Wealth Management Blog | WrapManager | Retirement Planning (2)

Don’t Confuse 401(k) Withdrawals with 401(k) Rollovers – It Could Cost You

Posted by Michael J. O'Connor | CWS®, Vice President Investments

May 9, 2018

Don’t Confuse 401(k) Withdrawals with 401(k) Rollovers – It Could Cost You

One of the reasons investing gets confusing for most people is that there are too many rules, requirements, products/options, and terms. The website “Investopedia” claims to have a “comprehensive financial dictionary with over 13,000 terms and counting.” Insanity!

The world of retirement planning – which is just a subset of investing – is not much better. But the definitions do matter. A 401(k) withdrawal, for example, could mean paying penalties and taxes that could cost you dearly if done wrong, or done at the wrong time. A 401(k) rollover, on the other hand, could provide you with several benefits and advantages for moving your retirement plan in the right direction.

In this case, a single word makes all the difference – and not knowing it could cost you.

Lord Abbett Weighs in on Appreciating Net Unrealized Appreciation

May 3, 2018

Net unrealized appreciation allows for favorable tax treatment of withdrawals of an employer's stock - but understanding the rules is crucial. Of all the various ways to reduce one’s taxes in retirement, net unrealized appreciation (NUA) is often misunderstood or overlooked altogether. The rules may be complicated, but a plan participant who owns company stock and is separating from service or retiring should be aware of NUA before rolling his/her retirement account into an IRA or a new employer’s plan. Net unrealized appreciation of employer stock held in an employer-sponsored retirement plan permits gains that occurred inside the plan to be taxed outside the plan (e.g., brokerage account) at preferential long-term capital gains rates. [+] Read More

The Quick and Easy Guide to Roth IRAs

May 2, 2018

With Tax Day just behind us, it seems like a good opportunity to focus on the type of retirement income the IRS almost never meddles with: tax-exempt income! Tax-exempt income is any income that is not subject to federal, state, and/or local income. In this case, income sources that are considered to have been previously taxed and therefore, not subject to further taxation. So, here’s your “what you need to know” guide for Roth IRAs. What is a Roth IRA? A Roth IRA is a retirement account that has three essential features: The owner’s contributions are not tax-deductible; BUT, the assets in the account grow tax free over time; AND, the distributions taken from the account, generally speaking, are also tax-free once the owner reaches retirement age. [+] Read More

Rethink your Retirement Strategy with Goals-Based Wealth Management

April 17, 2018

An axiom you hear often in the financial world is that “every person’s financial situation is different.” That’s undoubtedly true. What you don’t hear often enough is that every person’s financial goals are different. Goals often tend to get stripped down and over-simplified in the planning process. For example, having a goal of “long-term growth” or “to retire at 65” is useful, but it is not specific enough to build a comprehensive plan around. The end result is that over-simplified goals often result in over-simplified retirement plans. Goals-based wealth management is designed to help investors avoid the over-simplification trap. The idea is try to be as specific as possible about each outcome you want in retirement. Just about everyone wants long-term growth. But does everyone want a mountain home in Colorado and to help with the down payment on their grandchildren’s homes? Probably not. Digging into the details matters, and usually reveals quite a lot about what your goals really are for retirement. Once you’ve made a list of goals that’s unique to you, your financial advisor can work backwards to make sure your investment plan addresses each one head-on. [+] Read More

Managing Health Care Costs in Retirement

March 28, 2018

It’s the retirement planning topic that, candidly, cannot be overstated or discussed enough: planning for healthcare costs. Crucial as this subject is, it arguably does not receive a proportionate amount of attention in retirement planning conversations around the country – which is ironic, given that retirees over the age of 65 are likely to spend a sizable percentage (~13% according to J.P. Morgan) of their total retirement income on healthcare. Let’s jump right into the numbers. AARP has created a useful calculator for estimating healthcare costs in retirement, which you can access here: Estimate Your Healthcare Costs in Retirement. [+] Read More

How Living Longer Should Impact Retirement Planning

March 7, 2018

If your financial advisor insisted on creating an investment plan that projected you and/or your spouse to live past 100, you might be skeptical. Few people at or near retirement expect to live to be 100. But retirees would be wise to start thinking that way! The Social Security Administration finds about one out of every four 65-year-olds today will live past age 90, and one out of 10 will live past age 95. There’s also a 4% chance one person in a couple will live past 100. That’s a low percentage, sure. But it is still a possibility very much worth planning for. [+] Read More

The Pros and Cons of Target Date Funds in Retirement Planning

February 28, 2018

Target date funds have been around for over 20 years, but over the last several years they have seemingly become a mainstay of 401(k) plans. For novice investors and those just starting out, the ‘target date’ feature of choosing a retirement date and “setting and forgetting” an investment strategy has understandable appeal. But for investors with larger amounts of assets under management and more complex financial situations and retirement needs, target date funds may not do the trick. Below we’ll explore some of the positive features and drawbacks of target date funds. [+] Read More

Aging in Place: Retirement Planning for Home Care Costs

February 20, 2018

In the context of retirement planning, most people are naturally drawn to talking about travel, hobbies, grandchildren, and leisure activities. And for good reason – that’s what retirement is supposed to be all about! There is a necessary distinction between retirement and retirement planning, however. Planning must go beyond the ‘fun’ items and consider all expenses we may incur over time and throughout life. One of those expenses – and a major one – is the cost of health and home care later in life. [+] Read More

The Cost of Having a Child

February 14, 2018

There are numerous planning considerations involved when starting or expanding your family -- lifestyle, career, living space…the list goes on. Arguably the financial component is near the top of the list. Most people planning for family know that it will impact their finances, but to what extent? Using data compiled by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), the estimated cost for a married couple on the West Coast (with a combined income greater than $107,000) to raise two children would be a somewhat startling $775,620. Dig-in a little further, and the data suggests that around $166,000 would go towards education/child care. The family could also spend upwards of $110,000 on food alone. The data and estimates are based on a study performed by the Department of Agriculture titled “Expenditures on Children by Families, 2015”. The USDA created a fascinating and free calculator that anyone can use to run the numbers for starting a family. You simply tell the calculator how many children you have or want, your income level, whether you’re single or married, and what region of the country you live in. And that’s it! The calculator does the rest. [+] Read More

Why High Income Earners Can Still Benefit from a Budget

January 23, 2018

A high-income earner can benefit from a having a budget much like a professional athlete can benefit from having a personal trainer – even though the extra help and attention may not be completely necessary, it can serve to make a good situation even better. Much better. Consider that, simply put, two goals of closely maintaining a budget are to: Minimize waste Maximize efficiency Isn’t that what everyone wants when it comes to your hard-earned dollars? Let’s start with minimizing waste. One of the first steps in creating a budget is to itemize each and every monthly expense you incur. Mortgage payments, insurance, cable and internet, phones, memberships, subscriptions, utilities, food, entertainment, and so on. When was the last time you sat down and closely scrutinized all of these expenses? Doing so could very well reveal fat that needs trimming. [+] Read More