Category: Retirement Planning
Your 401(K) Isn't Your Only Option
Youve heard it over and over again, from many places never, ever make an early withdrawal from your 401(k), unless its an emergency. And, we agree - thats often good advice. But there are a few exceptions where an early withdrawal may be to your advantage. Some companies allow active employees participating in a qualified employer-sponsored retirement plan to withdraw a portion of their account balance upon request, without demonstrating a specific financial need, usually at age 59 . This is called an in-service, non-hardship withdrawal. One reason you may want to consider this option is that by rolling over a portion of employer-sponsored retirement plan assets to a rollover IRA, you may be able to significantly expand your investment choices, especially if you have limited choices in your employer-sponsored retirement plan. 401(k)s typically offer limited fund options to participants. Spreading the risk among a group of investments is generally a good thing when saving for the long
How Much Money Do You Really Need To Retire?
Life is full of uncertainty. What your career will bring, changes in your family, your health, and the market. And these are just a few! So its hard for anyone to predict the future, but there are really only two ways to figure out how much you need for retirement. And, as youll see, one offers a better future for most. 1. Save What You Can Its no secret that many people are putting off or avoiding saving for retirement. A recent article on CNN.com shared that about 26% of workers said they and their spouse have saved less than $1,000 for retirement, according toa reportfrom the Employee Benefit Research Institute. Another 16% said they have between $1,000 and $10,000 stashed away for retirement. While some of those are no doubt younger workers who have time to save, some are likely not. Its highly doubtful that theyd be able to retire at all on that! Some financial planners point out that planning retirement spending around your current income might not make sense. Many people drastically
Are You Spending Your Legacy?
Are You Spending Your Legacy? Retirement is supposed to be a well-earned reward a time when you can stop worrying about the day-to-day struggles of your career, and everything that went with it. A time to enjoy your family, and to scratch a few things off your bucket list. Confronted with so much freedom, it can be tempting to do all those things without considering a plan going forward. While we find that most of our clients arent afraid of running out of money for themselves, many of them do want to leave a legacy to help their children or grandchildren. So how can you ensure that youll be able to have the retirement you want and still help your loved ones? It all comes down to your spending rate. To find your rate, start by adding up your expenses, and subtract that from any non-portfolio income you might be receiving in retirement. That can mean things like rental property income, annuity income, or even Social Security. The amount left over is what youll need to withdraw. You
What Level of the Retirement Pyramid Have You Reached?
When it comes to retirement planning, its hard to know where to start. Many people put it off for years, only to discover that theyve put themselves at a distinct disadvantage. They often have to sacrifice to catch up financially, or work for far longer than they would have otherwise. When we talk to clients, they are interested in two things: they want to maintain their quality of life while saving for retirement, and they dont want to make sacrifices once they have retired. Weve put together a helpful guide that can help you do just that! To simplify the many options available to you, weve laid these out like a pyramid you shouldnt think about progressing to the next level before youve completed the other levels from the base up. We think that this makes it easier to understand by helping clients strategically, thoughtfully, and thoroughly build the retirement of their dreams, and to have a roadmap to understand what they should be doing now, and what comes next. Level one: Make
Living for Today and for Tomorrow
Life is about finding the right balance, whether it be with diet, exercise, or your finances. Do we sacrifice today for a richer future, or do we live it up today and worry about the future when it gets here? Most of us are trying to manage multiple goals at the same time; that is true in our financial lives also. Enjoy life today; pay off debt; save for future goals.retirement, children and their education; build emergency funds; or build funds for a future large purchase. Do Americans have financial balance in their lives? The results of a recent survey from Bankrate indicate the answer is no. Fewer than one in four Americans have enough money in their savings account to cover at least six months of expenses--enough to help cushion the blow of a job loss, medical emergency or some other unexpected event--according to the survey of 1,000 adults. Meanwhile, 50% of those surveyed have less than a three-month cushion and 27% had no savings at all! Only 48% of respondents to a Federal Reserve
Portfolio Stress Test
