It's Not Early For Retirement Planning

By Bessie D. Burton


It is a fact that we will reach a point in our lives where we all need to retire from our professions. You dream of a life where you will just enjoy traveling and having fun for the remainder of your life but keep in mind that there is a cost that comes with it. Remember that you won't have regular income coming in and your expenses will just keep on pouring in. This means that we need to plan on how to save our money in a systematic way in order to enjoy it later on. Most individuals ask themselves why they need to have retirement planning. This is important because you need some sort of security when you reach the age of retirement. You can start to have one as early as your twenties. If you plan your finances at an early point in your life, you are most likely to have fewer financial commitments. You will be able to have a huge bank of resources by the time you retire when you start early.

I have seen financial planners without an adequate background in IRAs and retirement plans, acting without advice from counsel or even advice from other experts in the financial planning area, make enormously costly mistakes. That is costly to the clients, not the advisor.IRA & Retirement Planning Mistakes That Can Accelerate Acceleration of Income Taxes and Can Cost You Up to a Million Dollars or More!

For example one advisor had both a father and son as clients. The father died leaving his IRA to his son. The advisor promptly transferred the IRA from the father's name to the son's name? Sounds o.k. to you? But it isn't o.k. If you transfer an inherited IRA to a non-spouse beneficiary without a special designation like "inherited IRA of Dad for the benefit of Son" you cause immediate income tax acceleration for the IRA beneficiary. So rather than having the ability to stretch an IRA or defer taxes for forty years, the son had to pay the taxes on the entire IRA distribution the year after his father died. Using reasonable assumptions, this mistake cost the son one million dollars over his lifetime.

Both Spouses Need to be Involved.The life expectancy for the average American man is around 76 years while the life expectancy for average American woman is around 81 years. That means the average woman can expect to be on her own for four to five years in retirement. Medical experts estimate that 50% of Americans over age 85 suffer from conditions like Alzheimer's disease that leave them unable to manage financial matters.This is why both spouses need to be active in the retirement planning process.There is a strong possibility that one of you will not be able to manage the retirement investments at some point. There is also a possibility that both of you might not be able to handle the finances at some point.

Not long ago, I was talking to a registered investment advisor or what is known as a financial planner. No, it wasn't mine rather I met the individual in passing at the local Starbucks. In talking about all the ongoing educational requirements and all the new regulations in that financial sector I realized how difficult it was for the practitioners to deal with their clientele.

You see, everyone is so sketchy with their personal information, and so busy hiding everything so that it won't get stolen from identity thieves, hackers, or the next fraudulent scam artist that they don't always give the financial planner all the information they need to make a competent decision and come up with a workable strategy. Of course, you cannot do retirement planning unless you ask all the questions, and those questions must be answered by the client truthfully and honestly. If not, everyone is wasting their time and it would be impossible to come up with the best possible plan.

The basic information about all the insurance policies and annuities you have. Both spouses should know the names of the insurance companies they hold policies with and know how to contact them. You should have a list of all the policies and numbers written down.If you use any sort of financial advisor or retirement planner spouses should meet with that individual. Both of you should know how to get in touch with that person and know what financial decisions he or she is making.Legal Considerations.It is not just enough to know where all of the money and paperwork is.

So what should you expect out of a retirement planner? According to Investopedia, a retirement planner is "A practicing professional who helps individuals prepare a retirement plan." That's pretty straight forward. Two certifications to look for are the Certified Financial Planner (CFP) and the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA). The CFP certification requires a college degree, passing a 10 hr exam, 3 years of experience in the financial planning field and an extensive background check. The CFA requires a bachelors degree, passing 3 6 hr tests and 4 years of work experience.Baron's recently published an article identifying the top financial advisors for 2010. When looking at which companies held the top spot for each of the states the outcome was as follows:Merrill Lynch (Top position in 20 states) Morgan Stanley Smith Barney (Top position in 7 states) Wells Fargo (Top position in 6 states) UBS (Top position in 5 states) Raymond James (Top position in 2 states).So if you want the help of a reputable retirement planner you can't go wrong with any of these companies. Alternatively, if you don't need such high-end advice then look for a local advisor with the right certifications and check as many references as you can.By the way, don't forget to sign up for those retirement club benefits. Even if you don't want to admit you're getting old those grey hairs can get you some serious discounts!




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