We can prepare tailored, comprehensive retirement plans to help you with your retirement objectives. Let us help you pursue your dream retirement!

Retirement Planning

One small mistake can be detrimental to your retirement wellbeing. You navigate retirement once. We do it every day. You need to work with a fee-only CFP® expert planning and investment advisors who have done this before. There is no one right way to do it. It is an essential process in which one determines realistic goals for their retirement income needs and decides what actions need to be taken to achieve the goals set out. 

Retirement planning includes many steps such as identifying potential income sources, optimizing social security and pensions, evaluating expenses, creating a savings plan, managing assets, and determining risk levels. The retirement planning process is geared towards ensuring your retirement financial wellbeing, removing stressors, and bringing individuals peace of mind. 

When you reach retirement age, you should focus on what you're going to do to enjoy the rest of your life, not where your income is coming from, and protecting your wealth. A CFP® retirement planner works with individuals to ensure that their retirement plan is strategically mapped out and expertly executed. Working with a firm that is expert in retirement planning helps safeguard your retirement and allows you to focus on enjoying life.

Planning for retirement can be treacherous. It is crucial to have unconflicted advice. Fee-only advisors do not sell you financial products, annuities, or insurance and do not receive commissions, whereas traditional brokers and fee-based advisors do. (Do not get confused: fee-based advisors may charge an investment or financial planning fee but are also licensed to sell you financial products.) 

Being a fee-only advisor helps ensure that we sit on the same side of the table and offer you unconflicted advice. Rather than selling you products, we focus on financial planning and giving you conflict-free financial and investment advice. Of course, we still need to keep the lights on and put a roof over our employees' heads, so we charge a fee. This is generally charged as a small percentage of your investments that we manage. The more we can grow and protect your wealth, the better it is for you and the better it is for us.

Basics of Retirement Planning

Work with a CFP® fee-only Investment Advisor – You want to work with an expert who has your best interests at heart and gives you unconflicted advice. While it is essential to know and understand your retirement plan, all the information available to pre-retirees and retirees can be overwhelming. It is most important to bring in an unconflicted expert who will help you each step of the way, leading you to your best and most successful financial life in retirement.

Save- A prominent component of retirement planning basics is to save. Now, while it is wise to save in a standard savings account for general purposes, your retirement savings should be explicitly allocated to a retirement saving account to make the most out of your retirement savings funds. Retirement savings accounts allow your money to grow in a tax-efficient way. 

Maximize Contributions- If you are a business owner, there are outstanding wealth-enhancing tax reducing options. If you are an employee and your employer offers a retirement account(s), take advantage of it. Maximize your contributions. Many employers will match a percentage of employee contributions to employer-sponsored retirement plans. Talk to us now.

Analyze Roth vs. Tax-Deductible Contributions – Which should you do? Understand the difference and get advice on whether you should be focusing on Roth or Traditional retirement contributions to your 401(k), 403(b), or IRA.

Get-to-Know Your Needs- A key component in retirement planning is knowing and understanding your income needs when you retire. This is one reason why it is so important to plan. If you have everything mapped out ahead of time, it is easier to make sound financial decisions during retirement.

Apply Basic Principles – Learn about and apply basic investment principles. Your CFP® retirement financial planner is a valuable asset, but you should know what's what when it comes to your retirement planning.

Get an IRA- Get an Individual Retirement Account (IRA) if you are eligible. While a 401(k) or other employer-sponsored retirement savings account is good to have, it may not take care of all of your retirement needs on its own. It is important to use multiple retirement savings outlets to ensure that your retirement plan will work for your needs when it comes time to retire. But you need to check your eligibility and only make Tax Deductible or Roth contributions. Speak to your tax professional before taking action.

Retirement Plans For Business Owners

Putting in a retirement plan is an excellent way for a business owner to enhance their wealth and that of their employees. Many kinds of retirement plans and retirement accounts work great for small business owners, including entertainment industry loan-out corporations. Some of our favorites are:

Solo Roth 401(k) – This is an excellent plan if you employ just yourself and your spouse. It will enable you to fund your retirement at a much higher level than the average person. We particularly like the Roth option, as it gives you a choice of whether to pay tax now or later. The Solo 401(k) can also be designed to allow you to make After-Tax contributions that can then be converted into a Mega Back Door Roth IRA.

Multi-Employee 401(k) – This plan will not enable you to save as much as the Solo 401(k) or other plans as a business owner, but it will keep your employees happy and maintain their loyalty.

Defined Benefit Pension Plan- This plan is ideal for a highly successful business owner who is either the sole employee or has few employees who are younger and lower-paid. With this plan, the business owner can save hundreds of thousands a year tax-deferred.

Simplified Employee Pension- SEPs are well known by accountants and often implemented. A SEP can also work well for an individual business owner and their spouse, although generally, we prefer the Solo 401(k). SEPs tend not to be such a good solution for companies with multiple employees, and there are better solutions for when the owner is the sole employee.

Simple IRA – As it implies, this is the most straightforward retirement plan for employers to put in place and requires the least paperwork and cost. However, it also has lower funding limits and more limitations than some of the other plans.
DISCLAIMER-Some of these are sophisticated strategies that should not be attempted on your own. Please speak to your tax professional or your financial advisor before acting. Or call us today and let us help you build your future.

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Retirement Plans for Employees

There are many kinds of retirement plans and retirement accounts out there. From employer-sponsored retirement accounts such as a 401(k) to individually owned retirement accounts such as an IRA, things can get a bit tricky to navigate. Some basics about some of the most discussed plans:

401(k) – An employer-sponsored retirement savings plan. Many 401(k)s also have a Roth contribution option that does not have the income limitations that apply to the Roth IRAs discussed below.

403(b) – Non-profit and tax-exempt organizations generally qualify for these retirement savings plans that are similar to a 401 (k).

After-Tax Contributions- If you are lucky, your 401(k) or 403(b) may allow you to make After-Tax contributions above the standard employee limit. These can be converted into a Mega Back Door Roth IRA.  

IRA – An Individual Retirement Account is for those who have an earned income. There are many kinds of IRAs.

Roth IRA – A Roth IRA is different than a traditional IRA. The key differences are in the tax features. Contributions to a Roth IRA are taxed, so they are considered tax-free when qualified withdrawals are made at retirement. Speak to your tax professional to see if you are eligible.

Traditional IRA – Contributions made to a traditional IRA are pre-tax under certain circumstances. This means that taxes are due upon withdrawal. 
DISCLAIMER- Some of these are sophisticated strategies that should not be attempted on your own. Please speak to your tax professional or your financial advisor before acting. Or call us today and let us help you build your future.

CFP® Retirement Planner

A retirement planner is your most valuable asset when preparing for retirement—especially one who is certified and specializes in retirement planning. A CFP® retirement planner meets with their clients to complete an assessment of retirement income needs, gather information, and create a comprehensive retirement plan. Your CFP® retirement planner will work with you over time as your life changes and grows to ensure that your retirement planning portfolio makes sense along the way. You need to get and utilize a retirement planner to avoid making mistakes that can be detrimental to your retirement. CFP® retirement planners have years of experience and are specially trained and certified to help individuals succeed financially before and during retirement. We can prepare tailored, comprehensive retirement plans to help you with your retirement objectives. Let us help you pursue your dream retirement!