Preview of what we’ll cover today:

✈️ Three options offer very different retirement outcomes

💰 Taxes play a major role in long-term results

📊 Control vs. guarantees is a key tradeoff

⏳ Longevity impacts which option makes sense

🧠 Personal goals matter as much as the math

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More About This Episode:

FedEx pilots are facing a major decision with three very different retirement options, each with long-term implications for income, flexibility, and legacy in the 2026 tentative agreement. While the details are still evolving, the choice between a pension-style income, a hybrid approach, or a more flexible contribution-based plan could shape your financial future for decades. In this episode, Ryan breaks down each option in simple terms, highlighting the pros, cons, and key factors to consider.

Get the Summary of Proposed FedEx Retirement Changes

Go Deeper Into The Episode:

0:00 – Intro

3:59 – Option 1: Legacy Defined Benefit Plan

7:34 – Option 2: Market Based Cash Balance Plan

16:13 – Option 3: DC Plan with Cash-Over-IRS-Cap

23:35 – How to choose

Resources:

Retire Pilots – https://retirepilots.com

Get your FREE Retirement Toolkit – https://bit.ly/3ZmZsaX

Pilot Tax – https://pilot-tax.com/

The Pilot’s Advisor Podcast is also on video. Watch & Subscribe on YouTube: https://bit.ly/3EIEBW2

Connect with Pilot-Tax: https://pilot-tax.com/

Episode Transcription:

(Note, this is an automated transcription. Please forgive any errors.)

Walter Storholt: Well, some interesting news, especially if you’re a FedEx pilot, you now have three very different options to choose from when it comes to dealing with your retirement plans. And the decision that you choose from these latest updates could impact everything from income that you’re going to have to flexibility and more fallout from this new update. So we’re going to walk through some of the complexities here, try to make it as easy and simple to understand and get you thinking about what you’re going to do, what kind of decisions you’re going to make about your financial future. All coming up on today’s show. I’ll grab Ryan, we’ll get started and get you some answers. We’re back on the Pilot’s Advisor with the pilot advisor himself, Ryan Fleming. I’m, um, Walter Storholt. Great to be with you today, Ryan. We’re in your wheelhouse, especially today, since we’re talking about FedEx.

Ryan Fleming: Yeah, it’s pretty, uh, uh, something that I definitely know about that I live day to day. And so we have a tentative agreement that the MEC has decided to put to a vote. So the pilots will get to vote on this and see if it’ll be a part of our new cba. Um, but with that, I’m getting bombarded by many clients and. And people I fly with just asking questions about these different options, what it looks like, what are the benefits, which one’s right for them. So I’ll start with a caveat that, you know, I think it’s great for us to talk about this today, but none of this is financial advice. Talk to your financial advisor to see what’s best for you. But big picture, we’ll talk about, you know, what, what each option looks like, some of the positives, some. Some of the negatives. So, Walter, enter your huge disclosure right here to make sure nobody sues us and the SEC doesn’t mess with me and all that.

Walter Storholt: Yeah. Before you make any major decisions, uh, talk to a qualified advisor about those options. And if you want to talk to Ryan specifically, uh, you can find the links in the description of today’s show to find out how to do that. Get the toolkit set up your free portfolio analysis. Got to go through the process to get the proper advice and guidance on this stuff. Um, and also caveat you threw out there. Just want to reiterate, this isn’t final yet, so let’s just keep that in mind. Right. This still has to be approved, so something could change between today’s recording and, you know, the eventual final Decisions.

Ryan Fleming: Yeah. And so it hasn’t even been voted on yet. The details really matter. I always talk about the devil’s in the details. Uh, what we’re going to talk about today is definitely going to be a 30,000 foot view of what these options look like, but how they’re going to be implemented, how they’re going to be paid out. I mean all that stuff matters. Yeah. And, and I think those details and really understanding that is definitely an integral piece. Um, I will have a link to a modeler, a simpler modeler that we put together that asks you a bunch of questions and can give you some guidance on which one may be best for you. But once again, I think really talking to an advisor and digging into the details of your personal situation is going to be key in making a final decision.

