Speaker 1

Welcome to the Seed Harvest Show. This is one of our law enforcement editions. I’m super excited to introduce one of our co-hosts, Officer Ty Long time 18 year law enforcement veteran here in Arizona. He’s got all the same concerns that you do. We’re going to start peeling it back, folks. This is episode one of a long line of future conversations of what you have access to and what you don’t know.

Speaker 1

Welcome to the Seed Harvest Law Enforcement Edition. Our primary mission is to help law enforcement officers understand their government benefits to the fullest extent possible, while also learning about the financial tools to help you and your family. This is an educational podcast where we will bring a variety of financial professionals, pension professionals and everyday law enforcement officers like Officer Ty here.

Speaker 1

So our goal is to have an open conversation that simplifies the learning process. Currently sitting here at the co-host officer Ty and currently an Arizona law enforcement officer. So welcome.

Speaker 2

Thank you. All right.

Speaker 1

It’s weird, right? Is weird. It’s very it’s that’s different. So I know this is kind of a change of pace for you from what you normally do every day.

Speaker 2

Normally sit in front of talking to people.

Speaker 1

You’re used to putting out the spotlight and now being in the spotlight. Right? Right. So now here you are. Yeah. So how long have you been doing what you’re doing?

Speaker 2

So October will be 18 years, all of it in Arizona. Basically, why I moved to moved to Arizona, was becoming a police officer. So.

Speaker 1

18 October or 18 years. Right. Well, you know, we’ve kind of got to know each other circles of life. And, you know, our it’s interesting how I’ve got a lot and a lot of family that have their immuno. Almost all of my dad’s family is somehow involved in law enforcement. Yeah. I personally never have been, but I feel like I have been because I’ve just been surrounded by, you know, federal officers and state officers and county and municipal officers.

Speaker 1

So it’s just kind of just in our blood. Yeah, My grandma, my was my I think it was my great, great great grandfather was a county sheriff way back in the day, back in the old West days. I mean, our our involvement in law enforcement is like it’s generational. Okay. So I’ve always had a kind of a passion for understanding that community because I’ve just grown up with that community.

Speaker 1

Right. Those are my cousins and family. It’s just just kind of it’s just what they do. I, on the other hand, have always kind of pursued a self-employment path. And and with the degree in finance, I’ve always still been intrigued with money and money management. And and it’s always been very intriguing to me how the government pensions and all the different benefits that attract.

Speaker 1

I would assume that that’s why most a lot of people get into these government positions or the benefits.

Speaker 2

It’s funny because it’s not really not to go too deep.

Speaker 1

Like, Oh.

Speaker 2

I didn’t grow up wanting to be a police officer. I have nobody in my family that was in law enforcement, either side of the family. Um, it was really 911 is what kind of directed me in that path. Really? Yeah. So 911 happened. I was kind of I was kind of at a point in my life I didn’t really know what to do or what I wanted to do.

Speaker 2

Like I, I went to college thinking I wanted to do marketing and then I started doing it in college. I was like, No, I don’t really like this. Um, so I was kind of, I don’t know, know what the best term is, but I just I really had no direction. You know what I wanted to do. So then 911 happened.

Speaker 2

My initial thought was to join the military. That’s what I wanted to do right away. But at the time I had a a kidney disease, kidney disorder that’s since been resolved. But at the time I had a kidney disorder. So nobody I couldn’t none of the none of the branches would take me as qualified. Yeah, well, that’s and that’s crazy because they’re pretty much taking everybody.

Speaker 2

So it shows you how.

Speaker 1

I didn’t you know, I’ve known one other person that’s encountered something like that and seemed like it was something trivial to them, but it was a big deal.

Speaker 2

It was.

Speaker 1

Reunion and it.

Speaker 2

Was still and the thing that really kind of I mean, looking back is even more irritating about it is I really got really, really focused on diet and exercise and pretty much solved the problem myself And like to this day I have no no remnants of it. There’s nothing it doesn’t affect me anymore. I was just I, you know, probably for years like couple like last year in high school and then a couple of years.

Speaker 1

Sounds like after sounds like night hard to me. Yeah.

