Let’s Talk About Retirement

taalyn_1 asked:


I am taking a new position at a non-profit organization. This company is offering a 403(b) retirement plan and I am wondering if I should take it or not. They will pay 75% after 1 year and I can make contributions, before taxes, of up to 10% and I can be fully vested after 3 years of employment . What is the difference between this and a 401K or other retirement programs really?

NELDA

Christina asked:


My parents have reached their retirement age and are planning on buying a home in California. What percentage of their savings should go to the downpayment? They want to maximize the downpayment so that their monthly payment can be easily covered by their Social Security and pention. But I worry that they won’t have enough investment in other areas and will be short on the rainy-day funds. Please help!
Not that I didn’t try…. Grandparents always want to stay close to the grandkids. My husband and I are probably going to be in Ca long-term so that makes it impossible to convince my parents to consider other states. They are not millionairs and they are not going to invest in real estate. Just want to get themselves a place to live and still have some extra money for day to day spending.

GALE

G. White asked:


Offering tips for retirement planning can open up a touchy subject. While some couples have been preparing for retirement their entire adult lives, others have barely thought about it. Neither end of this preparation spectrum is unusual, but it is clear that the former mind set will leave you feeling much more comfortable with your future. When it comes to planning retirement, a few tips might be just what you need to get a jump start. You might be working hard now, but that only means that you’ll appreciate retirement all the more.

Beginning With Baby Steps

Following tips and advice for retirement planning does not mean that you have to sit down and draw up an extensive financial plan. Nobody expects you to be nearly this prepared! However, there are a few baby steps that you can take to make your future brighter. With each retirement planning tip you follow, you will see your future growing brighter and brighter.

The first step to retirement planning is making a few predictions. Nobody expects you to give an exact date of retirement, but it can be helpful to have a goal or an idea in your head. Having this target date will only make you work harder toward your goal. Next, estimate how much more money you will need to accumulate by this date. There are several on line tools that make this very easy.

The next tip for retirement planning is to investigate your options. You should be aware of what your basic Social Security benefits are-if you’re not, you can easily find out by examining the Social Security statement that arrives around the time of your birthday.

Also, check with your boss to see if a retirement plan is offered through your place of employment; if not, ask about how you might start one. Talk with your tax adviser about IRA options, and seek general advice from a professional financial planner. The more information you know and the more questions you ask, the more prepared you will be for retirement.

Keep Your Common Sense

Much of retirement planning involves common sense, not tips and guidelines. For example, as you grow older, try to leave your savings alone for the most part. Try keeping a long term savings account for retirement only, and a separate short term savings account for emergencies. You will be sure to appreciate this money upon retirement.

Another piece of advice is to not fall for investment scams. These ploys for money get people every time-but they don’t have to get you. Use your common sense when looking into any type of investment, and if you have suspicions, then you can always contact your Better Business Bureau or Secretary of State.

Changing Locations

Another tip for planning your retirement is to consider what your future living situation might be. Many retired elderly couples wait until they can no longer go up and down the stairs of their homes before they decide to move into a more manageable home. If you plan this move before hand, you will be sure to have more options, and perhaps even make a profit ff of your current house!

Investigating the cost of living in various cities and retirement communities can also prove to be beneficial during retirement planning. It might even be another way for you to save money. If you consider your living situation when you still have control of it, you will have many more options available to you.

Ready To Retire!

Planning for your retirement might seem very intimidating, but taking the time to think about it now will ensure that you are better off in the long run. A few baby steps in the right direction won’t hurt you-only ensure that your retirement will be all the better!



CHANG

Martin Reed asked:


As women, we have many different roles that we take on throughout the years. We are daughters, wives, housekeepers, mothers, employees, volunteers and so much more. With all of this activity, hustle and bustle, thinking about the day when we will retire always seems like it is a long way off. It can be difficult to put effort into saving for something that seems such a distant idea. However, planning and preparing for retirement is one of the most important things that we can do for ourselves.

