Your retirement years can go for decades. Because they make up such a significant portion of your life, retirement planning usually takes the highest priority of your financial goals. It includes a thorough analysis of your current finances, followed by an accumulation strategy designed to support your vision for your retirement. Our strategies can help you maximize growth and tax efficiency, and plan for wealth transfers to the next generation. When it comes to retirement planning, it’s best to start early, but it’s never too late. Here are some strategic ways to save for retirement.
Qualified Plans
Qualified plans can benefit both the employee and the employer. The “qualified” part means it qualifies for special treatment under the tax code. Generally, employers can deduct their contributions, and employees are only taxed upon withdrawal. Often, employers match their employees’ contributions. These plans are popular despite contribution limits and rules about distribution.
IRAs
IRAs, or individual retirement accounts, are easy to set up, easy to maintain, and also offer tax incentives. Individuals can set them up, or employers may provide them. IRAs are often used to consolidate retirement funds from previous employer-sponsored plans. We can help you coordinate between your IRA investments and other savings plans.
The Retirement Gap
Many people find that social security, qualified plans, and IRAs won’t quite cover their vision of retirement. The difference between these income streams and what it takes to pay for your desired lifestyle is called the retirement gap. We’ll help you identify if this is you, and, if it is, we’ll create a strategy for investments outside the traditional retirement accounts that help cover it.
Business Owners and Executives
Business owners and company executives use other retirement vehicles (also tax-advantaged). A generic term for these compensation arrangements is nonqualified executive compensation. This term covers any arrangement that provides retirement income and sometimes death benefits to a business’s key employees.
Distribution
You save and save and save—that’s your accumulation phase. Then it comes time to reap the benefits of all that planning. This is distribution. A distribution plan seeks to minimize tax loss and ensure that your retirement funds outlast you. No retirement plan is complete without one. Options for this phase include premature distribution (this allows access to your accounts before your turn 59½,) as well as products that provide reliable monthly payments.
