Step 3 of the Retirement Planning Process is “Strategically Deploying Your Retirement Resources”. This is where the real heavy lifting comes in and strategy truly begins. It is where an advisor can be worth their weight in gold, since they have already seen retirement situations such as yours and have experience in maximizing resources. … [Read more...]
A technique to NOT be affected by the Windfall Elimination Provision or Government Pension Offset
If you have a government pension and a Social Security benefit, your Social Security benefit may be reduced by both the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) which impacts your own Social Security benefit or the Government Pension Offset (GPO) which impacts your Social Security spousal benefit. What is not generally known is that both these reductions are calculated based on the amount of government pension ACTUALLY BEING RECEIVED CURRENTLY. … [Read more...]
Step 2 of Retirement Planning
We are currently in a series outlining the retirement planning process. … [Read more...]
Why People Choose to Start Social Security Early
I've known for a long time that the most common age for both men and women to claim Social Security benefits is just after the age of 62, which is the earliest age available. In fact this is the slide that I show in the Maximizing Social Security class: … [Read more...]
Choosing Between A Lump Sum Or Pension At Retirement
There are still a few employees who work for companies generous enough to offer a pension. Many times an employer will provide the employee an option between a monthly pension for life or a single lump sum. Deciding between these two options is both complex and sometimes frustrating. There are advantages and trade-offs to each, so how do you go about making the decision? … [Read more...]
Step 1 of Retirement Planning Continued
Last week we began with the 1st Step of Retirement Planning: Establish Financial Goals. We mentioned several steps which include the what, the how much, the when and the why of each goal. Today we’ll wrap up Step 1 by talking about the importance of prioritizing goals once they have been established. … [Read more...]
Best Paper on Social Security Benefits Summarized
I recently came upon one of the best summaries of how to Maximize Social Security benefits, put together in an easy to understand paper, but packed with all the best information. I got done with it and thought, “Whew...That pretty much sums it up!” … [Read more...]
Step 1 of Retirement Planning
In last week's article, we outlined the six-step process everyone should go through to complete their retirement blueprint. I have reproduced the entire article at the end for your reference. In this article let's talk about step one, Establish Retirement Goals. Establishing goals is a good best practice for any endeavor. Knowing where the finish line is allows you to stop running. If we equate building a successful retirement to constructing a new house, establishing goals … [Read more...]
Six Steps to Retirement Planning
Are you like me? I like following directions. When my kids were small, the first thing I did after opening a toy on Christmas morning was to read through the directions and make sure that I followed them step-by-step to minimize my frustration and make sure that everything was put together correctly. If I'm following a recipe, I'm going to read through each step carefully and make sure that all my measurements are exact so that the final product is just as it is … [Read more...]
Is Severance, Vacation, and Sick Pay “Work Income”?
You may know that before you reach Full Retirement Age, if you are receiving a Social Security benefit that you are limited in how much income you can make before your benefits are reduced. But what happens if you retire, begin your Social Security and THEN get a payment from work such as severance or vacation and sick pay? Does that count toward your “work income”? … [Read more...]
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