Steve McDonald: Hi, everybody. I’m Steve McDonald. This is your Market Wake-Up Call. Our guest this week is Marc Lichtenfeld, the Club’s Chief Income Strategist and bestselling author, and he’s here to talk about his new book, You Don’t Have to Drive an Uber in Retirement. Welcome.

Marc Lichtenfeld: Hi, Steve.

Steve McDonald: How are you?

Marc Lichtenfeld: I’m doing great.

Steve McDonald: All the surveys I’m reading are saying that almost 50% of people think they’re going to have to work in retirement just to pay their bills. You’re saying that’s not the case.

Marc Lichtenfeld: Well, not the case if they read the book, but you’re right.

Forty-five percent of respondents to a survey by the Employee Benefits Research Institute said that they will have to work in retirement. And that’s not because they want to or they want to give something back. They have to work in retirement.

I found that staggering and really depressing. So the goal for this book was to come up with income-generating ideas and cost-saving measures that people could take so that they don’t have to drive an Uber or be a Wal-Mart greeter. And I think we’ve assembled some really good ideas that will not only help generate income and save money but do it without cutting corners.

The goal of the book was not to say, “Downsize your house. Stop going out to dinner so often. Don’t visit the grandkids three times a year.” We want you to maintain the lifestyle that you’ve either become accustomed to or that you’ve dreamed of… only do it less expensively or do it with a little bit more income.

Steve McDonald: You talk about becoming the IRS and actually reversing the flow. I want to know how to do this because I’ve had 47 years of it all going in one direction. How do you become the IRS?

Marc Lichtenfeld: So there’s a really interesting investment… You and I are good, upstanding citizens… We pay our taxes and our real estate taxes, but not everybody does. And if you don’t pay your real estate taxes, the government will want that money and they will want it quickly. So in many states and many counties around the country, as an investor, you can basically buy that tax lien. And what happens is the homeowner pays you the taxes plus a rate of interest – it can be 5%, 8% even 12% in some states, and every state is different.

Steve McDonald: These are property taxes.

Marc Lichtenfeld: Right, property taxes.

Steve McDonald: Interesting.

Marc Lichtenfeld: So they’ll pay you that tax plus the rate of interest that you’ve contractually signed on for. If they don’t, then again, depending on the state, you may be able to pick up the property for simply the amount of property taxes. But it’s very, very unlikely you will not get paid back because most people do end up paying their taxes. They don’t want to lose the property. But if they have a mortgage on the property, then the bank is going to most likely pay the tax for the person and take the property itself. So there’s a very, very high probability of getting the money that you’re owed – your principle plus that rate of interest.

Steve McDonald: Interesting. The other thing that caught my eye is you seem to think people aren’t maxing out their Social Security benefits. And that they really need to go back and take another look at this.

Marc Lichtenfeld: Yeah. The Social Security Handbook is probably four times the thickness of my book. It’s ridiculous.

Steve McDonald: Oh, it’s insane.

Marc Lichtenfeld: Exactly, and they’ve cut back so much on their offices and their telephone lines. So to actually get help, it can take you hours. It’s worse than going to the DMV. So you really need to know how to manage this. And don’t forget, this is not “entitlement.” This is not free money from the government! We’ve paid into this for 20, 30, 40 years.

Steve McDonald: Yes, absolutely.

Marc Lichtenfeld: So you’re entitled to that money that you’ve put in, and you’re entitled to every dollar you can legally get out. So there are various things you can do that are mentioned in the book. One of the most important is, if you can afford to do it, to file as late as possible. It’s always better to hold off because if you file, let’s say at 70, which is the latest you can file, instead of at what they call the full retirement age…

Steve McDonald: That’s 65 or 66.

Marc Lichtenfeld: Right. You get 8% more per year. So that could be another 24% or 32%.

So it can be very meaningful. It can be the difference of making – I think the average retirement benefit for the year is about $14,000. That can be up to $19,000 per year if you wait. And for the average person who’s 65 today… If you’re a man, the average life expectancy is a little bit over 84 years. If you’re a woman, it’s 86 years. So if you’re getting that extra $5,000 a year for another 19 or 21 years, it’s a very meaningful difference. So it’s really important to file as late as you can, as long as you can afford to do that. And then there are some other things in there about spousal benefits – ex-spouse benefits.

Steve McDonald: Well, that’s where it gets really complicated. There are thousands of possibilities.

Marc Lichtenfeld: Yeah. And there was a big rule change a couple of years ago that is important for spousal benefits, where you could kind of game the system, and you could delay yours while you were claiming the spouse’s. But you can’t do that anymore, so it’s important to understand the rules.

Steve McDonald: Yeah, it is. It’s all about maintaining our lifestyle after we step down from our work by lowering our costs and increasing our income without having to move into our children’s basement.

Marc Lichtenfeld: Yeah, absolutely.

Steve McDonald: That’s so sad when I hear of people actually doing that. Thank you so much for being with us.

Marc Lichtenfeld: Sure, thanks.

Steve McDonald: I love the book. I think it’s great.

Marc Lichtenfeld: Oh, thank you very much.

Steve McDonald: I’m going to hold it up again: You Don’t Have to Drive an Uber in Retirement. Marc Lichtenfeld, thank you again.

Marc Lichtenfeld: Thanks, Steve.

Steve McDonald: And for everybody here at the Market Wake-Up Call, I’m Steve McDonald. Thank you so much for being a part of this. Take a look at this book. It’s worth the read.