WEALTH MANAGEMENT
IRA & 401(k) Rollovers
Don’t leave your money just sitting around in old accounts!
When you change jobs or retire, there are four things you can generally do with the assets in any employer-sponsored retirement plan:
- Leave the money where it is.
- Take the cash (and pay income taxes and perhaps a 10 percent additional federal tax if you are younger than age 59 ½).
- Transfer the money to another employer plan (if the new plan allows).
- Roll the money over into an IRA account. Deciding what to do with employer-sponsored retirement plans is a uniquely personal decision with certain potential advantages and disadvantages. We can help you explore your options to find the one that best suits your needs and objectives.
Rolling over from one qualified plan to another qualified plan allows your money to continue growing tax-deferred until you receive distributions in retirement. We can help you determine if a rollover is the right move for you.
College Investment Plans
Besides retirement, saving for education expenses is another common concern for some investors
There are many ways to save for college — you could use traditional savings accounts, but you could also consider something like a 529 College Savings Plan. There are other options, too.
At our firm, we help people integrate college savings plans as part of their everyday wealth-management and financial-planning goals. We’re happy to help you see if a college savings plan is right for you. Stop by for a no-obligation consultation!
Investments
Money can't buy love. But it can buy a whole bunch of other stuff.
We know the gamut of wealth management and insurance products. We understand what it takes to save. We also know the complexities of spending — inflation, expenses, long-term care, once-in-a-lifetime vacations. As the great writer Douglas Adams once said, “Trying to predict the future is a mug’s game. But increasingly it’s a game we all have to play because the world is changing so fast and we need to have some sort of idea of what the future’s actually going to be like because we are going to have to live there, probably next week.”
Nothing can take the risk out of investing. The market will always have some measure of volatility — but without risk, you can’t have reward; also, having a certain portion of your assets in the market gives you the opportunity to build on your existing wealth. Over time, that growth potential could help you offset the effects of inflation and other factors that erode the purchasing power of your assets — assets you may be counting on to see you to and through retirement.
We have experience with stocks, bonds, mutual funds, Exchange Traded Funds (ETF), Nontraded Real Estate Investment Trusts (REIT), and retirement accounts such as IRA, Roth IRA, Simple IRA, SEP IRA, 401K Plan, 403b Plan, 457b Plan, profit sharing plan, and Pension plans. We’d love the opportunity to sit down with you and understand your goals and recommend the services and products that may fit inside your overall financial strategy.
Annuities
There are a variety of Annuities. Some are simple while others have many features. Because of the many features, there are also many myths about them. For those advisors that learn the product and use it for the right person and for the right reason; it can be an appropriate and necessary option. For those that do not take the time to learn and understand annuities, it is easier to dismiss them and not offer them to clients even though an annuity may be a necessary part of their retirement; as they are the only product that can provide guaranteed income for life. So, not everyone understands the different types of annuities. We do — and we know how to use them when it is the right fit.
Because there are many myths about annuities, we are giving you a more detailed explanation of “what are annuities?”
Annuities can play an important role in retirement income, but it’s important to understand your options before making any decisions — particularly around defined benefit pensions, health care costs, and Social Security
What is an annuity?
An annuity is a contract between you and an insurance company in which the company promises to make periodic payments to you, starting immediately or at some future time. You buy an annuity either with a single payment or a series of payments called premiums.
Some annuity contracts provide a way to save for retirement. Others can turn your savings into a stream of retirement income. Still others do both. If you use an annuity as a savings vehicle and the insurance company delays your pay-out to the future, you have a deferred annuity. If you use the annuity to create a source of retirement income and your payments start right away, you have an immediate annuity.
The two most common types of annuities are fixed and variable. There is also a hybrid called an indexed annuity, also referred to as an equity-indexed annuity or a fixed-index annuity. Variable annuities are securities and under FINRA's jurisdiction.
Annuities are often products investors consider when they plan for retirement—so it pays to understand them. They also are often marketed as tax-deferred savings products. Annuities come with a variety of fees and expenses, such as surrender charges, mortality and expense risk charges and administrative fees. Annuities also can have high commissions, reaching seven percent or more.