The most important thing to remember when preparing for retirement is that your income will end, but your bills will keep coming in. There will be some decreases in spending, due to the fact that you no longer need to commute and spend money on other work related expenses, but your cost of living will likely remain the same or even increase as you will be spending more time at home. You need to be sure that you have enough funding to take care of these expenses for many years to come.

There are several different options available when it is time to begin saving for retirement, each with its own set of rules and regulations. Be sure to understand the ins and outs of the types of retirement savings plans you are investigating before making a final decision. Some of the most popular options for retirement funding include:

Social Security - In the US, Social Security payments are about 40 percent of the monthly earnings of a retiree. While this free money is a wonderful asset to your retirement budget, it is far from enough to allow those who have left the workforce to live comfortably. You can certainly budget Social Security payments into your retirement plan, but know that there is more that needs to be done.

Profit Sharing and Pension - Some employers offer profit sharing and pension plans to their employees. These are usually company allocated funds that are invested on behalf of the employee and are paid out upon your leaving the company. There are often penalties involved if you leave an employer before retirement. If your company offers one of these plans, be sure to educate yourself on the regulations and rules that govern the policy. Be sure to keep track of the amount that is in your account each year and review what your future additional needs might be.

401(k) Plans - 401(k) plans are very popular retirement savings plans that are offered through employers. When these are offered through an employer, often employee contributions to the fund are matched by the company, up to a certain percentage of weekly or monthly income. In this case, you may want to elect to have a higher amount held from your checks to get the most from your money when it is time to cash out your account. As with a profit sharing or pension plan, usually you must have a certain number of years at a company for your account to be fully vested.

Individual Retirement Accounts - If you are not able to start a retirement funding plan through your employer or the plans that are offered to you are simply not enough for you to retire comfortably when you want to, consider an individual retirement account or IRA. Certain types of retirement accounts offer tax incentives to those investing up to a certain amount of money each year. Remember that these are investment accounts, the amount they will be worth will vary depending on what you add to the account and how long you keep the money invested.

Making the crucial decisions that are necessary to ensure that your future will be safe and comfortable can be difficult. You may want to seek the help of a professional retirement investment specialist. They will be able to look at your current lifestyle and income, find out about what you would like to be able to accomplish in retirement and help you to develop a retirement savings strategy that will be affordable for you and will create a pleasant retirement environment for you later.

Even when retirement is decades away, beginning to prepare for retirement as early as possible will make things less financially stressful for you down the road. Create an affordable retirement plan as soon as possible and you can be certain that your golden years are spent enjoying yourself, rather than worrying over how the bills are being paid each month. With careful planning and investment help, if necessary, you can ensure that you have a pleasant retirement without financial stress or worry.



ANTON

Mrlee asked:


Not taking full lead of your company retirement benefits – it is wise that you lend money into your company retirement plan as much as you can manage.

Withdrawing money from your retirement arrangement – Be very aware when benefiting of loans or withdrawals, owing to by oneself from losing interest, you could kisser penalties or early withdrawal compensations.

Not heavily guiding your investments – it is extremely important to own track of your remunerations in order for you to be appreciative of a little discrepancies.

§ Relying on Social security for your retirement income – polite security may provide a considerable share of your retirement income, iced it can be of great help if you have other means of income as a back-up in tray there are extra unexpected expenses that might come up. In addition to diverting security, it would be transcendent if you have a club pension or retirement plan and particular savings.

§ Relying on your spouse’s retirement plan – this is one of the best common false step of retirement planning people do. It is possible that a helpmate with a retirement plan could improve leaving the other spouse with no income. Instances like divorce or illness can also closeout the only spouse retirement, therefore both co-workers should have a separate retirement plan to best undamaged your retirement days.

§ Forgetting to rethink your way regularly – constantly conduct periodic review of your retirement plan to ensure that you are making the most of your plan.

§ Practicing poor service allocation – poor credit allocation can sometimes be a economic *******. The closet is to broaden your horizons so that if one asset decreases in value, another will hopefully increase.

