James C. Molet's Blog, page 15
December 21, 2017
Navigating the 3 Stages of Retirement
The Following is a guest post from Jack Teboda, president and founder of Teboda & Associates. Jack has more than 35 years experience helping people pursue financial independence through personalized investment strategies. His firm takes a team approach to providing advice to clients on retirement concerns and other financial planning issues. Teboda works with Kevin C. Sanders, an attorney and Associate Financial Adviser, and Amanda Jager, an Associate Financial Adviser.
People often view retirement as just one more stage of life. But that’s not exactly the case. Retirement isn’t just one stage; it’s at least three – although all three do share something in common.
Every stage of retirement requires planning. Otherwise, you could end up running out of money, or your health might take a turn for the worse and negatively impact your retirement savings because you hadn’t planned for it in those early years of retirement.
The Three Stages
It’s not easy to put exact ages on each of the three stages of retirement. That likely will vary from person to person, depending on their finances, health and family situation.
But here’s what to look for in each stage:
Stage 1, adjusting to a new lifestyle.
Many new retirees brim with excitement when retirement begins. They can golf, visit museums, play with their grandchildren, travel or catch up on their reading. Not everyone adjusts well, though. It’s not easy to flip the switch overnight after you’ve spent several decades reporting to work every day. Also, if your retirement income is largely dependent on your savings you’ll want to be careful that you don’t spend too much in those initial years. Your adviser should be able to help you come up with a plan that will give you income for life so you don’t have to worry about running out of money.
Stage 2, staying socially connected.
As the years pass, many retirees move closer to their children or move into a retirement community because it makes them feel more socially connected. Sometimes at this point, especially if they haven’t planned well, people may start to have even more worries that they will outlive their money. One way they address that is to cut back on expenses. Some people even decide to get a part-time job to bring in extra money, and working becomes another way to stay connected.
Stage 3, realizing you may need assistance.
More than 70 percent of Americans older than 65 will need some form of long-term care at some point in their lives, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. When people map out their retirement, they need to plan for that possibility because the cost of long-term care can be devastating to your finances.
Retirement Factors
People need to consider a number of factors – taxes, longevity and market risks, among others – to improve the odds of a joyful retirement, which is one reason Teboda $ Associates takes a team approach to advising, using financial professionals with different areas of expertise. For example, one team member, Amanda Jager, is an Associate Financial Adviser, and another, Kevin C. Sanders, while also an Associate Financial Adviser, is an attorney specializing in estate planning.
Final Thought
In each stage of retirement, it’s important to confer regularly with your adviser and to be ready to adjust your financial plans if necessary.
The Impact of Sleep on Earnings
December 20, 2017
The Impact of Sleep on Earnings
Here at RetirementSavvy, we often talk about the importance of your fiscal health and your physical health; and the nexus between the two. Two well-known components of physical health are diet and exercise. There’s another which gets less attention: sleep.
Does working more hours, and sleeping less, lead to greater income? I would suggest it’s probably not the number of hours worked, but the level of productivity; quality over quantity. Maybe it depends on the industry and the specific type of work.
The folks at Tuck wanted to know, how does the sleep/work trade-off really work? Is it really true – statistically true – that sleeping less means earning more? Might there be exceptions to the rule? And how do specific careers compare with one another in this regard?
Crossing the Millionaire Threshold
December 19, 2017
Year-End Tax Deductions and Action for Healthy Kids
December 18, 2017
Are You Financially Ready for Retirement?
The following is a guest post from David Warren, the senior writer and lead researcher at HardStacks. He has been a financial engineer for over 30 years and has been investing in alternative assets since the Great Recession of 2008. He has a true passion for learning about economic cycles and educating others on how to protect and grow their wealth by investing in precious metals, real estate and cryptocurrencies.
With life being so busy, did you ever stop to think about your retirement yet? Want to save more money, but don’t know where to begin? Do you wish to invest in cryptocurrencies, but don’t understand what the fuss is all about?
You’ve come to the right place: have a look at a few simple steps on where to start. With a few investment suggestions, we hope to make your life easier. Let’s prepare you for retirement!
How to Prepare for Retirement
Before you commit to any investments, retirement plans, or accounts, have a look at this to-do list that you might want to follow:
1. Decide how you’d like to spend your retirement
2. Calculate your potential monthly income and your expenses
3. Make a retirement budget; you’ll want to be prepared!
4. Make an investment plan, it might be better than saving
5. Think SDIRA, think alternative investments (such as cryptocurrencies)
6. Take care of your debts before you retire
7. Follow your retirement plan once you’re there
Investment Options for Retirement
There are plenty of investment options in case you decide that investing is better than saving and are looking for ways to increase your income. Investing actually might be the best preparation you can make for retirement and the best thing about it is that you can start right away!
Think outside the box, there are classic and alternative investment options. Confused? Have a look at the following list and see for yourself; perhaps one or two of these investments might turn into your potential income:
1. Gold and silver
There are gold and silver IRAs available and they are also becoming more and more popular. With various possibilities, inside a self-directed IRA, there are plenty of new options to explore. Thinking long term, gold does hold timeless value all over the world.
Precious metals are physical assets that you can use in times when things get tough through either a natural disaster or an economic crisis. Keep in mind though, you should always do your research and make a comparison of gold IRA companies before making any investments.
2. Cryptocurrencies
In case you decide you want to jump on the cryptocurrency wagon, you should know that you can invest by getting an SDIRA first. After all, this digital money is everywhere, its popularity is on the rise, and we’re running out of arguments as to why you shouldn’t invest in cryptocurrencies.
Independent from any central authority, these currencies are stored in your wallet, an application that is secured with different keys, all stored separately. One last thing, cryptocurrencies are independent of any bonds and stocks, inflation is unlikely and there are high potentials for return.
3. Stocks and bonds
Before making any investments in stocks or bonds, think about your portfolio. You can use a strategic asset allocation, which can help you decide how much should you invest in bonds and stocks.
The amount of investment also depends on your age; some claim that the older you are, the more should you invest in stocks and bonds. Others claim that the sooner you begin, the better it is for you in the long term, because of the compound interest (an interest on interest).
4. ETFs
The ETFs or exchange-traded funds are quite popular in the world of investment, but not so much when it comes to retirement plans. The ETFs are investment funds (stocks, bonds, gold …), traded on stock exchanges and there are many different types: stock ETFs, bond ETFs, and commodity ETFs amongst others.
They have lower costs than mutual funds and could be more interesting to investors than mutual funds. How ETFs work is that the ownership of an asset is divided among various shareholders.
5. Mutual funds
Mutual funds are investments that are under control of a portfolio manager, whom the investors pay a fee for his decisions on investing the money. Mutual funds are basically pools of money under the supervision of this portfolio manager. The advantage of mutual funds is that you are able to diversify your portfolio with minimal investment.
Before You Head Off Planning Your Retirement …
Do any of these investments look like you want to give them a try? By investing in a diversified portfolio, your fund returns are higher than that of an ordinary savings account.
In case you don’t know how to begin, you can always consult an advisor to help you with your decision and to explain to you in more detail what’s it all about. After you’re all set for your retirement, pull out that bucket list and start living the life you’ve always imagined.
