Welcome to Retirement Unpacked with Al Smith, owner of Goldn Eagle Financial. You want a retirement plan that alleviates your fears about the future, so you know your money will last. As a chartered financial consultant, Al Smith will help you find a balance between the risk and reward of the market and the safety of your retirement income. And now, here’s your host, Al Smith. Welcome to another afternoon program of retirement unpacked or if you’re listening when we read broadcast later, it could be Saturday morning. But thank you for listening. I genuinely appreciate your listenership. I know a lot of people who listen have concerns about if they’re on track for retirement, if they’re saving enough money, if the funds they’re saving are going into the right places, the right allocations, if people are working through their employer, if they’ve made the right 401k choices, a lot of things to think about. And if this is you, a conversation at my office would be very useful. You can reach me at 303-744-1128 and there’s never any charge for an initial consultation. We kind of get to know one another and find out what you would want your retirement to look like. And if you’re already retired, we can maybe make that a little better than it is now. We’re in for a real treat today because I have with me, George Mooma, who is running for the 25th district, State House of Representatives. And it’s a tight race, but there are some really solid concepts that George stands for. George, welcome. Thank you for taking the time to come here into the studio with me. Thanks, Al. Always a pleasure. Great. What do you find are the things, because I know you’ve literally been out beating the streets. What things do you find are the greatest concerns to the folks that you want to represent out there. And we’re talking the western part of Jefferson County, Conifer Pine, far north as I-70 and as far south as Sedelia. The people that you’ve been seeing out there, what do you find are their greatest concerns? Biggest concerns right now, Al, from the folks that are contacting me are the concerns about crime, the economy, school choice. And right now, the phone calls that are really coming in are about insurance and the fact that the roads are falling apart and nobody seems to be doing anything about it. Wow. I know you’re running against Tammy’s story. Has she made any inroads or done anything to address any of these concerns that the folks who live in the 25th district have? You know, Al, the stuff that I’m seeing right now is she’s tried to address her own agenda, but I don’t think it’s the agenda of the constituents that live in the district. The crime issue is becoming more and more of a concern because it relates directly back to the economy. And when you go in, Institute Senate Bill 217, which was partially to defund and reinvent law enforcement and then take a way of qualified immunity, that takes away the officers being proactive to do the work for the fear that they could be charged with something, lose their livelihood, lose their homes. So they respond to calls, but they don’t do anything any extra. So how does that relate back to the economy issue is, well, you have your groceries and the people walk out with a basket of groceries without paying the store doesn’t chase them because they have a no-chase policy. And you call law enforcement in many instances, they don’t even respond, ask you to do a desk report. Well, the grocery store has to pay for it somehow. So they go back and they raise the prices some more. You complain nothing happens. There’s no consequences for the person who committed the crime. And the same is going forward with the auto theft as well. And I hate to use the term all the time, but we dumb down the criminal justice system as well, take felonies, make them misdemeanors. And when you do that, there’s not a consequence because you’re writing a ticket. And I think that is the message that’s being sent to the constituents in House District 25. When there’s no consequences, the crime continues to happen. The auto theft goes up. It’s interesting what I’m finding is people are saying that the crimes down, at least the people in government, well, crimes down because no one’s reporting it. So that’s kind of the big concerns. Roads are the other. The calls that I’m getting about, the roads are amazing. And I’m kind of alarmed that our governor wants to get 60 battery powered buses. But the buses are going to weigh three times what the existing buses weigh. How’s that going to impact our roads? We’re not dealing with the infrastructure now. So what do you do to repair or replace what’s going on? These people are concerned about how they’re going to get out of the mountains. Boy, there’s a lot of concerns there. And I think the idea of electric vehicles, I’m not against electric vehicles. I think they have a place. But 90% of the folks who own them also own a second vehicle that’s gas powered because of the limitations. And I know I remember last year in Chicago, when they had a cold snap, they had a whole series of electric buses that could not operate because their batteries were frozen. So there’s a whole lot of things that I think our governor and the people who vote 100% for him, like I think the incumbent you’re running against Tammy’s story does that are not the concerns of the people. They’re the agenda that they’re trying to push forward. Absolutely. I agree with 100% on that. You know, Al, one of my things is let’s talk about the whole project, not about what it’s going to do for me now. My stand has always been, bring me your proposal, but have an end game. What is it going to look like when we’re done? I’m noticing now talking to some folks that live out in the rural areas where my sister lives. And they’re saying, yeah, they brought in the windmills. They brought in the solar stuff, but they didn’t think of the