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Yes, Young Growing Families Can Save & Invest

It may seem like a tall order, but it can be accomplished.

Plan to put yourself steps ahead of your peers. If you have a young, growing family, no doubt your to-do list is pretty long on any given day. Beyond today, you are probably working on another kind of to-do list for the long term. Where does “saving and investing” rank on that list?

For some families, it never quite ranks high enough – and it never becomes the priority it should become. Assorted financial pressures, sudden shifts in household needs, bad luck – they can all move “saving and investing” down the list. Even so, young families have planned to build wealth in the face of such stresses. You can follow their example. It is less an option than a necessity.

First step: put it into numbers. Most people have invested a little by the time they reach 30 or 35, and some have invested avidly. A plan is not always in place, however. The mission is simply to “make money” or “build wealth” for “the future.”

This is good, but also vague. How much money will you need to save by 65 to promote enough retirement income and to live comfortably? Are you on pace to build a retirement nest egg that large? How much risk do you feel comfortable tolerating as you invest? What kind of impact are investment fees and taxes having on your efforts?

A financial professional can help you arrive at answers to these questions, and others. He or she can help you define long-range retirement savings goals and project the amount of savings and income you may need to sustain your lifestyle as retirees. At that point, “the future” will seem more tangible and your wealth-building effort even more purposeful.

Second step: start today & never stop. If you have already started, congratulations! In getting an early start, you have taken advantage of a young investor’s greatest financial asset: time.

If you haven’t started saving and investing, you can do so now. It doesn’t take a huge lump sum to begin. Even if you defer $100 worth of salary into a retirement plan a month, you are putting a foot forward. See if you can allocate much more.

If you begin when you are young and keep at it, you will witness the awesome power of compounding as you build your retirement savings and net worth through the years.

Just how awesome is it? An example: let’s say you save $100 per month in an investment account for 20 years and the account returns a (hypothetical) 5% for you over those two decades. In 20 years under such conditions, your $100-a-month nest egg will not amount to $24,000 – it will work out to $41,011, which is 71% more! If you put in $200 a month, you wind up with a projected $82,022 off of the $24,000 in contributions! We aren’t factoring in account fees or market fluctuations, of course – but you get the picture. Stretched out to 30 years, a consistent $100-per-month contribution and a consistent 5% return project to $82,302; raise the monthly contribution to $200 and you get $164,604. These numbers factor in annual compounding; use daily compounding as the variable, and they grow a bit larger. So even if you set aside and invest a few twenties each month, you may still end up with appreciable retirement savings – and these are numbers for one retirement saver, there are two of you.1

What’s that? You say you can’t retire on $164,000 or less? You’re absolutely right. You have to devote more than that to your effort. You may need a million or two – and if you plan ahead, you may very well generate it. Ownership of equity investments, real property, business or professional success – this can all help to position you and your family for a comfortable future, provided you keep good financial habits along the way and pay attention to taxes.

How do you find the balance? This is worth addressing – how do you balance saving and investing with attending to your family’s immediate financial needs?

Bottom line, you have to find money to save and invest for your family’s near-term and long-term goals. If it isn’t on hand, you may find it by reducing certain household costs. Are you spending a lot of money on goods and services you want rather than need? Cut back on that kind of spending. Is credit card debt siphoning away dollars you should assign to saving and investing? Fix that financial leak and avoid paying with plastic whenever you can. Other young families are doing it, and yours can as well.

Vow to keep “paying yourself first” – maintain the consistency of your saving and investing effort. What is more important, saving for your child’s college education or buying those season tickets? Who comes first in your life, your family or your gardener? You know the answer.

It has been done; it should be done. Stories abound of families that have built wealth out of comparative poverty. There are people who came to this country with little more than the clothes on their backs who have found prosperity; there are families (including single-parent households) who have been dealt a bad hand yet overcame long financial odds to gain affluence.

It all starts with belief – the belief that you can do it. Complement that belief with a plan and regular saving and investing, and you may find yourself much better off much sooner than you think.

Warmest Regards,

april-signature

Citations.

1 – bankrate.com/calculators/savings/compound-savings-calculator-tool.aspx [12/26/14]

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Getting a Jump on Tax Season

What should you bring to your preparer?

You can file your federal tax return starting January 20. IRS filing season will start right on time in 2015, and there is wisdom in filing your 1040 well before April 15. You can get it out of the way earlier, and if you e-file, you can put yourself in position for an earlier refund.1

What should you gather up for your CPA? If you want to save time and possibly money along with it, come to your preparer’s office ready with the appropriate paperwork. If you own a business, that list includes all W-2s and 1099-MISC forms you get from clients, any 1099-INT and K-1 forms displaying interest income, your Schedule C and P&L reports, and any and all paperwork you can round up detailing your expenses – your personal expenses too, not only business costs but also any tuition, medical and miscellaneous ones. If you have made charitable contributions worth itemizing, that paperwork needs to reach your preparer. The same goes for documents detailing mortgage interest, other forms of interest paid, and any tax already paid.2

If you have receipt management software, your CPA will love you for using it (beats getting a manila envelope, file folder or shoebox full of receipts to sort through). If a calamity or an accident destroyed a bunch of your business records, remember that the IRS may give you a break – but your CPA needs solid proof of the misfortune to try and make a case to the IRS and get you some leniency.

