Move Forward into Your Golden Years with Confidence with Retirement Planning
You deserve to live out your golden years the way you want, which is why retirement planning is so important. Unfortunately, planning for retirement isn’t easy. There are many areas of your life that need to be considered in order to ensure that you’re well-taken care of throughout your life.
If you want to feel confident that every possibility is accounted for, it is important to enlist the help of a professional CPA. An experienced accountant can walk you through every aspect of your retirement, ensuring that you’re properly prepared, no matter what the future holds.
Maximize your finances in retirement
Whether you plan to be fully retired or you’re looking to work part-time doing something you love, it is important to maximize your finances. By choosing the right strategies, you can get the most out of what you have, allowing you to feel confident about your future.
Effective retirement strategies include conservative planning and investment, but there are many aspects that your professional accountant will want to discuss including:
- Income planning
- Investment planning
- Tax planning
- Education planning
Clarifying your financial decisions
You likely have dreams and aspirations for the coming decades, but those dreams and goals may not match up with your financial situation the way you expect. Instead of heading into unknown territory alone, a qualified accountant can help you identify your values, how they’re going to affect your finances, and develop a comprehensive plan that will allow you to travel, spend time with family, and enjoy dinner with friends, all while ensuring you have the funds to make a house payment, pay medical bills, and more.
Collaborative retirement planning process
In order for the retirement planning process to be successful, it needs to be collaborative. A sound financial plan only works if you feel good moving forward. Decisions that are made on your behalf, even if they are made with your best interests in mind, aren’t likely to successfully take you through your golden years unless you have complete control over your financial future.
Ensure your CPA works with you to build a bright future by giving us a call. Our talented team will work with you to ensure your dreams, and your finances, carry you through your golden years.
Retirement planning FAQ
With financial planning, do I still need the assistance of a professional attorney?
A financial planner is absolutely essential when planning for retirement, but it is just as important that you seek the assistance of a professional attorney. They are able to help you with many aspects of your later years that an accountant can’t, including:
- Estate planning
- Real estate
- Title services
- And more
Fortunately, many CPAs will work closely with attorneys in order to develop a comprehensive retirement plan. Make sure you ask your accountant about the best way to integrate legal services into the retirement planning process.
Can I still receive retirement benefits if I’m not ready for full retirement?
You will be able to receive benefits even if you aren’t fully retired. Depending on your age, you will be able to collect Social Security, 401k funds, and more without penalties.
However, there are some limits to receiving benefits. If you choose to take out funds before the full retirement age, you will likely be required to pay penalty fees or taxes. There are also limits to your income when receiving full benefits, but only if you attempt to pull Social Security before the full retirement age. You can expect $1 for every $2 you make to be deducted from your Social Security benefits. If you are the full retirement age, your income will no longer impact your Social Security or other funds.
Because this is such a complicated area, it is important that you schedule an appointment with your financial planner to ensure you’re making the best choices for your future.
What is the full retirement age?
If you were born before 1938, full retirement age is 62. If you’re born between 1939 and 1960, the retirement age is 67. The change in the full retirement age reflects the fact that people are living longer and longer. It’s possible that those born after 1960 may have an even higher retirement age.
These ages are specific to Social Security. Other retirement benefits may offer different retirement ages and different penalties. That’s why it’s so important to enlist the help of a professional CPA.
How am I supposed to plan for the unknown?
Retirement planning can be very scary because no one knows what the future holds. In order to plan for the unknown, a professional accountant will figure out how much you spend on monthly expenses in the here and now.
By understanding your current expenses, you can then determine an effective investment strategy to ensure that a comparable amount will be paid out to you throughout your life.
This baseline also allows you to determine what portion of your retirement you have left over. Additional funds will be allocated to future medical expenses, but these funds can also be used to plan dream vacations or home remodeling projects. Planning for the future really is about guessing to the best of your ability, and a financial planner can help you do just that.