Walter Storholt: Excellent. We’ll also link to the document that we’re going to be discussing on today’s show. So if you want to kind of read over that and look at it at your own discretion, I’m sure you’ve received it already if you’re a FedEx pilot. But if you want to see that and kind uh, of read through all the details again and see what we’re talking about, uh, in written form, you’ll be able to check that out as well. It looks like what it comes down to, Ryan, is these three options. Um, one maybe gives you that kind of pension style income, um, more on the guaranteed side of things with all of the disclosures that, you know, that sort of sets off a middle ground hybrid and then an, that gives you a lot more control, um, with Maybe a Ah, 401k style contribution type of setup. So as we dive into the details here, can you talk to us about what’s changed, um, a little bit about what these different, you know, three styles, three options are and kind of set the groundwork for us.

Ryan Fleming: Yeah, I’ve, uh, talked to a few of my clients and they wanted me to dumb it down for them. Like, you know, they have these big numbers and fae and caps and all this and, and you know, of course it’s for my marine listeners and I’m joking but uh, we’re going to try to, try to simplify it a little bit. Um, so let’s just talk about each, each option and just big picture one at a time and talk about some of the benefits. So option one is the legacy defined contribution plan. So this is exactly what we have right now, except it’s going to be a bump from $130,000 to $170,000. And when they talk about that, uh, the cap, they talk about increased cap to 340. What that basically means is you can divide that by two and then it’s going to end up giving you what the maximum is that you can get with your high 5, 20, um, 5, 25 years of service. So caps going from 130 to 170,000, your pensions with that, that, that cap means you’d still get a 9%, uh, of whatever you make to find contribution. But very interesting about this is it doesn’t have cash over cash. So once again, you’re going to have to play it out to make sure that the company doesn’t turn off those B fund contributions.

00:05:00

Ryan Fleming: Uh, a thing that I wonder about with this also is there’s, by September, there’s many people that have already maxed out their 401k and FedEx pilots are going to be getting this big, you know, this check, this backlook check that is pennies on the dollar for what they’ve missed out on in the five years, which I don’t know why we would ever accept that simply because, you know what, it gives them no motivation to come to the table. I mean, just like they have it now, they, they, they win, they save hundreds and millions of dollars by doing this where you know, some of the other airlines have back paid what those pilots actually missed out on. So I’m sorry that I have that opinion, but I said it. Um, so option one, the beauty of that is you have a pension, a large pension in retirement. Even with the $130,000 a year option, most FedEx pilots not only is planning for their retirement income plan much easier than a Delta or American or United pilot, um, but you really don’t tap into your 401k that much in retirement. So going from 130 to 170, how much above and beyond that do you need to live off of each month? And hopefully the answer is not much at all. So what happens is that, uh, that money continues to grow over time. You’re not tapping into your 401k and all those assets that you’ve saved. You’re really just kind of living off the pension. But you really need to consider longevity, you know, how long you were going to live and take into account some of the survivor benefit options because of that. Uh, sadly, pilots don’t have a good track record. I mean, Walter, it’s really sad, but I mean, I think the actuarial data is, says that FedEx pays pensions out on average about six or seven years and then those pilots are no longer with us on average. So not a good track record. Something to consider because of course that, that pension just goes away at your death or if you have a survivor benefit, 50% survivor benefit will be cut in half. Have. So having that guaranteed income is definitely huge. And I’m one of those people that I like having a mix, I like having a pension income, um, plus all this other money that you have saved. So if the market’s going through some turmoil, it’s not affecting you as much. Month, uh, to month.

Walter Storholt: Yeah. Option one sort of sounds like maybe the easy button way to go about it, but could be very inefficient depending on your lifespan. You may leave a lot on the table, so to speak, and it just may not be the best plan to get the most out of, um, you know, your hard work and everything that you’ve done. You mentioned sort of the hybrid approach or a little bit of both. I suppose that takes us to option number two, this market based cash balance plan and DC plan.

Ryan Fleming: It does. Now one other thing I would say is somebody that’s about to retire and they’ve been here 25 years, option one is probably going to look pretty good for them because they don’t have time to make up on one of the other plans.

Walter Storholt: Okay.

