Retirement Planning

When asking the public about retirement planning most acknowledge its importance, but rarely is it seen in the actions of the public. Study after study indicate most Americans are not where they should be in the terms of funding their retirement or realizing how long their retirement may last.

If you are still working the key is to start saving for retirement while you are young. The next best time is now, using time value of money as leverage to build retirement assets. A twenty-file year old investing $5,000 for their retirement could potentially see a future value of $80,000 from this single investment by the time they reach 65. Should an investment average 7% per year, the investment could double in value every 10 years. In this example there are potentially 4 doubles by the time they reach 65, not counting the years following retirement. While future returns are not guaranteed and will unlikely be consistent year-after-year, the S&P 500® which is an index of 500 US based stocks generally has averaged between 9 and 11% when looking at its returns for 20, 30, or even 50 years. Make this investment annually and the potential value could make retirement far more enjoyable and this does not consider potential increases in savings over the years due to increases in income.

For these investors, QFC offers guidance during those turbulent times when emotional decisions could cause you to make poor financial decisions.  We also provide guidance to the allocations and investment selections since this is now a world of investment choices and the US economy is not always the best performing.  We also assist in directing the best places for those retirement dollars whether it is in pre-tax, after-tax Roth, or taxable investments accounts.  To many they may be surprised taxable accounts may offer significant tax savings and efficiencies which will help manage the annual income tax bill.

If you are retired, you may need assistance in managing the nest egg you have nurtured through years of contributions and up and downs of the market.  For many this is the distribution phase of their retirement, which has its own unique investment decisions.  No longer will you be adding to your accounts during those market dips and thus reaping the rewards of significant gains as the market recovers.  You may be selling when the values are depressed and thus a dollar during peak values may now require a dollar twenty of units to create the same dollar due to lower values.  Managing distributions, tax efficiencies, required minimum distributions (RMD) and the withdrawal rate are all areas where we provide assistance.  Since retirement can last decades rather than years, investment allocation and selection is crucial as is understanding the impact of inflation on your retirement earnings.  At QFC we are accustom to assisting retirees manage these issues and those which may be unique to each retiree.