Review Your Investments Before the Next Panic. Better to Act than React. This time last year who would have thought that the price of oil would drop to todays levels? Or that slowing growth in China would send shivers through the market? Barely seven years after the financial crisis, it already feels like a distant memoryand rosier than it was. Test your own recollection of the bear market: Do you remember correctly that between October 2007 and March 2009, the U.S. stock market dropped in price by 57%? Most investors build retirement portfolios with one goal in mindto maximize returns. Does that take into account reality? Probably not. On the other hand, you need to understand the cost of being overly cautious also. Risk and returns frequently go hand-in-hand. If losses cannot be tolerated, then long-term return will be decreased along with risk levels, which will mean that retirement goals must be reassessed. If you think stocks cant fall by at least 50% again, you are wrong. If
Asset Allocation Review
The underlying principle of asset allocation is to diversify your investment portfolio among several different asset classes in an effort to reduce the risk and volatility of your overall portfolio and potentially improve your overall returns. Even if youve already constructed a plan, changes to your investment profile such as time horizon or risk tolerance may require adjustments to your asset allocation plan. The plan you established last year may not be appropriate this year as a result of economic fluctuations or changes in your personal or financial circumstances. Your allocation to international investments might not make as much sense this year with slowing foreign growth and heightened terrorist concerns. To start the review run through a quick exercise of determining your exact current asset allocation, on a percentage basis; add up your exposure to stocks, bonds, cash or otherwise. Then simply ask yourself: What type of market am I allocated for? Obviously, a bull market portfolio
Avoid Costly Financial Mistakes
Learn from the mistakes of others so you dont follow the same path With the combined decades of experience in financial planning of the advisors at The Lineweaver Financial Group, we have witnessed mistakes made by people planning for and living out their retirement years. Some of the mistakes are costly emotionally and others have been costly financially. Today we share some of the mistakes that are common, so you can use this information to evaluate your own situation and ongoing plans. We are not going to look at the rare unlikely mistakes, but rather focus on those we see commonly. Ignore significant financial drops- Most of our clients have one thing in common. They have enough money to live out a comfortable retirement as long as they dont lose it. Over the years weve taken great pride in helping our clients hold on to what they have. Forgetting About Income Taxes- Just because we retire does not mean income taxes go away. During retirement income tax planning can be even more
Congress Makes Charitable Contributions from IRA’s Tax Free. Forever!
Are you at least 70 , and want to build regular charitable contributions into your legacy plan using excess funds in your IRA? In the past, you had to worry that the government might decide that donation was considered taxable income, which meant you would either had to either contribute more to cover the shortfall or give simply give less. The good news is you never have to worry about that again because the Federal Government has made a permanent change to IRA gifting. Starting 2016, charitable donations of up to $100,000 per year made from your IRA funds are no longer subject to any tax because the donation is excluded from your taxable income. That means, for those of you so inclined to give-back, you can integrate a regular annual donation into your retirement plan. And, since the law refers to Individual Retirement Accounts, your spouse can do likewise with his or her IRA funds. A little good news for your kids. Theres also a provision in the new law that you might want to mention
Time is ticking….. Less than six months to take advantage of two vital Social Security pay-out strategies
With the passage of the 2015 Budget Bill, two important Social Security claiming strategies called File Suspend and Restricted Application are going away for everyone under age 62, whether you are in retirement or thinking about retirement. Understanding these changes, and taking certain steps prior to this enactment, can mean thousands more in lifetime benefits for you, your spouse, and your family. The benefits of these two disappearing strategies are best explained in two common scenarios: Scenario #1 Your spouse collects her spousal benefit (50% of your full retirement benefit*) while you File Suspend your own retirement benefits to age 70 to take advantage of Social Securitys higher Delayed Retirement Credit (i.e., SS increases 8% per annum after FRA). Scenario # 2 Your spouse files for early SS benefits at age 62. When you reach your FRA* you file a Restricted Application that entitles you to 50% of her projected full benefit, while deferring your retirement benefits to
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