Speaker 2

They like fixed it.

Speaker 1

Or created it. Yeah. Yeah. Well, get rid of that.

Speaker 2

I have some suspicions about what it was, and I think it was, you know, I played football, I played all the sports, but I played football and we used to pop, um, ibuprofen like they were tic tacs. Like during football. And ibuprofen are horrible for your kidneys. So I think it has something to do with that because. But I don’t know that for a fact, But sure.

Speaker 2

So that’s that took me down that path. And then I was I was still back home and then I moved to Nebraska to live with my aunt to finish college with the intention of going federal like FBI or something like that. That was what I wanted to do. And I was bartending at the time and, uh, one of the local PD guys came in and we were, we were just shooting the shit like we are right now.

Speaker 2

And he was like, Well, have you ever thought about doing like a local PD? And I had at that point and, and my one hesitation with the federal side of things was always like, it’s going to be really hard to have a family, or at least like a normal family life, because a lot of the time, especially FBI or some of the things I want to do, they travel a lot.

Speaker 2

I mean, you know, you’re it’s going to be hard, not impossible, but it’s going to make things more difficult to do, have a family. But then the local PD was interesting because then you’re set in one place, like you pick a department and you’re there. As long as you stay there, that’s where you’re at and they’re not going to be transfer you to other states or wherever.

Speaker 1

So my dad was transferred to Bakersfield, Arizona.

Speaker 2

And that’s and that was the thing when I was really looking into this, you know, the FBI was the number one thing I was looking at. And I don’t know if it’s changed. I’m sure it hasn’t changed much, but it was like you go to the Quantico and once you’re done there, you’re either going to New York or L.A. right away and then it’s going to, you know, if you want to get back to someplace other than those two places, it’s going to take you probably eight years to do it.

Speaker 2

Like you got to live there, worked there for, you know, eight years or whatever. And then if you want to go somewhere else, it’s not going to be right away. So or you can get sent overseas. I would one of the other one of the other careers I was looking at was one where you’re like, you’re probably going to go somewhere other than the U.S. and it’s going to be extended for a while.

Speaker 2

So just be aware that that’s that’s the route you want to take.

Speaker 1

Yeah, that makes it hard on a family.

Speaker 2

Yeah.

Speaker 1

You want to have a family?

Speaker 2

Exactly. And that’s kind of why I was like, you know, do I want do I want to be Mr. Single my whole life or do I want to have a family?

Speaker 1

So it makes sense and why a lot of my family have chosen career paths. They have, you know, because they have a lot of them stayed local. Yeah, primarily Pinal County area. Yeah. And and it really I don’t understand why some I think I mean a lot of my federal law enforcement family it’s all in the immigration you know I go which is sort of I.A. but now homeland security Yeah but you know I just never realized how people chose one branch over, like, oh, county over city.

Speaker 1

And I just assumed personally, being an outsider, I just kind of I didn’t know what the logic path was there, what went into their decision? Me, other than maybe having an in to get the job.

Speaker 2

Seeing that I don’t and that I guess I don’t know how to answer that either because I didn’t really have I knew nothing about law enforcement, like not a thing. So I didn’t have a reason that I picked. Like when I was applying for departments, I wanted to work for a bigger department. I wanted to work for a department that wasn’t in the snow.

Speaker 2

So I looked at you know, I applied to Dallas, I applied to San Diego, I applied here. I actually applied to Scottsdale first. And initially I didn’t I didn’t understand that Phenix was the big city. I thought it was Tempe because I had no idea. I knew nothing about Arizona other than the Grand Canyon. So when I was applying, I thought Tempe was the big city.

Speaker 1

So people in Wisconsin think that Tempe is the big city. Yeah.

Speaker 2

When? I don’t know. I didn’t know. I knew literally the Phenix Suns and ASU in the Grand Canyon. That’s all I knew. I didn’t know anything else about from there.

Speaker 1

Yeah.

Speaker 2

But I had been to San Diego and like, I had looked at like some of the really big departments like New York and LAPD, but I also did a kind of a cost analysis thing ever Like this is what they get paid. This is how much it cost to live there. And it wasn’t very good. And actually that’s why San Diego, I kind of trailed off on that one because it was kind of the same thing.

