Blog

Retirement Income Toolbox

Brandon M. Smith

Sunday, July 15, 2018

This month I wanted to share an article that may have some great news for those retirees on Social Security. It was written by Mary Beth Franklin and appeared in the June 11, 2018 version of Investment News.com Social Security COLA...

Retirement Income Toolbox

Brandon M. Smith

Friday, June 15, 2018

The following is a summary of an article written by Avi Salzman for Barron’s May 14, 2018 edition. I found the information to be interesting and possibly some of you that reside in California will agree. California Brightens...

Retirement Income Toolbox

Brandon M. Smith

Tuesday, May 15, 2018

The following is a summary of an article in Investment News 5/7/18 issue by Greg Iacurci Roth Accounts, which provide for tax-free withdrawals are incredibly important to retirees- and by extension, their advisors. There are multiple...

Retirement Income Toolbox

Brandon M. Smith

Sunday, April 15, 2018

The following is a summary of another great article from Investment News .com Feb 2018 by Mary Beth Franklin. Timing key for benefits enrollment Mistakes in signing up for Social Security, Medicare could be costly Sometimes the most...

Retirement Income Toolbox

Brandon M. Smith

Thursday, March 15, 2018

Retirement Income Toolbox 3-15-18 The following is a summary of an article from Investment News .com Feb 2018 by Mary Beth Franklin. I think some of the information is still valuable to certain individuals. Social Security underpaid...

Retirement Income Toolbox

Brandon M. Smith

Thursday, February 15, 2018

The following is a summary of an article from Investment News .com Jan 2018 by Ed Slott. With the recent changes in tax laws, I think it is valuable and interesting information and wanted to pass it on. Why aren’t clients using...

Retirement Income Toolbox

Brandon M. Smith

Monday, January 15, 2018

One common very common question that is asked to almost every Financial Advisor “How much can I take out of my retirement account and not run out of money?” seems to surface repetitiously. Every Advisor and firm have their...

Retirement Income Toolbox

Brandon M. Smith

Friday, December 15, 2017

I recently came across another great article by Mary Beth Franklin in the Nov 27, 2017, Investment News. The information will certainly interest retirees and Medicare recipients. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS)...

Retirement Income Toolbox

Brandon M. Smith

Friday, November 17, 2017

The following is a summary of an article from Investment News .com Oct. 2017 by Mary Beth Franklin. I think it is valuable and interesting information and wanted to pass it on. Monthly Social Security benefits for more than 66 million...

Retirement Income Toolbox

Brandon M. Smith

Sunday, October 15, 2017

The following is a summary of an article titled “Retiree health costs soar” from Investment News .com June 2017 by Mary Beth Franklin. I found the information on interest and valuable to pass along. Health care costs in...

Retirment Income Toolbox

Brandon M. Smith

Friday, September 15, 2017

The following is a summary of an article titled “Silver lining of inflation may be increased by COLA” from Investment News .com June 2017 by Mary Beth Franklin Social Security beneficiaries have lost nearly a third of their...

Retirement Income Toolbox

Brandon M. Smith

Tuesday, August 15, 2017

The following article is a summary of an article that appeared in the July 10, 2017 Investment News.com magazine written by Jeff Benjamin. I found the information useful and hope that others may learn something new too. In some cases,...

Retirement Income Toolbox

Brandon M. Smith

Saturday, July 15, 2017

Common RMD mistakes to avoid During almost every retiree’s golden years they are faced with some choices regarding withdrawing a minimum amount per year from their retirement accounts. This is known as RMDs or Required Minimum...

Retirement Income Toolbox

Brandon M. Smith

Thursday, June 15, 2017

Most people when contributing to their various retirement savings vehicles are aware of the reporting requirements of deductible plans. I recently read an article in April 2017’s InvestmentNews.com by Tim Steffen that may open...

Retirement Income Toolbox

Brandon M. Smith

Monday, May 15, 2017

Retirement Income Toolbox May 15, 2017 The following information caught my eye when reading the April 10, 2017 article in Investment News. The article was written by Liz Skinner Families who have special needs children require...

Retirement Income Toolbox

Brandon M. Smith

Saturday, April 15, 2017

Retirement Income Toolbox 4/15/17 I feel the following information I read in an article by Mary Beth Franklin in InvestmentNews.com Feb 20, 2017 worth reading for those who would like some other options for funding health care and...