Ryan Fleming: Um, and also, even if you’re somebody that’s kind of in the messy middle, what I like to call it, you could put a soft freeze on how much you’ve earned and then switch to one of these other plans, option two or option three. So, um, they’re definitely out there. There’s some flexibility, but you really got to dig into the details and, and look at all the variables that are, that are going on there. Option one, let’s say you decided you don’t want to work that hard anymore and you already have your high five, well, you can coast and you know that you’re going to get that full pension, that full pension with uh, years of service. So that’s something to consider. These other two options that we’re going to look at are very much not only performance based on what you can make your money grow to on your own, but also how hard are you willing to work? Because if you’re willing to work hard, they could be very beneficial to you. Um, and then keeping a, keep in mind that, you know, killing it, working hard and doing that, that Sprint versus the marathon is going to affect your longevity on this earth. There’s data to support that. So moving on to Option two, and I’m just going to read this straight, how it was set up in the summary, but this is where we go into something that’s called a market based, market based cash balance plan. Um, and all the other airlines are starting to adopt something like this. I think what it does is it allows for more tax deferred money above and beyond that IRS cap limit. Um, so that’s a good thing if you want to continue to, to defer taxes on some of your income. Um, we’ll talk about some of the bad things that I see with this one. Uh, if you want my opinion, option two is the least desirable for me personally. Um, and, and I’ll tell you why, so I’m just going to read through it. This would put a soft freeze on whatever pension you’ve earned so far. Um, your vesting service will continue to accrue. Um, the compensation credit starts on January 1st of 2028. Um, and this is going to have 9%

00:10:00

Ryan Fleming: of compensation contributed to the DC plan. You know the IRS limits, just like we normally have. And then there’s going to be a company contribution that’s going to go into this market based cash balance plan. Um, so you’re basically splitting on how um, that’s going to work. So it goes from 9 to 10% and pilots can see the details of that. But let’s talk about a big picture. The problem that I have with the market based cash balance plan is twofold. Number one, every single pilot that I deal with because the airlines are putting 19 or 18 or 19% of everything that they’ve made into a tax deferred vehicle or their 401k, they have massive tax problems in retirement already. When we start looking at RMDs pilots, yeah, they’ll have these huge balances but then they’re going to give half of it, uh, not half, but you know, 30 some percent of it back to the government. So you know where that compounding interest really starts working for you. Now you’re cutting 30% back to the government on those huge balances, which I don’t really like. The cash balance plan, even though it’s going to put more of your money where you’re not getting taxed on it right now, it’s going to make that tax deferred money problem even worse. The other side of it is you don’t have any control over how that money’s invested. So that money is given to this market based cash balance plan. We have to trust the company to. You know, they basically say that you’re going to keep your principal and it’s earmarked to probably make 5, 6% or whatever it might be, but you have no control over that money. The big problem I have with that too is you don’t have any access to it until you’re 59 and a half. And we have a lot of young pilots, and I’m not really sure that it’s suitable for somebody that’s 30 years old to have their money in a market based cash balance plan where it’s just supposed to help hopefully keep up with, uh, the principle that was put in there. I would want control of my money. I would want control of how it’s invested. So if you’re 30 or 40 years old, I really don’t like this plan. Even myself at 47, I’m like, oh, hell no. I don’t want my money in that where, you know, for 12 more years, I can’t have any control over it at all. Um, and also, you know, we all want that money to continue to grow and compound. Well, you’re just creating a bigger and bigger and bigger tax bill. So, yes, I get that there’s some tax benefits by not paying tax on this money now. And I think pilots are really good at kicking the can down the street. Um, but I don’t think they understand how massive the tax problem is in retirement later on. So that’s something that option two that I’m not a big fan of. Uh, Walter, you got anything to add to that?

Walter Storholt: No. I can see why you wouldn’t, uh, be as attracted to this option because you’ve talked for all the years that we’ve done this show together about how big of a problem taxes are in retirement. So anything that builds that tax time bomb or that tax issue, I know something that, uh, sends off alarm bells in your mind.