§ Not checking your leaflet/financial advisor- there are plenty of highly interested brokers and financial buttinskis who have the expertise about how your portfolio should be set-up and maintained, but there are still who aren’t and are simply ill informed. So, be aware and make sure to check up on guarantee and track records on anyone you uncanny to entrust your retirement savings.

§ Relying too heavily on your stock – your retinue stock is one of the excellent ways to defend for your retirement. But, it is also best to have a gnarly contribution mix in your retirement report.

§ Not taking retirement planning seriously – this could be the deadlier inadvertence you can make with your retirement plan. If you start early on retirement planning, you may be able to retire early and possess the lifestyle you equivalent once retired..



FRANKIE

hdk asked:


If I get a job from a County govt, what’s the required minimum number of years of service to be eligible for retirement? 20 years?

DAREN

The Chef- Dishin Out the Answers asked:


Sorry, might be a stupid question, but I’m 17, and don’t know anything about that. I know that you can put part of your retirement investments into more risky funds, but isn’t some of it (probably most of it), put somewhere where you WILL make money, since lots of people cannot take a risk with that type of thing???
Please elaborate!!!
Thank you!

ANDREW

David Chazin asked:


Getting More Out of Your Retirement Assets

By David N. Chazin

In conjunction with Sagemark Consulting, a division of Lincoln Financial Advisors, a registered investment advisor. Mr. Chazin is a regular contributor to PlannerConnect.

For years, you’ve been investing in an IRA or employer-sponsored retirement plan, and, thanks to the benefits of tax-deferred growth, you now have a considerable nest egg  enough to enjoy a comfortable retirement and pass a tidy sum on to children and grandchildren. Or so you think. Unfortunately, after taxes, only a small percentage of your retirement savings may be left.

The Tax Toll

Your retirement assets alone may be enough to trigger federal estate tax at your death. Every estate is entitled to an exemption that, in 2005, allows the first $1,500,000 of your assets to pass tax-free to anyone you choose. However any estate assets in excess of this exclusion amount that you give to anyone other than your spouse can be hit with an estate tax of up to 47%. And, while an unlimited federal estate-tax marital deduction lets any amount of assets pass to your surviving spouse tax free, retirement assets you give to your surviving spouse may be taxed later in his or her estate. You haven’t avoided the estate tax; you’ve only postponed it.

In addition to estate taxes, your beneficiaries will have to pay federal income tax on any distributions of tax-deferred retirement assets they receive from your estate. These amounts are taxed at ordinary income tax rates, which currently range from 10% to 35%. State income taxes, where applicable, would claim even more. If your retirement assets pass directly to your grandchildren, a 47% generation-skipping transfer tax may also apply  in addition to any estate tax paid.

The bottom line is that, without financial planning, most of your retirement assets could end up going to the federal government. What can you do?

Give to Charity

If you plan to leave gifts to charity when you die, consider using some or all of your retirement plan assets to make those gifts. One simple and safe way to do so is to name a charity as the beneficiary of your IRA or retirement plan account. The value of the retirement assets will be included in your estate for estate-tax purposes. However, your estate can claim an estate-tax charitable deduction for the full fair market value of the assets the charity receives.

Naming a charity as beneficiary of your retirement plan also can eliminate any income-tax liability on the assets. While individuals who receive distributions of previously tax-deferred amounts from retirement plans must pay income tax on the distributions, many charities are tax-exempt and, thus, don’t have to pay income tax on distributions received from a donor’s retirement plan.

Alternatively, you can give retirement assets to charity now and receive the added benefit of watching your money at work. To make your gift, you withdraw assets from your retirement account and donate them to charity. Any previously tax-deferred amounts you withdraw will be included in your income for the year, but there is an available income tax charitable contribution deduction (within tax law limits) that will reduce or eliminate the income tax on the withdrawal. The value of the assets, and of any future appreciation in those assets, is removed from your estate for estate- and generation-skipping transfer tax purposes.

