Retirement planning seems to always be all about numbers. Your strategy centers around one question: Do your financial assets provide enough income to fund your desired retirement lifestyle? But, to quote a recent article from Kiplinger, “Ask any retiree, and they will likely tell you that it is only half the story. You’ll need enough money to get by, of course, but you don’t have to be super wealthy to be happy.”  “Once you have a financial retirement plan in place, it is essential to focus on all those things money cannot buy.” What are your thoughts? What do you

Curious about how you compare to others? The “How America Saves 2022” report referenced recently by CNBC might give you that information.  The report states the average retirement savings account balances by age: For those within the 55 to 64 age bracket, the average savings account balance is $256,200. For those age 65 and older, the average savings account balance is $280,000. Besides age, the article tells us that there are many other factors influencing retirement savings, such as income and how long an employee has worked for a company. Not surprisingly, older employees who have been working longer tend

There has been a lot of talk recently about a recession: whether or not one will come, what it would mean, and how it would affect each of us. A recession is defined by the National Bureau of Economic Research as “a significant decline in economic activity that is spread across the economy and that lasts more than a few months.”  Usually, this means that the markets decline, businesses tighten up, and employment and wages can be negatively impacted. Call us if you would like to discuss how this might affect your retirement savings. We can speak to you one-on-one

With the downturn in the market these past few months, there is increasing talk about the pros and cons of converting an existing diminished IRA account into a Roth IRA.  Both types of IRAs are designed to help you save for retirement while providing a tax advantage, but they do so in different ways. We thought it might help you to understand the difference. With a traditional IRA, you pay the tax due when you withdraw the funds, and with a Roth IRA, you pay the tax due on the funds you contribute. This way, the withdrawal amount later on

We often think of retirement in terms of ‘having enough money.’ However, there are other considerations. This article dives into these other considerations and divides them into three categories: Regret, Health, and Identity. Interestingly, the author tells us that financial worries weren’t among the top three considerations. Over 15,000 retirees, age 60+ were surveyed. What are your thoughts on this?

One consequence of a recession can be layoffs from work, but many of you may wonder what a recession has to do with you, if you are nearing retirement or are planning to leave the workforce soon anyway. Well, you should know that during a recession stock values could plunge. And if you were relying on income from your investments in the stock market to fund your retirement, a downturn could prove problematic. Call us to discuss what options may be available to you. There are strategies that can provide you with that necessary guaranteed income. We’re always here to

“De-Risking.” This is a phrase you may hear more frequently as the market dips lower and lower.  It is a term often used when discussing how those who are near retirement can prepare when they know their future years of employment and wages are coming to an end, and their savings have dwindled dramatically due to stock market losses. The phrase references the idea of converting some of your stock investments to more stable assets. You should aim for preservation of principal, and a source of guaranteed income for as long as you live, regardless of stock market conditions. Call

While inflation has certainly been in the news a lot lately, one topic that hasn’t been discussed all that often is private pensions. Unlike Social Security payments, they typically don’t offer cost-of-living adjustments that keep up with inflation rates. State and local government pensions do typically offer cost of living increases, but this sometimes causes those who are in the private sector to assume their pensions do the same. This difference means that those receiving private-sector pensions may need to focus more on their future income stream in order to keep up. Call us, we can help you crunch the

There was a great article in the Wall Street Journal this past week that discussed some interesting ideas. The current tight labor market, coupled with the remote and flexible opportunities in the job market, may make retirees think about going back to work in one form or another. Especially when you consider that working may have benefits other than fiscal. However some retirees “would return to the workforce, if only they weren’t held back by cognitive blind spots. These blind spots cause them to ignore the possibility of returning to the workforce—even if working at least part-time would make them

“On the surface, retirement planning hasn’t changed all that much over the years. You work, you save and then you retire. But while the mechanics may be the same, today’s savers are facing some challenges that previous generations didn’t have to worry about,” says a recent CNBC article. We’ve touched on some of those challenges before. One significant change in recent years, that you’ll have to factor into your retirement strategy, is that life expectancy is up. People are living longer on average, and as a result, their savings might not last them the rest of their retirement. This is