When is the right time to retire? The answer to this, like every other decision you have to make in retirement, depends on your own personal needs and circumstances. The National Bureau of Economic Research found that “retirement improves both health and life satisfaction” but the age at which you retire impacts your quality of retirement.  The age at which you retire will also, naturally, affect your finances. Your retirement strategy may lend itself more to retiring later or earlier. We may be able to help you decide what time makes the most sense. Reach out to us, we’d be

Here are a few factors to consider when you making your retirement income strategy: When it comes to paying taxes on contributions, Roth IRAs and traditional IRAs differ from one another. While both are tax-advantaged accounts, your choice will impact when you pay taxes on the money: With a traditional IRA, you’d pay taxes in retirement when you begin taking payments. With a Roth IRA, however, you’re required to pay taxes on the money in advance.  Furthermore, Roth IRAs do not require RMDs (required minimum distributions) during the owner’s lifetime. This makes a Roth IRA a “wealth-transfer vehicle” because you

We sometimes are asked who a fixed indexed annuity might be a good choice for, versus who might be suited to a variable annuity. And to answer that question, our attention was drawn to a very simple article published by the Insurance Information Institute (Which you can read by clicking here).  In short, fixed annuities or fixed indexed annuities may be a good choice for conservative investors who value safety and stability, and those nearing retirement who want to shelter their assets from the volatility of the stock market. You should only consider a variable annuity, meanwhile, if you are

Late Boomer’s Retirement A study from the Center For Retirement Research looked into the decline in wealth for late boomers, and explored what may have contributed to it: “The results show that two factors were at play – a shift in the population towards lower-wealth households and, more importantly, a weakening of the link between work and wealth accumulation.”   This brings to light the need to examine alternative sources of income. Most individuals use their accumulated savings to fund retirement income, and if work is having an impact on that accumulation, it might require us to examine different savings options.

When we think of retirement, we often focus on how much money we have in savings. We often forget that retirement doesn’t necessarily mean having to deplete our savings, it means creating a retirement income strategy off of those savings. Call us, we have some ideas that could allow you to obtain an income stream in retirement you can’t outlive, and even leave something behind for your beneficiaries. We’re always here to help.

We often look for ways to get a solid financial footing during the decade before retirement. For years, we save diligently and carefully follow a long-term strategy. But as retirement approaches, your priorities may shift. When retirement is on the horizon, pre-retirees may start to question the choices they have made. A loss of confidence in your retirement income strategy may cause you to act impulsively, or make emotionally-motivated decisions. Before you make any choices you can’t undo, how about you give us a call? We can help make sure you remain on solid financial footing. We’re always here to

You may have heard the adage “you only live once” as it applies to pursuing opportunities and taking risks. But what does this saying really mean? While we agree that “you only live once”, you could also take it to mean that you should think wisely and avoid mistakes.  Preparing for retirement is not a time to throw caution to the wind, nor to take risks that we can’t correct in our remaining lifetime. Retirement is a time to enjoy yourself, however, it’s also the time when you need to be most cautious.  If you’d like to learn about some

We found an article recently from AARP that might interest you. It referenced a “safety-first” approach, which is something we have always believed in. The idea is to cover all of your essential expenses with guaranteed sources of income, meaning sources like Social Security, pensions, and annuities that pay you an income you can’t outlive.  If you’re married, your essential expenses should cover not only yourself, but also your spouse as well. Call us if you’d like to review your expenses and your sources of income to see if they’re measuring up to what your needs are. We’re always here