What are some things people too often forget to bring? Social Security numbers for new babies (and taxpayer-ID numbers and contact information for the nannies of those babies). Logs of unreimbursed mileage. Real estate stuff, too: closing letters related to a refi, receipts for real estate taxes (assuming they haven’t been paid through escrow).3

If you received any health insurance subsidies, you may want to wait until February. Did you pay for your own health insurance in 2014? Do you remember how you had to estimate your 2014 income when you applied for coverage? If you got a subsidy, it was based on that estimate, and an estimate is by definition inexact. Some taxpayers ended up earning more than the incomes they estimated to the exchanges, some less. That could mean one of two things: a big 2014 tax refund, or owing thousands more in taxes.4

If you pay for your own health coverage, the exchange at which you bought it should send you Form 1095-A by January 31. Form 1095-A will list how your household self-insures: who pays premiums, and the amount of any monthly subsidies. Your CPA can plug these details into Form 8962, which explains the breakdown on insurance, subsidies and income for your household to the IRS. If you were only self-insured for part of 2014, your CPA must note any subsidy payments by the month.4

Should you jump to a new CPA? If he or she is aloof, sloppy, or seems more like a file clerk than someone interested in minimizing your tax burden, maybe you should switch. There are some tax preparers who outsource their work to people overseas, and you probably don’t want that to happen to your return. We are early in 2015, and if you really have the itch to switch, consider taking your 2013 return to 2-3 candidates – not only to get a tax prep quote, but to see if they have insight on your situation that your current preparer lacks.5

In getting a jump on tax season, you can get that bothersome item off your to-do list sooner and focus on the more exciting parts of your career, business or life.

Warmest Regards,

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Citations.

1 – forbes.com/sites/robertwood/2014/12/29/irs-announces-2014-tax-return-filing-opens-starting-january-20-2015/ [12/29/14]

2 – outright.com/blog/what-do-you-need-to-bring-to-your-accountant-at-tax-time/ [3/18/14]

3 – foxbusiness.com/personal-finance/2014/03/18/what-documents-should-take-to-tax-preparer/ [3/18/14]

4 – money.cnn.com/2015/01/02/pf/taxes/obamacare-income-tax-subsidies/ [1/2/15]

5 – dailyfinance.com/2014/12/25/hire-cpa-prepare-taxes/ [12/25/14]

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Your Year-End Financial Checklist

Seven aspects of your financial life to review as the year draws to a close.

The end of a year makes us think about last-minute things we need to address and good habits we want to start keeping. To that end, here are seven aspects of your financial life to think about as this year leads into the next…

Your investments. Review your approach to investing and make sure it suits your objectives. Look over your portfolio positions and revisit your asset allocation.

Your retirement planning strategy. Does it seem as practical as it did a few years ago? Are you able to max out contributions to IRAs and workplace retirement plans like 401(k)s? Is it time to make catch-up contributions? Finally, consider Roth IRA conversion scenarios, and whether the potential tax-free retirement distributions tomorrow seem worth the taxes you may incur today. Be sure to take your Required Minimum Distribution (RMD) from your traditional IRA(s) by December 31. If you don’t, the IRS will assess a penalty of 50% of the RMD amount on top of the taxes you will already pay on that income. (While you can postpone your very first IRA RMD until April 1, 2015, that forces you into taking two RMDs next year, both taxable events.)1

Your tax situation. How many potential credits and/or deductions can you and your accountant find before the year ends? Have your CPA craft a year-end projection including Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT). The rise in the top marginal tax bracket for 2014 made fewer high-earning executives and business owners subject to the AMT, as their ordinary income tax liabilities grew. That calls for a fresh look at accelerated depreciation, R&D credits, the Work Opportunity Tax Credit, incentive stock options and certain types of tax-advantaged investments.2

Review any sales of appreciated property and both realized and unrealized losses and gains. Take a look back at last year’s loss carry-forwards. If you’ve sold securities, gather up cost-basis information. Look for any transactions that could potentially enhance your circumstances.

Your charitable gifting goals. Plan charitable contributions or contributions to education accounts, and make any desired cash gifts to family members. The annual federal gift tax exclusion is $14,000 per individual for 2014 and 2015, meaning a taxpayer can gift as much as $14,000 to as many individuals as you like in each year without tax consequences. A married couple can gift up to $28,000 tax-free to as many individuals as they prefer. The gifts do count against the lifetime estate tax exemption amount, which climbs to $5.43 million per individual and $10.86 per married couple for 2015.3

You could also gift appreciated stocks to a charity. If you have owned them for more than a year, you can deduct 100% of their fair market value and legally avoid capital gains tax you would normally incur from selling them.4

Besides outright gifts, you can plan other financial moves on behalf of your family – you can create and fund trusts, for example. The end of the year is a good time to review any trusts you have in place.

