Any type of financial planning or service is nuanced and complicated.
1) You’ve worked your whole like to the promise of a comfortable retirement, not to become a financial professional.
2) Each facet of your financial landscape can positively (or negatively) impact your retirement, and it’s the goal of retirement planning to consider, weigh, and navigate each one years before you actually face that part of your life.
There is no perfect age to start planning your retirement, but we do generally recommend that you plan BEFORE you reach your desired retirement age. With that being said, you are likely looking into it now due to factors outside of your control. We want those people to read this and know that there is no such thing as the right time, and we can help you no matter where you start.
If you reside in the United States and have questions about retirement, we can help you.
There are no retirement “plans” that have no taxes upon withdrawal, but there are financial “products” or accounts that do. These include Roth IRAs. Again, we recommend that you talk with a retirement planner to make sure that this account supports a successful retirement rather than being the main star of it.
Because retirement planning is unique to your needs, goals, hopes for retirement, and spouse, there is no exact way to plan. That being said, we like to start by evaluating your current or possible social security benefits and any other available assets that you want to contribute to your retirement before discussing the harder questions.
Absolutely not. We cannot emphasize this enough: Just having an IRA and a 401(k) (regardless of their value) does not equate to a retirement plan. These types of accounts are designed for retirement and have tax advantages as such, but until you create a plan to turn that pile of assets into income and understand what that income will be needed for, you do not know how retirement looks.
The best retirement plan is the one that factors in all the things you want from retirement and all things that could go wrong along the way. That looks different for everyone, so it’s recommended that you get retirement planning services that can create a customized plan for you and your family.
When facing the end of life, there are a lot of costs—both expected and unexpected. A comprehensive retirement plan will consider what you want to do (the fun things) and what you will need as you age (the less fun things).
We recommend that you split your family’s retirement conversation up into two categories 1) your spouse and 2) your children. One of the most common mistakes we see couples make is plan for an individual’s retirement without fully considering the implications (and effects) on the spouse. When planning around or with children, you need to consider what your goals are and have that answer prepared for when you speak to your retirement planner—whether you plan on leaving them everything or nothing.
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