Barber's Blog

What will taxes look like in retirement?

Fri, 20 Apr 2012 21:28:00 GMT

When it comes to retirement, taxes can have a major impact when you begin using your retirement savings. It goes without saying that taxes will be with us till death do us part. Having the knowledge and diligence to explore all of your options when saving for retirement can make a significant impact on your life.

“What will taxes look like in retirement”?

Exposing Tax Bracket Truths

You know we have heard so many times from so many places that when you retire you will automatically be in a lower tax bracket. Well for 37 years at Barber and Associates, I have been helping people prepare for retirement.

And those who are successful, who really were diligent and saving their money to the point that having enough money is not really a concern, What they have realized when they got to retirement is, many times taxes were higher than they anticipated. Many times they weren't in a lower tax bracket as they expected and so the taxes on the money become a real issue.

Look at the Options

If those people could do it all over again, I think they would take a look at the options that are available that you can invest your money in retirement plans that have no taxes when you retire. Many people don’t even know there is such a thing.

But, you do have a choice. You don’t have to put all of your money for retirement in IRA’s or 401K’s. You can put it in other places that give you some reduction in the tax liability you are going to have.

So if you are looking at what taxes are going to be, probably going to be surprised there not going to be as low as you would like them to be in retirement. But take a look at some of the options to make a difference in your situation.

Finding the answers

I created twenty videos responding to the most important questions that people ask me about their money, their financing, their investment, and their retirement plans.

If you’d like to know the answer to these questions, sign up and we will send you, as a free gift, these twenty videos responding to these most important questions.

Is there a better retirement plan than your 401K?

Fri, 20 Apr 2012 21:23:00 GMT

The 401K. The grand daddy of all retirement plans. Or is it? Sometimes exploring alternatives can exceed the benefits of going with a traditional retirement plan.

“Is there a better retirement plan than your 401K?”

Think Long Term

You know, many people, when they go to work and their company has a 401K, they automatically sign up and never think about the long term consequences of tax deferring so much of their money.

Well, at Barber & Associates, we've helped people for thirty eight years design tax efficient retirement plans using an investment that you probably would never understand would be so helpful in retirement, and that is life insurance.

Life Insurance can exceed your 401K return

You know, life insurance, typically, you think of as a type of investment that’s going to cover you. What happens if you die? But if used properly, the inside growth of a life insurance policy can be returned to you on a tax free basis at retirement; many times, exceeding what you would actually receive after tax from your 401K plan.

Now, I recognize this is probably starting information to some of you, but a wonderful idea for you to check into because there are alternatives to your 401K or your IRA plan that over time, may be far more efficient for you to consider.

Finding the answers

I created twenty videos responding to the most important questions that people ask me about their money, their financing, their investment, and their retirement plans.

If you’d like to know the answer to these questions, sign up and we will send you, as a free gift, these twenty videos responding to these most important questions.

What do high-income earners do differently about retirement plans?

Sat, 21 Apr 2012 05:26:00 GMT

If you are a successful person within your career, you are going to expect the amount of your success to be reflective in what you’ve earned. When you retire, you’d like a retirement income that’s going to display the years of saving and sacrifice you’ve exhibited.

“What do people who earn a lot of money do differently about their retirement planning?”

Options for High Income Earners

You know, frequently, folks find out that they are very limited in what they can put aside into their 401Ks and their IRAs because they earn a lot of money. And so they seek out what are other options where they can invest their money?

If you’re very successful in your career and the job that you have and that’s reflected in what you earn, then you’re also going to be very successful in the amount of money that you have available to invest for your retirement. And that means when you retire, you’d like a retirement income that’s going to reflect all of the years of saving that you had and all the years of sacrifice.

Tax Free Options

For that reason, many people, when they look at what other options are available, find out there are plans available that you can deposit your money for retirement.

You can guarantee that you will never lose any money and the best yet -- when you take that money back at retirement, it can be tax free to you if you do it properly.

So many people who are very affluent in their careers and what they earn have found very attractive retirement plans available to them outside of what they can do in a traditional 401K and an IRA.

Finding the answers

I created twenty videos responding to the most important questions that people ask me about their money, their financing, their investment, and their retirement plans.

If you’d like to know the answer to these questions, sign up and we will send you, as a free gift, these twenty videos responding to these most important questions.

What happens to your retirement plan if you die?