Speaker 2

It was like they don’t get paid the best starting and it’s still pretty hard, you know, pretty high cost of living. But when I was applying PHENIX, based on what you started making and how much it cost to live here and same thing with Dallas, were actually very it was good like you made good money starting off and it was not very expensive to live here.

Speaker 2

I mean, granite got in more. So now it’s harder. Like if you’re starting now, it’s a lot different than when I started, but.

Speaker 1

And I blinked and it’s 18 years.

Speaker 2

Yeah.

Speaker 1

Pretty overall. Pretty happy with the job are you? Yeah. And pretty good happy pass.

Speaker 2

I mean there’s frustrations with it. But overall, yes, I mean I’ve enjoyed I still enjoy it and like I like I want, I like getting like kitchen back guys so I like I still enjoy the job.

Speaker 1

So it sure seems like cops have taken a beating publicly with all the public scrutiny it’s been. I commend you for sticking with it. I don’t know how so many of you guys stay with it when people are talking as much shit as they do. Yeah, it’s especially coming from a family that’s generations of enforcement. And it’s and seeing that these are all really good, hardworking dudes.

Speaker 1

And not to say that any I mean, what, what profession out there doesn’t have people doing wrong. Yeah. You know it’s not just like cops do it wrong, it’s just but you know, it seems like they really kind of take one.

Speaker 2

Yeah.

Speaker 1

And it’s just. Yeah. And made you guys look like bad guys and you know damn well 99.9% are good human beings. Yeah. So yeah, I mean, here we are 18 years later. We started talking a little bit when you found out that I was in I’m kind of in the financial space and and help people with different things.

Speaker 1

And and what I did with my girls pertaining to most people are very unfamiliar with it the financial world period. Yeah. They definitely don’t understand the various financial tools. And then you go you’re throwing in anything that’s government you know, related. Then it just makes it extremely more complex. Yeah. And so there’s a whole different set of rules and regulations and, and so there’s professionals that are out there.

Speaker 1

And I know you guys have I’ve actually spoken with the, uh, the, the company who’s been tasked with training the police, Arizona Police Department, police officers, whatever, because you’re in a different what is the different pension system you’re part of?

Speaker 2

It’s a good question. So I.

Speaker 1

There’s um the law is that law enforcement and salt it’s Arizona public safety I forget the.

Speaker 2

AP it’s like the Guy Pearce press I think or the.

Speaker 1

Well either way it’s been interesting to learn. It’s the one thing that’s been consistent with a lot of my conversations with my family. Yeah. Is there’s only been like one or two who really kind of felt like they had a clear handle on their retirement, right on their plan, how this pension worked out. You know, I have heard a lot of things like, you know, I’m part of the old system versus the new system.

Speaker 1

Yeah. You know, so that’s kind of what I that’s me.

Speaker 2

I’m part of the old like when if you get hired today, you’re in the 25 year track. But I’m in the grandfathered to the 20 year and it’s a more pension style now it’s a more formal one case style for the people that are getting hired now. I think it was like 22 as a nine is when they switched it.

Speaker 2

Something like that.

Speaker 1

Seems like I’ve heard that people are really thrilled about that. They like the old style pension better, I’ve heard. But I don’t know if that’s accurate and that’s kind of what I’ve heard.

Speaker 2

I mean, I think that it’s hard to say. I think that our the system that I’m under is better.

Speaker 1

Yeah, it’s what but things like people from that. So it seems.

Speaker 2

Like I mean you know you can stop earlier but also the drop program I’m pretty I mean I don’t know I’m pretty positive new hires are not allowed to do the job program which is a good benefit for us like it that’s in my my position like and then is still on the tow track. I can leave at 20, but you can do the job program, which I don’t think new hires like, or I want to say 2019.

Speaker 2

Maybe it wasn’t that long ago where they switched it to the 25 year for one case style. And I’m almost positive you can’t you’re not allowed to do drop in that track that you’re in. It’s like tier I think we’re tier one. And then I think they’re tier three, I think is what it’s how they term it in the retirement system.