Your life insurance coverage. Are your policies and beneficiaries up-to-date? Review premium costs, beneficiaries, and any and all life events that may have altered your coverage needs.

Speaking of life events…did you happen to get married or divorced in 2014? Did you move or change jobs? Buy a home or business? Did you lose a family member, or see a severe illness or ailment affect a loved one? Did you reach the point at which Mom or Dad needed assisted living? Was there a new addition to your family this year? Did you receive an inheritance or a gift? All of these circumstances can have a financial impact on your life, and even the way you invest and plan for retirement and wind down your career or business. They are worth discussing with the financial or tax professional you know and trust.

Lastly, did you reach any of these financially important ages in 2014? If so, act accordingly.

Did you turn 70½ this year? If so, you must now take Required Minimum Distributions (RMDs) from your IRA(s).

Did you turn 62 this year? If so, you’re now eligible to apply for Social Security benefits.

Did you turn 59½ this year? If so, you may take IRA distributions without a 10% penalty.

Did you turn 55 this year? If so, and you retired during this year, you may now take distributions from your 401(k) account without penalty.

Did you turn 50 this year? If so, “catch-up” contributions may now be made to IRAs (and certain qualified retirement plans).1,5,6

The end of the year is a key time to review your financial well-being. If you feel you need to address any of the items above, please feel free to give me a call.

Warmest Regards,

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Citations.

1 – irs.gov/Retirement-Plans/RMD-Comparison-Chart-%28IRAs-vs.-Defined-Contribution-Plans%29 [4/30/14]

2 – tinyurl.com/o7wqk7z [3/27/14]

3 – forbes.com/sites/ashleaebeling/2014/10/30/irs-announces-2015-estate-and-gift-tax-limits/ [10/30/14]

4 – philanthropy.com/article/Donors-Often-Overlook-Benefits/148561/ [8/29/14]

5 – nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/getting-retirement-money-early-without-30168.html [12/2/14]

6 – turbotax.intuit.com/tax-tools/tax-tips/Tax-Planning-and-Checklists/Tax-Tips-After-January-1–2015/INF12070.html [12/2/14]

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Fall Financial Reminders

The year is coming to a close. Have you thought about these financial ideas yet?

As every calendar year ends, the window slowly closes on a set of financial opportunities. Here are several you might want to explore before 2015 arrives.

Don’t forget that IRA RMD. If you own one or more traditional IRAs, you have to take your annual required minimum distribution (RMD) from one or more of those IRAs by December 31. If you are being asked to take your very first RMD, you actually have until April 15, 2015 to take it – but your 2015 income taxes may be substantially greater as a result. (Note: original owners of Roth IRAs never have to take RMDs from those accounts.)1

Did you recently inherit an IRA? If you have and you weren’t married to the person who started that IRA, you must take the first RMD from that IRA by December 31 of the year after the death of that original IRA owner. You have to do it whether the account is a traditional IRA or a Roth IRA.1

Here’s another thing you might want to do with that newly inherited IRA before New Year’s Eve, though: you might want to divide it into multiple inherited IRAs, thereby promoting a lengthier payout schedule for younger inheritors of those assets. Otherwise, any co-beneficiaries receive distributions per the life expectancy of the oldest beneficiary. If you want to make this move, it must be done by the end of the year that follows the year in which the original IRA owner died.1

Can you max out your contribution to your workplace retirement plan? Your employer likely sponsors a 401(k) or 403(b) plan, and you have until December 31 to boost your 2014 contribution. This year, the contribution limit on both plans is $17,500 for those under 50, $23,000 for those 50 and older.2,3

Can you do the same with your IRA?  This year, the traditional and Roth IRA contribution limit is $5,500 for those under 50, $6,500 for those 50 and older. High earners may face a lower Roth IRA contribution ceiling per their adjusted gross income level – above $129,000 AGI, an individual filing as single or head of household can’t make a Roth contribution for 2014, and neither can joint filers with AGI exceeding $191,000.3

Ever looked into a Solo(k) or a SEP plan? If you have income from self-employment, you can save for the future using a self-directed retirement plan, such as a Simplified Employee Pension (SEP) plan or a one-person 401(k), the so-called Solo(k). You don’t have to be exclusively self-employed to set one of these up – you can work full-time for someone else and contribute to one of these while also deferring some of your salary into the retirement plan sponsored by your employer.2