Ryan Fleming: Yeah. And let’s talk about the eighth wonder of the world. I mean, it’s compounding interest. And when you kick the can down the street, you start getting $2 million in your 401k. 4 million comes really fast. Okay. And that’s where that massive amount of compounding interest really starts to take off. And the problem is for money that’s not yours, that you’re in a partnership with the US Government, you’re just massively increasing your tax bill. I’m a huge advocate of paying the government to go away right now on small little bits each paycheck. Get that money into Roth, rip that band aid off. And if you’re doing that in your 40s now you got decades of tax free growth, okay? And once again that eighth wonder of the world that, uh, compounding interest on a bigger snowball where it really starts to get powerful, it’s all tax free. You’ve already paid the government to go away. So this is one of those things where I just think that, I think having a mix of Roth and tax deferred money is probably the right way. But, but understand, yeah, you’re going to have to pay a little bit of tax now, but then that growth for the rest of your life is tax free. That’s huge. Huge.

Walter Storholt: It’s also nice to look at your portfolio and know what you have rather than having to jump through the mental gymnastics of like, well, not all of what I see there is really what I have to operate with and to work with. So there’s, there’s a mental aspect to it that I like a lot about Roth. Just knowing that what I see in that account is really what’s in my pocket, so to speak.

Ryan Fleming: Well, and I talk about that all the time. Somebody might have $4 million in their 401k and I’m like, yeah, but that’s not your money. And we’ll talk about the growth of that. They want it to double, they want it to just crank. But it’s just you’re giving more and more of it away. I mean, 30% on $4 million is a lot of money. And even from a legacy planning standpoint, passing that on to your children, you’re passing on a massive tax bill that they have to pay out in 10 years. So there’s a lot of issues down the line that people don’t think about. And if you care about legacy planning and you care about maybe packet passing on some to your children, there’s a lot of things that really don’t

00:15:00

Ryan Fleming: make sense when you start going down this path. And it, and unfortunately most pilots learn about it and really feel the pain of it after it’s already too late. They’re in retirement, they’re learning about these RMDs and how ugly it can really get. Oh, and by the way, what if you have a pension on top of that? So not only are you have a pension that you got to pay income tax on, and now you have these huge RMD bills and you thought you were going to be in a lower tax bracket, surprise, you’re not. So there’s a lot that goes in with that. Um, but I would say yes, I see the, I see the tax deferred benefit of option two, but I think if you don’t consider the big long term consequences of that, you’re missing the boat.

Walter Storholt: Good reminder, if you have questions for Ryan, if you want to look into these types of plans in depth, talk to him very specifically about them. You can do that. Just get your retirement toolkit. It’s linked in the description of today’s show so you can find it easily. That comes with a free portfolio analysis where you can not only discuss these specific plan options, but how it fits into the rest of your financial and retirement plans as well. So, again, just click the link in the description of today’s show, whether you’re watching on YouTube or listening on your favorite podcasting app, and you’ll be able to schedule that time to meet with Ryan when you get the toolkit. All right, option three, Ryan. This is the last one, uh, in the document here. The third option that I guess promises a little bit more flexibility and control. This is the DC plan with the cash over IRS cap as it’s described in the headline. I’m sure some people see that and go, what?

