RetireReadyFIT™ Archives - Atlanta Financial Associates, LLC

Five New Year’s Resolutions to Keep in 2020

January 21, 2020

At the start of a new year, many of us sit back and make resolutions about a number of different things. It may be spending more time with your family, losing weight, traveling more, any number of things that are important to you. These are probably things that you have resolved to do previously but many times as the year goes on, you find that your resolve has dissipated.

However, resolutions around financial goals can be different. Many of these are things to consider and decide on. At the end of the process, you can feel confident that you have considered what is important for your financial health and move forward to the end of the year resolving to do the same the next year.

What is the SECURE Act and does it matter to me?

January 14, 2020

The Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement (“SECURE”) Act was signed into law on December 20, 2019. With all of the discussion in the news around the political uncertainty, impeachment, and the looming trade war, one of the largest changes to retirement savings laws in recent years was passed with very little fanfare. However, some of the changes will be significant. I have tried to highlight what may impact the majority of our clients and readers.

The Act has a lot of positives such as simplifying rules and making 401k plans potentially available to more workers, pushing back the RMD age, and allowing contributions to IRAs past age 70. The negative impact I see is the elimination of the stretch IRA which is a clear move by the government to raise tax revenues by forcing money out of inherited IRAs sooner. I will discuss in more detail below, but this should be a time to review beneficiaries and discuss whether any change in your legacy planning should be made in response to the new laws. What do you need to pay attention to?

Baby Steps: Financial Moves for Every Decade of Life

December 11, 2019

Recently, my husband and I took care of our 12-month old granddaughter while our daughter and son-in-law took a much-needed vacation together. When they dropped her off, their parting words were, “She is almost ready to walk, but make sure she waits until we get home!”

Famous last words… Of course, as soon as they left the house, she was trying to walk – literally everywhere. And after about 24 hours she was taking her first baby steps. By the time they arrived back three days later, she was walking (a little unsteadily but walking none-the-less) and was very proud of herself. Great strides in just a few days but predicated on all of the trial and error and lessons learned in the months before.

Financial planning is a little like this. You’ll make mistakes along the way – everyone does. But you will do a lot of things right as well and the important thing to remember is that your financial health is based on doing the little things right, all along the way.

So, what should you be doing when you are 22, 52 or 72? Here are three important tips for each decade.

Asking the Right Questions

October 29, 2019

People say the only bad questions are the ones you don’t ask. That can be true, and asking bad questions likely won’t hurt you, but it is more important to ask the “Right” questions. In the last year, I met with a potential client who asked me a question I want to share with you. After some “get to know you chat” he asked me, “So, how are your results?” to which I responded, “Very high.” I could see the confusion on his face, so I just waited. As I will explain later, this had nothing to do with guaranteeing results.

How Much Will Your Social Security Increase in 2020?

October 14, 2019

You may have heard that the Social Security Administration officially announced that Social Security recipients will receive a 1.6% cost-of-living (COLA) adjustment for 2020. Those increased payments will start in January 2020. The purpose of the COLA is to help the purchasing power of Social Security benefits keep pace with inflation. Congress first enacted the COLA provision as part of the 1972 Social Security Amendments, with automatic annual COLAs began in 1975. Before that, benefits were increased only when Congress enacted special legislation.

Creating a Tax Efficient Retirement Withdrawal Strategy

October 14, 2019

In working with my retired or soon-to-be retired clients, perhaps the most frequent question I am asked is “What is the best way to withdraw from my investment and retirement accounts in retirement in order to provide me my desired retirement income?” I believe they ask me this question because many of them have investments in a mix of different accounts with varying tax characteristics such as taxable investment accounts, IRAs, 401k or retirement plan accounts, Roth IRAs, and possibly real estate investments such as rental property. In addition to that, they may also have retirement income coming in from multiple sources and at different times such as Social Security income, pension income, and deferred compensation. If you are interested in increasing what you can spend in retirement and reducing the impact taxes have on your retirement nest egg, it is important to have a multi-year retirement income plan that takes into account the impact taxes will have on both your retirement income sources, and the withdrawals you take from your different investment and retirement accounts.

Tag: RetireReadyFIT™

Five New Year’s Resolutions to Keep in 2020

What is the SECURE Act and does it matter to me?

Baby Steps: Financial Moves for Every Decade of Life

Asking the Right Questions

How Much Will Your Social Security Increase in 2020?

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