birthday present. But I told her that there was a catch: If she spent more than $300 on her party, it would be deducted from her birthday present. [bctt tweet="💡 I asked my 14-year-old daughter to plan her birthday party and gave her a specific budget to work with. It was a game-changer. Learn why in this episode of Best in Wealth! #PersonalFinance #Budgeting #FinancialPlanning" username=""] My daughter’s real-life experience with budgeting She had to calculate how many friends she wanted to invite and how much it would cost for pizza and ice cream for all of them. She had to find out how much the escape room would cost. She had to calculate how much the decorations would cost. She wanted to get her 10 friends Owala water bottles for party favors. She excitedly said, “They’re cheaper than Stanley’s—only about $30 a piece.” And I said, “Eva—what’s $30 x 10?” Her smile faded when she realized the water bottles alone would eat her entire budget. So she got to work. She decided they would not do the escape room. She would get ice cream that was on sale at our local grocery store. We would buy pizza from Costco. She priced out birthday decorations on Amazon. She also decided to invite only her closest friends so she could still get each of them an Owala water bottle.
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    21 mins

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