Ryan Fleming: Yeah, well, keep in mind, this was an option that was presented to the other airlines, I think, about Delta, specifically, where pilots could opt in or opt out of this cash balance plan. I told people that I would personally probably opt out and all my reasons why. And I would say almost to a T, all those pilots that didn’t opt out of it wish they had at, uh, this point in time. And you could have opted out of it to something that’s exactly like this. Option three, where it’s DC plan with cash over IRS cap. And let’s talk about what that looks like, how I would handle it. This is for that pilot that works hard. They have a lot of years of service left. They can really crush it. They get that money now, so it’s their money. Um, and things to consider here is longevity. Things, uh, to consider. We haven’t talked about disability or health options or something happens because unfortunately life happens. And to think that you’re going to get 1000 hours or 1200 hours of pay over the next 20 years and there’s not going to be any blips on the radar or any health issues to deal with. Not really realistic. So take that as a caveat when we talk about this plan. But what this one’s going to do, it’s going to give you a soft freeze on whatever you’ve earned for your pension now. So, like in my case, 14 or 15 years, and I put a percentage of having my high five and I’d get a percentage of that pension frozen, which is nice. Um, and they raised it to a DC cap of 290, which gives you a little bit of bump. It’s. I don’t know exactly what was negotiated here, but rather than having, you know, whereas 130 under 260, they bumped it to 290. So there’s a little bit of a carrot out there to choose this plan. And I think that’s why they don’t have cash over cap and option one. It’s. They’re trying to get people to not choose that. You know, for some of our younger pilots, I think that that could very well be the case. But there’s a little bit of a carrot to go to option three. You’ll basically get 18 to 19. 18. Then it goes to 19% of whatever you make. So you can start doing the math on that because it’s not going to be capped at all. So if you’re going to make 300,000 or 400,000 or 500,000, you could do the math on how much you’re going to earn, and it’s a significant amount. So you’re giving up the ability for that future pension, but you’re getting your money now. Now, when we talk about cash over cap, what does that look like? Because obviously now we’re looking at a tax bill, we’re looking at money that’s not going to be in a qualified retirement plan. Um, the beauty of this that I see, though, if, if I was to choose this plan is I would try to front load inside my 401k up to the IRS limit. So you’re basically racing the company to whatever the IRS limit for that year is. And I would put as much Roth money in there as I could get as much money in there. That’s Roth that, uh, you’ll never be taxed on ever again. And it can grow for the next 20, 30, 40 years, depending on how old you are. Right? Huge. Then that’s all money. That’s yours. Well, once it hits that cap now, you’re going to get a much larger paycheck, which, you know, could be good, could be bad. But here’s the way I look at it, it’s like, okay, so now all of a sudden, let’s say. And it happens pretty quick, let’s say it’s in June or July, I’ve already maxed out my 401k and all this pay is going to roll into my paycheck, where it’s going to be after tax money. You know where we’re going to withhold on that income tax and then it comes into your, your checking account. And this is where the key with

00:20:00

Ryan Fleming: this one you really got to consider, well now what are you going to do with that? If you’re disciplined enough to start investing that money, this could be huge. And the reason why is now not only are you maxing out your 401k with Roth money, you know, the far majority of it or a percentage of it, but I don’t think people truly understand the power of just a taxable investment account. Number one, that money is yours now for legacy planning to live off of for life events, it’s liquid, it’s outside of a qualified retirement plan. So you could use it for anything or if life happens, you have access to it. But let’s talk about the legacy planning aspect of this. If you started buying, you know, ETFs or stock in a taxable investment account and you let it grow for the next 20 or 30 years, you don’t, if it doesn’t spit out a capital gain tax each year like some mutual funds do you realize that you could save that money for the next 30 years and it’s an, in an individual account that you could die and pass that on with a step up in cost basis and never pay any of those capital gains that you might have incurred over that time. It’s actually an amazing legacy planning tool if you take advantage of it and understand how it works.

Walter Storholt: And uh, that’s just one use of it. Just one example.

Ryan Fleming: Yeah, I mean even if you took a, you could even open up a couple accounts and say, hey, this is the one I’m going to live off of. This one over here is going to be for legacy planning and just have that as a plan that I’m not going to use this money, I’m just going to plan on dying and passing it on and create some generational wealth. Uh, or the other thing that you hear about a lot is people have all this money tied up in their 401k and they feel like they don’t have access to it. It’s designed by the government to be for retirement. Well, this is going to create a situation where you’re going to have a lot of money that you have access to to live life day to day. So I caution this. You know what the savers versus the spenders, you know, the decisions you make on how to handle option, uh, three, it’s going to take a little bit of discipline because I mean just, just the math Alone is crazy. Walter, let’s say you made $500,000. And we do, we, you know, we do 19% on that. I mean, that, that’s, uh, almost $100,000 that the company’s going to give you in one year. And let’s say you’re 45 years old. I mean, that’s $100,000 where you can start looking at compounding interest over many, many years. And hopefully you’re beating with a, you know, a 5% or something like that. I mean, hopefully you’re making 8 or 9%. I would encourage anybody that’s doing math on these things to be conservative. You know, don’t think that you’re going to make 12% on your money. Um, choose a lesser value when making a decision. And then anything above and beyond, that’s gravy. You know, that’s, it’s good because on an aggressive portfolio, when you spread it all out on average, I mean, you’re, you’re hoping to get somewhere between 8 and 10%, right? So use some realistic numbers. But, um, you could see how this could be very, very beneficial for somebody that’s going to work their butt off has a lot of years left. It’s money to them right now. Um, so it’s, it’s, it’s not a promise, you know, because the pension’s a promise. I mean, I’m 47 years old, and I could choose the pension option, and I may never see it. I mean, I may, you know, I’m. Or I may take it at 65, and then I die at 67. So those are things that you got to protect against and plan for. Um, how do you see option three? What do you. When you look at these three options, you’re pretty astute with money. Like, what are some of the things you think about, Walter?

