Retirement Income Planning
It all starts with a PLAN. A well-thought-out, stress-tested written retirement income plan.
How much after-tax income can you live on without worry of running out of money?
Can you retire now with your desired income? If not, then when?
What about when life throws you a curve ball? How does that affect your plan?
Once we know YOUR goals and we know the current state of your finances, we can make recommendations and create initial or alternate plans for you.
I can also give a second opinion on any plan you may already have. Was it stress-tested for some of the potential risks written below?
There is usually more than one path to reaching your goals. We can help you understand the pros and cons of each to develop a comprehensive wealth management plan.
As a Certified Financial Planner (CFP®), Retirement Income Certified Planner (RICP®), Certified in Long-Term Care (CLTC®), I’m a trained specialist that cannot only help get you to retirement but help you avoid and prepare for risks through retirement: living too long, a spouse passing too early, high inflation, rising taxes, bear markets and recessions or needing extended care (what I like to refer to as Long-Term Care).
There is a huge difference, and dealing with experts in this arena will help you sleep better at night.
My planning services are fee-based, and the fee depends upon the level of your level of assets outside of your primary home. There is no obligation to use any of my other services, such as investment management.
Tax Management
As the name of my firm (PROACTIVE Tax Planning) implies, my goal for my clients is to minimize their taxes during retirement. That takes active, ongoing planning, which is more than the typical CPA or tax preparer provides. They tend to record history. I help you determine your future taxation.
It’s not what you earn… it’s what you get to keep and enjoy!
We do this mainly through ROTH contributions and conversions and, when appropriate, using properly designed and funded tax-favored cash-value life insurance. I write extensively about these policies in my “GET ME To ZERO” and “TAX-FREE Millionaire” books.
These policies are not right for everyone, but 100% of my personal wealth is held inside of my five life insurance policies.
Investment Management
The first step is to align your portfolio allocations with your risk tolerances to help ensure you’re comfortable with the risks you are taking to get your desired returns over time. I show my clients how the Sequence of their returns can negatively (or positively) affect their running out of money. It’s eye-opening.
Most of my clients like to combine no-stock market risk alternatives with a carefully crafted portfolio of at-risk mutual funds and ETFs. The portfolios we manage at Fidelity or Schwab (our firm manages over $8 BILLION) have multiple investment strategies to take advantage of what the market is doing.
I believe there is more opportunity in avoiding the risks than to swing for the occasional home run.
Combining these two types of assets reduces risk and expenses and provides more flexibility in bear markets and recessions. Getting the right mix can help ensure you never run out of money.
Social Security Maximization
I feel so strongly about this topic that I wrote a book, “Social Security Income Planning,” about it in 2013 (updated yearly). Does your retirement income plan incorporate different Social Security filing strategies? It should.
You paid into the system for decades. You deserve to get back as much as possible.
Long-Term Care Planning
LTC is a huge potential financial challenge for millions of Americans that is all too often swept under the rug, left unresolved, and given little advanced planning.
Do you plan on self-funding if you or your spouse does need extended care? Do you know new planning strategies exist to double or triple your dollars without the “use it or lose it” of traditional LTC insurance? My book, “Long-Term Care: The Elephant Lurking in Your Retirement,” describes some of the two dozen planning strategies using asset-based LTC insurance as well as other non-insurance options that can help you prepare.
By the way, did you know that Washington State has ALREADY passed a law adding a new LTC payroll tax to workers who don’t have an LTC policy? You should see how pitiful their new state LTC program is. Stupid politicians! They don’t have a clue.
There are 11 other states exploring TAXING workers who do not own an LTC policy.
The bottom line is that Medicare pays for hardly any long-term care expenses, and Medicaid budgets are sorely underfunded for the needs of aging baby boomers.
Legacy and Charitable Planning
Some clients are interested or very interested in leaving a legacy to loved ones and/or their favorite causes and institutions. If you have the same interest, what’s the best way to accomplish your goals? Do you have a plan? Having a plan ensures your dollars can go farther.