A Journey Towards Yourself

Determine the amount of income you will need in retirement to sustain the retirement lifestyle you have envisioned. Here are some examples of what we will consider for the determination:

• What age would you like to or will be able to retire?
• What standard of living would you like to maintain during retirement?
• What annual income will you need to maintain that standard of living?
• What length of time do you expect to need that income for?

An emergency fund is a cash reserve that’s specifically set aside for unplanned expenses or financial emergencies. Some common examples include car repairs, home repairs, medical bills, or a loss of income.

Without savings, a financial shock - even minor - could set you back, and if it turns into debt, it can potentially have a lasting impact. During the retirement distribution phase, setting aside an appropriate emergency fund amount is even more crucial as it helps mitigate market risk and potentially increases retiree's risk capacity.

A common fear among retirees is running out of money. Life expectancy continues to increase, adding more years in retirement while healthcare costs continue to rise, putting many at risk of outliving their assets.

Cash flow refers to the in and out motion of money. Engaging in the process of cash flow management involves understanding the components that make up where money comes from, where it goes, and what choices are appropriate to meet your lifestyle goals. It’s an active, continuous process.

Cash flow analysis is able to calculate whether you are on track for a sustainable retirement.

Planning for income in retirement involves many variables and risks at the individual level, such as longevity and income, as well as macroeconomic factors, such as inflation, fluctuating markets, and taxes. Where should your retirement income come from?  Each income option, either passive or investment-based, has unique characteristics, growth opportunities, tax ramifications, and risks that every retiree should consider.

Most people plan to rely on Social Security for retirement income. Do you understand the different ways to claim Social Security and, depending on your individual financial situation, the strategies to consider for optimizing your benefit amount? 

While available to millions of workers, it is not a one-size-fits-all plan because many variables influence Social Security benefits. It is important to make the right decisions in order to mitigate the risks of longevity and inflation. Understanding how Social Security benefits are calculated is important, and identifying the opportune time to file a claim can have a major impact on financial success in retirement. 

Depending on your pension plan, you may have three options for selecting your monthly income amount.

• Single life gives you the maximum monthly income amount, but your spouse will not receive any income after your death.
• Joint and last survivor gives you a reduced monthly income amount that your spouse will continue to receive after your death.
• Joint and 50% survivor gives you a reduced monthly income that is greater than the amount you would receive with joint and last survivor, but your spouse will receive only 50% of that amount after your death.

Pension maximization gives you another choice. You elect the highest payout to you without giving up survivorship benefits. Under pension maximization, you select the single life option. You use a portion of that income to purchase life insurance, naming your spouse as your beneficiary. When you die, the cash from the policy may help replace the income normally provided by your pension. An added benefit to this option is that you can change the name of your beneficiary should your spouse die before you.

Can you make sense of Original Medicare, Part D, Medicare Advantage, Medigap, and the many other Medicare plans available to you? Do you understand how your retirement income affects your Medicare premium? 

Our Medicare planning takes the correlation between your retirement income and Medicare premium into consideration, while providing you personalized Medicare options based only on what matter to you - your needs, goals, and preferences always come first. 

Escalating health care costs can undermine the best-laid retirement plans. One of the biggest risks lies in the cost of long term care. Unfortunately, health care costs in general have been outpacing inflation, and this trend may continue. 

Even if you're in good health, you can't guarantee that it'll continue in your later years. Not being prepared can be very expensive. Most people think of long term care as nursing-home care, but in fact, most of the people who need long term care need it in their own homes or in assisted living. This means that nursing homes are only one part of the picture. The majority of Americans turning 65 will need some form of long term care services in their lifetimes, which could include in-home care, skilled nursing facilities, assisted living and adult day care. These costs can add up. 

Don't let long term care costs crack your nest egg! We can help!!

There is so much more than buying stocks and bonds to maximizing after-tax returns. Our WISE360 approach looks at everything in your life: who you are and where you are in your life, your family's lives, your goals and objectives, and where you want to be in 5 years, 10 years, and beyond. Then we develop personalized strategies to minimize your tax bill and optimize your "real return."

Bucket segmentation is an investment approach that segregates your investment portfolios into multiple buckets. Each of these buckets has a defined purpose based on its goal and time horizon. 

The idea behind this strategy is to provide retirees sufficient income needed in the short term while allowing  them remain invested in the long term to maximize investment return while mitigating market downturn risk.

None of us will leave this world with the wealth we have accummulated during our lifetimes. You’ve worked hard to build what you have. It’s only natural that you want to establish and nurture a legacy that will last for years, decades, or even generations to come after you are gone.

Our WISE360 approach ensures continuity of not only your wealth, but also your values, ideals, and integrity. We help protect what matters most to you and your family.