VIDEO: Retirement Planning

Retirement is Better With a Plan

 

What's in a Retirement Plan?

 

You’ve worked hard to save for 40 years. You’re going to go in and tell your boss you’re done and you’re ready to take that long trip with your spouse across the United States.

But have you really given a lot of thought to the next important parts of this phase of your life?

Here at Arnold & Mote Wealth Management, we think retirement is better with a plan. Saving enough for retirement is really only the beginning of a set of decisions that you have to make. You’re likely excited by all the freedom of retirement you’re going to have – more time with family and friends, you may even be doing some more exercising, or taking up a new job.

But you may be feeling a little bit of uncertainty and concern. How do you select Medicare when should you do Social Security? And how do you turn that nest egg into enough money to last your whole life?

A satisfying retirement sets life goals that we then match up with the resources that you have at hand. We do this with you, hand-in-hand, during the process.

And don’t be afraid of the word “goal”. This is not about a boss coming to you and saying you need to set some strategic objectives. It’s a much more fun process that says what do you want to spend your time and resources on.

Let’s take the example of travel when you were working. With a young family, you travel just to relax and get away. In retirement, you have a ton more options. Things like discovering new communities or sites, or even just getting away from the cold weather in the winter. Travel can be done at your pace and it will even change throughout your retirement. You’ll be busier early in retirement and now traveling as frequently later in retirement.

At Arnold & Mote Wealth Management, we help you articulate that goal and then figure out the best way to use your savings to achieve it. You need a plan for how you turn your savings into retirement income. Traditionally that meant the three-legged stool. If you were lucky enough to have a pension, you also had Social Security and your savings and retirement accounts. Nowadays it means getting an optimized Social Security claiming strategy – for you and your spouse.

In addition to that, you need what’s called a withdrawal plan. Withdrawal plan is just a way to get money into your checking and savings accounts from those 401ks and IRAs. We’re not talking about annuities which are expensive and tie up your money. We’re talking about a plan that gets you money throughout your life for those important goals, implementing your plan, and keeping it up-to-date.

That’s critically important because your financial life doesn’t stay static over time.

Suppose, for example, that you want to give more money to your family or to your alma mater, or that you just want to downsize your house and see how that impacts your plan. There are even unfortunate events like the death of a parent or your own disability or illness that we need to account for.

Having a partner like Arnold & Mote Wealth Management will help you to know your nest egg will remain intact while you still do the things that are most important for your life. Navigating insurance like long-term care and Medicare is complicated but a good plan can make those decisions straightforward for you.

Retirement is about a lot more than just investments. Health care is critical for your long-term well-being and makes for a good retirement plan. We can assist you with doing a review of your Medicare choices at the right time, as well as deciding if long-term care insurance is even right for you. A lot of clients decide they don’t need that extra coverage for the uncertainty of nursing home care or assisted living facilities.

An advisor who puts your interests first creates a better plan for you. At Arnold & Mote Wealth Management, we are Certified Financial Planner(TM) professionals and fee-only fiduciaries. That means you’re the only one paying our bill, and as a fiduciary, we have to legally sit with you on your side of the table and put your interests first.

Getting a high quality plan is important for your long-term peace of mind and your best financial results. At Arnold & Mote Wealth Management, we believe that retirement is better with a plan.

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