Retirement Income Planning

Retirement used to be simple – not anymore. People are living longer, and many do not have access to traditional pension arrangements. Returns on risk-free savings have declined to almost zero, while real inflation persists. The costs of medical and long-term care are increasing at an even faster pace. As a result, individuals entering retirement today are facing more financial risk than ever before.

 

Today’s retirees need a robust plan for retirement income. This typically starts with a strategy to maximize your Social Security benefits. If you’re lucky, you may also have an opportunity to choose from several options offered by a corporate pension or retirement plan. For most retirees, however, the current economic environment presents historically unique challenges to generating enough income for a long and secure retirement. We take these challenges very seriously. We help each client craft a retirement income plan that seeks to balance the need for current cash generation and capital stability with the need for long-term growth. We consider many financial instruments and asset classes when crafting a financial plan to your long-term income needs and goals.  The following are asset classes considered while crafting an income plan:

  • Annuities - where appropriate annuities can provide peace of mind and stability but we are mindful that over-annuitizing a retiree’s assets can seriously limit their financial flexibility in this new era income planning.
  • Real Estate – Non-Traded REITs provide a great opportunity to diversify between growth and income, provide tax advantages previously only set aside for wealthy investors, potential for steady income, and diversity by type and location.
  • Other Alternative Investments - Debt instruments may provide means for creating an income stream previously set aside for institutions, pensions, and endowment funds.
  • Custom Investment Management – By strategically utilizing asset managers we gain direct access to time tested investment managers to suit your custom needs.  Mixing strategies to help achieve your stated goals through actively managed stocks, bonds, ETFs and Mutual funds.

 

Protecting, Preserving and Growing your hard-earned retirement assets according to your needs is our goal. Funding aside, we try to make sure that pre-retirees and new retirees consider the new possibilities, choices and risks that they face. Will you want to downsize, or perhaps to a different part of the country or world altogether? What are your life goals for retirement? Are you merely leaving your current work, or are you actively involved in moving toward a new life of your choosing?

 

Retirement Planning, therefore, is more complicated than ever. Retirees in particular may need assistance with:

  •       Social Security claiming strategies
  •       Choices involving corporate retirement plans & payouts
  •       Long-term care planning
  •       Retirement cash flow planning
  •       Annuitization and income security
  •       Life-phase planning
  •       Specialized income investing

 

Whatever your needs, CFA is here to help provide clarity and guide you through the options available to you and help you in the decision-making process.  We understand the challenges you and your family face in this new era of retirement navigation, having road map in place to face the future challenges is central to our process.