RETIREMENT CORNER
According to a December study from Transamerica, the total household retirement savings of American workers age 50 and older is a median $135,000.
Consider that if you were to use the sustainable withdrawal rate most experts agree on, the 4% rule, this would only generate an annual income of $5,400!
However, that median only tells part of the story....
In an ever-increasingly connected world, we think little of creating online identities to participate on the latest social platform or reap rewards points. But, have you ever wondered what would happen to your Facebook account when you pass away? Welcome to the world of estate planning in the digital age!...
One of the first things we establish for any financial or retirement plan is a net worth statement, or your assets and liabilities. This gives us a great picture of what you have to work with now to obtain your goals. It's especially important for those close to retirement because pretty soon you'll more than likely be "subtracting" from what you have to generate income, rather than adding to it through your work earnings. Logically, the more you have on the liabilities side of the balance sheet, the less actual net worth you have to pull from....
If you’re someone who does their own taxes through a program like Turbo Tax, you’ve probably run into this scenario: as you finish up the review portion, the program will remind you that there may be a way for you to lower your tax burden even more if you make a deductible contribution to an IRA account. They even have a helpful calculator you can use to see what impact certain contribution amounts would make on the taxes you owe....