Speaker 1

Well, that’s one of the things with this podcast over time, I look forward to kind of peeling back and getting a better, you know, we hope to kind of help bring some clarity. Yeah, because if there’s again, it seems like most police officers I’ve run into, oh, I shouldn’t this are just law enforcement officers. They’re really kind of confused.

Speaker 1

They know that they’ve got that 20 year mark to get to or 25 year mark. But they really don’t understand what happens post retirement, right? Yeah. What happens to these benefits? How do they really affect you? It doesn’t seem like there’s a lot of I don’t know what I’d argue corporate wise, the cooler talk, you know, or you’re sitting around the cooler topic.

Speaker 1

I mean you got all these people have a financial advisor this and that and I don’t hear that from any of my family. It doesn’t seem like it seems like everybody’s just kind of looking to the government h.r. Platform to be their financial advisor and and so they ultimately retire by like, oh, this is what i get. And they really stop asking and start asking the question back.

Speaker 1

1015 Yeah. When they should have.

Speaker 2

That’s what I think I fall into that I probably should have been more diligent with understanding this stuff more and I still don’t really, I mean, not as close as I am to retirement when I can retire, I should probably know more about this stuff than I do. And it does seem like and it’s funny because the guys, it seem you have two sets, you have the newer people and some of the people that are, you know, maybe ten years, ten years or less, they don’t talk about any of this stuff, you know, for because for the in their eyes, they still get 15 years before they can worry about it forever.

Speaker 2

And that’s kind of how I was like it. I should have been more on it probably ten years ago. Like really started to think about this stuff. And I know one thing that I regret not doing was our deferred comp that we have is not pumping more money into that at the very beginning. But then you talk to guys who are in my level that are like getting close to retirement, like that’s this is like all they talk about like, okay, and like I work with guys now.

Speaker 2

All they talk about is working overtime shifts to get their pension raised up. So they’re, you know, when they leave at 20, they’re, you know, they want to hit certain numbers as far as what they take home, you know, and they can track that on the on our pension website, like where you’re at, like because they do the high three stuff and they can track where, you know, if I make this much this year if I have to if I have to make this much because like one, for example, one guy, my squad is like that where he has it tracked out that if he works however many hours it is of overtime, it factors

Speaker 2

out to this amount of money which will put his pension that he’ll get at this level. And that’s where he’s trying to get to. So that’s right. Now that’s his focus is like, okay, I need to hit this many hours a week in overtime or supplemental shifts to hit this number. That’ll put me at retirement, at this number.

Speaker 2

Is that because.

Speaker 1

He’s paying more in or is that just because they take the last year of highest three earning years so they take action like that? I don’t.

Speaker 2

Know. They take they take high three consecutive. It’s funny because that switch to like when I started it was the high three years consecutively and then for a while there it was just high three. So they would just take your high three years and be like, okay, then they of all 20. Yeah, well 20. But then they switched it back to the consecutive so it’s three consecutive years, your highest average and then they average it.

Speaker 2

So obviously working more, you know, getting more overtime and stuff. We call a supplemental some of the fill in because we’re so short staffed like we have to fill in shifts for squads who don’t have enough people. But doing that then in turn raises your raises, your high three number. And that’s what he’s he’s in the end of his he’s got I think next May is when he can retire.

Speaker 2

So he’s doing everything he can to get that high three number up which in turn raises is his take home that he’ll get when he retires.

Speaker 1

You know. Well, it’s I it’s definitely a complex system. It’s not straightforward. Yeah right. Which makes it really challenging. I’m sure, when that’s not what you do for a living. Yeah, right. And so like, you sit around, talk about that stuff. So again, I look forward to kind of peeling back and helping and working with other in talking with other law enforcement officers and agencies and these different systems and varying you guys with financial professionals to have, you know, a little deep dive conversation on on what what makes sense because obviously just because what’s good for you doesn’t mean it’s good for you, your buddies and anybody else.

Speaker 1

Everybody has a unique life. Yeah, some are married, some art, some have kids, some don’t. Right. You know, some everybody has a different philosophy that some people want to leave money. What I’ve seen, you know, just from the human standpoint, some people want to leave money to their kids. Some people don’t. They want to spend every dime. They want their kids to earn their own way, because that’s the way you learn in life.

