"Without your sound financial advise over the years, we (and even our grown daughter) wouldn't have been in such a rock-solid, financially secure situation today."
Do you want either all or some of your money in a safer position today?
Do you want a predictable retirement?
Do you want your financial situation simplified?
Do you want to guarantee your income for the rest of your Life?
Do you want a Tax Free Income for the rest of your life or...
...Create a tax free "Forever Fund" for your heirs if you don't need the money?
If the answer is "yes" - we can help you!
Wealth planning is another way of planning for the future. Just like retirement planning, you can use Traditional IRA, ROTH IRA, 401K, etc to plan for the future but in addition you and/or your spouse have to have Life Ins. to help your family financially in case you pass away prematurely. Life insurance will provide who's going to be left behind or beneficiaries an immediate estate or life insurance proceeds. The loss of a love one is irreplaceable but with the help of life insurance your family will be able to replace the income that will be lost.
Business owners use life insurance for Buy/Sell Agreements, Executive Bonus and as perks to retain employees.
People with assets that trigger Federal Estate Taxes also use life insurance to help pay for Estate Taxes. Here is an example: Suppose it's determined that the estate of a wealthy individual has a $2M tax liability. There are several ways on how taxes will be paid. An individual can use cash to pay the $2M tax liability or borrow $2M to pay the taxes or buy a $2M policy to use to pay the taxes. Paying the estate taxes by the use of life insurance is the least expensive or cheapest way of paying for the taxes. Why, because you will never spend $2M to buy a $2M policy.
In addition to wealth planning, tax planning is also a very good thing to consider. Putting your money into an Annuity especially if you are not using the money is a very good idea. Why? An Annuity earns interest tax deferred which means any gain on your investments are not included as income and therefore it will not put you on a higher income tax bracket. It may also help with your taxes as far as social security is concerned.
Just what the title implies, retirement planning is simply planning for retirement. There are several ways on how you can fund your retirement. An individual can use different investment vehicles to fund their retirement. You can participate into a 401K Plan if it's offered by your employer. Most employers will match a certain portion of your contribution. You can allocate different percentage of your contribution to the plan in different sub accounts or investment vehicles (Mutual Funds, Stocks, Fixed Accounts, Bonds or Bond Funds).
If the employer does not offer 401K Plans you can open your own Traditional IRA or a ROTH IRA. 401K Plans, Traditional IRA, 403B Plan or Deferred Compensation Plan are tax deductible plans. Depending on an individual's income the contribution to the plan is tax deductible but all withdrawals after age 59 ½ are all taxable since you have never paid taxes on any of your money (withdrawals prior to age 59 ½ will have a penalty). ROTH IRA however, is not tax deductible but all your money including the gains are tax free when you take the money out.
You have to meet the requirements by the IRS to withdraw your money without having to pay taxes. And the requirements are: the account has to be on deferral for at least 5 years and you have to be at least 59 ½ years old. Typically, I recommend a Fixed or Fixed Index Annuity to fund the IRA or ROTH IRA. In 2011 anyone below 50 years old can contribute up to $5,000.00 per year and an additional $1,000.00 for a total of deductible contribution of $6,000.00 for people ages 50 and above. You and/or your spouse has to be employed and making at least $5,000.00 or $6,000.00 for the year.
There are a lot of things to consider when planning for retirement. You can also transfer your 401K to an IRA once you're separated from your employer. For self-employed individuals, you can also open an Individual 401K Plan or a SEP IRA depending on the income of the business owner and the contribution he/she wants to make on a yearly basis. Some people, however, will use other investment vehicles such as real estate, precious metals, etc. to fund their retirement.
The information mentioned in the above paragraph is a summary of different ideas. Sitting down with a Retirement Planner can guide you on how you can reach your goal. The most important thing you need to do is "get started now". The sooner you get started the better off you'll be in the future. You cannot depend on social security. The future of social security is up in the air, plus, depending your income just on social security is not going to give you the retirement you're looking for.
The next most important thing you need to do is to make sure you're well diversified. Investing in 5 different stocks or 5 different equity funds or mutual funds is not the diversification I'm talking about. You need to put a smaller percentage of your money into an aggressive or moderately aggressive accounts and most percentage in guaranteed accounts. By doing this, it will prevent you from losing money or a lot of money or all your money in the future.
Remember, you have to be realistic about your goals. If you make more money than what you expected to make at retirement, it's a lot better than expecting more money but getting much less. What will you do then? Guaranteed and predictable retirement is always best in my opinion.
"People don't plan to fail, they just fail to plan".
Bernie Cabungcal, Owner
I help young, pre-retired and retired individuals plan and create SAFE and PREDICTABLE solutions to their financial and retirement needs by using Life Insurance, Long Term Care, Disability Insurance, Medical Insurance and Annuity products.