Five Ways to Fulfill Your Retirement Dreams - by Jackie Waters

Five Ways to Fulfill Your Retirement Dreams

Guest Post by Jackie Waters

Five Ways to Fulfill Your Retirement Dreams

Depending on your current age, retirement can sound like a lifetime away from now. Many people establish short-term savings goals, but what about the last 20 to 40 years of your life? Have you truly established a plan for yourself once you don’t have to go to the same job everyday? Creating the ideal retirement for yourself isn’t rocket science. In fact, here are five easy ways to turn your retirement dreams into reality:

1.    Set your goal

Do you want to retire at age 50, or do you want to work into your 60s? Where do you envision the rest of your life -- on an exotic island, in the mountains across country, or in your home of 30 years? You can certainly have your “golden years” be fruitful when the time comes, but first you need to decide what that picture looks like. Once you have a specific idea in mind, you can begin to plan on saving to fulfill those dreams.

2.    Determine your savings plan

Many companies offer a 401(k) savings plan to their employees. This can either be matched by their employers at a considerable rate (sometimes up to as much as 15%), or it is simply for the employee to contribute into on a weekly or monthly basis. Of course, this type of savings account is optional, so you won’t automatically accumulate savings -- you’ll have to elect to do so. Speak to your HR representative about this type of benefit for more information.

An especially good option for those who are younger, and if your company offers it, is converting to a Roth 401(k). The beauty of this retirement option is that even though you are paying taxes on the front end, when you are younger and in a lower tax bracket, you will reap the benefits later when you retire, as all earnings are tax-deferred. You cannot take tax deductions on your contributions, but the payoff when you retire is worth it.

If you are self-employed, living and working overseas, or simply just want another retirement source, you may want to think about a traditional or Roth IRA. Although each type of IRA has rules and stipulations, both allow you to make yearly contributions of up to $5,500 per year. With accumulated interest on top of annual additions, you could retire very comfortably if you start saving at a young age.

It’s also wise to keep all of your income and retirement savings tax documents in order from now until retirement, either with an accountant, W2 or 1099 software, or your own personal system of organization. You don’t want to be caught unprepared for an audit, especially once you’ve reached retirement.

  

3.    Set your goal

Do you want to retire at age 50, or do you want to work into your 60s? Where do you envision the rest of your life -- on an exotic island, in the mountains across country, or in your home of 30 years? You can certainly have your “golden years” be fruitful when the time comes, but first you need to decide what that picture looks like. Once you have a specific idea in mind, you can begin to plan on saving to fulfill those dreams.

4.    Determine your savings plan

Many companies offer a 401(k) savings plan to their employees. This can either be matched by their employers at a considerable rate (sometimes up to as much as 15%), or it is simply for the employee to contribute into on a weekly or monthly basis. Of course, this type of savings account is optional, so you won’t automatically accumulate savings -- you’ll have to elect to do so. Speak to your HR representative about this type of benefit for more information.

An especially good option for those who are younger, and if your company offers it, is converting to a Roth 401(k). The beauty of this retirement option is that even though you are paying taxes on the front end, when you are younger and in a lower tax bracket, you will reap the benefits later when you retire, as all earnings are tax-deferred. You cannot take tax deductions on your contributions, but the payoff when you retire is worth it.

If you are self-employed, living and working overseas, or simply just want another retirement source, you may want to think about a traditional or Roth IRA. Although each type of IRA has rules and stipulations, both allow you to make yearly contributions of up to $5,500 per year. With accumulated interest on top of annual additions, you could retire very comfortably if you start saving at a young age.

It’s also wise to keep all of your income and retirement savings tax documents in order from now until retirement, either with an accountant, W2 or 1099 software, or your own personal system of organization. You don’t want to be caught unprepared for an audit, especially once you’ve reached retirement.

5.    Decide how you want to save

Are you a person who wants your savings to be taken out of your weekly paycheck automatically, or would you rather seek out your own method for contributions? Maybe your intentions are to first build an emergency fund or pay off a large debt before you begin investments, which means you only start off by adding your income leftovers to your savings. Perhaps for the IRA, you would feel more comfortable adding one big chunk at a time, every few months. While it’s advised that you should be making contributions as often as possible due to compound interest, unique situations or personal beliefs interfere with the ability to make weekly or monthly additions.

6.    Consider passive income sources

If you have a steady source of income that allows you to retire comfortably, you could still be making money and gaining revenue through passive incomes, even while you’re retiring in paradise and the paycheck is no longer automatic. Different kinds of passive income include real estate investments, writing a popular blog or eBook, renting out a space in your home, and affiliate sales marketing.

