Time to reflect
Commentary:
With one month to go until the new year, it might be a good time to reflect on the status of your retirement savings in order to better understand what your choices and needs will be in 2021. Take a look at this week’s article for a few retirement calculators. They help you to understand if you are saving enough to retire, and how tax options impact on your savings. After you’ve run a few different scenarios, call us if you’d like to discuss some options that may make a big difference in planning for your retirement. We’re always here to help.
What matters is if you are concerned
Commentary:
This week’s article highlights a Harris Poll that showed “workers who have been laid off or had their hours reduced amid the pandemic are particularly concerned about their future.” “70% say they are worried about running out of money in retirement, 61% say they are much more afraid of life in retirement, and 61% say the pandemic took the joy out of looking forward to retirement.” What matters is if you are concerned, not the reason why. Call us to talk about some options that may help you to use what savings you do have to provide an income you can count on, and one that you can’t outlive. We’re always here to help.
No, the Tax Laws have Not Changed
Commentary:
We’ve been receiving calls from people thinking that somehow, with the election having just occurred, there are tax law changes that have already been enacted, or that 401(k) and IRA money is slated to be taxed. No, the Tax Laws have not changed. From time to time it is difficult to separate the wheat from the shaft when friends tell us what they’ve ‘heard’ and so we thought to assure you as part of our continued efforts in helping people know about options available to keep their hard earned retirement money working for them, and about the choices that continue to provide an income you can’t outlive. Call us, we’re here to help.
Ideal Retirement
Commentary:
Simultaneously with thinking about where to put hard earned savings in order to obtain an income you can’t outlive in retirement, it may interest you to read a new U.S. News analysis compares the 150 largest metropolitan areas in the country as potential places to retire in 2021. The study discusses where you “might be able to save money and improve your quality of life by relocating to a retirement spot that better suits your interests and budget.” Let us know if you’d like to talk about the choices out there. We’re always here to help.
Don’t give up and call yourself retired
Commentary:
Above all else, don’t give up. This week’s article tells us that when it comes to retirement planning “It’s “entirely understandable to be both intimidated and frustrated by all the challenges you might face, particularly with respect to finding work if you’ve been furloughed or laid off. It may sound easy to just give up and call yourself retired.” However, research shows that the longer you can delay collecting social security, the more money you will receive. Be relentless in learning how to navigate this virtual world, and try to find other sources of income. Call us, we’re always here to help and may have some ideas you have not considered.
Identify the Risk in Dollars
Commentary:
This week’s article tells us that “managing your risk constitutes a major element of your financial plan”, and that risk includes items such as your life in addition to your home.
Life insurance can be viewed as insurance to replace lost earnings, to provide a source of savings or an inheritance for your loved ones in the event of premature death, or the eventuality we all face. “The trick here is to put the risk in dollars. In the case of life insurance, for instance, lay out the expected income that will be lost if the insured were to die. Rules of thumb are handy, but there is no substitute for laying out the cash flows.” Call us if you would like assistance in doing this, and explaining some options that may be available to you. We’re always here to help.
Financial Literacy for our Children
Commentary:
Research has shown that one of the roadblocks seniors face in setting aside adequate savings needed to retire is the financial help that their adult children may unexpectedly need. One way of working to reduce those occasions where financial assistance is given is to encourage family members to take the initiative to self-educate and grow their own financial knowledge. Today’s article provides some ways to do that. Take a look, and call us if you think your family members might benefit from a conversation with us. We’re always here to help.
Keeping it Simple
Commentary:
We have always tried to keep things simple, and so were thrilled to read this week’s article where a member of the faculty at the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research has shown the adage “the simpler, the better” when it comes to retirement planning. In a study to be published in the Journal of Public Economics they will show that when faced with complicated choices “people end up throwing their hands up in the air and don’t save anything at all.” Call us – we will tell you, in an easy to understand way, about some choices you may have to create an income off of your savings that you can’t outlive. We’re always here to help
Are you at Risk for Living Too Long?
Commentary:
The title of this week’s article caught my eye because most news articles nowadays are telling us we are at risk of shortening our life because of COVID; but of course the article was talking about longevity risk. What exactly is that? “The old line in retirement goes something like: “My problem is not that I have too little money left at the end of the month, it’s that I have too much month left at the end of the money.” Does that hit home with you? If so, call us. We have some ideas that you may not know about, or that you have yet to consider. We’re always here to help.
An all-encompassing view
This week’s article makes a valid point, that “safeguarding financial wellness requires an all-encompassing view of a person. This means considering their tangible assets (including savings and property), but also less tangible assets such as health, skills and career readiness to work longer”. Even before COVID-19 caused us to examine more closely our retirement readiness, we may not have been focusing on the fact that “on average, individuals are outliving their money by between eight and 20 years; women in particular are at the sharp end of this scale, with longer lives and pension savings around 40% lower than men’s.” If you’d like to realign your goals, give us a call. We’re always here to help and may have some options you haven’t considered.