Having a plan in place before you retire is crucial to make sure every aspect of your financial life is ready for that big step. The acronym IDEAL is a helpful way to remember the five key areas of retirement planning that, together, create a comprehensive plan: - Income
- After decades of receiving a regular paycheck, retirees must create a ‘paycheck’ from various sources. There are many considerations to make when creating this new ‘paycheck’: When should you claim Social Security to help maximize your benefit? If you have a pension, should you take it as a lump sum or an annuity, and are there survivor benefits for your spouse? How much income will need to come from your savings to cover monthly expenses? The key is to design a withdrawal strategy that provides enough cash flow to cover your needs and some wants without running your nest egg dry too soon.
- Distribution Strategy
- A thoughtful distribution strategy can help potentially minimize taxes across your retirement years - order and timing of how you take withdrawals from your accounts can make your assets last significantly longer.
- Expenses
- Retirement budgeting isn't just about travel and hobbies; it must also account for big expenses, especially health care. Medical costs typically increase with age and outpace inflation. Building a budget that separates essentials from discretionary spending helps work toward ensuring your retirement isn't derailed by unexpected expenses.
- Assets
- In retirement, the new goal is to make your assets last by shifting the focus to a balance of growth and preservation. You’ll need to find the right mix for allocation** which is different for everyone – it depends on your specific income sources, risk tolerance and life expectancy.
- Legacy
- What will happen to your assets after you’re gone? We highly recommend everyone have a will, power of attorney, and health care directives in placebefore you need them, providing confidence by ensuring your wishes are carried out correctly.
One of Saratoga Financial Services’ strengths is consolidating assets; meaning once you’re a client, we can help you bring all your assets in-house and manage them all for you. Consolidating your assets with one advisor you respect, and who understands your individual goals for retirement, will help you pursue those goals in a streamlined and strategic way. There are methods to make the most of your hard-earned savings in retirement; certain types of accounts should be used before others, when is the best time to trigger Social Security, etc. If you have one advisor, they’ll know exactly how your retirement is being funded and help you plan a suitable strategy to put your savings to work for you. Increasing your assets with an advisor also provides opportunities to reduce account fees (advisory fees, transaction fees, etc.). And at this specific time of year when you’re gathering financial paperwork to prepare your taxes, wouldn’t it be so much easier to only have to find tax forms from one advisor? Clickhereto read A Financial Pro Breaks Retirement Planning into 5 Manageable Pieces. SFS is here to help you create an IDEAL plan for your retirement; don’t hesitate to call us with questions at (518) 584-2555. | 
