You've made it to age 62 or later and you still want to continuing working but you would also like to draw Social Security to add to or supplement your income. Sounds like a great plan and sometime it is a great plan, but be aware the same government that made you pay Social Security is waiting to tax your Social Security.
Many of you will contemplate retirement this year and despite what the news is telling you, if you have a pension plan sometimes referred to as a defined benefit plan at your current employer, this could be a great time to retire. Most pension/defined benefit plans give you the option of taking a series of lifetime monthly payments or a one time lump sum cash payment. This is not a decision to take lightly or a decision to make quickly. This decision will affect you and your family for decades and even generations to come. And it has tax implications!
As if we don't have enough to worry about in our day to day lives, along comes the 24/7 financial "news" cycle to fan the flames and magnify any fears we have about our retirement money and our investments. They are relentless with their clickbait and flat out false narratives. So what are we to do? First let's understand the function of the financial "news" cycle.
The past two years have been the most terrifying years for investors since the Global Financial Crisis of 2008-2009. First the pandemic, next a bitterly partisan presidential election and most recently a 40 year high inflation spike. You wouldn't be human if you haven't experienced market volatility fatigue and exhaustion at some point. I know I have. You might also not be human if after two years of this chaos you didn't want to ditch your financial plan and move all your investments to cash for "safety" and to get some rest from the constant volatility.
Without a doubt this is the number one question and concern I hear from people in regards to retirement. So let's talk about this and see if you can retire and have enough money to retire without running out. I think these are questions I can answer with a certain amount of confidence and hopefully I can give you some clarification in the process.
It seems that whatever I read, watch or listen to these days gets interrupted by a commercial with a current or former celebrity telling me I need to buy gold because of inflation, because Russia invaded Ukraine or because of (insert whatever manufactured crisis you want here). If I'm seeing this constantly then some of you are as well. So...let's talk about gold as an investment.
Good intentions sometimes have bad consequences. A perfect example can be opening a 529 plan for your child or grandchild. Depending on the financial situations of the parties involved the intentions of helping the child can possibly (key word is possibly) have the consequence of hurting the child chances of financial aid in the future. Let's explore how.
Performance calculations for a portfolio on a monthly statement can be very complex and over a 30-year retirement even totally meaningless. Remember as long-term goal-focused investors, we don’t chase performance, we chase outcomes. If your portfolio is up 25% this month or year congratulations! But will that matter in 15 years if you run out of money??? Retirement is a marathon, not a sprint.
Every night in the news or in any news article we read we hear about the government spending trillions of dollars on some new bill that's going to change the world. As our national debt snowballs it makes one wonder, will it affect your investments at some point?
So you are closing in on retirement, and you are faced with a difficult choice regarding your defined-benefit pension plan: Should you accept the traditional, lifetime monthly annuity payments or take the lump sum distribution?
The long answer is stock prices are the world's way of appraising the value of the company in which they own stock. The most consistent and reliable signals of a companies value are the level and trends of it's earnings over time.
There are obvious benefits for every person to have an identity in life. By knowing your identity you are not only able to accomplish your goals, but you also have a sense of wholeness. This remains true during your retirement years when your career is no longer your identity. By knowing who you are and what you want to accomplish in life, you'll gain a sense of confidence and pride and your life will be more meaningful and fulfilled. Let's discuss a few ways to discover your new identity in retirement.
Do you know how much money it's going to take for you to retire from your cooperative comfortably?
I'm a financial advisor that specializes in retirement planning. My job is to align peoples investments with their goals in retirement. What I do isn't sexy and doesn't make the news but it works and it has for well over 100 years.
"The majority, if not all, of financial input you get from the "news" is journalistic. And journalism by nature, stays in business by selling you the news which is timely, as opposed to the truth, which is timeless." Nick Murray
In short, Robinhood is an online trading platform that allows its customers to buy and sell stocks for free. They target rookie and novice investors by using gamification and of course everyone's favorite word...free. But is it really free? Let's break it down.