end game. Now the windmills are needing blades replaced, the solar panels are needing panels replaced, but we have no place to put them. So we pile them alongside the roads because there are hazardous materials. And I think the folks in 25 are terribly concerned about what’s that going to look like in the future here in the mountains? Well, I think the resources for renewable energy, I think that’s a good thing, but I think we’re about 50 or 100 years off before that can fully sustain things. I mean, you have a rural residence and you have windmills and solar. What are you going to do at night when the wind’s not blowing? Yeah, I would agree with you. I think we’ve got a plan, but we didn’t think through the plan about how it works all the way through the system. So that’s got to have to be done. But I totally agree with that. And I think some of the financial sentives make it really attractive for people to do solar and electric vehicles and things of that nature. But I also think that it’s not the government’s job to tell us what kind of vehicle we should drive and how we should power our home. The other thing that’s never spoken about is where do we get all this electric power to charge up these batteries on the electric vehicles? Well, it’s my understanding. A lot of it comes from coal plants. Agreed. Last I checked, they do emit a little bit of emission, just like internal combustion engine. Well, I agree with you on that. Part of the problem we’ve got now too is we didn’t create the infrastructure to support everything that’s going on. So now we have to deal with backing off the power to be able to charge the car or whatever it is. And we didn’t bring that in first before we did all the cars. The folks in 25, they’re concerned about their way of life where they are and someone representing it. And they don’t feel they have a voice. That’s the biggest thing I get is no one talks for us. And that’s what I’ve been about my whole time in that house district. I grew up in that house district and served that community in law enforcement for 45 years. And my reputation is getting the job done. Yeah, you have a tremendous background in law enforcement. And I did live in that district at one time in the past. I lived in the little community where you later became chief of police in Morrison there. And I think the concerns of the people there, one big example is Highway 285. It took forever, but they finally made that safer. And it took about 20 years of people driving from Pine and Conifer down into Denver. And they would have stickers on their car. Pray for me. I drive 285. And they finally took care of that, but it was maybe 10 or 15 years after it should have been taken care of. Well, I remember those same days. And you know, when I was there as chief, I had a non-supporter up in the Indian Hills area who beat me up pretty good. And we finally sat down at his table and talking about what the situation was, how he thought we could deal with that traffic issue and the fatalities up there. We came to an agreement. My officer started going a little bit different route as far as how we did our enforcement up there. We managed to work with C.Dot and get some new guardrails in. And we did slow the fatality rate down during my time as chief there. I’m not sure how that’s changed since I left, but I think the folks on 285 are happier though the speeds are back up again. But they felt that they had a voice, someone listened to them. That’s what I bring to the table. Well, I think that’s incredibly important and you’re reaching out to the community and so forth. I know people are concerned about law enforcement and the economy. What have the people talked to you about with respect to the people you’ve met who have children and schools and education? What have you heard from some of them about that? You know, I grew up in that environment where public schools were the thing. And I agreed the public schools are a great option. My concern with the folks in 25 and their concern is that they don’t have a choice when their schools not giving them the things they need. Right now the school district Jefferson County is preaching that Cs and Ds are great and they’re applauding that as far as math and reading skills. But my constituents aren’t and they want an option. They want to be able to go to a faith-based school or a charter school or whatever. My opponent tried to trash the charter schools with a bill this year and that to me was not okay. And I think 80, which is on the ballot now, is a good answer to try and make those things happen and give these people that choice to do the things they want to get their kids the education they want for them. Where the public schools apparently can’t get it done right now. Well, I think you’re right. I don’t know this for a fact, but I think it’s likely that your opponent is receiving money from the teachers unions and things like that. If in fact she is dead set against a charter schools, schools choice and things like that. And in any circumstance where you have competition, the product improves. If you have only one restaurant in town, your choices are limited, but once you have three or four nearby, they’ll be competing with one another and you’ll get better choices for food and I don’t think education is any different. Well, we’ll have more things to talk about with George Mooma right after the break. [Music] Ausmith of Golden Eagle Financial as a fiduciary will act in your best interest. Many people misunderstand that it is critically important for your financial advisor to be a fiduciary. Like Ausmith, with retirement planning, you won’t know you have problems until it’s too late. That’s why you need Aus extensive knowledge and years of experience to strategize with you, taking into consideration your individual circumstances. And you’ll have Al’s cell phone number. If you have a concern