retirement savings

Have Your Cake, Eat Your Cake
photo shows a yellow cake with rainbow sprinkles with one piece gone

They say you can’t have your cake and eat it, too. Once you eat the cake, the cake is gone. No surprise, right? 

The same thing might be said of your retirement fund. It is there for you to spend as you see fit—but once you spend it, it is gone.  

How quickly you go through your retirement savings is a much bigger decision than how quickly you go through a cake. No one can tell you what the right answer is. Your retirement lifestyle might look very different from your neighbor’s retirement lifestyle.  

Some people hope to leave as much possible in their estate to provide a legacy for children and grandchildren. Others plan on spending as much as possible to enjoy the fruits of their own labors.  

Some people might plan to save the lion’s share of their savings to offset the healthcare costs they anticipate in their later years. Others plan to spend a big chunk up front, while they still have the good health to enjoy some options. 

None of these plans are inherently superior to any of the others. It is your money, after all. For many of you, retirement savings are the sum of an entire lifetime of work, and you alone get to decide how to direct them.  

What’s our wish for you? That you navigate these choices with your eyes open to the consequences.  

So here’s one important difference between your retirement savings and a cake: when you set aside a certain amount of cake for later, you will have exactly that much cake in the future: no more, no less. When you invest your nest egg, over time it may generate extra income and potentially appreciate in value, giving you more to spend in the future.  

There are no guarantees, of course. Depending on how aggressively you invest, you risk losing some of your value. This is just another tradeoff you need to weigh in planning your retirement. 

When we make our retirement choices carefully, the consequences are never a surprise. You can have your cake. You can eat your cake. Your call. 

Clients, when you have questions about this or anything else, please call or email. Let’s talk. 

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Hammer or Pliers?

canstockphoto14054970

Recently a client asked us a common question. With a little room in the budget, should more money be added to retirement savings, or a regular investment account? Which one is better?

Of course, the answer depends on the situation. In the early and middle career stages, one might not put funds to be used before retirement into a retirement account. Saving for intermediate term goals like buying or trading homes, or buying a boat or camper, perhaps should be done outside of a retirement account.

But getting it down to fine points, some retirement plans have provisions for using money before retirement without penalty. We believe you can gain an edge by paying attention to the fine points. We like to outline all the alternatives so you can make a good decision.

On the other hand, money to be devoted to growing the orchard – a pool of capital that you may someday live on – should almost always be sheltered from taxes, if possible. This typically means into some form of retirement plan. The tax advantages may make a big difference over the years and decades ahead.

And retirement plans come in different flavors. Individual retirement accounts, employer plans of various kinds, Roth… there are many options.

Just as one cannot know whether the better tool is a hammer or a pair of pliers, one cannot know the best way to invest without understanding the job the money is supposed to do for you. That’s why we talk back and forth! You ask us things about our area of expertise, we ask you things about yours. A meeting of the minds is just the thing to make progress, with a collaborative process.

Clients, if you would like to talk about this (or anything else), please email us or call.

Content in this material is for general information only and not intended to provide specific advice or recommendations for any individual.

 

Saving for a Successful Retirement

© Can Stock Photo / 4774344sean

When you picture a successful retirement, what does that look like to you?

To some people a successful retirement means luxury cruises, European vacations, and a big house with a pool for the grandkids. To others a successful retirement might mean a quaint cabin with a porch to watch the wildlife from. Some people picture retirement as never having to work again, others might view retirement as a new stage in their working career where they can focus on their hobbies and passions.

The answer to this question is going to have a lot of impact on your retirement planning. If you want to build your dream house and have a second vacation home on the beach, you will need to save a lot more than if you just want a quiet cabin near the fishing hole.

When you go looking for financial planning advice some sources will recommend saving as much as 25% of your earnings for your entire working career. We have known some impressive savers in our day and watched them build incredible nest eggs through the magic of compound returns. We know many more who saved far less than that, though, and not many of those would consider their retirement a failure.

A cynic might conclude that financial planners have a vested interest in trying to convince you to save and invest as much money as possible with them. A more charitable interpretation might be that they want to make that luxury retirement lifestyle possible for you. That takes a lot of money, and if that is the retirement you want you would do well to heed those aggressive saving recommendations. But you might also consider whether that is the retirement lifestyle you want or need and adjust your financial plans accordingly.

There is no one size fits all plan for retirement, and you might not even know what you want to do with your retirement at this point. Obviously, the more you save, the more options you will have in retirement. But we think it is also important to have a little fun every day. You never know how long you have left, and it does you no good to live like a monk to fund a retirement you may not get a chance to enjoy.

Clients, if you would like to discuss your financial planning, please call or email us.

Content in this material is for general information only and not intended to provide specific advice or recommendations for any individual.