Contributions to SEPs and Solo(k)s are tax-deductible. December 31 is the deadline to set one up for 2014, and if you meet that deadline, you can make your contributions for 2014 as late as April 15, 2015 (or October 15, 2015 with a federal extension). You can contribute up to $52,000 to SEP for 2014, $57,500 if you are 50 or older. For a Solo(k), the same limits apply but they break down to $17,500 + up to 20% of your net self-employment income and $23,000 + 20% net self-employment income if you are 50 or older. If you contribute to a 401(k) at work, the sum of your employee salary deferrals plus your Solo(k) contributions can’t be greater than the aforementioned $17,500/$23,000 limits – but even so, you can still pour up to 20% of your net self-employment income into a Solo(k).1,2

Do you need to file IRS Form 706? A sad occasion leads to this – the death of a spouse. Form 706, which should be filed no later than nine months after his or her passing, notifies the IRS that some or all of a decedent’s estate tax exemption is being carried over to the surviving spouse per the portability allowance. If your spouse passed in 2011, 2012, or 2013, the IRS is allowing you until December 31, 2014 to file the pertinent Form 706, which will transfer that estate planning portability to your estate if your spouse was a U.S. citizen or resident.1

Are you feeling generous? You may want to donate appreciated securities to charity before the year ends (you may take a deduction amounting to their current market value at the time of the donation, and you can use it to counterbalance up to 30% of your AGI). Or, you may want to gift a child, relative or friend and take advantage of the annual gift tax exclusion. An individual can gift up to $14,000 this year to as many other individuals as he or she desires; a couple may jointly gift up to $28,000 to as many individuals as you wish. Whether you choose to gift singly or jointly, you’ve probably got a long way to go before using up the current $5.34 million/$10.68 million lifetime exemption. Wealthy grandparents often fund 529 plans this way, so it is worth noting that December 31 is the 529 funding deadline for the 2014 tax year.1

Warmest Regards,

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Citations.

1 – forbes.com/sites/deborahljacobs/2014/10/08/eight-key-financial-deadlines-to-keep-in-mind-this-fall/ [10/8/14]

2 – tinyurl.com/kjzzbw4 [10/9/14]

3 – irs.gov/uac/IRS-Announces-2014-Pension-Plan-Limitations;-Taxpayers-May-Contribute-up-to-$17,500-to-their-401%28k%29-plans-in-2014 [10/31/13]

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Examining the Retirement Account Shortfall

Why aren’t we saving as much as we should?

We know that qualified retirement plans and IRAs are prime long-range savings vehicles; we use them to accumulate assets and invest for the future. So why aren’t some of us amassing the retirement nest eggs that we should?

Why did retirement account balances decline from 2010-13? Looking at Federal Reserve data, the influential Center for Retirement Research at Boston College noticed something unsettling. In that period, the average 401(k)/IRAs balance of a household headed by someone aged 55-64 fell $9,000.1

Wait a minute – haven’t we just witnessed a raging bull market? How could this be?

Moreover, why was the average aggregate 401(k)/IRAs balance of such a household just $111,000 at the end of 2013? These were baby boomers nearing retirement age.1

During 2010-13, the S&P 500 jumped 56%. On that factor alone, the average total retirement account balance for these households should have swelled to at least $187,000 from the 2010 starting point of $120,000.1

That wasn’t the only factor in play, however. The CRR’s Alicia Munnell – a nationally respected authority on retirement accounts and retirement saving – has pinpointed some reasons for the shortfall.

Leaks, loans, fees, interruptions & foreignness. At MarketWatch, Munnell looked at a mock 60-year-old who could have enrolled in a 401(k) plan in 1982. (That was when those retirement accounts first emerged.)  This hypothetical boomer was plainly average, earning Social Security’s average wage for 31 years while deferring 6% of salary into the account.2

This boomer’s investment allocation? Right down the middle, a 50/50 mix of equities and debt instruments. Throw in a 50% employer match during those 31 years, run the numbers using real-life returns across those 31 years, and our theoretical boomer should have amassed $373,000 by the end of 2013. That is 3.36 times as much as the household average noted by the Fed in its 2013 Survey of Consumer Finances – and for an individual aged 55-64, the average total 401(k)/IRAs balance was even lower at $100,000.2

Even over 31 years of saving, a $273,000 disparity in retirement assets is too large to attribute simply to the lack of an employer match or a portfolio’s allocation. Munnell sees other dynamics promoting the gap.