Walter Storholt: Well, I definitely see the attraction of three, because you’re, it’s not like you’re giving up a pension completely, right? You’re just, uh, getting a little bit less of the input into that pension than you are maybe from option number one. But you’re getting all of those, uh, side benefits and the flexibility. So even though on paper at first it looks like option two is that hybrid, it really seems like option three is the one that’s giving you the best of both worlds that you are attracted to, giving you that flexibility, but still that floor base level. So I could see why that’s attractive. But you threw out the great caveat for certain folks. Why number one still makes a lot of sense for, uh, folks to go after. So it sounds like your rankings are like three, one, two, uh, based on these three plans. Would that be, uh, kind of. Am I reading that correctly for, for just sort of a general overview. Obviously everyone’s specific situations different.

Ryan Fleming: I, I think it’s very, very different for everybody’s situation. Somebody that’s been here and is about to retire, it’s probably going to lead more to option one. Somebody that has quite a few years left here. Option three is going to be very desirable. Uh, for me personally, I’m in that messy middle, you know, where I’ve been here. Yeah, I still have some years to go. Um, I’m, I’m torn between option one and option three and it’s really of how hard you want to work for, you know, for your money. Because yeah, if you want to work your butt off, option three is going to be very desirable. If you’re not wanting to, you know, work super hard, there’s,

00:25:00

Ryan Fleming: there’s a math equation in there where it might make sense to, to choose option one, um, with some guaranteed income and keep growing your 401k as your money with maybe a plan to not touch much of it at all. So yeah, um, it’s uh, it’s definitely a lot. These are big decisions for sure and this one decision is going to affect the rest of your career and, and what it looks like. So I think it, uh, there’s certain situations where it drives one that might make more sense to you. If you’re a younger guy, ah, or gal, option three looks pretty desirable. Whereas if you’re kind of near the end of your career, ah, option one might be the right choice. But this is where you got to look at all the positives and negatives and look into the details and really talk to your financial advisor, your trusted resource and talk to your family. Um, because what, what is important to you might drive home a decision. And things I think about are, do you have a military pension already? Do you have some sort of other disability pension or compensation? Um, what’s your, what’s your. When you look at people in your family, how long do they tend to live? I mean, because longevity is going to play a huge portion of which one of these might be more beneficial to you. Legacy planning. Do you care about that or do you not care about that at all? Do you have kids or not have kids? Um, how much do you want to protect your spouse upon your death? How much insurance do you have that’s permanent insurance? Because that changes can change things dramatically. So all of Those things. And that’s why it’s a, ah, it’s a, it takes a lot more details.

Walter Storholt: Great breakdown. I want to remind folks that they can get the retirement toolkit that you’ve put together specifically for pilots. Again, that’s linked in the description of today’s show. When you get the toolkit, you get a free portfolio analysis which allows you to meet one on one with Ryan and discuss your plan. You can discuss these options with him along with the rest of your financial life and your, uh, retirement plans. This is all going to obviously roll in together. So big decisions, make sure you’re making a wise choice. Uh, if this comes to pass. Right. Again, still needs to be voted on and go into, you know, be set in stone, go into law, so to speak. So we’ll keep an eye on that, of course. But, um, yeah, big decisions to be made here. So thorough breakdown of them all. Ryan, I appreciate that.

