NOT Just A Financial List . . .

A BETTER Way Of Planning Your Retirement Finances . . .

MONEY – Where You Want It, When You Want It

You need to have your money invested in such a way that monthly income is generated for you and your spouse. This income is automatically deposited into your brokerage account when dividends are paid by each investment.

These days, when technology is readily available, you can use your computer to access your brokerage and bank accounts and set up a monthly electronic transfer of money to your checking account to pay bills and live on.

Most brokerage houses such as Schwab, Fidelity, Merrill Lynch, Ameritrade, etc. can set up this transfer in your brokerage account to whatever bank has your checking account. What you need is to fill & file forms at your local brokerage office or do it online. To do this, you need your checking account number and the routing number for your bank. This information you can get from a blank check. Once the forms are filled and signed and the transfer set up is done, you’re ready to go.

You need to do this with all your retirement accounts such as your 401K, pension plans, profit-sharing plans, IRA’s, Roth IRA’s, 403B’s, Social Security, and any other pension plans that you have. Each account, no matter where they are saved or who holds them, can set up a direct deposit to your checking account each month or when you need it. This will ensure you have enough money in your checking account when you need it.

Finally, as things change in your investments, you need to keep an eye on the cash flow and ensure enough cash is coming in to satisfy your monthly needs and that you have enough cash in a savings account to cover the monthly transfer of cash. If you have any questions, consult with your financial advisor or your brokerage house.

Savings

Investments

Having a brokerage account for your investments is key to preparing for retirement and managing your income when retired. This brokerage account needs to have both qualified and non-qualified accounts within its umbrella. That way all your investments are under one investment house. The brokerage needs to be tied to your regular checking account so you can transfer funds from one to the other electronically. In this age of computers, this facility is rather simple to set up and makes transferring money very easy.

Talk to your financial advisor and your banking manager about setting up these accounts and electronic transfers between them.

Income

If you are in the 99% of people who have not saved enough for retirement, you need to keep a part-time job during retirement. Most people need to keep engaged to remain young and healthy. Most boomers also need to have a job to ensure enough income comes in to take care of the monthly bills. Below are some suggestions on how to have enough income to pay for your bills in your later years. If you have been savvy enough, you have enough investments, pension and social security income to pay for all expenses. But, if not, you need to have a job to supplement your income.

Estate Planning

To prepare yourself and your loved ones for when you’re no longer able to make decisions, you need 3 key documents (properly signed and witnessed before a notary) to ensure your loved ones know what to do when the time comes. These are:

  • Durable Power of attorney
  • Health Care Proxy
  • Last Will

This list is by no means all-inclusive. The recommendation is to consult an estate planning attorney to further personalize your plan. Having the above documents in place is critical and will make things easier should the need arise to put these documents into action (if something happens to you). Use your family’s next visit as an opportunity for having what-if conversations with them so they know what to do.

In The News

Finally, listed below are several articles on planning for a smooth retirement and what do you need to comfortably live on in your golden years.

Let us know what you think and what other things we should be looking at. What is important to you!!