Perfecting Retirement

Recently retired and wanting to secure the lifestyle they envision for themselves

SANDY

Age: 63

JIM

Age: 65

Jim spent nearly 20 years with his last employer before joining Sandy in retirement for the next phase of their lives. They both had rewarding careers and now have lots of plans for their future.

With their children grown, both Jim and Sandy were looking forward to more travel & golf, but also in finding ways to give something back to their community.

They want to ensure that their retirement plan not only enables the lifestyle they have envisioned but that they have a plan that keeps them from ever running out of money.

Reducing taxes, improving investments, and creating a reliable income stream was important to them.

The Approach:

First, it was important to help make Jim & Sandy's retirement planning process easy and as enjoyable as possible.

One critical step to avoid surprises was to identify any potential tax challenges they might soon face.

Working together with Jim & Sandy's CPA, the initial retirement planning process involved:

Compiling all the information Jim needed from his company’s benefits administrator.
Summarizing all the options available to them along with any corresponding tax ramifications.
Establishing new investment/retirement accounts (including a Rollover IRA for Jim for increased asset protection) to consolidate and simplify their financial situation.
Strategizing a withdrawal plan to provide them with a reliable income stream.

A comprehensive plan was then created that addressed all their major concerns:

Development of a financial model that validated the best way to combine their financial resources to create sustainable and tax-efficient retirement income.
Creation of a retirement timeline that included optimized benefit elections of Social Security & Medicare.
Implementing a disciplined investment strategy that allowed them to invest prudently and in-line with their values, including:
- A globally diversified approach that includes US and international securities.
- A tax-efficient strategy that reduces risk and improves returns.
- An improved asset allocation for their portfolio.
- Significantly lowered investment costs.
- A smart, sustainable rebalancing strategy.
Reduction of expected life-time income taxes by coordinating the receipt of their taxable income to take advantage of the lowest tax brackets in every year of their retirement plan.
Implementation of their withdrawal plan to complement their various sources of retirement income.
Working with their attorney, a full review of their estate plan to verify that it continues to meet their needs, and to discern if any changes might be considered.

The Results:

The solutions adopted by Jim & Sandy helped them in many ways:

They were able to reduce taxes immediately and in the future.
Their retirement savings were protected.
They had the advantage of a predictable stream of income that they would not outlive.

Today, Jim & Sandy are having the time of their lives. They live between their home in the Bay Area and their cabin in Lake Tahoe, travel to and enjoy new golf courses, and spend time with their grandchildren every chance they get.

Jim & Sandy's retirement plan is reviewed regularly. Most importantly, new tax laws are being monitored each year to ensure they are taking advantage of any opportunities available to them.

Being able to see and understand all their options removed a lot of worries. They were able to move forward with their plans, confident in knowing that they would be well looked after.

They now have the confidence of knowing that their retirement plan is sustainable and that they can relax and enjoy life on their terms – living life fully!