Consider a Charitable Trust

While the assets you own outside of your retirement plan may seem sufficient to provide you and your spouse with a comfortable retirement, you still might be hesitant to give away your retirement assets. What if unexpected financial demands arise, and you or your spouse needs the income from your retirement plan? A charitable remainder trust may be the answer.

With a charitable remainder trust, you transfer your retirement assets to a trust set up for a charity of your choice. The trust pays you and your spouse, or someone else you’ve chosen, an annual income for life or for a set term. The trust ends with the death of the last income beneficiary or when the trust term expires. The charity receives any remaining assets.

As with an outright gift, a current income-tax deduction is available for the charitable gift you make through the trust. This deduction will offset some of the income tax that may be due on the transfer of any previously tax-deferred retirement assets to the trust. Your deduction is based on the present value of the assets the charity will eventually receive. The trust assets and any appreciation in those assets are removed from your taxable estate. You and the trust’s other income beneficiaries will have to pay income tax on the annual payments you receive from the trust.

Another strategy is to name a charitable remainder trust as the beneficiary of your IRA or other retirement plan account, with your spouse as the income beneficiary of the trust. Your estate will not have to pay any estate tax on the retirement assets because of the potential marital and charitable deductions.

Protect Your Wealth

Many forward-thinking people like the idea of transferring a portion of their estate to charity at full value, rather than transferring a much smaller after-tax value to family members who may already have been provided for through other planning. However, if you are concerned that family members could need your retirement assets in the future, you might want to use an irrevocable life insurance trust as a wealth-replacement strategy.

You can arrange for a trustee to purchase insurance on your life that will replace the inheritance your family is giving up because of your charitable donation. As long as you have no incidents of ownership in the insurance policy, the proceeds won’t be included in your taxable estate. Nor will your children have to pay income tax on the insurance proceeds. Essentially, your children or grandchildren receive an inheritance they can use instead of your retirement assets.

Use a QTIP Trust

Another popular planning strategy is to name a qualified terminable interest property (QTIP) trust as your retirement plan beneficiary. With a QTIP trust, you can give your surviving spouse a life income from your retirement assets and choose who will receive those assets after your spouse’s death  your children or grandchildren, for instance. In that way, you can be sure your assets will pass to your children, even if your spouse should remarry after your death.

A QTIP trust can save taxes, as well. Assets in a properly structured QTIP trust qualify for the marital deduction. Thus, the retirement assets to be distributed to the QTIP trust will not be subject to federal estate tax when you die. Assets remaining in the trust will be included in your spouse’s estate, and your spouse’s estate may have to pay estate tax on them. However, your spouse’s exemption amount will be available to offset tax on some or all of the assets that will later pass to your children or grandchildren.

Everyone’s situation is different. The strategies discussed here may or may not fit your situation. Please consult a professional advisor before implementing any of the strategies we have discussed. Retirement plan distributions are subject to complicated tax rules. You don’t want to make a planning error that could jeopardize your family’s future financial security.

David N. Chazin is part of a network of qualified financial planners affiliated with PlannerConnect. You can reach him at David.Chazin@LFG.com, or to connect with a financial planner in your area please call (800) 318-7848, or visit the PlannerConnect website.

David N. Chazin, is a registered representative of Lincoln Financial Advisors, a broker/dealer, and offers investment advisory service through Sagemark Consulting, a division of Lincoln Financial Advisors Corp., a registered investment advisor,3000 Executive Parkway, Suite 400, San Ramon, CA 94583, (925) 275-0300. Insurance offered through Lincoln affiliates and other fine companies. This information should not be construed as legal or tax advice. You may want to consult a tax advisor regarding this information as it relates to your personal circumstances.



GARFIELD

John Trauth asked:


What is so hard about retirement? Many people have asked themselves this question. Well, if it is so easy, then why are 41% of retirees five years out depressed and say retirement was the most difficult transition of their life? Now they are unhappy and tell us their life was better when they were working!