Sat, 21 Apr 2012 05:30:00 GMT

When the most unfortunate of times are upon us, our pre planned choices are extremely important when striving to take care of the ones we love. This often avoided subject can also be one of the most important you will ever make.

“What happens to your retirement funds if you die before retirement?”

The Importance of a Beneficiary

Well, the first thing that every person who has a retirement plan should understand is all retirement plans go to a named beneficiary, whoever you put on that document when you first set that plan up.

So if you have a 401K, you should go to your HR department and make sure that your beneficiary is current. If your IRA is held at a brokerage company, you’d want to call them and make sure that that beneficiary form is suitable to you.

Restrictions on your Retirement Funds

But more importantly in a bigger picture question, and that is if you die before retirement, what happens to the person as they receive that money?

And let’s use an example; your retirement funds go to your wife. Well, your wife would find that she has the same restrictions on that retirement money as you do, meaning those funds are not available to her until she reaches a qualifying age, generally, of fifty nine and a half.

And so if you die too early, counting on those retirement funds to provide an income for your spouse before retirement, that would be quite a disappointment for her.

Look at the Bright Side

The good news is I help people with a variety of different retirement plans, many of which transfer all of your retirement money absolutely tax free using death benefits that are unrestricted, so that your beneficiaries have immediate use and control of that money. They are not burned with the tax rules that other types of qualified plans impose upon them. So I would encourage you, take a look at all of the alternatives.

Finding the answers

I created twenty videos responding to the most important questions that people ask me about their money, their financing, their investment, and their retirement plans.

If you’d like to know the answer to these questions, sign up and we will send you, as a free gift, these twenty videos responding to these most important questions.

Will you be in a lower tax bracket when you retire?

Sat, 21 Apr 2012 05:31:00 GMT

Could being successful actually hurt your retirement plan? Saving a lot of money is not always the key to a great retirement. Having a great plan, now that is something to work with.

“Will you be in a lower tax bracket after retirement”?

Investing the Right Amount

You know, that’s the belief of many people that as your working you should put as much into your 401K or as much into your IRA now while you’re working in the hope that once you retire, you will be in a lower tax bracket and those dollars coming back will mean something to you.

After 38 years of experience in working with people preparing for retirement, here is what I have found about many of these people.

If they are successful, and many people are in saving for retirement, they wind up with a lot of money, in fact many times way too much money that they've put into their 401K’s and IRA’s.

And when they reach mandatory distribution age that happens after your 70 years old. Those distributions come back many times pushing them into higher and higher tax brackets. And they realize, that was just a delusion that they believed all those years.It was because they were successful that they did not end up in a lower tax bracket.

True Tax Free Retirement

We help people establish retirement plans to where they do not pay taxes on their money when they take their distributions. And that’s about as good as it gets.

If you can receive your retirement money without any taxation, if it were truly tax free, then you wouldn't be concerned with what tax bracket you were in retirement. So I would encourage you, think about that question, “will you really be in a lower tax bracket after retirement”?

Finding the answers

I created twenty videos responding to the most important questions that people ask me about their money, their financing, their investment, and their retirement plans.

If you’d like to know the answer to these questions, sign up and we will send you, as a free gift, these twenty videos responding to these most important questions.

Are retirement plans insured in the same way Banks are by the FDIC?

Sat, 21 Apr 2012 05:33:00 GMT

Safety in such troubled times should be a top priority when it comes to your money. So why should your retirement plan be any different?

“Is your retirement plan insured”?

Keeping the money safe

When I hear that from a client or an investor, I recognize that many times what they are really trying to understand is how safe is my money. And that is the issue that many people are very concerned about in the very volatile times that we are in.

You know, typically 401K plans which are designed to accumulate money over the long term, don’t have a lot of safe alternatives during difficult times. The good news is, there are other retirement plan options available to you outside of your 401K.

Protect your principle

So if safety and conservation and protecting your principle are things that you are really concerned about, I would encourage you to ask those questions, what other safe options are available to you and how can you find those.

Because safety in today’s world is a huge issue that many people are recognizing is more important than anything else in their retirement plan.

Finding the answers

I created twenty videos responding to the most important questions that people ask me about their money, their financing, their investment, and their retirement plans.

If you’d like to know the answer to these questions, sign up and we will send you, as a free gift, these twenty videos responding to these most important questions.

What happens to your retirement plan if you become injured and can no longer invest?

