SERVICES

PLANNING FOR RETIREMENT

When you are younger, retirement seems so far off. Therefore, many of us may make decisions that are not always in the best interest of preparing ourselves for the freedom of retirement. However, you may have arrived at a place where retirement is coming into focus and you need to begin to take steps to secure your future. We coordinate in a way that includes all aspects of life. We look at all of the resources that you are going to have available to you during retirement. It is important to develop strategies that you can put into place, that will help you hit your bullseye when you decide to hang up your work belt. These can involve, but are not limited to:

• Planning to have the proper amount of savings needed
• Building and managing an investment portfolio
  
• Tax planning
  
• Budgeting
  
• Insurance planning – Health & Life
  
• Pension review and planning
  

LIVING IN RETIREMENT

A majority of us have received a consistent paycheck throughout our lives.  How do you recreate this income, now that you are no longer working?  Income planning is the first step we take in the process of planning for retirement.  Therefore, when you get to that stage, you know what is coming in, and when; much like that paycheck you are used to receiving.  We want to help make sure that this income will be there for you, throughout your retirement. To do so, we will help you coordinate all of your non-qualified, qualified, and tax-free investments, to work with your other sources of income, in order to accomplish this in the most tax-efficient way possible.  There are many pitfalls and potholes that can get in your way during these years. We will work as your guide, so that we can help you avoid those, by planning for accordingly in the following areas:

• Healthcare cost – Medicare
• Long-Term Care Planning
  
• Sequence of return risk
  
• RMD coordination with all accounts
  
• Roth Conversions
  
• Tax Planning
  

PLANNING FOR WHEN YOU ARE GONE

What is your legacy? Every one of us will leave a legacy, and you have the chance to determine what that legacy will be.  A major part of this, will be the impact that you had on others, during your lifetime. Of course, this will not be your legacy, in its entirety.  It is, therefore, important to consider questions such as these, when thinking about your legacy: If you are married and something happens to you tomorrow, how would your spouse survive over the next few months or years? Would they have to make tough decisions, or would there be a plan in place to help them? Would your estate be simple to manage or would your family have to spend lots of time and energy to handle this? How much will it cost to accomplish what you would like to see happen? These are just a few questions that we encourage you to look at, as we work on developing the legacy that you want to leave. Our time on this planet is rather brief, but even so, we can still leave a lasting impact on our future generations. I know the power of this, because to this day, I am still fortunate enough to benefit from the legacy that my grandparents left, many years ago. In turn, we hope to continue to pass on the legacy, and make a lasting impact on our future grandchildren, as well.

MAXIMIZING SOCIAL SECURITY

Since the first day you started working, you’ve been building the foundation for your retirement, brick by brick. Now that you are preparing to move into your retirement house, do you know how strong your foundation is, or what it is made of? Social Security makes up the bottom row of those bricks in your foundation. Do you know how solid your bottom row is? We help individuals, like yourself, understand when the best time is for you to take Social Security, as well as the role it plays in your overall retirement plan.

Social Security can range from 27% to 75% of your income during retirement. Knowing the amount of income that you are going to receive from the government, is vital in knowing how you should handle all other sources of income, such as, pensions, IRAs, 401(k)s and other investments. Another important aspect of Social Security, is maximizing the amount you will receive over the course of your lifetime.  Too many times, individuals lose out on income that they could have received, simply because they did not properly plan the timing of filing for benefits. They could have potentially missed out on $111,000 in their lifetime!

MEDICARE

We truly believe that you can’t sufficiently plan for retirement without addressing the healthcare you will have. Your health is a huge factor throughout your life, especially in retirement. Healthcare planning in retirement, starts with Medicare.  It is important that you understand how Medicare works, as well as the options that you have. If you don’t think that this is a major decision, wait until you are six months away from turning 65; your phone will ring repeatedly, and a small tree will probably be sacrificed,  just to create enough paper for all the mail you will receive. When making a decision, it will be extremely helpful for you to learn the benefits and characteristics of programs such as, Medigap, Medicare Advantages, Part B, Drug Plans, Medicare Supplements, Plan G, and many more. We will help you navigate all of that information, and help you to understand what the best options are for your situation. Just like many aspects of life, a one-size-fits all approach, is generally not suitable when it comes to Medicare.

NOTARY SERVICES

We offer free notary services to all of our clients.