Insights to Educate & Inform

Retirement planning is a complex topic. There are a number of different financial and behavioral risks that retirees must navigate throughout their golden years. One of the biggest and most impactful decisions a retiree will need to make usually comes at the beginning. That decision is determining what retirement distribution strategy will be implemented. Or more commonly, how will you safely withdraw money from your retirement next egg over the next 30 - 40 years?

Many people work for financial reasons. But what happens when you get to the point of not needing income from a job anymore? For many, this is the dream scenario. This is when they get to finally hang it up and fully retire. Welcome to the golden years! But for others, this decision comes with a lot more angst. They feel the tradeoff of retirement isn't worth what they are leaving behind from their job. So they work longer than they financially have too. And if this is the case, should it be something that is concerning? Is working to long a bad thing?

Hiring a financial advisor can be intimidating. To make matters worse, it can be very difficult to differentiate between them. They all have "Financial Advisor" or "Financial Planner" or "Wealth Manager" etc. etc. etc. on their business cards? Does that mean they are all the same and do the same thing?

We have made it to a new year. And like every other year, changes have been made on what we are allowed and not allowed to do with our money. So it's important to get caught up with all of the important numbers that will dictate what we can do while we try to maximize our planning opportunities within the year.

Investment rate of return is the easiest metric to use when determining success and failure of your financial life. It's also the easiest metric to use when correlating it with your future consumption. I made a lot of money this year in my investment account, which means I will be able to afford to spend more in retirement. This is dangerous thinking, especially when its your primary focus of deciding whether to hire a financial advisor or not. There is so many other details that become more important than investment rate of return when retiring that should be looked at along with a portfolio's rate of return.

Retirement planning is a complex and fairly time intensive endeavor. It requires a lot of planning and projecting and ultimately aligning that information overtop an everchanging economic and regulatory landscape. So what are a few items you should make sure you do and not do when it comes to your retirement?

Today, I am exciting to interview Scotty Sykes, CPA, CFP® with Sykes and Company, P.A. Scotty is a Certified Public Accountant who is actively involved in all areas pf pharmacy accounting and tax with an emphasis on high-level advisory for pharmacy clients.

We've been on quite an economic run over the last 13 years. Investment markets have experienced some volatility over that time, but the general direction has been positive. This may lead many people to forget about how bad the last big recession we experienced was.

At some point in our society, the term budget turned out to be the magic cure for anyone with financial troubles. You don't have enough money? Well you need to budget better. You which you and your spouse could get on the same page when it comes to money? Great, start a budget. You have to control your spending in retirement? A budget is what you need!

In this episode we take a deeper look into a few of the more popular areas of investment management. We touch on the importance of diversification and how we can't rely on the S&P 500 as our only form of diversification. We also discuss the growing popularity of ESG investing and ways investors should be approaching this space.

As you approach the end of any calendar year, you most likely will be presented with opportunities to make changes to all of the employer benefits you have access too. One of the most common employer benefits that employees take advantage of are employer sponsored retirement plans. In most cases, this is a 401(k).

What happens when you reach a point in your life where you need the money in your 401(k) before age 59 1/2? It's widely considered prudent financial management to leave retirement money alone. But sometimes reality gets in the way. In this episode, Derek talks about the different avenues you can explore when trying to determine the best way to take an early withdraw from your 401(k).