Yes, You Can Retire – If You Plan Properly!
Retirement planning can be one of the most stressful concerns for most Americans. Recent studies show that the average American has just over $100,000 in retirement savings while many rely solely on Social Security. It doesn’t need to be that way. We can help you establish reasonable goals and expectations for your retirement years.
Three of the most common questions that persist in people’s minds are:
- Will I have enough monthly income to meet my monthly expenses?
- What type of lifestyle can I expect to have?
- Will my retirement nest egg last throughout my lifetime?
Retirement Planning
We can help you answer these three questions with a comprehensive retirement plan. We’ll look at all aspects of retirement expenses and all of your available income from Social Security, pensions, retirement funds, and any other assets you may have. We will develop various retirement scenarios based on your life expectancy, risk tolerance, and inflation factors.
Asset accumulation is very important in saving for retirement. But equally important, and often overlooked, is the most effective spend-down strategy. It makes a difference on what assets you spend first to minimize your tax liability. We can help you with the spend-down strategy to make most effective use of your retirement assets.
Cash Flow Requirements
The first part of retirement planning includes an estimate of your monthly cash flow requirements necessary to meet the lifestyle you would like to have. We’ll analyze your current monthly spending plan and discuss any adjustments you foresee for your retirement needs including fixed expenses, discretionary spending, travel, and healthcare requirements. We’ll discuss debt pay-off scenarios and how that may impact your cash flow and long term nest egg.
Next, we will analyze your expected income available from the various sources available to you…
Social Security
For many people, Social Security is the major and sometimes only component of their retirement plan. It may also be the only benefit you have that is a Lifetime Benefit. So getting it right is very important! Maximizing your Social Security benefit can make the difference between living fairly well or not.
Social Security planning areas we can help you with include:
- Claiming strategies to maximize your Social Security benefit
- Spousal benefits
- How benefits are taxed
- How divorce or widowhood affect your benefit
- How working or pension income affects your benefit
- How to apply for your Social Security benefit
Pensions
If you are fortunate enough to have a pension, we can help you analyze the plethora of claiming options available to you. Such options have a life-long affect and are critical to your income planning for you and your spouse. Just one example is the Joint and Survivorship benefit may have multiple options and each option may have a ‘revert-to’ clause. We will help you sort through all of nuances and determine the best claiming option for you.
Other Retirement Funds
- Leveraging your other retirement assets such as IRA’s and 401(k)’s
- What is your most tax-efficient withdrawal strategy?
Healthcare
Medicare is no longer linked to Social Security and has its own claiming strategy and timing. If you don’t apply in a timely matter, a 10% penalty will be added to your yearly Part B premiums – forever! We’ll help you with your claiming strategy and any gap insurance requirements you may have.
With the soaring cost of nursing home care now averaging well over $90,000 per year in Michigan, Long-Term Care (LTC) is a critical component of retirement planning and your risk management plan. We’ll help you determine if you can self-fund or if LTC insurance is a viable option. Some life insurance policies can also be a useful strategy.
It’s All About You
If you are like most people, you have worked hard for the money you have and you want the best retirement that you can afford. Our job is to navigate the complexity of retirement planning for you, show you various retirement scenarios, and make recommendations so you can have the best lifestyle possible.
Check out some of these valuable resources and then give us a call!
Valuable Resources
- Social Security Retirement Planner – Estimate your benefits, apply for benefits and a host of other information
- Social Security Reform – Read up on various proposals to keep Social Security solvent
- Working While on Social Security – How Working Affects Your Benefits
About Kastler Financial Planning
Our core purpose is to improve the financial life for each and every client we serve. We believe that people of all income levels should have access to affordable and professional financial planning and investment management services, without the pressure or bias of product sales and commissions. Always acting as a fiduciary, the only fee we receive is the fee paid by the client. We put your best interest before our own. No product sales, no commissions, and no account minimums.
We specialize in family planning, families with Special Needs Planning, Retirement Planning, Retirement Tax Planning, and Small Business Retirement Plan Consulting. Our services are analytical and will be appreciated by the engineering and technical-minded individuals. We also use “bubble up” reports for the not-so-technically minded.
Our services can be performed either as hourly, a one-time fee-only project, or as On-Going Financial Planning, depending on your needs. Compare our fee-only services. Our suite of services also include Investment Management Services with the options of % AUM or flat-fee portfolio management.
We aim for a pleasant client experience whether you are in our office or remote across the country through computer screen sharing technology. Visit our Client Portal to learn how to get started with a complimentary ‘Get Acquainted’ meeting.
Contact Us
If you have any question on how our services may apply to you, please contact me at the number below or submit an email through our Contact Us form.
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Kastler Financial Planning | Ortonville, MI 48462
248-564-1404