Retirement Income Toolbox

Brandon M. Smith

Wednesday, March 15, 2017

This article from the Financial Planning Association gives some of the top investment mistakes to avoid. You will take notice that almost each and every one of them is emotionally driven instead of logically inspired. Ten Investment...

Retirement Income Toolbox

Brandon M. Smith

Wednesday, February 15, 2017

This article from the Financial Planner’s Association may be of some interest to some as we continue into the tax season for 2017 Tax Strategies for Retirees Description: Managing taxes in retirement can be complex. Thoughtful...

Retirement Income Toolbox

Brandon M. Smith

Sunday, January 15, 2017

Retirement Income Toolbox Now the holiday season has passed and most people are settling back into their somewhat normal schedule, most will begin the task of preparing for tax season. In this month’s article I will share some...

Retirement Income Toolbox

Brandon M. Smith

Thursday, December 15, 2016

A very commonly used platform for retirement savings and investments is the IRA. The IRS has amended the rules to restrict once per year rollovers if the individual has the distribution check payable and mailed to themselves (Currently...

Retirement Income Toolbox

Brandon M. Smith

Tuesday, November 15, 2016

Those who have retirement income plans currently in place might appreciate the value that they get from having annul reviews with their advisor. This can help when their income needs or objectives possibly take a different shape as...

Retirement Income Toolbox

Brandon M. Smith

Saturday, October 15, 2016

Those who are currently retired and receiving social security & Medicare probably will want to pay a little attention to the latest Medicare Board of Trustees report that was released just recently. They indicated that Medicare...

Retirement Income Toolbox

Brandon M. Smith

Thursday, September 15, 2016

Social Security is one of the “three” legs of the three-legged stool approach that financial planners used to describe retirement (The legs being Social Security, Personal Savings and employee pensions). By observation...

Retirement Income Toolbox

Brandon M. Smith

Friday, August 19, 2016

This month’s topic doesn’t necessarily fit completely into the “Retirement Income Toolbox” category, it certainly is closely related to how people save their money along the way. This month I wanted to touch...

Social Security Benefits for Divorced Spouses

Eric Smith, JD, CFP®

Friday, July 15, 2016

The process of going through a divorce is a life altering event for individuals. For some people this may mean a dramatic decrease in their future retirement income if they were reliant on their ex-spouse as the primary bread winner....

28 Years for Lifetime Planning

Eric Smith, JD, CFP®

Wednesday, June 15, 2016

Year 28 June, 2016 We begin our 28th year as a family owned financial advisory firm with big news that in some way isn’t “news” because our founder thought it through long ago and planned for it in stages. Financial...

Retirement Income Toolbox

Brandon M. Smith

Monday, May 16, 2016

Rebalancing, What’s in it for Me? Rebalancing a portfolio is buying and selling of some of your stocks, bonds and cash that are in your portfolio. Why would you want to do this if your portfolio seems to be doing ok? When you and...

Retirement Income Toolbox

Brandon M. Smith

Tuesday, April 26, 2016

After reading several articles recently I thought it was important to help those getting ready to put their retirement income plan in place some guidance on where to draw from first. There are essentially two scenarios you need to...

Retirement Income Toolbox

David Smith, CFP®

Tuesday, March 15, 2016

How do you, or your advisor, create an effective retirement portfolio for systematic withdrawals for retirement income? We all want to withdraw the most lifetime income we can without running out money. With current interest rates so...

Retirement Income Toolbox

David Smith, CFP®

Monday, February 15, 2016

Our third retirement income strategy is called “systematic withdrawals.” This strategy is a basic tool for generating income during retirement from a portfolio that includes stocks, bonds, cash and their related proxies....

Retirement Income Toolbox

David Smith, CFP®

Friday, January 15, 2016

Annuities “I hate annuities,” says Ken Fisher of Fisher Investments in full page ads in local as well as major newspapers. You can Google this quote and see his reasons for not liking them and they all are worth reading. What he...

Retirement Income Toolbox

David Smith, CFP®

Tuesday, December 15, 2015

Our first tool for generating retirement income is to use dividends and interest from bonds and stocks for your current use without liquidating principal. With interest rates as low as they are currently you would receive only $22,200...

