Everything you do – from planning the education and designations you'd like to acquire, to starting a career and managing your career progression – is done in the hopes that you and your loved ones can have a better life. But in all your planning, have you remembered to plan for life after work?

If you fail to plan for life after work, all the effort you’ve put into your working life may be jeopardized, and you may be left with more questions than answers. And an ill-prepared retirement is bound to be one filled with financial stress and chaos, instead of life-enriching experiences and freedom.

How We Can Help

Retirement planning shouldn’t start at retirement; it should start well before. We take a long-term view of your financial wellbeing to help create a life after work that is as well-planned as your life while working.

• Understand your goals: Through an intensely personalized approach, we discover what your retirement goals are. Whether it’s travel, a new hobby, or spending more time with the people you love, we’ll help you strive for your ideal retirement.
• Analyze your current position: To plan a meaningful retirement, you need to know where you currently stand. We’ll help you build an in-depth financial inventory to use as part of our retirement planning process.
• Develop your plan: We’ll work with you to create a retirement plan that aims to address them. When we’re done, you’ll not only have a better understanding of your investments, and what you need to fund your retirement lifestyle, you’ll also be better equipped to handle any shortfalls.
• Implement your plan: As you move closer to retirement, we’ll work with you to ensure the plans are implemented in a phased and orderly manner. The goal of our retirement planning approach is to make your transition to retirement as seamless and stress-free as possible.
• Support you in pension and benefit decisions: We’ll be here if you need advice on Government or Employer pension and benefits: when to apply, how to apply, what to do with your funds, and much more.
• Partner with you in retirement and beyond: A long and fulfilling retirement takes multiple facets of your financial picture into consideration: health care, long-term care, insurance, legacy planning, and charitable giving. Our financial professionals will be here for you when you need advice in any of these areas.
• Provide ongoing reviews: We’ll continue to review your retirement plans, and consult with you about any changes or updates needed to address your evolving retirement lifestyle needs.

When you are young and just starting a professional life, retirement might be the last thing on your mind. However, if you ask any retired person, or someone entering retirement, what advice they would give you about planning for that day, chances are they’ll say: Start as soon as you can!

Why Retirement Savings Accounts are Important

The best way to assure you have a comfortable retirement, is to select a retirement savings account/s that matches your retirement objectives — and start saving as much and as frequently as you can! Without such accounts to help you, or with the wrong type of savings accounts, you’ll likely find it extremely hard to meet your retirement savings goals.

What We Can Do for You

As you start planning to save for retirement, you’ll likely have many questions that you need answered:

• When should I start saving?
• How much should I save?
• How much will I need for a “comfortable” retirement?
• What’s the best vehicle for me to save for my golden years?
• Which “pot” of retirement savings should I tap into first?

Our Retirement Savings specialists will help address all of your questions. We’ll also help you make informed decisions about which types of savings vehicles are right to meet your particular retirement goals. Not all retirement savings accounts are designed the same. For instance, some have yearly maximum contribution limits, and others have planned distribution criteria associated with them. Violation of those rules can lead to IRS-imposed premature withdrawal penalties.

Our Retirement Savings Account specialists will help you navigate the plethora of saving options available to you, some of which include:

• Individual Retirement Account (IRA): This is the most commonly used savings account available to most Americans saving for their retirement. Where a company-sponsored retirement plan isn’t available, IRAs can be used as a way for tax-deferred savings. Over the period while you work, tax-deductible “contributions”, up to an eligible amount, can be made into the account. You only pay taxes when you withdraw funds in retirement.

  Some IRA’s have contribution limitations and tax consequences for early withdrawals. Distributions from traditional IRA’s and employer sponsored retirement plans are taxed as ordinary income and, if take prior to reaching age 59 ½, may be subject to an additional 10% IRS tax penalty. Converting from a For complete details consult your tax advisor or attorney.

• Roth IRA Account: Roth IRAs differ somewhat from traditional IRAs — which allows for tax-deferred growth of retirement savings — in that the money deposited into these accounts is from “after-tax” dollars. Subsequently, when you make withdrawals from your Roth account, you are not taxed. Additionally, your savings within the account also grow tax-free.

  To qualify for the the tax-free and penalty-free withdrawal or 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.

• Simplified Employee Pension (SEP) IRA: Some employees may have access to employer-sponsored SEP-IRA accounts. These are similar to traditional IRAs, and may sometimes use Annuities as a retirement savings vehicle.

• Savings Incentive Match Plan for Employees (SIMPLE) IRA: This is yet another retirement saving plan available to working Americans saving for their retirement. SIMPLE-IRA plans mandate an employer-matched contribution, and are ideal for smaller business (less than 100 employees).

• Traditional 401(k) or Roth 401(k) plans: Like individual and Roth IRAs, employers can offer staff traditional 401(k) plans or Roth 401(k) plans to their employees. In some cases, for instance where an employer matches 100% of your contribution to these retirement savings accounts, it might make sense to join the plan. However, the funds are invested at the discretion of the fund manager, and you (the employee) might have no say in those decisions. We’ll help you decide whether you should participate or opt out of these plans.

• Value-added services: We’ll not only help you choose the right retirement savings accounts for you, but we’ll ensure they are the most cost-effective and tax-advantaged for your particular situation. If you switch jobs, we’ll also advise you on whether it makes sense to Rollover, Stay, Move or Cash out from an employer-sponsored retirement savings plan.

Ready to take the first step in creating your plan for life after work?

Contact Us