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Risk Taking
“You can’t have your cake and eat it too.” Perhaps there’s more truth to this saying than we want to admit. This year has been tumultuous, with markets declining and interest rates increasing. Were we all soothsayers, we would be rich beyond our dreams. But we aren’t. And it’s disingenuous to think about the money
Did you forget and leave it behind?
We’ve spoken in the past about the benefits of saving money for retirement by having automatic transfers from your checking account into a savings account. But, what is often forgotten is that workplace retirement account when you leave one job and move on to another. If you leave a job, consider “rolling” the money from
Recycling RMDs
One potential way to save money consistently is to arrange automatic transfers from your checking to your savings account on paydays. This idea can be also applied to RMDs as we get older. While we may be forced to take required minimum distributions out of qualified accounts, there are no restrictions on how you choose
Follow the Steps
Sometimes it’s best to start with the basic steps when planning for retirement. Are you contributing enough to your 401(k) to get your company’s full employee match? Have you paid off any high-interest-rate debt you may be carrying? Eliminating a monthly credit card or auto loan with a high-interest payment may enable you to save
A Dangerous Decade
The five years before you retire and the next five after retirement are among the most important and vulnerable for a retiree’s savings. The reasoning is that, as you approach retirement, there are far fewer years left to correct or recover from a mistake. The consequence of a misstep during this time can affect your
Factor in Healthcare Costs
In the past, we have noted that when planning your retirement finances you need to factor in healthcare costs. Not doing that may cause a depletion of your retirement savings that you did not anticipate. There has been some discussion about the Affordable Care Act and the indication that, for the first time, the U.S.
“Fair” Meaning “Equal”
We frequently receive inquiries regarding who the beneficiaries should be for the financial products we recommend. And, if the division among multiple beneficiaries should be equal. This brings up an interesting point. When making this decision, people sometimes place descriptions on their offspring that relate to their current needs or proclivities. What we sometimes forget
Do You Have a Gap?
There may be a gap between how much you spend and how much you think you spend. This gap should be factored in when trying to determine how much you’ll need in retirement: Probably more than you think. It’s natural to not want to think about this: It can be disconcerting to see what you
How Are You Looking at It?
Typically, you put a lot of thought towards paying off loans for insurance, on, for example, your house and car. However, life insurance is just as important as other types, and should be thought of in the same way. Life insurance is often ignored, because we look at it simply as something costing us while
Assumptions About Expenses
Have you ever reflected on the fact that frequently, the final years of your full-time career often coincide with your peak income? However, as your earnings increase, so can your expenses. And if you’re not saving at the same rate, it could be difficult to sustain your lifestyle in retirement. The reason for this is
Will Your Strategy Work?
Heading into retirement, It is essential to understand your options, and what will work best for you. It is similarly important, however, to understand what won’t work. Are you aware of every factor you need to take into consideration going into retirement? If not, your current strategy may not be successful. You can reach out
Extend Savings While Balancing Risk
Retirement means more than a change in your employment status. It’s the point where the use of your savings changes. During retirement, a retiree’s focus turns from accumulating savings, to how they’re going to live off those savings, potentially for decades to come. That’s why it is important to focus on where and how your
Priorities
The importance of saving up enough for retirement cannot be emphasized enough. Seniors who retire mostly or solely on social security often end up strapped for cash. So, it’s essential to have additional income sources to tap into that can provide additional income. While we know retirement savings should be your main priority, sometimes economic
Increases
We’ve written about several of the increases that are happening in 2023 and thereafter, and it is important to keep them all in mind as you plan for your retirement. Since hitting a 40-year high of 9.1% in June, inflation has cooled somewhat. If that trend continues, the Cost of Living Adjustment in Social Security
When Only One Spouse Retires
Clients are coming to us more and more frequently with questions regarding this retirement situation: Let’s say one of a couple retires, and the other continues to work. This often presents a need for rebalancing in order to better ensure that the remaining spouse is sufficiently taken care of. Call us if you are in
Women Live Longer Than Men… What Does This Mean?
We often mention in passing that life expectancy shows that women typically live longer than men. What does that mean to you? Well, you should think about the impact it could have on your retirement savings. When one individual passes before another, but both are using the same retirement savings pool of funds, a gap