Do investment fees come into play? Oh, yes. In Munnell’s example, fees are the big culprit. Investment expenses (based on data from the Investment Company Institute) eat up $59,000 of the potential balance over these 31 years. So that takes $373,000 down to $314,000.2

Loans and other withdrawals exert an effect. The CRR finds that 1.5% of retirement plan assets “leak out” annually. Putting that 1.5% to work in the example, these leaks cut the mock boomer’s total 401(k)/IRAs balance further to $236,000.2

Too many people don’t (or can’t) contribute steadily to retirement plans, so Munnell calculates a 30% non-participation rate into the equation. (Since 2000, Vanguard has consistently reported that level of non-participation in its workplace retirement plans.) That leaves $165,000.2

Finally, there is foreignness. It took a while for IRAs and 401(k)s to be fully embraced as default retirement savings vehicles; in the 1980s, contribution rates were lower as a byproduct. Munnell chalks up $65,000 of lost gains to that historical factor to arrive at the average individual total 401(k)/IRAs balance of $100,000 cited by the Fed.2

Hasn’t auto-enrollment worked? Thanks to federal law, many employers have been able to automatically enroll workers in qualified retirement plans at a 3% contribution rate since 2006. The downside of auto-enrollment is that some of the auto-enrolled “set it and forget it,” never increasing that contribution rate through the years. This could also factor into the lower-than-expected account holdings.1

One asterisk about all this. The CRR only studied working households that held both IRAs and 401(k)s. It didn’t incorporate households headed by retirees or households that may have rolled over workplace retirement plan assets into IRAs into its dataset.1

Regardless of these numbers, we all have to fund our retirements. Some economists and financial professionals are highly critical of the current retirement savings vehicles, but whether they like them or not, it is certain that these retirement accounts offer remarkable potential to grow wealth in the long term through equity investment and compounding. While the Center’s findings are disconcerting, the takeaway here is that consistent and early contribution, lower fees and avoiding withdrawals can make a big difference in retirement account balances.

Warmest Regards,

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Citations.

1 – fortune.com/2014/09/16/401k-balances-drop/ [9/16/14]

2 – blogs.marketwatch.com/encore/2014/09/25/why-arent-401k-and-ira-balances-bigger/ [9/25/14]

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Debunking a Few Popular Retirement Myths

Certain misconceptions ignore the realities of retirement.

Generalizations about money & retirement linger. Some have been around for decades, and some new clichés have recently joined their ranks. Let’s examine a few.

“When I’m retired, I won’t really have to invest anymore.” Many people see retirement as an end instead of a beginning – a finish line for a career. In reality, retirement can be the start of a new and promising phase of life that could last a few decades. If you stop investing entirely, you can risk losing purchasing power; even moderate inflation can devalue the dollars you’ve saved.1

“My taxes will be lower when I retire.” You may earn less, and that could put you in a lower tax bracket. On the other hand, you may end up waving goodbye to some of the deductions and exemptions you enjoyed while working, and state and local taxes will almost certainly rise with time. So while your earned income may decrease, you may end up losing a comparatively larger percentage of it to taxes after you retire.1

“I started saving too late, I have no hope of retiring – I’ll have to work until I’m 85.” If your nest egg is less than six figures, working longer may be the best thing you can do. You will have X fewer years of retirement to plan for, so you can keep earning a salary, and your savings can compound longer. Don’t lose hope: remember that you can make larger, catch-up contributions to IRAs after 50. If you are 50 or older this year, you can put as much as $23,000 into a 401(k) plan. Some participants in 403(b) or 457(b) plans are also allowed that privilege. You can downsize and reduce debts and expenses to effectively give you more retirement money. You can also stay invested (see above).1,2

“I should help my kids with college costs before I retire.” That’s a nice thought, but you don’t have to follow through on it. Remember, there is no retiree “financial aid.” Your student can work, save or borrow to pay for the cost of college, with decades ahead to pay back any loans. You can’t go to the bank and get a “retirement loan.” Moreover, if you outlive your money your kids may end up taking you in and you will be a financial burden to them. So putting your financial needs above theirs is fair and smart as you approach retirement.

“I’ll live on less when I’m retired.” We all have the cliché in our minds of a retired couple in their seventies or eighties living modestly, hardly eating out and asking about senior discounts. In the later phase of retirement, couples often choose to live on less, sometimes out of necessity. The initial phase of retirement may be a different story. For many, the first few years of retirement mean traveling, new adventures, and “living it up” a little – all of which may mean new retirees may actually “live on more” out of the retirement gate.

“No one really retires anymore.” Well, it is true than many baby boomers will probably keep working to some degree. Some people love to work and want to work as long as they can. What if you can’t, though? What if your employer shocks you and suddenly lets you go? What if your health won’t let you work 40 hours or even 10 hours a week? You could retire more abruptly than you believe you will. This is why even workaholics need a solid retirement plan.

There is no “generic” retirement experience, and therefore, there is no one-size-fits-all retirement plan. Each individual, couple or family needs a strategy tailored to their particular money situation and life and financial objectives.

Warmest Regards,

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Citations.

1 – tiaa-cref.org/public/advice-guidance/education/financial-ed/empowering_women/retirement-myths [8/29/14]

2 – 401k.fidelity.com/public/content/401k/Home/HowmuchcanIcontrib [8/29/14]

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Couples Retiring on the Same Page

Agreeing about what you want from retirement is crucial.

What does a good retirement look like to you? Does it resemble the retirement that your spouse or partner has in mind? It is at least roughly similar?

