Planning for Families
While the needs of families can be quite varied, some of the most important concerns that arise for families are:
Our Wealth+ process will explore these areas and many others to understand what is most important for your family and build a customized strategy that helps you achieve your goals.
Life Insurance
Once you have a spouse or children to be concerned with, death can be even more concerning. Life insurance offers surviving family members increased financial security. As a tax-free lump sum payment, it can pay for final expenses and debts, as well as provide income for the deceased’s dependents.
The advantages of life insurance include:
- An instant estate for your loved ones at a time when funds are most needed
- Death benefits that are almost always non-taxable for named beneficiaries
- Avoid probate costs if you name a beneficiary other than your estate
- Potentially offer your loved ones creditor protection through some life insurance plans
- Build tax-advantaged capital for retirement purposes or provide liquid savings through some permanent life insurance plans
The Integrated can help you select coverage from a variety of life insurance options to meet the needs identified in your financial security plan - contact us today to find out how.
Planning for College
As the cost of a college education continues to rise, outpacing the rate of inflation, it is becoming beyond the reach of most people unless they have planned early on. For people starting a college savings plan today, questions arise as to the best way to save. For such an important and long term goal, it pays to do some research when selecting a plan.
There are many factors to consider when selecting a college savings plan. As with any savings goal, individual factors such as time horizon, risk tolerance, investment preferences and tax situation need to be considered and weighed in order to select the most suitable savings plan. In addition, special consideration needs to be given to who will actually own the college funds as the decision may impact financial aid options.
Working together, we can examine college investment options to build a customized portfolio that takes into consideration your financial goals, risk tolerance, and timeline. Contact us today to find out more.
Retirement Planning
Retirement planning today has taken on many new dimensions that never had to be considered by earlier generations. For one, people are living longer. A person who turns 65 today could be expected to live for 20 years in retirement as compared to a retiree in 1950 who lived, on average, an additional 15 years. Longer life spans have created a number of new issues that need to be taken into consideration when planning for retirement.
Lifetime Income Need
With life after retirement, the need to be able to provide for a steady stream of income that cannot be outlived is more important than ever. The prospect of paying for retirement needs has reached beyond 20 years, so retirees need to be concerned with maintaining their cost-of-living and The Integrated builds strategies that account for this.
Health Care Needs
Longer life spans can also translate into more health issues that arise in the process of aging. The federal government provides a safety net in the form of Medicare, however, it may not provide the coverage needed especially in chronic illness cases. Planning for long-term care, in the event of a serious disability or chronic illness, is becoming a key element of retirement plans today and has been central to The Integrated’s approach as well.
Estate Protection
Planning for the transfer of assets at death is a critical element of retirement planning especially if there are survivors who are dependent upon the assets for their financial security. Planning for estate transfer can be as simple as drafting a will, which is essential to ensure that assets are transferred according to your wishes. Larger estates may be confronted with settlement costs and sizable death taxes which could force liquidation if the proper planning is not done.
Paying for Retirement
Retirees who have prepared for their retirement usually rely upon three main sources of income: Social Security, individual or employer-sponsored qualified retirement plans, and their own savings or investments. Our retirement approach emphasizes qualified plans and personal savings as the primary sources with Social Security as a safety net for steady income—but this is always explored within the context of a broader financial picture, which allows The Integrated to use its creativity and professional experience to find greater alignment.
Social Security
Social Security was established in the 1930’s as a safety net for people who, after paying into the system from their earnings, could rely upon a steady stream of income for the rest of their lives. The age of retirement, when the income benefit starts was, originally, age 65 which was referred to as the “normal retirement age”. Now, for a person born after 1937, the normal retirement age is being increased gradually until it reaches age 67 for all people born in 1960 and beyond. The amount paid in benefits is based upon the earnings of an individual while working. If a person wanted to continue to work and delay receiving benefits, they could do so and build up a larger benefit. Conversely, early retirement benefits are available, at a reduced level, as early as age 62.
Employer-Sponsored Qualified Plans
Most employer-sponsored plans today are established as “defined contribution” plans whereby an employee contributes a percentage of his earnings into an account that will accumulate until retirement. As a qualified plan, the contributions are deductible from the employee’s current income. The amount of income received at retirement is based on the total amount of contributions, the returns earned, and the employee’s retirement time horizon. As in all qualified plans, withdrawals made prior to age 59 ½ may be subject to a penalty of 10% on top of ordinary taxes that are due.
Depending on the size and type of the organization, they may offer a 401(k) Plan, a Simplified Employee Pension Plan or, in the case of a non-profit organization, a 403(b) plan. The Integrated can help you assess how these structures can contribute to your needs in retirement.
Traditional and Roth IRAs
Individual Retirement Accounts (IRA) are tax qualified retirement plans that were established as a way for individuals to save for retirement with the benefit of tax favored treatment. The traditional IRA allows for contributions to be made on a tax deductible basis and to accumulate without current taxation of earnings inside the account. Distributions from a traditional IRA are taxable. A Roth IRA is different in that the contributions are not tax deductible, however, the earnings growth is not currently taxable. To qualify for tax-free and penalty-free withdrawals of earnings, a Roth IRA must be in place for at least five tax years, and the distribution must take place after age 59 ½ or due to death, disability, or a first-time home purchase (up to a $10,000 lifetime maximum). Depending on state law, Roth IRA distributions may be subject to state taxes.
Distributions from traditional IRAs and employer-sponsored retirement plans are taxed as ordinary income and, if taken prior to reaching 59 ½ , may be subject to an additional 10% federal tax penalty.
To help assess your retirement needs and identify an appropriate strategy, contact us today.
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