Sat, 21 Apr 2012 05:34:00 GMT

A disability can often alter the amount of money you are able to save for the rest of your life. But, a disability does not have to hurt your retirement. Luckily there are alternatives you can put in place to insure your future.

“What happens to your retirement plan if you become unable and can not save those dollars over the time that you had planned?”

The "what is?" scenario

Many people never thought about that question. What if we got sick? What if you had an accident and your 401K or your IRA or your 403B, the plan that you had intended to save all of your retirement dollars, you weren't there to work and to save and to contribute those dollars.

I think if you called and asked about your plan, you would find out that there’s no provision to continue those contributions.

Alternatives

Well, good news. You can opt for an alternative.

At Barber & Associates Financial Group, we've helped many people establish retirement plans that have disability features attached to them that guarantee if you have an accident or an illness, those contributions that you’re not able to make will be made on your behalf so that your retirement dollars will be there, even if you’re not able to work and to save your money on your own.

So I would encourage you: find out more about this important issue of what happens if you become disabled before retirement.

Finding the answers

I created twenty videos responding to the most important questions that people ask me about their money, their financing, their investment, and their retirement plans.

If you’d like to know the answer to these questions, sign up and we will send you, as a free gift, these twenty videos responding to these most important questions.

What should people who are big savers do differently about their retirement plan?

Sat, 21 Apr 2012 05:37:00 GMT

Lifestyle choices can greatly affect how we save our money. Highly successful savers do one thing better than anybody else. That doesn't always mean that they are high income earners. Many folks are very conservative in their lifestyle. They live without debt and they like to save their money.

So what do they do differently?

Big savers

You know they typically have 401K’s and IRA’s available to them through their employers. Often they find out they are not allowed to put as much in as they are able to. Well the good news is if you’re a big saver, there are lots of alternative savings plans that you have at your discretion.

Many that give you the opportunity when you take that money back when you retire, for it to be tax free. So big savers often look for those alternatives because they anticipate there going to be successful in saving their money and they realize they want to be successful in keeping their money when they retire.

Finding the answers

I created twenty videos responding to the most important questions that people ask me about their money, their financing, their investment, and their retirement plans.

These are available to you free as our gift here on our website, BarberAssociatesFinancial.com.

If you’d like to know the answer to these questions, sign up and we will send you, as a free gift, these twenty videos responding to these most important questions.

What happens to your investments if you transition from your current employer to a new company?

Sat, 21 Apr 2012 05:39:00 GMT

Changing employers is not that uncommon. What is uncommon is being aware of the options you have when transferring your retirement plan to your new employer.

“What happens to my retirement plan if I change employers?”

Two choices

Well there have been provisions in the law to protect that for many years. Simply you have usually two choices. If your new employer has a comparable plan. So for example, if you are participating in a 401K plan in your present job and your new employer has a 401K, then one option is you can have those monies transferred from the old 401K to the new 401K.

Many people however aren't aware that there is an additional choice that they have that if you knew about it could make a real difference. And that simply is, you can take that old 401K and you can have that money transferred into an IRA or an individual retirement account.

The difference

Now the distinction there is, you have an unlimited number of investment choices that you control when you put your money into an IRA. Whereas, if you transfer it into the new 401K, they typically don’t have the number of investment options that are available to you.

So if that is your situation, and the more money you have in your qualified plan, the more concerned you probably are about real diversification of that money. So know that there are other options that you can look at rather than just moving that money to a 401K.

Finding the answers

I created twenty videos responding to the most important questions that people ask me about their money, their financing, their investment, and their retirement plans.

If you’d like to know the answer to these questions, sign up and we will send you, as a free gift, these twenty videos responding to these most important questions.

Can your retirement plan be protected from the risk of losing money?

Sat, 21 Apr 2012 05:40:00 GMT

Retirement plans often look great on paper, but how safe are they really? Do you have a retirement plan designed to your needs? Sometimes cookie cutter retirement plans may not offer the best options to help conserve and protect your money.

“Can your retirement plan be protected from losing value?”

It might not be the best option

You know, most people who work for corporations and school systems and public employees have the type of retirement plans that are designed to help you accumulate money that may not have the best options for you to conserve and protect your money.

And so that’s very frustrating when you want to play it safe, but you don’t really have the investments available to you. The good news is you can set up a personal retirement plan of your own and invest in all kinds of safe guaranteed investments, some of which will allow you to take that money back at retirement without having to pay tax on that money.

