Retirement
Planning
To paraphrase Lewis Carroll, if you don’t know where you’re going, any road will take you there.
WHAT IS RETIREMENT PLANNING AND WHY IS IT IMPORTANT
Retirement planning focuses on answering questions like “When can I retire?” and “Do I have enough money?” A successful retirement plan develops a savings plan, determines when to commence Social Security, considers pension options, identifies and estimates expenses, and factors in insurance policies and investment strategies. For over 35 years, we have worked to help our clients move forward in retirement with confidence. Let’s talk about how we can do the same for you.
Financial Planning For Retirement
Retirement isn’t a destination, it’s a continuation of the journey and requires a lot of planning and execution. Our advisors help you prepare for this milestone in life so that the road leading up to retirement is just as smooth as the road beyond. Our comprehensive approach evaluates your current financial situation, identifies retirement goals, and develops a realistic strategy customized for you. Whether evaluating investment options, tax liabilities, or insurance needs, we break down the complexities so you can make choices that fit your life.
Steps Towards Retirement
Reviewing Your Current Financial Situation
An important step in retirement planning is reviewing your current financial situation. As we discuss your retirement goals, we consider your current financial trajectory and its impact on creating a realistic retirement plan and strategy. We prepare a Net Worth Statement that provides a clear view of your assets versus debts. This helps us work with you to create a budget, or Monthly Cash Flow Statement, empowering you to take control of your finances and find ways to save money for future goals.
Designing Your Customized Retirement Plan
To create a retirement plan, we must first define “retirement”; answering questions like: When do you want to retire? and What does retirement look like (travel, philanthropy, medical care, etc.)? Once we quantify the cost of your retirement lifestyle, we can determine how much you need to save to reach your goals. Our advisors then develop a customized financial plan that considers your current financial trajectory, investment options, risk tolerance, insurance needs, and opportunities for tax savings.
Navigating Your Retirement Journey
No one’s financial situation is static – change is constant. Because life doesn’t always go as planned, we’re committed to helping you navigate unexpected detours on the way to achieving your retirement goals. We meet with you as needed to update your retirement plan and adjust for major life events, or changes that may occur in investment values, as well as tax and estate laws.
Utilize Retirement Planning Tools
Better information yields better decision-making. To help you stay on course, we utilize online tools to simplify the process of tracking your financial goals. Our WFA Portal consolidates your managed assets at the household level and provides portfolio data, as well as an electronic vault to securely transmit and store documents. In addition, the eMoney planning software provides a one-stop, comprehensive view of all things financial, including income and expenses, assets and debt payments, insurance policies, etc.
Reaching Retirement
When you decide to retire, we help with details such as transferring employee retirement plan assets and consolidating accounts. We prepare calculations to determine when to start Social Security and pension benefits as well as distributions from your portfolio to supplement your income streams. In order to minimize income tax, we review your portfolio composition along with tax projections to determine the correct mix of distributions from qualified and non-qualified accounts.
Questions We Can Help You Answer
- Am I able to fund short-term goals without hurting my long-term goals?
- How much should I contribute to retirement accounts?
- When can I retire?
- When should I commence Social Security benefits?
- Will I run out of money?
Certified Financial Planners™
At WFA, you have access to a team of professionals including SEC-Registered Investment Adviser Representatives, certified financial planners™, and Certified Public Accountants. These individuals provide services such as investment and asset management, tax planning, retirement planning, estate planning, and risk management. Our financial advice considers your personal situation as a whole, so you can feel confident about your decisions.
We will help you reach your goals
Goals may not feel achievable until you have a plan to make them real. Our CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNERS™ can help you develop a plan to get you to, through, and beyond retirement.
Learn more by scheduling a free consultation.