Retirement Distribution: Checkers versus Chess?
As difficult as it is, saving for retirement is easy compared to spending your retirement assets. You usually have options when you haven't retired yet. You can save more, work longer, buy certain types of insurance and take other steps to accumulate more assets. Once you've retired, many of those options are not as viable, become more expensive or expose you to other risks. And in today's low-yield but volatile environment, the old strategy of living off the income and saving principal simply isn't realistic for most retirees. Just a few of the decisions that need to be made in retirement include:
- How much should I plan on withdrawing each year? What about inflation?
- Which assets do I spend first? Taxable savings? Roth IRA? Regular IRA?
- Should I take regular payments from my annuity? If so, what options do I have and
which ones are appropriate?- How much can I spend without significantly increasing my odds of outliving my savings?
- How do reverse mortgages work and is this a good strategy?
- Should I convert my IRA to a Roth? Is this allowed and what are the alternatives
and potential consequences?- Should I have long term health care coverage? (despite all the marketing the answer is no for a large number of our clients)
Are you a Grand Master retirement champion? If not, we can help you become one.
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