You don't have to be disappointed

You know, I’ve worked for thirty seven years helping people prepare for retirement. And I can tell you that many times, people are so disappointed to find out that their lifetime of working and saving their money became very compromised when they realized all of the taxes that they had to pay on that money as they took it out and spent it.

So there is good news that you can look at other options to guarantee and protect your retirement money and in addition to that, do something to eliminate the taxes on that retirement money.

Finding the answers

I created twenty videos responding to the most important questions that people ask me about their money, their financing, their investment, and their retirement plans.

If you’d like to know the answer to these questions, sign up and we will send you, as a free gift, these twenty videos responding to these most important questions.

What should you look for in a financial advisor?

Sat, 21 Apr 2012 05:41:00 GMT

Selecting a financial advisor can be a scary endeavor. After all, you are putting your money, fiscal safety, and most importantly, your family's financial stability in the hands of a stranger. The most sought after trait you should look for... Trust.

And I want to respond to one of the most common questions asked about financial advisors:

“How do you know when you've got a good financial advisor? How do you pick one?”

Trustworthiness is key

Well, I would start with the most important thing that people would say is that person should be trustworthy.

Of course, you’d never choose to do business with someone that you didn't feel like you could trust. But I found, after thirty eight years of experience as a financial advisor, that trust is a bigger issue than most people understand.

Trust always implies that that advisor would do the right thing. They would put your needs ahead of their own. But I have found that trust also means something else, and even bigger. And that is you have to trust that a person knows the right thing to do.

And that comes from having a combination of credentials and knowledge and experience. You know, in my case, having started thirty eight years ago in the financial services industry, I very quickly found out this is something that I wanted to make a career of.

Independent advice - not allegiance to one company

So I decided I want to become a student of the business. And I pursued every degree and accreditation that I could find to learn everything that there was to learn about what I was doing to serve people. So that education and that credential, combined with years of experience, just provides a very broad base of knowledge that is an independent financial advisor.

There is no allegiance to one company or one line of thought. It’s always that trustworthiness, that the person that you’re trusting in is going to know the right thing to do and give you the most appropriate choices so that you can make the right decisions in selecting a financial advisor and then, in designing your own plan.

Finding the answers

I created twenty videos responding to the most important questions that people ask me about their money, their financing, their investment, and their retirement plans.

If you’d like to know the answer to these questions, sign up and we will send you, as a free gift, these twenty videos responding to these most important questions.

Pre-pay your mortgage or invest in your retirement?

Sat, 21 Apr 2012 05:43:00 GMT

There is always the underlying question of whether you are spending your money in the most efficient way possible. When it comes to any extra money, liquidity should be one of the first places you look. And I want to respond as a financial advisor to a question I hear quite frequently.

That question typically comes from people who are in their homes, they have mortgages, and they find that they have extra money that they want to save.

“Should I take that extra money and should I invest it? Or should I use it and reduce my mortgage?”

Show me the numbers

Well, we can always show you the numbers side of that alternative because it is very specific to your situation. Many people are quite surprised to find out how much better they can do, if they have time, by investing that money rather than paying down their mortgage.

And if you’re paying your mortgage in hopes of an earlier retirement, you still need to take a look at what would those extra dollars in your retirement fund mean to you? There’s still another issue when you ask that question.

Think about liquidity

And that important question is, what about your liquidity? If something happened to your job, if you got sick, if you had an accident and you were not able to earn your income, do you have enough liquidity set aside that you could make your mortgage payments.

You know, if you’ve paid down your mortgage, they’re not going to give you any grace or give you that money back. So that’s another issue I find as an advisor. We like to make very certain that our clients have adequate liquidity before they make that decision of investing or paying down the mortgage.

Finding the answers

I created twenty videos responding to the most important questions that people ask me about their money, their financing, their investment, and their retirement plans.

If you’d like to know the answer to these questions, sign up and we will send you, as a free gift, these twenty videos responding to these most important questions.

What's the maximum you can put into your retirement plan?

Sat, 21 Apr 2012 05:44:00 GMT

When it comes to your retirement plan, deciding on the amount to save can be an important decision. If you are looking to save as much as possible, wonderful! But be aware that often times saving may have its limits.

“Is there a maximum that I can put into my retirement plan?”

So, is there?

Well, many times, there is. And that’s always dependent on the type of retirement plan that you have. So, for example, if your retirement plan is a 401K, you can put a percentage of your income in and once you max that out, you’re not allowed to put in any more because, of course, you’re deducting those dollars.