Since you assumably have more time on your hands, retirement is a fantastic opportunity to take small risks, like becoming a silent partner on a new business or channeling your love for photography and selling pictures online. With passive income, the opportunities are endless.

7.    Wait for retirement before spending

It’s tempting to withdraw your savings amount before retirement, especially if a financial crisis hits and you need money quickly. However, with several retirement savings options, there are penalties, taxes, and other fees that are accounted for before you’re able to see the fruits of your labor. For instance, with any type of IRA, you have to pay an additional 10% tax for early withdrawals. With other forms of long-term investments, you may encounter significant hardships with removing money from an account that requires you to first be of a certain age.

Photo credit: Pixabay

8.    Decide how you want to save

Are you a person who wants your savings to be taken out of your weekly paycheck automatically, or would you rather seek out your own method for contributions? Maybe your intentions are to first build an emergency fund or pay off a large debt before you begin investments, which means you only start off by adding your income leftovers to your savings. Perhaps for the IRA, you would feel more comfortable adding one big chunk at a time, every few months. While it’s advised that you should be making contributions as often as possible due to compound interest, unique situations or personal beliefs interfere with the ability to make weekly or monthly additions.

9.    Consider passive income sources

If you have a steady source of income that allows you to retire comfortably, you could still be making money and gaining revenue through passive incomes, even while you’re retiring in paradise and the paycheck is no longer automatic. Different kinds of passive income include real estate investments, writing a popular blog or eBook, renting out a space in your home, and affiliate sales marketing.

Since you assumably have more time on your hands, retirement is a fantastic opportunity to take small risks, like becoming a silent partner on a new business or channeling your love for photography and selling pictures online. With passive income, the opportunities are endless.

10. Wait for retirement before spending

It’s tempting to withdraw your savings amount before retirement, especially if a financial crisis hits and you need money quickly. However, with several retirement savings options, there are penalties, taxes, and other fees that are accounted for before you’re able to see the fruits of your labor. For instance, with any type of IRA, you have to pay an additional 10% tax for early withdrawals. With other forms of long-term investments, you may encounter significant hardships with removing money from an account that requires you to first be of a certain age.

Ms. Waters is a mother of four boys, and lives on a farm in Oregon. She is passionate about providing a healthy and happy home for her family, and aims to provide advice for others on how to do the same with her site Hyper-Tidy.com.

Back to Blogging

Back to Blogging

Getting back on track

Back to Blogging

As with many other things in life, I have fallen off of my blogging habit the past few months.  The easy excuse is that I am expecting another baby this summer, and those early months of pregnancy were just plain old not fun and I didn't have the bandwidth for my blogging habit.  However, like most things that are good for us and important to do, even a reprieve from them is not reason to abandon the practice.  Instead, I am openly admitting the inconsistency, asking for any reader's forgiveness and wanting to get back on track!

What habits are good for you that you have swayed away from?  Given my profession, the easy example is checking your budget!  We have found time and time again speaking with clients that by making them just track their spending, they have a tendency to spend less.  It may be partially because they know they will have to be accountable for their purchases, spouses/significant others may be shared this information in a more transparent way, or simply because the act of tracking makes them take pause before making a spending decision.  Sometimes, that momentary break to think before taking action is enough for us to break a bad habit or start a good one!

The other easy parallel with finance is fitness!  We all know we should move more and eat less to be in better shape, but if it was so darn easy, why do so many of us struggle with our weight and nationally do we struggle with unprecedented obesity levels?  Because these habits are linked to deep emotional and psychological identities we have created for ourselves.  The same thing is true with spending - so think about the habits you created for yourself, the habits of your spouse, and the habits your parents displayed in your childhood home.  Chances are you are mirroring the spending habits you were raised with, or "othering" that  behavior and acting in complete contrast to what you saw exhibited in your households.  And, like with fitness, tracking your actions is the best way to identify these actions.  Knowing that you have to write down every calorie or workout out each day certainly seems to be enough for many of us to change our actions.

So keep me accountable, and keep yourself accountable!  Take pause before action to ensure you are acting with intention - and track the actions you want to change.

Student Loans - How does Public Service Loan Forgiveness work??

The murky waters of student loan forgiveness

Student Loans - How does PSLF work??

I recently attended an intensive course all about student loans.  You may think - how boring?  Hour after hour just discussing student loans?  I have to tell you - it was actually incredibly interesting and I have the amazing leaders in this space Heather Jarvis and Adam Minsky to thank for that.  Shout outs to them aside, what were some of my key takeaway's?

