RETIREMENT PLANNING

Preparing for retirement can be stressful, but it doesn’t need to be. One step in ensuring you have accurate funding in your retirement is understanding the difference between retirement savings and retirement income.

Saving for retirement is what you’ve been doing most of your working life. Retirement planning doesn’t involve simply turning those savings into the retirement income you need, but involves having a plan for where and when to take that income from so as to get the most out of your assets and, therefore, minimize the effects of taxation.

Such a creatively crafted retirement plan creates security and longevity, allowing you to enjoy retirement as you’ve been picturing for years.

It’s likely that over your working career, you have accumulated savings through a variety of financial vehicles. Some savings are likely earmarked for retirement, and others may be general savings.

Managing each of these accounts with a view to your unique investment goals is what proper investment management is all about. Positioning your assets to weather market downturns and maximizing your upside potential are our two mandates that guide our firm’s investment philosophy.

Do you have too much downside risk in your accounts based upon your proximity to your retirement date? Analyzing the appropriate amount of risk in your investments goes further than answering a few questions about your tolerance for risk.

When a fiduciary analyzes risk, all components of one’s retirement plan need to be considered. For example, how much of one’s retirement income needs will be met by investments? How much income would a surviving spouse have to go without? These are just two factors that should affect the total amount of risk in your investments. 

Our fiduciary-guided risk analysis process takes into account all of the nuances of your circumstances–both your needs and your goals.

Most financial products are designed for a specific purpose. For example, life insurance is designed to provide a death benefit to loved ones in case of premature death. Checking accounts are designed to pay bills and provide short-term cash.

One of the primary purposes of accounts protected by insurance is to provide lifetime income–either today or in the future. A major benefit of such an account is that it may require fewer funds to create a lifetime income stream compared to other retirement options.

Preserving the assets you’ve accumulated may be your number one goal. This is especially likely if you are more risk-averse or are approaching or well into retirement.

Certificates of deposit (CDs) are a popular form of safely preserving capital, but they do nothing to keep pace with inflation and are taxed, meaning your actual return is reduced when it’s time to tap into those funds. Having a plan to get your money to work hard and grow while securely preserving what you have is a standard part of fiduciary planning.

At age 72, distributions must begin from all retirement accounts, excluding Roth IRAs. Strategically managing those distributions both allows you greater control over the money you’ve likely spent years saving as well as minimizes your tax rates in retirement. Without a plan for RMDs (required minimum distributions) middle-income retirees can face tax rates in retirement as high as 49.95%!

For many, the most significant assets apart from their homes are their retirement accounts. Yet, people may not recognize the essential role of protecting and preserving their assets while having a plan to ensure they are passed on according to their wishes.

As part of our holistic service inclusive of estate planning, we can teach you how to avoid costly beneficiary mistakes, accidentally disinheriting your children and grandchildren, and paying unnecessary taxes.

The Buffered Index Portfolio offered through our investment partners has the objective of providing investors upside participation with a predetermined level of downside protection against volatile markets. The portfolio utilizes structured notes that provide a predetermined level of downside protection called a buffer. Investor participation on the upside is limited to a predetermined maximum level called a cap. These cap and buffer rates are linked to a specific index, asset class, or sector and also have a defined maturity date.

Generational Vault is a secure, internet-based tool that offers secure document storage along with a view of your financial future. Some have called it your ‘virtual safe deposit box.’

With Generational Vault, you don’t need to worry about forgetting where you put trusts, wills, powers of attorney, insurance policies, investments, medical directives, tax returns, and other personal or family mementos. They are all kept in one place after being uploaded to Generational Vault, where you can access them 24/7 from anywhere in the world.

Its SSL Certificate uses a 2048-bit public encryption key, one of the strongest available, so your important documents and financial information remain safe, secure, and always within reach.