Those maximum amounts vary by the type of retirement plan that you have and many, many people who are saving toward retirement find that they have more money available they want to save than they’re allowed to put into their retirement plan.

Limited or unlimited

So what do you do in that situation when the maximum is not enough for you?

Well, there’s good news.

You can opt for a retirement plan that has an unlimited contribution that you can make into that plan; has a minimum contribution that you need to consider, but the maximum can be a lot of opportunity for you to save dollars.

At Barber& Associates Financial Group, that’s what we specialize in, in helping people pick the perfect retirement plan so that you can put in the amount of money that is going to be meaningful to you. So consider that question if you’re finding that you are limited by what you can put into your retirement plans, that there are options available to you.

Finding the Answers

I created twenty videos responding to the most important questions that people ask me about their money, their financing, their investment, and their retirement plans.

If you’d like to know the answer to these questions, sign up and we will send you, as a free gift, these twenty videos responding to these most important questions.

How important is tax deferral in retirement savings?

Sat, 21 Apr 2012 05:45:00 GMT

Tax deferral is the age old question about every retirement plan. It is a tricky situation and must be treated as such so that taxes do not creep up on you and your retirement long after you start saving.

“Just how important is tax deferral?”

Savings or burdens

Many folks are so encouraged by financial institutions and their employers, and even the government, to put as much as possible into their savings plans for retirement, knowing that they’re deferring those taxes, they’re being able to deduct those each year as they save those dollars.

But on the other end, at Barber & Associates Financial Group, we work with many people who are already at retirement and what they find out is those minimal tax savings that they incurred as they put the money in turn out to be huge burdens as the taxation on those monies coming back out is incurred in retirement.

Many of them find that that belief that they would be in a lower tax bracket turns out not to be true because they successfully deferred so many taxes.

Many people find out when they go to take their retirement money back that they may have spent decades saving in their 401K or in their IRA and yet, they pay back all of those taxes they saved for decades in just a few years.

Tax deferral

And yet, it doesn’t stop there. They continue to be taxed year after year after year as they take money out of their tax plans.

So I find that a lot of folks at retirement look back and say, tax deferral, we weren't really given the entire story there because the taxes we end up paying back are quite a bit more than they ever counted on.

So think about tax deferral. That’s a pretty important issue when you’re doing your retirement savings.

Finding the answers

I created twenty videos responding to the most important questions that people ask me about their money, their financing, their investment, and their retirement plans.

If you’d like to know the answer to these questions, sign up and we will send you, as a free gift, these twenty videos responding to these most important questions.

What happens to your retirement plan if you lose your job and need the money?

Sat, 21 Apr 2012 05:46:00 GMT

A plan is setup to reach a goal, in this case retirement. Sometimes obstacles such as work or life get in the way and how we once saved is no longer possible and we cannot complete what we started. There are solutions to solving this problem that allow individuals the rights to certain parts of their saved monies.

And we want to address the question today,

“What happens to your retirement plan if you don’t complete it? If you stop working, if you don’t put money in anymore?”

Can you access the money?

This is a very important question that many people have never considered. You know, it depends on the type of plan you have. Obviously, if you have a 401K or an IRA that’s dependent on your contributions, if you stop putting money in, then that plan is going to have whatever balance it is plus the future growth.

What most people don’t realize is because that is a qualified retirement plan, even though you quit working and you’re not adding to the plan, you still do not have access to that money all the way until you reach qualifying retirement age, which is fifty nine and a half.

Many folks don’t realize that until it’s too late that all that money they saved is simply not available to them.

Other options

Well, the good news is there are alternatives.

And I would like to explain to you that you can opt for a plan, such as ones we help people with at Barber & Associates, that when you stop working and you don’t need to contribute anymore that those monies are immediately available to you so that you can use them for whatever purposes.

If you still want to let them grow to provide a retirement income in the future, that certainly is an option. But you’re not restricted as you are under many retirement plans that those monies are not available to you.

So this is a very important issue when you’re looking at your retirement plan. What happens to that money if you leave that employer and you don’t need to add to it anymore?

Finding the answers

I created twenty videos responding to the most important questions that people ask me about their money, their financing, their investment, and their retirement plans.

These are available to you free as our gift here on our website, BarberAssociatesFinancial.com.

If you’d like to know the answer to these questions, sign up and we will send you, as a free gift, these twenty videos responding to these most important questions.

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