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Bringing it all together
While you deserve to live the retirement you want, it’s vitally important to account for every expense that could potentially deplete your retirement savings. We will work with you to develop an income plan that will compare your projected retirement income to your projected retirement expenses. By creating a comprehensive income plan, you are creating confidence in the retirement and financial freedom you’ve worked so hard to achieve.
To estimate what your retirement expenses will be, we will start by calculating your current monthly expenses. This should include all household, daily living, entertainment, transportation, health, debts, and charity expenses. After your retirement expenses are calculated, the next step to planning your retirement is to organize your retirement assets and determine the income you will need to cover your expenses.
Why? Because strategically liquidating assets according to tax status can ensure you are putting the most money directly in your pocket. For example, liquidating or restructuring assets with reportable and taxable interest, such as CDs or certain brokerage accounts, can reduce the taxes you will pay on your Social Security benefits.
When it comes to Social Security for retirees, one of the biggest questions is “When should I start taking my benefits?” This is a strategy that has to be optimized to your retirement plan. It’s important to understand how your benefits are calculated, how they are taxed, and what happens if you continue to work after beginning to receive benefits.
Example: The amount of the social security benefit reduction varies with the year of birth. For example, an individual born in 1937 (FRA= age 65) who began receiving benefits at age 62 had his or her retirement benefit reduced to 80% of what it would have been had they chosen to wait until FRA. However, for a worker born in 1962, for whom FRA is age 67, choosing to receive retirement benefits at age 62 results in an initial benefit reduced to 70% of what it would have been had the individual waited to age 67.
Every retirement plan will be different, so each Social Security optimization strategy will be different as well. This is why we make sure your Social Security benefits are very much a part of our retirement strategy conversation.