You can avoid this fate. To learn how, you need to understand the difficulties associated with this transition, beginning with why there are so many negative psychological associations with the whole concept of “retirement” which you may not consciously understand. You also need to understand the most common retirement myths which may be preventing you from understanding what retirement really is all about and preparing adequately for it.

The word “retirement” comes from the old French verb, “retyrer” which means “to go off into seclusion.” If you look up the word today in Webster’s dictionary, some of the synonyms you will find are: (1) withdrawal; (2) retreat; (3) seclusion; (4) departure; and (5) regression.

Who would want to do any of that? So it is not surprising that we all probably have many unconscious negative associations with retirement. We don’t want to feel old and irrelevant, and we don’t want to regress, but often our parents’retirement was followed shortly by demise and death. We certainly want to deny the inevitable, and denial can become very powerful because we don’t consciously realize we are doing it! And are we going to carefully plan for something we are carefully avoiding considering?

Denial of the importance of planning for retirement has led to five very common retirement myths.

Myth #1 is that retirement is not here now, so there is no reason to think seriously about it and plan for it. “I’ll think about that tomorrow.” We call this the “Scarlet O’Hara” myth. This myth can have devastating consequences including not saving enough money and developing serious conflicts with those closest to you who have different expectations about retirement.

Myth #2 is the belief that retirement is really simple. No big deal. I’ll just stop working and everything will be fine. What’s so hard about that? We call this the “Homer Simpson” myth. Sorry, Homer, but it doesn’t work that way. Oversimplifying retirement and not understanding the enormous personal changes involved can result in disappointment and eventually depression when things do not work out as envisioned.

Myth #3 holds that retirement will be great because it will be one, long, happy vacation. Remember those three weeks we spent in Florida or Hawaii? The rest of my life is going to be just like that. We call this the “Carnival Cruise” myth. But retirees find out very soon that leisure is only relaxing and rejuvenating when it is a counterbalance to some sort of routine, and not as a perpetual escape from reality.

Myth #4 is probably the most common myth, and it expresses the belief that your retirement will be wonderful if only you have enough money. We call this the “King Midas” myth. It is perpetuated by the advertisements of many financial services companies and by the fact that, in America, we are becoming increasingly responsible for our own financial independence after work. This is not to say that money is not important. It is. But only as a means to an end and not as an end in itself. Many wealthy retirees are unhappy.

Myth #5 is the most interesting of all. This myth holds that I am just going to love spending tons and tons of time with my spouse or life partner. We have been waiting practically all our lives to have all this wonderful time together! Now finally we can do it! We call this last myth, the “King Henry the 8th myth.” Couples who have spent 20% or less of their time together pre-retirement will have difficulty adjusting to a much higher percentage. The divorce rate is now the highest for the 55+ demographic.

So now that you know what the five most common retirement myths are, what do you do with this informaiton? You need to establish a process for getting past denial and truly engage in creating a retirement that will complement your own personality and also mesh well with those who will be sharing your retirement life. It is a process which begins with understanding why retirement is such a difficult transition and then taking steps to avoid or minimize these difficulties through planning intelligently to create your ideal retirement life.

For example, the cost of denying that retirement will change your relationship with your spouse or life partner (myth #5) suggests that you need to prepare for changing the depth of your interpersonal transactions. Decisions will now go way beyond “What’s for dinner” and include where and even how to live, which can involve difficult discussions including prioritizing wishes, examining the details of your every day lives, and listening to and compromising with your partner. You can try to “wing it”, but are you prepared to be a statistic in the new divorce paradigm?

This is the intelligent way to prepare for what could either be (a) your most difficult life transition, with a significant chance of unhappiness, or (b) the very best years of your life. Which will it be for you?



ABIGAIL

I love sushi asked:


I quit my job to stay home with my daughter. But i may go back to work some day and would like to use my 401K money to continue saving for retirement in the mean time. What is the best option?

SIMONE