Retirement Matters

What does retirement mean for you? If you’re like most, you have a variety of answers. At Legacy Planning Group, our advisors can help you explore strategies for achieving those retirement goals, common retirement questions and concerns, and various ways to maintain one’s cash flow during retirement.

When approaching the retirement years, certain questions take on paramount importance. Let’s examine these questions one at a time.

How Much Will It Cost?

The answer may depend on two main factors: How much you want to spend during retirement and how long you expect to live.

How Will You Pay for Retirement?

In order to develop a sound retirement planning approach, you must first decide what sources of income you anticipate having.

What Investment Strategies Could Help?

When it comes to preparing for the future, the investment decisions you make now are crucial to your future retirement goals.

BASIC NEEDS

Look at your current expenses and decide which of those are expected to remain. Be realistic about these "basic needs". Don't underestimate the real cost of maintaining your desired lifestyle.

FUTURE MEDICAL EXPENSES

Have you built a strategy for covering health care expenses for the long haul? Without a solid approach, healthcare expenses may add up quickly and alter your retirement spending.

RISK OF LONGEVITY

As your retirement years draw near, withdrawals from your investment portfolio have the potential to accelerate the depletion of your assets when investment values are declining.

LIFESTYLE & LOCATION

Consider where you'll live, both short- and long-term. Have you built a plan for funding your move? Do you understand the timing involved? 

LONG-TERM CARE

Have you made arrangements in the event that you or a loved one encounters a health issue requiring full-time care? Long-term care can be an expensive drain on family resources. 

BUCKET LIST

Write down your personal goals and hobbies you wish to pursue. Explore your dreams, values and priorities. How expensive do you anticipate these will be?

DEPENDENTS

Does someone in your life depend on your income? Gifts to children and grandchildren — as well as financial help for these dependents — may represent an expenditure during retirement years.

SOCIAL SECURITY

Social Security is the government-administered retirement income program. It is a complex retirement decision that requires careful planning in order to maximize its value to you and your spouse in retirement.

IRAs

Many factors can affect your eligibility and annual contribution amounts to an Individual Retirement Account (IRA). We can help you determine whether you are eligible to contribute to a Traditional or a Roth IRA.

EMPLOYER SPONSORED PLANS

Workers who are eligible to participate in these plans can set aside a portion of their pre-tax income into an account, which then accumulates, tax deferred. We offer 401(k) plans that may be appropriate for your business.

REAL ESTATE & HOME EQUITY

You also may be counting on real estate—including the equity in your home—to help in retirement. Keep in mind that real estate property values can be significantly affected by economic downturns. 

ANNUITIES

Taking withdrawals from a traditional portfolio exposes fixed-income investors to “sequence of returns” danger. Integrating annuities into your strategy may help mitigate this concern.

PERSONAL SAVINGS & INVESTMENTS

Personal savings and investments outside of retirement plans can provide income during retirement. Retirees tend to go for investments that offer monthly guaranteed income over potential returns.

How We Work

<em>What is your target goal?</em>

What is your target goal?

Let’s start with a question: How much will you need for retirement? Are you attempting to accumulate $1 million? Does $2 million sound about right? How about $5 million?

Or do you have a retirement income target? Say, $5,000 a month? $10,000 a month?

When it comes to investing for retirement, having a target amount in mind is critical. If you have no target, you have no way of measuring your progress toward the goal. Perhaps more to the point, you have no way of developing a strategy to pursue that goal.

Without a clear retirement objective, you may be saving too little or taking too much risk.

How do YOU operate?

RISK TAKER or RISK ADVERSE

Are you a risk taker or are you risk adverse? Are you comfortable with the level of risk necessary to pursue your objectives? If not, it may be more realistic to adjust your objectives.

DETAIL ORIENTED or HANDS OFF

Are you detail oriented or would you prefer a hands-off approach? Do you want to dig through the financial statements of companies or would you prefer to have a professional do that for you? 

CONSERVATIVE or AGGRESSIVE

Finally, are you a patient, conservative investor or do you tend to be more aggressive in your approach? 

Pundit Portfolio&#160;<em>v.s</em>.&#160;Disciplined Approach

Pundit Portfolio v.s. Disciplined Approach

How did you create your portfolio? Do you follow the pundits or take a more disciplined approach? 

Remember, magazines and television select content to attract additional subscribers and buyers or boost ratings. Their advice may be incomplete and can easily be skewed.

A disciplined approach involves adopting and sticking to a sound strategy. It includes selecting investments that are consistent with your goals, time frame, and objectives. And it normally includes diversifying among asset classes. Finally, a disciplined approach means following your strategy rather than making spur-of-the-moment decisions based on a “hot tip.”

What is your Investment Objective?

PROTECT PRINCIPAL

PURSUE GROWTH

GENERATE INCOME