The Social Security Commission currently projects an average retirement of 19 years for a man and 21 years for a woman (assuming retirement at age 65). So sharing the same vision of retirement (or at least respecting the difference in each other’s visions) seems crucial to retirement happiness.1

What kind of retirement does your spouse or partner imagine? During years of working, parenting and making ends meet, many couples never really get around to talking about what retirement should look like. If spouses or partners have quite different attitudes about money or dreams that don’t align, that conversation may be deferred for years. Even if they are great communicators, assumptions about what the other wants for the future may prove inaccurate.

Are couples discussing retirement, or not? It depends on who you ask – or more precisely, what poll you reference.

A 2013 survey of 5,400 U.S. households by Hearts & Wallets (a research firm studying retirement money management trends) found that just 38% of couples plan for retirement together. The fourth Couples Retirement Study conducted by Fidelity Investments (released this February) offered similar results. In that study, 38% of the working couples polled cited some disagreement on what kind of lifestyle they would retire to, 32% disagreed on how much they would need to work in retirement, and 38% hadn’t planned to manage retirement health care costs.2,3

In contrast, Capital One ShareBuilder surveyed 1,008 employed adults this winter and found that on average, couples discuss retirement 14 times a year. (There was no word on the depth or length of those conversations, however.)4

Be sure to talk about what you want for the future. A few simple questions can get the conversation going, and you might even want to chat about it over a meal or coffee in a relaxing setting. Dreaming and planning together, even on the most basic level, gives you a chance to reacquaint yourselves with your financial needs, goals and personalities.

To start, ask each other what you see yourselves doing in retirement – individually as well as together. Is the way you are saving and investing conducive to those dreams?

Think about whether you are making the most of your retirement savings potential. Could you save more? Do you need to? Are you both contributing to tax-advantaged retirement accounts? Are you comfortable with the amount of risk you are assuming?

If your significant other is handling the household finances (and the meetings with financial professionals about a retirement strategy), are you prepared to take over in case of an emergency? When one half of a couple is the “hub” for money matters and investment decisions, the other spouse or partner needs to at least have an understanding of them. If the unexpected occurs, you will want that knowledge.

Speaking of knowledge, you should also both know who the beneficiaries are for your IRAs, workplace retirement accounts, investment accounts, and life insurance policies, and you both need to know where the relevant paperwork is located.

A shared vision of retirement is great, and respect for individual variations on it is just as vital. A conversation about how you see retirement today can give you that much more input to plan for tomorrow.

Warmest Regards,

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Citations.

1 – forbes.com/sites/jamiehopkins/2014/02/03/planning-for-an-uncertain-life-expectancy-in-retirement/ [2/3/14]

2 – heartsandwallets.com/till-death-or-retirement-or-retirement-do-us-part/news/2013/02/ [2/13]

3 – shrm.org/hrdisciplines/benefits/articles/pages/retirement-couples-disagree.aspx [2/7/14]

4 – usatoday.com/story/money/personalfinance/2014/03/16/retirement-planning-couples-fight/6368967/ [3/16/14]

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Bad Spending Habits That Can Be Corrected

A little frugality may lead to a lot of financial progress.

Americans have a great deal of disposable income relative to many other nations, yet our free spending can take us further and further away from the potential for financial freedom. Some people fall into crippling spending habits and injure their finances as a consequence.

Bad habit: failing to save. Saving – saving even $50 or $100 a month – isn’t that hard under most financial conditions. Even so, some households don’t put much of a priority on building a cash reserve of some kind, a portion of which could be used for equity investment.

When you don’t make saving a goal, you don’t have any money to withdraw in a pinch – so if you need to get ahold of some money, where do you find it? Basically, you have three options. One, turn to friends or Mom or Dad. Two, divert money that would go toward a core need (food, rent, the heating bill) toward the sudden crisis. Three, charge your credit card. (There are other options, but they are best not explored.)

Good habit: save just a little, then a lot. You can start a savings campaign by saving “invisibly” – that is, just spending $10 or $15 or $20 less on a regular expense each month. Maybe two or three, even. That’s less than a dollar a day per expense. When your earnings climb further above your financial baseline, you can increase the amount you save/invest.

Bad habit: buying things on a whim. The correlation between impulsive spending and credit card use isn’t too hard to spot. Spending money you don’t have on material items that will soon depreciate doesn’t put you ahead financially.

Good habit: set a budget when you shop. As you arrive at the market, the mall or the local power center, arrive with a limit on what you will spend on that shopping trip and stick to it. Take an hour (or a day) to mull over any big buying decisions – are you buying something you really need? Lastly, use cash whenever you can.

Bad habit: living on margin. Living above your means, charging this and that credit card – this is a path toward runaway debt. You may look rich, but you’ll carry a big financial burden that risks being “out of sight, out of mind” in between credit card statements.

Good habit: strive for lasting affluence, not temporary bling. Possessions symbolize wealth to too many Americans. Real wealth is measured in accumulated assets. They aren’t usually visible, but you can count on them in the future, in contrast to ever-depreciating luxury goods.