or question, no need to press one for English. Just call him personally. If you need to make a change or have a question about something, you can reach him directly. Most importantly, financial advisors are typically fee based. Al doesn’t charge anything up front. Rather an industry standard rate based on your portfolio’s performance. So there’s no upfront cost. Find out more with a free consultation. You can reach out by clicking on golden eagle on the klseradio.com advertiser’s page. Investment advisory services offered through bookstone capital management LLC are registered investment advisor. BCM and Golden Eagle Financial Limited are independent of each other. Insurance products and services are not offered through BCM, but are offered in soul through individual license to the appointed agents. Welcome back to the second half of retirement unpacked. We’re speaking with George MoMA who is running for the 25th district. And if you just tuned in, that’s a district in Jefferson County, south of I-70 all the way to Sedelia. And as far west as Pine, Pine Junction, including Conifer, Evergreen, and so forth. And I know the people who live out there, they love Colorado, they love the mountains, they love the western suburbs. But they have concerns. And I know George is running against Tammy’s story. I didn’t do an enormous amount of research, but I did a little research. And she seems to favor nearly everything that Governor Polis is also in favor of, which I don’t think is consistent with what the people of Colorado want. I know one thing that Tammy’s story favored is for giving student loans for college professors. I did a little research on the average college professor in Colorado earns $142,000 a year. George, what do you think about that? Well, I’m not in favor of that. And I don’t think any of the constituents would be either. I put myself through school, I paid for it, and I’m proud of that fact. And sometimes life’s about choices, and we all make them. And if your choice was to go to school, then we find a way to pay for what we’ve done. And it shouldn’t be on the tax payers’ backs to pay you back for a job that you’re in already. I’ve struggled with that forever, and the law enforcement, and the firemen, and the other teachers. Nobody’s paying them back. So I’ve been against this since early on when people first started talking about it. It’s a choice. It’s like any other bill you pay it off and you move forward. And I believe that that’s what needs to happen here. Not paying it off with tax payer money. Well, I think so also, and when they say forgive, it’s not really forgiven. It’s just shifted from people who went into graduate school and became doctors, dentists, college professors, things of this nature. And granted, they may have left those institutions with significant debt, but they also have incomes easily between $100,000 and $300,000 a year. And you want to shift their debt to people who either paid off their student loans or didn’t go to college and instead are working for UPS or they’re working for a contractor, helping build a house or they’re driving a truck. Why should they pay for other people’s student loans? I mean, I think that’s something agreed upon by most people with the exception of those with the big loans. Agreed. I think that’s a huge struggle and it’s hard to get your head around that when you’re doing everything you can just to get by day to day right now. It’s right up there with the property tax issue. You keep raising the property tax just when you think you’re going to get ahead, you get hit with this. And I think this pay back a student loans just another tax or fee that you’re going to get hit with when you can’t make it as you’re sitting now. Well, there’s a silly analogy that I make about paying off student loans. You’re basically trying to buy people’s votes, especially young people who get student loans and then they get out of college with a degree in women’s studies or in environmental touchy feeling, or something. And then you find yourself at Starbucks with $70,000 student loan. And then you have someone running for office who’s saying, you know, we’re going to pay off your student loans. Well, historically, going all the way back to the colonies when people ran for office, they applied the constituents with liquor. And as a result, there were bars and restaurants were closed on election days because prior to that, they would say, George, I’m going to buy you a beer if you vote for me. And they got rid of that. But essentially paying off student loans is sort of like saying, vote for me. And I’m going to have somebody else buy your beer. Absolutely. And you know, my whole standard, my campaign right now is, I want to be these folks voice. The guy that they can believe in that will go to the capital and voice what their needs are. And I don’t think that’s what’s going on right now. So my career has been based on that. That’s what I’ve done my whole career. I’ve been able to get those things together and collaborate with the others. When I look back at the juvenile assessment center that we built in Jefferson County, and I remember mental health, human services, school district and law enforcement all coming into the room that first day and everybody sitting in a corner with their arms crossed. And it took us probably two months to be able to get to the middle of the room. But we were able to work together to make things happen. And there’s not enough of that going on right now. And that’s what I want to bring back to the capital, at least for the constituents in House District 25. Well, I think that will be incredibly helpful. And I also think that I don’t know what your opponent did before she got involved in politics. I know she was a state senator and then she became a state representative. But I know you’ve been a public servant for your whole life. You were the chief