Speaker 1

Yeah. And everybody’s different. I think you and I are our like minded in the sense where we really want to help our kids out, right, Financially. I mean, why not get them off on the right foot? Yeah, You know, we we did end up putting a contract on your daughter. Just the same contract we put on my daughter’s.

Speaker 1

And, you know, I. I assume after hearing kind of what the what kind of returns we were getting on on on Sidney and Natalie’s policies, that that kind of was intriguing, knowing that that was a that we wanted to a very conservative what’s called dollar cost averaging strategy and that’s what things I was hoping to talk to you about today.

Speaker 1

But maybe we’ll save that for another day of what we did, how we did the same thing and why of starting a life insurance contract on your daughter. Why did that make sense? You know, you didn’t do it for a death benefit. Yeah, right. You’re not doing it for that purpose. Reality is it’s a it’s a tax play.

Speaker 1

You know, you at the end of the day, that’s what it was about. Yeah. You know, that’s the primary focus. I would assume that was attractive to you. Yeah. Of all the things we talked about was to avoid future tax tax risk, you know, and not knowing what our government’s going to be doing. Yeah. 30, 40, 50 years from now, you know, so it’s, it’s just another tool right in that.

Speaker 1

And so I look forward to, you know, I want to I want I want to help everybody, especially the law enforcement community, understand the difference in these financial tools. For some people, life insurance contract might make sense, otherwise it won’t make sense. Yeah, right. It’s not for everybody, but it is for a lot of people. And once you kind of understand that there’s a lot more to it than death benefit.

Speaker 1

That’s what I do and what I specialize and what I try to focus on understanding and help manipulate, but also educate because you should be you should be buying it for the the benefits side, not just not just the investment portion. The investment side is definitely there. Compound interest is real. Yeah. You know, and reality is if you can bring in compound interest without losses, interest over interest on year after year after year and you fast forward 50 years, which seemed like forever, but it was 50 this year, man, it’s crazy.

Speaker 2

It just Well, you said before that 18 years in the department is I kids? Yeah.

Speaker 1

So yeah so you know I a I look forward to explaining more of what you’ve done, why you did it and, and also, you know, helping you figure out your pension and helping other people ask questions, hopefully giving people a platform to call and ask questions and get a real layman’s answer. Yeah. Versus hearing it from a financial professional.

Speaker 1

Your reality is I realize there’s great support through the state. You know, they fired up. Sounds like a pretty good outfit to provide education. And I know that they’re taking proactive steps. But when you talking, you know, I just think there’s probably it’s it’s good it’s good to hear multiple you know there’s two sides to every story. Yeah.

Speaker 1

You know I right I mean there’s you need to hear you need to hear other people’s opinions. I would say yeah. Would you agree with that. Yeah.

Speaker 2

And I mean, I think it helps coming from people who aren’t. I mean, I guess just people that aren’t necessarily trying to sell you something to like, you know, I feel like I don’t know if that’s the right way to term it, but somebody that’s in their position, you know, and their reasons why they’re doing it, like, for example, for me, like why I decided to do it because like you said, not everybody is not going to work for everybody and not going to be a fit for everybody.

Speaker 2

But yeah, maybe somebody. Well, I think reality.

Speaker 1

Is, and especially for someone like I mean, you already have a lot of benefits for yourself. Doesn’t mean those benefits, you know, are there for your family. Yeah, right. You know, at least while you’re here, I realize the pension you could do like a you can have anywhere spousal. You know, a spouse can continue on. But I mean, one is I don’t think it can continue on for your child, nor can you start putting away for retirement for your child.

Speaker 1

Right. I mean, that’s that’s still a transfer of wealth conversation that that’s worth having a conversation about. But again, that’s that’s my focus and that’s what I’m going to bring to the table. But I’m more excited to have conversations with other financial professionals to hear how these tools work. Yeah, because I do not know. I’m not a financial advisor.

Speaker 1

I don’t claim to be you. That’s, you know, that’s just being real. Yeah. You know, that’s just kind of what I have. So.