Retirement Planning

Are you expecting to retire someday? When would you like to retire, if there were no financial limitations? When you retire would you like to be financially independent and comfortable? Would you like to be worry free when you retire? Would you be able to enjoy retirement more, if you did not have to worry about finances, knowing that that part of your retirement was taken care of in advance?

When should I start planning for retirement? It’s never too early, but in your 20’s, 30’s or 40’s, retirement may seem like a long way off. Establishing good habits for spending and saving are paramount. The earlier you start planning and saving, the easier your transition to retirement will be.

• The primary concerns of most nearing retirement is will I outlive my money? Will we have enough income to last through retirement, regardless of how long we live.
• The second is will medicare pay for all my healthcare expenses?
• The third is how can I pay for long term care if one or both of us need assistance, whether at home or in an assisted living facility or nursing home?
• The fourth, how can I minimize the effect of taxes on my retirement and legacy?

There are two basic questions that no one can answer:

• How long will I live after I retire?
• What will happen to the stock market, tomorrow, next month, next year, or the next ten years?

Will I still have enough income to support the lifestyle I want after I retire? What happens when one spouse dies, will the remaining spouse still have enough income to maintain the life they both planned to live? How do I make provisions for the income gaps that will occur when I go from bringing home a regular paycheck to relying on my retirement income? How much income will my spouse continue to receive after I pass when one social security check is terminated and what happens to pension income after passing? Does it continue, terminate or get reduced? What happens if one or both spouses need long term care?

Doesn’t it make sense to provide guaranteed sources of income that you cannot outlive, that will still maintain adequate income even after the death of one spouse, and that will meet your needs, including the effects of inflation, throughout your retirement?

What is the best financial product to provide for your retirement needs? The truth is, there isn’t one product that meets everyone’s needs. Each person and situation is different. It is not possible, without a thorough review and analysis of your current financial situation, to provide you with a detailed comparison of how things are and what to expect in and through retirement. Then, with that information clearly detailed, if necessary we can provide suggestions as to how you can maximize income during retirement, prepare for long term care expenses should they become necessary, and how to provide a tax efficient legacy for your beneficiaries.

Retirement planning is more than planning for finances in retirement. While insuring adequate retirement income is a primary concern, other considerations cannot be ignored. Each of us is different and have different needs. Are you married, widowed, divorced, single? Do you have children? Are any of your family dependent on you for partial or complete support. What is your medical condition? What type of medical facilities will you require in retirement? If not working, what will you do in retirement? The quickest way to get “old” and deteriorate is to sit around and do nothing. “Life without meaning and purpose can be lifeless.”

During your working years, social interaction may have been provided by contacts at work, neighbors and friends, contacts at church or social clubs, interaction with other parents through your children’s friends at school or church activities. The availability of many of those contacts may wane after retirement. Children grow up and make new friends, go away to college or the military, transfer to various locations to accommodate their own job requirements. The need for social interaction remains.

Where will you live when you retire? Will you stay in the same home you’ve lived in for years. Do you need something smaller when the children move out? Are you tired of shoveling snow and want to move to Florida or Arizona? Do you have hobbies that you want to be able to pursue when you have more time to do so? Do you want to travel and see the world? Do you want to start a parttime business to satisfy a passion that your employment didn’t allow time to explore? Now that you have the time, unemcumbered by the financial obligations of caring for a family, would you like to be able to contribute time and/or resources to your church, to charitable opportunities or to other local social or educational institutions?

How about healthcare? Will medicare pay all your medical expenses? What does medicare pay for? Do you need to supplement the coverage from medicare with a supplement or other alternative? Do you need prescription drug coverage? How about long term care? Do you have special needs that dictate that you live close to facilities that offer the specialized care that you need?

One of the most significant planning activities is to eliminate debt before retirement. Having to make those recurring payments during retirement is one of the largest “stressors” expressed by most retirees. Interest you pay servicing debt is far greater than interest earned on savings. Get rid of debt and enjoy the feeling of freedom that results.

Each of these, and many more, are valid and important considerations. Let us help you identify and then guide you to strategies that insure that you have the income for life you need when you retire. Making sure that provision is made for long term care whether at home or in a facility. Also making optimum use of available resources to minimize the tax consequences during retirement and to your beneficiaries.

You are never too early to begin planning for retirement.  For a free analysis of your current financial status and suggestions as to how to make your retirement worry free and secure, schedule an initial phone call during which we will get to know each other. I’ll answer any questions you might have. Then I will get some basic information from you about your concerns and goals and current status to determine how our services can be of benefit to you. Simply schedule a 30 minute phone call on my calendar to get started.

If you decide to proceed, we will set up a second meeting, which is the start of the detailed planning process… We will review your current situation, explore your goals and priorities and begin to create a personalized plan to help you achieve those goals with your priorities. That plan will include detailed strategies to best achieve your goals. We will set up this second meeting at the conclusion of the first meeting. To get started, schedule your initial meeting with me so that we can get to know and understand each other.