First off, the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program - while it is an active congressional measure - has yet to actually forgive any student loans!  In fact I personally suspect the government doesn't even have a proper plan in place yet to honor the forgiveness.  In 2007, Congress passed the College Cost Reduction and Access Act of 2007 which first created the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program.  The Public Service Loan Forgiveness program has a few requirements.  As Heather says:

1. You have to be making the right kind of payment - your student loan payments must be in Pay as You Earn, Income Based Repayment or Income Contingent Repayment status.  Insider's tip - Payments made before October 1, 2007 don't count towards forgiveness.  
2. On the right kind of loan - your student loan must be a Federal Direct loan issued before July 2010.
3. While working at the right place - you must be working for a government agency or 501(c)3 organization. Insider's tip - To ensure your employment is counting towards your forgiveness, submit the PSLF Employment Certification Form annually.
4. Repeat 120 times (or ten years if you are making consecutive payments) - this means that for folks that started doing this on the first date available in 2007 and did all the above steps accurately, the first forgiveness will be granted in October 1, 2017.  Insider's tip - And don't be late on your payments, otherwise that payment doesn't count!
5. Prove it! - When it is time for your loans to be forgiven, the responsibility will be on you to prove that you did all the above accurately 120 times, so keep good records.  Insider's tip - Don't leave your employer until your loans have been forgiven in full!  This may put your forgiveness at risk.  

More about student loan forgiveness for other folks who don't work in the government or for a charitable organization next time!

Full-Time Parent and Full-Time Business Owner

Full-Time Parent and Full-Time Business Owner

Productivity Tips to Getting Through Life!

Full-Time Parent and Full-Time Business Owner

I was asked to speak on a panel entitled "Full-Time Parent and Full-Time Business Owner" at the recent conference we attended.  Many attendees to this conference are young professionals with young families and the organization is made up about 40% of female financial planners which is rather high percentage of women in a financial services industry.  I initially thought we would get mostly women who are already parents attend this particular panel, and was surprised to see when we took a quick poll of the audience that the mix was about even in terms of men and women, and that a large segment of the attendees did not even start a family yet.  I quickly realized that this issue that is traditionally targeted towards women and young moms is actually a much larger conversation that impacts both men and women and is a large concern for those who are planning to start a family.

As myself and the other panelists began the discussion, we initially told them a little bit about ourselves and answered one question from the moderator about the forever alluding work/life balance.  We then opened up the 75 minute discussion to the audience and found that we spent the entire remainder of the panel answering the many questions folks had - clearly this was a hot topic!

Most of the questions we received actually focused on productivity techniques and we were happy to share some of them with the audience.  In terms of running our business there are a number of online resources I and my fellow panelists use to create efficiencies such as:

• Online schedulers (ScheduleOnce, Calendly)
• Virtual assistants
• Workflow managers (Process Street)
• Template use (text expander)  

However, we also spoke about a number of productivity tools that help us run our households which include weekly meetings with our spouses so we are all on the same page as to who is picking up which child when, a shared calendar with our spouse, using Trello with a spouse for planning and helping with household chores, and getting our own financial planner.

Another interesting question we received is "when do you know you made it?".  This is a particularly hard question to answer.  First off, yes - we would love to have a dollar amount likely commensurate to our earnings prior to starting the business that we would like to contribute to the households.  But in addition, there is another significant benefit to being a business owner which is that we get to make our own hours.  Sometimes that means waking up early and working late, but getting to spend a couple hours with our children that we otherwise would not have.  What I would say is think about you core values and what made you start your business, and memorialize them in some way by either making a list, a dream board, whatever works for you.  Sometimes you are going to compromise on take home income for a number of years for the benefit of being able to contribute in other meaningful ways to your young family.  And let's face it, your family is only young once.  

If your core values are being met, and your business is growing in line with projections, you are success in the making.  I personally don't think we will ever feel like we made it, so I can settle for that...

Planning for Millennials - We are on to something!!!

Planning For Millennials

We are on to something!!!

Planning for Millennials

Rob and I spent the past few days at a conference in San Diego, California for financial planners focusing on young professionals, similar to us!  To see the growth that this business has had since we started just over three years ago, for both ourselves and for others in this space, has really been quite the journey.  The most exciting part is that we are not alone to think young professionals should have access to financial planners!

So you may ask - Why?

Reduced Retirement Income - Well in the past, many folks did not have to save much money for retirement because their pensions and social security would be able to provide them the funds they needed to support their lifestyle.  Unfortunately, we have seen a gradual shift in the economy as a whole to increase the responsibility of saving for retirement away from employers and the government onto the individuals.

Investment Accounts - Now that we have to save up for more of our retirement, we need to know how to safely invest those funds.  In addition, young professionals move jobs on average every 3-5 years, and accumulate multiple retirement accounts from prior employers.  What do you do after you leave your job to make sure your old accounts are still being taken care of?

