Year End Financial Loose Ends

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Have you moved it? Your old 401K. Is it still at your old employer? Why leave it there? Your old employer controls it and makes the rules as to when you can access it and what investments you can invest in with-in it. .. and normally the fees are higher. You need to roll it over to your own self directed IRA.

Have you converted any of your Traditional IRA to a tax-free Roth IRA? Now may be the time. Taxes may be going up soon. Don’t miss the opportunity.

Is your Will updated? (any changes in your life? grand kids, marraige, divorce, etc..?) update it.

Are you beneficiaries updated also? On your pension, IRA’s and other retirement accounts, and your life insurances? get it done.

nows a great time to tie up those financial loose ends!

Wayne

Do You Have Too Much Money in Risky Investments?

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Time and time again I see retirees with too much of their money in risky accounts.

Don’t they realize this is all the money that they are going to have? No more matching from employers! No more paychecks! No more time to recover and wait out stock market recoveries after a bad correction! The money has to last.

Folks who are retired have to learn how to back off of the market and get more money safe!

There are alternatives. You do not HAVE to be in the market with all of your money! You can earn respectful returns that keep up or even outpace inflation safely.

A good measuring device is “The Rule of 100″. The rule of 100 has an investor subtract their age from 100. The remaining number is turned into a percentage… and then that’s how much money they can risk in the stock market… the rest, they need to keep safe.

An example would go like this: a 70 year old retiree should have 70% of his investable dollars in safe accounts…  and the remaining 30% he can go ahead and take risk with.

And by “safe” I mean NEVER GOES BACKWARDS (unless the person makes a withdrawal).

Hope this helps.

Until next time,

Wayne

Wayne K. Maslyk Jr., President of Great Lakes Benefits & Wealth Management, is a Certified Financial Planner(TM). He specializes in helping retirees and pre-retirees with retirement, estate, and tax planning.

Have You Been “Sold” an Investment by a Sales Person?

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Have you been “sold” an investment?

If you are retired and you invest, have you been “sold?”

Most folks that I run across who are retired have invested monies after meeting with a “salesman”. They were “sold” their investment; kind of like being sold a car. These folks met with an “advisor” whom is usually an annuity or mutual fund sales person, and made a decision (usually a quick one) to invest in a particular product or investment. The “sale” took place during a meeting or two of determining a risk tolerance (usually a few general questions), and a presentation of why this particular product or investment is the “greatest” thing, and the best option for the retiree. Most of these retired folks still own the same product or group of products and investments today. There has been very little tweaking or adjusting – Very little modification – Very little reviewing and altering course.

They went through a sales process and were “sold.”

This is not the way someone who is done working, done saving (for the most part), and done getting contribution matching from their employer, should go about handling their life savings.

The “proper” process should be slow, personal, professional, and pressure free. No retired person should EVER feel rushed or pressured into making a decision regarding their money. This is all they have. It has to last. Mistakes cannot be made.

If you have been “sold” investments in the past, you need to get a second opinion from a real professional who puts YOUR interests first… not theirs or the company they represent’s interest!

You owe it to yourself and your family!

Until next time,

Wayne

Wayne K. Maslyk Jr., President of Great Lakes Benefits & Wealth Management, is a Certified Financial Planner(TM). He specializes in helping retirees and pre-retirees with retirement, estate, and tax planning.

What Rate of Return Are You Satisfied With?

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What Rate of Return are You Happy With?

What “rate of return” are you shooting for with your investments? As a retiree and an investor, you should have a particular goal in mind for an overall rate of return that you would be satisfied with.

The higher the number… the more risk you need to take.

When I, as a Certified Financial Planner™ Professional, work with retirees on their overall financial plan, I like to have them come up with a number they (the client(s)) agree with and would be happy with over time. When I say over time, I’m talking 5 to 10 years or so. I call this number their “happy” number for their rate of return.

I ask them, “If we were sitting right here at this conference table 5 or 10 years from now… looking back over the previous years… what overall rate of return would we need to have earned to make you satisfied with the outcome? Is it 3%? 5%? 8%? 10%?”

If they say 10% I recommend they go to the “Stock Jock” down the street, and tell them it was nice meeting them. A retiree shouldn’t take that much risk… and the days of a 10% rate of return are over for a while.

The lower the rate of return that is “sufficient”, the overall less risk a retiree has to take.

And less risk means less volatility, and a better night’s sleep!

Until next time,

Wayne

Wayne K. Maslyk Jr., President of Great Lakes Benefits & Wealth Management, is a Certified Financial Planner(TM). He specializes in helping retirees and pre-retirees with retirement, estate, and tax planning.

Are You Still Supporting Your “Adult” Children?

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Is this the “retirement” you want?

As a Certified Financial Planner™ Professional, one of my main duties is helping folks plan for retirement. This involves setting future lifestyle goals in retirement, then comparing the cost of that lifestyle to the income streams available. Next is determining if there is a shortfall of resources or not. Many times there is a shortfall.

If you have years left before retirement, we can close the gap and even have surpluses in most cases.

A huge drain on many folks planning for retirement is their adult children. Yes I said “adult” children! These adult children have either spent too much, can’t get or hold a decent job, can’t afford their home, get divorced, or better yet…never even left home. So mom and dad do their own bailout program and help the kids out! Giving hard earned and saved money to their children.

Unless you are loaded, this is not a good idea. Folks are spending their future retirement dollars on their kids and grandkids. Is it worth it?

The next time you are at Home Depot or Wal-Mart, ask the supposed to be “retired” fellow or lady helping you if it was…. my guess is no. Enabling is almost never a good idea.

There is an old saying that goes “fly first class… because your kids will.” It used to be that the average inheritance was spent in less than two years… heck… the kids are spending it now before mom and dad actually pass away!

Until next time,

Wayne

Wayne K. Maslyk Jr., President of Great Lakes Benefits & Wealth Management, is a Certified Financial Planner(TM). He specializes in helping retirees and pre-retirees with retirement, estate, and tax planning.