If you are like most Americans, your 60’s will be spent transitioning from work-life to retirement.
If you are like most Americans, your 60’s will be spent transitioning from work-life to retirement. This transition will be among the most exciting time of your life as well as the most stressful. The years leading up to and through retirement require an abundance of planning and it can be overwhelming. This blog consists of some tips for those in this phase of their life cycle.
Optimized your Social Security.
For many retirees this will be their lone source of “guaranteed income”. How and when you take it will have a major impact on both cashflow and your lifetime benefit. Everyone’s situation is different so there is no one magical method to taking these benefits. Things like life expectancy, retirement age, and outside assets should all be considered. For more on maximizing your Social Security benefits, you can read our blog here.
Create a Retirement Income Plan
Retiring means trading your regular paycheck in for a combination of retirement income “sources”. Make sure you understand where these sources will come from and they are sufficient to meet your needs. A combination of Social Security, pensions, part-time work, and retirement accounts are often used. Retirement can last as long as 30 years, especially with the increase in life expectancy so make sure you plan accordingly.
Have a Savvy Distribution Plan
There are a few types of “retirement accounts” and each one carries a different tax implication. They typically fall under one of these three categories:
Understanding how distributions from these are taxed and have a plan can be critical to reducing unwanted taxes and extending the life of assets. For more on tax-savvy withdrawals, check out this blog.
Adjust Risk to fit YOUR Needs!
If you perform a simple google search on “how should I invest in my 60’s” I am guessing you will find a more than enough articles saying you should have X amount of bonds vs equites. I cannot stress this enough. Everyone’s situation is different. People have different goals, wants, needs, and risk tolerances. How you are invested should align to your specific needs and capacity for risk. You can read more about reducing risk here.
Consolidate Your Assets
If you have old 401(k)’s or other qualified employer sponsored plan you should look into rolling them over to an IRA. Doing so can give you more flexibility when it comes to investment and distributions. On top of that, who wants to juggle 7 or 8 different retirement accounts while they are retired? For more on your roll over options check out this article.
Conclusion
Whether you have done no planning at all or need a second set of eyes, one of our Certified Financial Planner™ professional can help. We specialize in helping those plan to and through retirement. Give us a call at 610-825-3540 to schedule a complimentary consultation.
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