No one truly “gets lucky” when it comes to investments or retirement. Luck is not a successful financial planning strategy for anyone. Good fortune comes from making careful decisions, thoughtful adjustments, and riding the inevitable waves of unpredictability. Focus on key areas with your financial advisor when it comes to strategizing your financial present and future.
Compartmentalize Income
You can’t rely on the markets to do well to protect your investments. A legitimate financial planning strategy offers answers to the following questions:
- How much income is guaranteed after retirement?
- What portion of income hails from protected growth?
- What is the best way to draw from assets?
Layered income strategies, starting with obvious options like Social Security, and a foundation of careful withdrawals and tax strategies combine to make you feel secure about sustainable finances that are not heavily susceptible to a recession or market dips.
Make Sound Investments
Retirement is not only about accumulation but about distribution, and an approach based on luck and diversification relies too much on the market moving up. A savvy financial planning strategy comes from:
- Building a portfolio that protects income in down markets.
- Making the most of growth in up markets.
- Showing a healthy amount of risk tolerance.
When you know what you want your money to do for you, whether it is to grow over time, produce income, or stay liquid, you make purposeful decisions that take emotions out of the equation.
Plan for Taxes
Taxes don’t disappear in retirement, and they aren’t necessarily easier or the burdens lighter. With the right strategic management, you can figure things out before retirement descends. Find out how to:
- Move taxable assets over time.
- Avoid tax issues should you be widowed or need to deal with an estate or probate.
- Plan to reduce taxes over decades, not just for the current year.
The most rewarding kind of financial planning strategy looks at more than just the present and identifies things that could occur ahead, so you take the right path to financial success.
Consider Every Health Possibility
Even if you’ve taken great care of yourself and are largely healthy heading into retirement, this isn’t a reality to take for granted, nor can you expect Medicare to cover basic healthcare costs. A significant health event could occur that sucks away savings in a heartbeat. Planning for health complications after retirement is possible and smart:
- What coverage does Medicare offer, and do you need supplemental insurance?
- Is long-term care protection on the table?
- Can you pay for the care of your spouse while managing your finances?
We all grow old if the universe deems it so, but we are also at the mercy of the universe when it comes to quick changes in circumstances and well-being. Planning financially for a host of possibilities keeps you from reacting urgently or feeling undone by demanding financial choices.
Creating a Lasting Legacy with Strategic Financial Planning
When it comes to your finances pre-retirement, post-retirement, and after death, you can plan meaningfully for every stage of life. Contact the financial advisors at Hollander Lone Maxbauer in Southfield, MI, to discuss estate planning, retirement, investments, and your customized financial plan for now and later.