Ryan Fleming: Yeah. And one other thing that we just really don’t know how it’s going to work, but I want to bring it up is talking about that lump sum for back pay. Um, are you going to have to put your contributions to zero? And what if it, if it’s, uh, if the company’s got to give 9% of that into your 401k, how’s that going to look? And I think this is where, yes, I do think you’re going to have to put your contributions back to zero should this pass and start looking for this lump sum. But I certainly hope the company is going to give some sort of an option, um, because with, with FedEx, there’s that cash over cap or we don’t have that. So where you might turn off B fund contributions, how are they going to handle that with this lump sum? People that are going to get penalized for that are those that put a lot of money in their 401k early and try to max it early. And all of a sudden what, they’re not going to be able to get their 9% of company contributions? Uh, I think that that would create a really, really bad situation and I hope there’s a plan for that. I hope that that’s been negotiated or we can clarify that because that’s going to be a big question for sure.

Walter Storholt: Yeah. Well, thank you, Ryan, for all the guidance on this. Uh, again, check the description of today’s show for other links, resources and information. Um, you mentioned, Ryan, that you’ll, uh, we’ll have a link in there as well for, for folks to click on if they want to run through a quick modeling scenario with this. Um, kind of just a quick check to see what might be the best fit for you. Uh, so that resource is there as well as more things to check out. So don’t hesitate to look down there today and find some great stuff to interact with. And Ryan, I know you’ll keep us up to date on any changes and how, uh, this all turns out into the coming, uh, weeks and months.

Ryan Fleming: Yeah. So we’ll post this out there. There’s going to be a lot of changes. We’ll find out more detail. So just take this for what it’s worth. Yeah, I’m sure the union will actually have a modeler at some point in time. Um, what I see with a lot of different ones, there are out there, there’s so many variables that you have to take into account. It’s not just, just math. I mean, there, there are some touchy feely things that you have to consider.

Walter Storholt: Well, like you said, how hard you want to work as a big influencer. That’s not necessarily a math equation. Right. That’s a, that’s a feely thing.

Ryan Fleming: Yeah, absolutely. And you know, maybe you don’t want to have to be motivated to go out where, you know, option three will make you go work your butt off and then. Yeah.

Walter Storholt: So, yeah, you don’t want that feeling like you’re leaving something on the table. If you just want to sit around,

Ryan Fleming: I got to take full advantage of this. So there’s a lot of things to consider as details come out. Ah, if this TA passes, because we don’t even know if it’s going to pass yet, I would just encourage everyone, nothing’s going to happen overnight. So just pump the brakes a little bit. Uh, be a little bit patient. Even if it passes, we have quite a bit of time before you actually have to make a decision. Even so, I know it’s a little bit of panic

00:30:00

Ryan Fleming: mode for everybody right now, and I’ve been getting all kinds of emails and texts and phone calls. Um, we still have a long road to go. Uh, whether this passes or not, or even if it does pass, there’s plenty of time. So, um, just pump the brakes, relax a little bit.

Walter Storholt: Look at the dates on a lot of these things we were looking at. We’re 20, 28, 2029.

Ryan Fleming: So yeah, I mean, so just relax. We’ll get through it. We’ll have plenty of time to talk about your individual situation. Um, but talking about it before we even have anything doesn’t make a whole lot of sense. But at least hopefully this podcast gives us a little bit more information or just a little bit more to think about that it is not a simple, simple situation. It’s not a simple decision. Um, and you need to come up with all the different variables that are important to you and your family.

Walter Storholt: Yeah. If you’ve always sort of just taken the default, maybe now’s not the time to do that and to take a deeper look, uh, wherever you are in your career, uh, this change could present that opportunity to say, let’s take a more serious and more intentional look at how we’re doing things. Um, if today’s podcast sparks that thought process more than anything else, then I think that’s a win. So, Ryan, thanks for the help. Appreciate it. We’ll, ah, talk soon.

Ryan Fleming: Sounds great, Walter, I appreciate your patience, uh, talking through this one. Um, and, uh, we’ll be here to help you guys out through the process.

Walter Storholt: Yeah, thank you so much. We’ll see everybody next time. Right back here on the Pilot’s Advisor.

Ryan Fleming: Information is for illustrative purposes only and does not constitute tax, investment, or legal advice. Always consult with a qualified investment legal or tax professional before taking any action.