Bad habit: buying unnecessary services. Cable subscriptions, extended warranties, service contracts for highly reliable items, health club memberships that translate into little more than an alternate place to shower – they all add up, they all siphon some of our dollars away each month. In many cases, we pay for options rather than necessities.

Good habit: evaluate who benefits most from those services. Are they benefiting the provider more than the consumer? Are they entrees to a “main course” – a steady, long-range financial exploitation?

Go against the norm – it might leave you a little wealthier. In April, Gallup found that 62% of Americans liked saving money more than spending it. Just 34% liked spending more than saving. This appreciation of frugality is relatively new. As recently as 2006, 50% of Americans told Gallup that they enjoyed saving more than spending with 45% preferring spending.1

If we love saving money, a key statistic doesn’t reflect it. According to the Commerce Department, the typical U.S. household was saving 4.8% of its disposable personal income in May. The personal savings rate for 2013 was 4.5%, the least in any year since 2007. Compare that to 6.7% across the 1990s, 9.3% across the 1980s and 11.8% during the 1970s.1,2

Perhaps many of us want to save but can’t due to financial pressures. Perhaps the economic rebound is encouraging personal consumption over saving. Whatever the reason, Americans on the whole don’t seem to be saving very much. That’s the status quo; going against it might help you build wealth a little more easily.

Warmest Regards,

april-signature

 Citations.

1 – gallup.com/poll/168587/americans-continue-enjoy-saving-spending.aspx [4/21/14]

2 – bea.gov/newsreleases/national/pi/pinewsrelease.htm [6/26/14]

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Retirement Planning With Health Care Expenses in Mind

It is only wise to consider what Medicare won’t cover in the future.

As you save for retirement, you also recognize the possibility of having to pay major health care costs in the future. Is there some way to plan for these expenses years in advance?

Just how great might those expenses be? There’s no rote answer, of course, but recent surveys from AARP and Fidelity Investments reveal that too many baby boomers might be taking this subject too lightly.

For the last eight years, Fidelity has projected average retirement health care expenses for a couple (assuming that retirement begins at age 65 and that one spouse or partner lives about seven years longer than the other). In 2013, Fidelity estimated that a couple retiring at age 65 would require about $220,000 to absorb those future costs.1

When it asked Americans aged 55-64 how much money they thought they would spend on health care in retirement, 48% of the respondents figured they would need about $50,000 apiece, or about $100,000 per couple. That pales next to Fidelity’s projection and it also falls short of the estimates made back in 2010 by the Employee Benefit Research Institute. EBRI figured that a couple with median prescription drug expenses would pay $151,000 of their own retirement health care costs.1

AARP posed this question to Americans aged 50-64 in the fall of 2013. The results: 16% of those polled thought their out-of-pocket retirement health care expenses would run less than $50,000 and 42% figured needing less than $100,000. Another 15% admitted they had no idea how much they might eventually spend for health care. Unsurprisingly, just 52% of those surveyed felt confident that they could financially handle such expenses.1

Prescription drugs may be your #1 cost. In fact, EBRI currently says that a 65-year-old couple with median drug costs would need $227,000 to have a 75% probability of paying off 100% of their medical bills in retirement. That figure is in line with Fidelity’s big-picture estimate.2

What might happen if you don’t save enough for these expenses? As Medicare premiums come out of Social Security benefits, your monthly Social Security payments could grow smaller. The greater your reliance on Social Security, the bigger the ensuing financial strain.2

A positive note: EBRI and Fidelity both reduced their estimates of total average retirement health care expenses from 2012 to 2013. (Who knows, maybe they will do so again this year.)1

The main message: save more, save now. Do you have about $200,000 (after tax) saved up for the future? If you don’t, you have another compelling reason to save more money for retirement.

Medicare, after all, will not pay for everything. In 2010, EBRI analyzed how much it did pay for, and it found that Medicare covered about 62% of retiree health care expenses. While private insurance picked up another 13% and military benefits or similar programs another 13%, that still left retirees on the hook for 12% out of pocket.1

Consider what Medicare doesn’t cover, and budget accordingly. Medicare pays for much, but it doesn’t cover things like glasses and contacts, dentures and hearing aids – and it certainly doesn’t pay for extended long term care.2

Medicare’s yearly Part B deductible is $147 for 2014. Once you exceed it, you will have to pick up 20% of the Medicare-approved amount for most medical services. That’s a good argument for a Medigap or Medicare Advantage plan, even considering the potentially high premiums. The standard monthly Part B premium is at $104.90 this year, which comes out of your Social Security. If you are retired and earn income of more than $85,000, your monthly Part B premium will be larger (the threshold for a couple is $170,000). Part D premiums (drug coverage) can also vary greatly; the greater your income, the larger they get. Reviewing your Part D coverage vis-à-vis your premiums is only wise each year.2,3

Underlying message: stay healthy. It may save you a good deal of money. EBRI projects that someone retiring from an $80,000 job in poor health may need to live on as much as 96% of that end salary annually, or roughly $76,800. If that retiree is in excellent health instead, EBRI estimates that he or she may need only 77% of that end salary – about $61,600 – to cover 100% of annual retirement expenses.1

Warmest Regards,

 april-signature

Citations.

