“In our hectic lives, balance is something many of us strive to achieve.” This week’s article caught my eye with its first sentence, as the thought of balance rang resonant with what we have always sought to provide assistance on with our clients. Balanced options are so important in retirement especially when we try to find different ways to ensure that we have income we won’t outlive once we stop working. We may have some ideas for you, and would love to help you come to solutions that make you feel better about your retirement planning. Call us, we’re always here for you.
OLDER AMERICANS WORKING LONGER
Did you know that “Older Americans are working longer and claiming their Social Security benefits later, new research from the Social Security Administration shows.” This week’s article reminded me that sometimes individuals work longer solely because their savings are insufficient to carry them through a longer period of retirement. Call us if you are reflecting on your savings and searching for options that will provide an income you can’t outlive. We may have some ideas you have not considered, and we’re always here to help you.
SOMETIMES IT’S FUN
Sometimes it is fun to take a moment and participate in a quiz about retirement. Answering questions and then comparing our responses to others gives us new opportunities to think about the choices we are making, and how we are planning for the future. This week’s article does just that. Can you answer the retirement questions it poses? Call us when you and done to talk about your plans for the future. We are always here to help.
ARE YOU UNDERSAVED FOR RETIREMENT?
I thought you might like this week’s article because it contains several videos aimed at raising your “Retirement IQ”. Did you know that “A startling number of baby boomers don’t know how much money they need to live comfortably during retirement, and without a target in mind, have ended up saving very little. In fact, 1 in 4 baby boomers have less than $5k saved for retirement.” The good news is “it’s easy to raise your retirement IQ. Start with the basics of estimating costs, get a balanced portfolio in place, and research financial products that offer a guaranteed stream of income no matter how long you live.” We can speak with you about some of these financial products if a guaranteed stream of income is what you are looking for. Call us, we’re always here to help.
RETIREMENT SECURITY BLANKET
This week’s article tells us that “One of the biggest fears among retirees and soon-to-be retirees today is that they will outlive their retirement savings. With life expectancies in developed countries at unprecedented highs, this is a justified concern. Many senior citizens will live to see their eighties and nineties, but they may have only saved enough to fund a lifetime equivalent to their own parents’ – perhaps up to their late seventies. Thus, the demand for a retirement “security blanket” is high.” Call us if you are interested in learning more about using an annuity to help fund your retirement. We’re always here to help.
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LET’S LOOK BACK TO LOOK FORWARD
As we come to the end of the year I thought to share with you a group of articles that I have found to be informative, each of them reflecting on different issues relating to planning for retirement that you may want to reflect on. Ranging from “11 Money Lies to Stop Telling Yourself” to “20 Things You Can Learn From Your Parents’ Retirement”, you will find pointers that may help you. Call us if you would like to discuss any of the ideas you read about. We are always here to help.
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IF YOU LIVE LONGER
“Imagine sitting down on the day of your retirement to plan your financial future. You know what your annual expenses have been and you want to maintain your current standard of living. So, you consult a recent mortality table and find that if you’ve made it to your 65th birthday, you can expect to live to 85 years old. You perform a little calculation and find that, together with your Social Security monthly payments, you have just enough savings to maintain your current standard of living and spend all of your savings and future expected earnings by the time you die at the age of 85. But what if you live longer?” This and other questions are addressed in great detail in this week’s article. We have some ideas of options that might be available to you which address the ‘if you live longer’ question. Call us, we’re always here to help.
A STREAM OF CONSUMPTION IN RETIREMENT
This week’s article states that “Individuals engaged in financial planning for retirement have no shortage of resources available to provide guidance on how much to save and how to invest those savings. If one does a Google search on the term “retirement planning,” the lion’s share of the over 1.2 million hits appear to guide one to websites that discuss various features of the saving and investment decisions. Given the dominant focus on saving and investment, the typical worker could be forgiven for believing that “retirement planning” is synonymous with “wealth accumulation.” While wealth accumulation is an important ingredient in any financial plan, it is not sufficient to ensure financial well-being in retirement. A particularly glaring shortcoming of the focus on wealth accumulation is that it fails to consider how one’s assets will be converted into a stream of consumption in retirement.” Call us if you are looking for options that provide a stream of income in retirement that you can’t outlive. We’re always here to help.
DEFINED BENEFIT OR DEFINED CONTRIBUTION
This week’s article, found in an issue of the Harvard Business Review, was of interest to me because it described very simply the difference between and shift from Defined Benefit retirement plans to Defined Contribution plans and it discussed that “more dangerous yet is the shift in focus away from retirement income to return on investment that has come with the introduction of saver-managed defined contribution plans”. We have always liked products that provide an income in retirement that you can’t outlive. If that is something of interest to you, give us a call and we can tell you about some options that may be available. We’re always here to help.
SUCCULENT SAVINGS
After what I hope was a hearty Thanksgiving day meal, I thought you would enjoy this article which suggests that you “consider throwing a new recipe onto your menu. Ingredients like contributions to an employer sponsored 401(k) program or to fixed indexed annuities can create a deliciously balanced portfolio that can keep you and your family financially full for many Thanksgivings to come.” Call us if you’d like to explore what ingredients are needed to make this “recipe” for you and your family. We are always here to help.