ANALYSIS OF CURRENT AND FUTURE INCOME NEEDS AND DISTRIBUTION REQUIREMENTS

Knowing how much you will need to spend in retirement is important to understanding how much you need to save now. How much money would you need on average per month? What happens when you get older and perhaps need assistance with care? Have you considered the Aged care financial advice Brisbane has to offer? There’s quite a lot to consider when it comes to retirement and it’s not something that can be pushed aside. We not only help clients determine future income needs, but we also analyze their current income to identify how much they can be saving now to ensure they reach their retirement goals.

TAX PLANNING AND MANAGEMENT OF RETIREMENT ASSETS

Most people want to minimize the amount of taxes paid on the distribution of their assets. We work together with our clients and their CPAs to review their tax returns annually and make sure they are doing everything they can to be as tax efficient as possible. One of the ways we do that is through the management of their retirement assets – ensuring that they are utilizing the most appropriate options for retirement savings to reduce unnecessary taxes.

REVIEW AND GUIDANCE ON EMPLOYER-PROVIDED RETIREMENT PLANS

Most employer-provided retirement plans, such as 401(k)s, offer limited investment options, and often, people don’t know what to choose. While we cannot directly manage these plans, we can dive deeper into each of the funds offered to help clients choose those that will help them best achieve their financial goals.

ESTABLISHMENT OF A HOLISTIC DISTRIBUTION STRATEGY FOR RETIREMENT

Taking into consideration a number of factors, such as retirement income needs, tax bracket and various accounts from which the clients receive distributions, we identify strategies for most efficiently distributing their assets in retirement. For example, some accounts, such as taxable accounts, are easier to transfer to beneficiaries than others, like IRAs, so a distribution strategy can identify how much the client should be taking from an IRA, where there is a required minimum distribution, versus from a taxable account, which does not require a specific annual distribution.

Life is unpredictable. Often, the only thing you can predict about life is change. And, it’s important to keep your estate plan up to date as those life changes occur. This means not only ensuring your Last Will and Testament is updated, but also that the beneficiaries on your retirement savings accounts match those listed in your will – because the beneficiaries on your IRA will supersede your Last Will and Testament. We regularly review these documents with our clients to ensure they are updated and accurate.

Inheriting an IRA is much more complicated than many people know, and there is a process for avoiding mismanagement of the inherited funds. We help clients adhere to the requirements and avoid the penalties, which can cost as much as 50%, so that they are able to maximize the assets that were left to them.