Social Security's loopholes being closed

Brandon M. Smith

Friday, November 20, 2015

In the blink of an eye two very popular strategies that were available to those who qualified for Social Security have been eliminated according to Horses mouth and other various sources on the internet. Part of a budget deal that has...

There are many models for moving from a full time career to what we call “retirement.” The model for the past century when many had pensions and careers that lasted nearly all their lives was one of stopping work one day and then...

Beginning in 2015 the IRS has limited the number of rollovers from one IRA to another (or same) IRA in any 12 month period, independent of how many IRAs you might collectively have. The limit will take all of an individual’s IRAs...

SOCIALLY RESPONSIBLE INVESTING 101 David M. Smith, CFP®Prior postings to this blog provided an elementary introduction to SRI for those who might be interested in applying their values to some or all of their investments. This posting...

SOCIALLY RESPONSIBLE INVESTING 101 David M. Smith, CFP® Do you want some ESG in your portfolio? Investment jargon is filled with acronyms and terms that need defining. “SRI” is the most fundamental of these here as it...

SOCIALLY RESPONSIBLE INVESTING 101David M. Smith, CFP® The first step you might take in deciding whether or not to apply SRI to some or all of your investment selections is to decide how important is it to you to invest in companies...

With all of the buzz about Social Security strategies available through different media, people often forget to recognize some of the “Key” ages associated with S.S. Below is a summary of the current ages that various benefits are...

David M. Smith, CFP® May 15, 2015 The primary difference between traditional investing and socially responsible investing (SRI) is that your goals will be different for each strategy. Traditional investing uses profitability as the...

David M. Smith, CFP® Born in sin in the 18th century, “Socially Responsible Investing” has matured in the 21th century to support a sustainable planet and a more humane and sustainable economic system. Buying and owning slaves was...

When doing your retirement planning you will want to note that Medicare and Social Security are not always taken at the same time. Full retirement age is increasing slowly year by year, disconnecting the correlation of the dates...

While some of the updates to Social Security may or may/not have a large effect on your game plan for retirement, they are worth making note of. Per the SSA website (www.ss.gov) I have extracted some of the key changes that might be...

The Social Security Act was signed into law Aug 14, 1935. It was created due to the fact that more than half of the elderly in the 1930’s (during The Great Depression) were living below the poverty level. During this time: 1....

The COLA (Cost-of-Living Adjustment) was enacted in 1973 to provide adjustments to retirees receiving Social Security. The 2015 adjustment has been established and is a 1.7% increase over the 2014 benefits. This equates to about $20...

A topic generating a lot of buzz for some time now is the “File & Suspend” option that is available to those claiming benefits. This option allows a retiree at their full retirement age to file for benefits and then immediately...

1. Not making a plan or considering all options 2. Filing for reduced benefits at age 62 3. Assuming the SSA will know a claimant’s most advantageous strategy 4. Failing to review annual statements for accuracy 5. Not knowing the...

This can be a loaded question that is not as simple as it may seem. The rules have changed over the years and were modified in 2000 to not discourage retirees from working. The fact remains though that if a retiree is receiving Social...

Coordinating Spousal Benefits When and how married individuals claim their social security benefits can mean tens of thousands and perhaps more than a hundred thousand dollars in lifetime benefits. When each should claim their...

Social Security is exactly what the title states. Almost everyone is eligible to get retirement benefits when they turn 62. This is mostly due to participation in the program being mandatory. 96% of all workers are covered by Social...

The timing aspect I am referring to in this post is not how to utilize one of the strategies that we teach in our upcoming seminars (www. Lifetimeplanning.biz/events) but rather a basic guide to getting your benefits setup and your...

A commonly overlooked aspect of Social Security is that it can go beyond what just an individual can draw. Most people are aware that there are spousal benefits, death benefits and disability benefits. Most people probably haven't...

If you have done some research into Social Security you will begin to see a few acronyms that the administration will use. FRA, or Full Retirement Age will be one of the most important for those trying to get the most out of their...

At Lifetime Planning Inc., we specialize in designing retirement income plans for those who are close to retirement or have retired and need a partner in designing their retirement income stream. A key area that is becoming integral to...