Retirement Strategies

Helping You Retire: Accumulation, Preparation, and Distribution

Retirement has evolved for many people to mean "what's next?"  At the same time, the cost of health care and taxes in retirement challenge the best laid plans. 

Planning for your retirement is a multi-phase process.  We will work with you to implement a plan designed to accumulate and grow investments earmarked for retirement.  Together we will learn what it costs to live the life you envision.  Along the way we will develop with you the strategy to collect income—your "retirement paychecks"—in a tax-efficient way.

Accumulation     

Most people take advantage of tax incentives to accumulate assets in tax-deferred retirement accounts.  By itself, this may not be the optimal way to fund your retirement, since taxes paid in retirement may matter as much, or more, than taxes saved while working.  We offer solutions in the form of advice and access to a host of taxable (nonqualified) and tax-deferred (qualified) retirement vehicles, such as:

• Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs)

• Simple Employee Pension (SEP IRA)

• Individual 401(k)s

• Roth IRAs

• Inherited IRAs/IRA BDAs

• Brokerage accounts

• Tax Deferred Annuities

For your company 401(k), we can help you manage that account.  We answer questions such as "How much do I need to contribute to be tracking for my ideal retirement?" and "What mix of the offered investments is right for me?"

Preparation

Preparing for the future means more than simply gathering assets and growing them in a tax-efficient manner.  A successful retirement requires that you invest with the end in mind.  Every person has their own vision of what their retirement should look like. 

• When do you want work to be optional?

• What does your retirement lifestyle cost?

• Have you prepared for senior care expense?

We regularly produce a Retirement Income Plan for clients. The plan is always evolving. We help our clients define their goals.  And of course we assist in decisions regarding social security, pension, deferred compensation, and other benefits. 

Distribution

We do not have a "one size fits all" approach to your income in retirement.  We work to create a "retirement paycheck" for you that is diversified and tax efficient.  We like to mix secure lifetime income (social security and pensions), annuities and distributions from accounts that are built to grow. 

1.  When you are retired, you can't earn your way out of a hole.  Expenses matter.  Taxes matter.  For this reason, we try to balance distributions from taxable and non-taxable sources where possible.  That focus can vary depending on your level of taxable income in retirement.

2.   "Expect what you inspect" is bad grammar but good practice.  Once retired, it's important for you to track your ability to maintain or improve your lifestyle.  And to cue us to necessary changes to portfolios.  Adapting to market conditions and unforeseen expenses is always a part of our process.  We have the tools to assess whether you're still on track for living the life you want.