Increased Debt - Student loan debt is quoted at $1.3 billion spread out over 43 million borrowers with the amount of debt taken out for new student loans each year increasing.  It is not uncommon to see young professionals with advanced degrees and sizable student loans.  How do you figure out the best way to repay these loans?  Are you eligible for any of the forgiveness options?  If so, what do you need to do to ensure you are on the right path to have debt forgiven in future years?  There is so much information around student loan debt so stay tuned for a future post with more details here.

Life Goals - How do you save up to purchase a home in such a strong real estate market as the New York City and surrounding tri-state area?  How much money will you need to put down when you buy a home?  Do you know how to avoid being subject to PMI?  How much money does it cost to have a wedding?  What can we expect in expenses when we start a family?  What happens if you want to change careers or go back to school?  All of these questions and more are so important to have answers to.

We are so thrilled to be with so many other financial planners the past few days whom acknowledge the need for advanced planning for young professionals and to share with them our thoughts, advice and experience in building this business.  The more planners there are, the more young professionals that can get access to the services they need and deserve.

With that, I raise a glass to this growing field of financial planning for young professionals and say thank you to those who believed in this dream Rob and I had who believed in us and our vision for the future.  What a movement to be part of...

Cookies and Cream

Family Business 

Cookies and Cream

So - as many of you know, my business partner is also my brother.  Rob and I have always been close, as children we rarely fought and always had one another's back.  I taught him how to read and tie his shoes, and he always could lighten my usually more serious demeanor with a joke or his normal teasing way.

However, as I am sure anyone who has met us can see, we are really different people in so, so many ways.  The way we respond to a problem, interact with our spouses, initiate new ideas (of which Rob has many!), sleep, eat, the list goes on.  We are personally amazed sometimes how we were raised in the same household with the same incredible parents and yet can be so independent in our own ways.  Genetics astounds me...

I don't know exactly when it started, but at some point our mom used to refer to us as "cookies and cream".  This partially came as a joke because I was the child with the dark brown hair, brown eyes and olive skin tone and Rob popped out with fair skin, blonde hair and his awesome blue eyes.  But I have come to think back on this phrase as such a compliment to our partnership as siblings.  Who can pick their favorite part of Cookies and Cream ice cream?  As I type I do want to note that I can hear Rob's voice in my head saying, "we all know it is the Vanilla" - he is always to first one to give me a hard time.  Nonetheless, the beauty of Cookies and Cream is the simple way they balance one another.

Rob and I have found this balance in working with one another.  Of course the balance is ever-evolving, as is our relationship.  As the business grows, I am sure this balance will continue to be tested and I for one believe in us to see it through.  While our differences sometimes can drive me crazy, I also am so proud of them and wear them as a badge of honor.  

Back to Business

Work life balance?  Sway?  

Back to Business

I know this week was a big return to school schedules and work picked up post Labor Day for many of you, and similarly, we are very much in the swing of things at Legacy Care Wealth.  The past few months have been full of adventures both positive and negative, and it is really rewarding to look back and think about how they have changed me, Rob and the future of the business for the better.  

One conference I attended this summer has really stayed with me.  Back in June, I attended a Women in Finance conference in NYC and one of the speakers was Jeanne Thompson who has become acclaimed for her writing on what she called "sway" (google it to find more information!).  Sway is her solution to the constant attempt she experienced in her life and career to find some kind of work/life balance - if it really exists.  Her takeaway is that there is no true balance.  Instead there will be times in her life where her family take priority and she took a back seat in her career, and other times when her career was a primary focus and the family had to accommodate around her professional demands.  This ebb and flow of priorities has resulted in a sway in her life, and a different kind of balance that she can accept.  

While I don't think there is one true answer to balance and sway that is universal for all, I truly think work/life balance is what you make it to be, and there will inevitably be some sway in your life - meaning that some times the scale will be tipped more in favor of one side versus the other.  Instead, as we get back to our schedules, I say let's try to figure out what a "normal week" would look like - a normal that falls into the SMART goals guideline of being Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic and Timely.  While this SMART schedule may not be your ideal week, it is manageable and all of your basic goals for yourself, your career and your family, will be met.  Then live it!  See how you do each week.  By having a baseline, when the inevitable work demand pops up or you get a call that your child is sick, you will have a better understanding of just how "off-track" you may be and what you need to do to get back on track.  Usually by putting this kind of system in place for yourself, you will find great relief when there is a variation that pulls you more to one end of the scale versus the other.  

We use a similar practice when it comes to financial planning.  While we know our goals will inevitably change over time and the assumptions we make in your future will likely be modified, it is so important to have a baseline to work from in planning your future.  Then as you have surprises, either positive or negative, you will have an understanding of the impact it can have on your future and be able to adjust accordingly.  

Without charting a course, trying to course correct is all that more difficult.