of police in Morrison. And you had a job correct me if I’m wrong through the district attorney. Is that accurate? So you’ve really been in touch with law enforcement and knowing what’s best to to keep people safe. How does that relate? How do you think your experience in law enforcement makes you especially qualified to be the representative for district 25? Well, I think I’ve seen the good and the bad. You know, I started out serving my community right out of high school with a Rappo Rescue Patrol. That unit is still around today. Those boys from middle school through high school served as search and rescue in House District 25 and throughout the state, actually. And we were put into those situations where we had the deal with the community. I took that to my paramedic background from there into law enforcement. And being a part of the community is huge, not just talking talk, but being down with those citizens, being able to sit down, meet them at the door. And I’ve done a bunch of that. We’ve been walking, knocking on doors. Interesting story last night, Lisa and I were out for dinner. And as we walked out to the car, a guy goes, “Hey, I’ve seen that guy signs everywhere, just like the one on that car.” And I turned around and we had a great conversation. He voiced the same concerns we’ve talked about here this afternoon. And that’s the kind of person you want. A person that’s got an open door policies, not afraid to sit down and talk to you, that you can pick up the telephone and talk to you. One of the things that I’m doing right now is making sure everybody knows the phone number that I’ve got on all my literature is the same phone number I started being a cop with. If you pick up the phone and you call me, I answer. And if I don’t, I’ll call you back in a short period of time, we can talk. I think that’s what you want in a state representative. It kind of goes back to those old TV movies where they want the person that will represent them and be that guy downtown that they can feel confident will get their voice heard. Well, I think I take a little bit of that to heart myself because I don’t have an enormous office. I’m a financial advisor, but I will either answer the phone myself, or if it goes to my voice mail, I will answer that within a very short period of time, because when people have a financial concern, I don’t dump them off on somebody else or say, well, you got to call the company direct. I take care of it, and I think you take that same attitude to heart when you want to serve the people of the 25th district. In other words, it’s like Harry Truman said the book stops here, but in your case, it starts there and stops there. That’s my hope now, is that people feel confident enough that they can walk into my office and we can talk and we can get some stuff done. Any other topics that you’re hopefully constituents have expressed to you that we haven’t talked about. I know we covered crime and the economy, but what are some things do you think that the present incumbent has really dropped the ball on that you can be more helpful with? Well, my personal opinion is she really made law enforcement difficult, and that is what my constituents are concerned about. The other thing, I mean, she’s been working on some of this stuff, but the insurance problem in the hills with the fire mitigation and so forth, there are answers to that. None of it’s easy, and it’s going to take work, but there are some great ideas from these constituents that have found me, both the insurance folks, the fire departments, the people who live there, and it’s a matter of come to the office, sit down, let’s talk, and I don’t think enough of that goes on currently. Well, I really think you’re right, and I know homeowners, besides all the other inflation that we’ve been faced with, just like you talked about increased real estate and property taxes, I know people in all of Colorado, not the least of which is Jefferson County, but just about when hail storms are less likely, when you move west, then fires are more likely. So between hail and fires, people are paying astronomical amounts for homeowners’ insurance, and I think anything that could be done to try to mitigate that can be really helpful to the folks in Western Jefferson County. Agreed, Alan, and I’ve got to tell you a story, a couple called me yesterday, and they said, “We can’t get insurance now,” and I said, “Why not?” They said, “Well, we’ve been denied four times because of the mitigation situation, not that we haven’t done our part, but the county hasn’t done theirs as well.” And so since our homes paid off, we’ve just decided we’re not going to have insurance. I don’t think that’s the answer either, Alan. No, that’s scary when you live in an area that your home could be destroyed by fire. That’s really scary. Well, George, I hear the music coming on. God bless you. Thank you for being my guest, and those of you who are listening. God bless you, and thank you so very much for listening to retirement unpack. If you’d like to have a conversation with me, call my office, 3037-44-11-28, and George, how would people reach you? You can find me at helpjorgewin.com, and you can call me at 303-598-1548. I look for your vote. The ballots are out. Thanks, Alan. Great. God bless you, and let’s continue to pray for our brothers and sisters in Israel. Thank you for listening to Retirement Unpacked with your host, Al Smith, of Golden Eagle Financial. Set up a free consultation with Al today at klseradio.com/money. Find your purpose in retirement with Golden Eagle Financial. Investment Advisory Services offered through Brookstone Capital Management LLC, a registered investment advisor. Vcm and Golden Eagle Financial Limited are independent of each other. Insurance products and services are not offered through BCM but are offered and sold through individually licensed and appointed agents.