Retirement Wealth Accumulation
Planning for the Lifestyle of Your Choice in Retirement
When most people think of retirement they think of not working anymore. However, this life change is really not that simplistic. What are your retirement goals?
- Do you want to completely stop working or just slow down or “re-career”?
- Do you imagine a quiet life at home with books and gardening, world travel, community involvement?
- Do you want to start a small business or expand upon a hobby or start a new one?
- Do your plans include flexibility to enjoy grandchildren?
Ideal Retirement
Will you keep the family home or downsize to a condo or relocate? Everyone’s ideal retirement looks different. Our job is to ask the right questions to help you decide what yours looks like and then build a savings plan to help you to achieve your retirement goals.
Investment Vehicles
Employer Sponsored Plans
Does your employer offer a retirement plan? The first step in retirement wealth accumulation is to learn whether you are taking advantage of any retirement benefits that your employer provides. These are cost effective group plans that allow for higher participant (you) contributions than individual retirement accounts and many include an employer match as well. This is an important part of your compensation package from your employer that you want to make sure you are qualifying for and taking advantage of. Common examples are the SEP IRA, Simple IRA, 401k, 403b, 457, and 401a. Your benefits manager at your employer can help.
Individual Retirement Accounts
These are retirement savings accounts that any individual with earned income can utilize for investments. They are commonly called IRA’s. IRA’s are used for additional savings by individuals who have already maximized contributions to their employer plan or their employer does not have one. There are rules for the contribution limits based on how much earned income you have and whether your employer does offer a retirement plan. Common examples are the IRA, Roth IRA, and Nonqualified Annuities.
Contribution Types
Tax Qualified
Tax qualified contributions are made from your earned income before it is taxed. Any contributions of this type reduce your taxable income in the year of the contribution. The investments grow tax deferred and then you pay income taxes on future withdrawals in retirement. This type of contribution is used as part of a strategy when one of your goals is reducing your current tax burden often you are currently in your prime earning years.
Roth
Roth contributions are made from your earned income after it is taxed. The investments grow tax free and you pay no taxes on future withdrawals in your retirement years. This type of contribution is used as part of a strategy when one of your goals is to provide tax free income in retirement and you are currently in a lower tax bracket than you expect to be in retirement.
Nonqualified
Non-tax qualified contributions are made with after tax contributions. These do not have income limitation The investments grow tax deferred and then you pay income taxes on the gains when you make future withdrawals in retirement. This type of contribution is used as part of a strategy to defer taxes on investments for retirement once all other vehicles have been funded.