1 – washingtonpost.com/news/to-your-health/wp/2014/03/31/guess-how-much-you-need-to-save-for-health-care-in-retirement-wrong-its-much-more/ [3/31/14]

2 – money.usnews.com/money/retirement/articles/2013/06/17/how-to-budget-for-health-costs-in-retirement [6/17/13]

3 – medicare.gov/your-medicare-costs/costs-at-a-glance/costs-at-glance.html [4/30/14]

 

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The Right Beneficiary

Who should inherit your IRA or 401(k)? See that they do.

Here’s a simple financial question: who is the beneficiary of your IRA? How about your 401(k), life insurance policy, or annuity? You may be able to answer such a question quickly and easily. Or you may be saying, “You know … I’m not totally sure.” Whatever your answer, it is smart to periodically review your beneficiary designations.

Your choices may need to change with the times. When did you open your first IRA? When did you buy your life insurance policy? Was it back in the Eighties? Are you still living in the same home and working at the same job as you did back then? Have your priorities changed a bit – perhaps more than a bit?

While your beneficiary choices may seem obvious and rock-solid when you initially make them, time has a way of altering things. In a stretch of five or ten years, some major changes can occur in your life – and they may warrant changes in your beneficiary decisions.

In fact, you might want to review them annually. Here’s why: companies frequently change custodians when it comes to retirement plans and insurance policies. When a new custodian comes on board, a beneficiary designation can get lost in the paper shuffle. (It has happened.) If you don’t have a designated beneficiary on your 401(k), the assets may go to the “default” beneficiary when you pass away, which might throw a wrench into your estate planning.

How your choices affect your loved ones. The beneficiary of your IRA, annuity, 401(k) or life insurance policy may be your spouse, your child, maybe another loved one or maybe even an institution. Naming a beneficiary helps to keep these assets out of probate when you pass away.

Beneficiary designations commonly take priority over bequests made in a will or living trust. For example, if you long ago named a son or daughter who is now estranged from you as the beneficiary of your life insurance policy, he or she is in line to receive the death benefit when you die, regardless of what your will states. Beneficiary designations allow life insurance proceeds to transfer automatically to heirs; these assets do not have go through probate.1,2

You may have even chosen the “smartest financial mind” in your family as your beneficiary, thinking that he or she has the knowledge to carry out your financial wishes in the event of your death. But what if this person passes away before you do? What if you change your mind about the way you want your assets distributed, and are unable to communicate your intentions in time? And what if he or she inherits tax problems as a result of receiving your assets? (See below.)

How your choices affect your estate. Virtually any inheritance carries a tax consequence. (Of course, through careful estate planning, you can try to defer or even eliminate that consequence.)

If you are simply naming your spouse as your beneficiary, the tax consequences are less thorny. Assets you inherit from your spouse aren’t subject to estate tax, as long as you are a U.S. citizen.3

When the beneficiary isn’t your spouse, things get a little more complicated for your estate, and for your beneficiary’s estate. If you name, for example, your son or your sister as the beneficiary of your retirement plan assets, the amount of those assets will be included in the value of your taxable estate. (This might mean a higher estate tax bill for your heirs.) And the problem will persist: when your non-spouse beneficiary inherits those retirement plan assets, those assets become part of his or her taxable estate, and his or her heirs might face higher estate taxes. Your non-spouse heir might also have to take required income distributions from that retirement plan someday, and pay the required taxes on that income.4

If you designate a charity or other 501(c)(3) non-profit organization as a beneficiary, the assets involved can pass to the charity without being taxed, and your estate can qualify for a charitable deduction.5

Are your beneficiary designations up to date? Don’t assume. Don’t guess. Make sure your assets are set to transfer to the people or institutions you prefer. Let’s check up and make sure your beneficiary choices make sense for the future. Just give us a call or send us an e-mail – We are happy to help you.

Best Regards,

PSE Wealth Management Team

Citations.

1 – smartmoney.com/taxes/estate/how-to-choose-a-beneficiary-1304670957977/ [6/10/11]

2 – www.dummies.com/how-to/content/bypassing-probate-with-beneficiary-designations.html [1/30/13]

3 – www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/estate-planning-when-you-re-married-noncitizen.html [1/30/13]

4 – individual.troweprice.com/staticFiles/Retail/Shared/PDFs/beneGuide.pdf [9/10]

5 – irs.gov/Businesses/Small-Businesses-&-Self-Employed/Frequently-Asked-Questions-on-Estate-Taxes [8/1/12]