baby boomer retirement planning Archives - Flagship Financial Partners LLC

Retirement Planning Steps For Baby Boomers

Keeping busy with their career and family, baby boomers fail to comprehend the need for financial planning for their retirement with a pressing urgency, in spite of it being on their agenda. They always keep thinking they have time and when the need comes, they would manage their retirement smoothly but it is only when the clock strikes ‘time up’ that they run haywire, not sure how to cover up for the lost years. According to a recent report issued by Financial Finesse, it was observed that baby boomers were the strongest group financially in comparison to other age groups, yet more than 60% of them were not very emphatically sure about their retirement plans. This post will give you ideas for baby boomers looking to retire in the next 3-5 years.

financial planning for retirement — Source: American Equity

Well, looking at it this closely, the baby boomers are definitely in an urgent need to initiate a retirement plan as their retirement is right on the head and their time period to cover it is very short. As rightly said, ‘it is never too late to begin’, baby boomers can implement on the following steps to face the challenge sprightly:

Invest in 401(k):

A study by Ameriprise Financial revealed that only 24% of the baby boomers were affirmative about having kept aside funds for retirement. A major percentage of them revealed to having their funds involved in supporting their children. The first step to initiate towards planning would be to cover those loopholes of getting weaned off and maximize your investment in 401(k) saving plan.

According to Nicholas Camp, president of NRC Wealth Strategies contribution amount in 401(k) plan in 2018 is up to $24,500 for people who are 50 or more and up to $18,000 for people below 50 years of age.

baby boomer retirement savings — Source: e learn markets

Evaluate your expenditures:

It is important that you evaluate your monthly spending in comparison to your income. Make a list of all the expenses and keep aside a budget to manage those expenditures. What we are trying to emphasize is that it is essential that you monitor how you spend your hard earned money and try to save as much as you can. It just makes retirement easy!

Do not keep future debts:

Try and wipe off all your loans and credit payments before retirement. Your only source of funding for your retirement is your income. Do not let this income be spent in paying back loans. The only way you can do this is by paying back the debts at a faster rate and less time. Maneuver your income and expenditure ratio and work on it.

retirement concerns baby boomers — Source: small cap asia

Keep all your cards on the table:

Work out your objectives after retirement. This will give you a better insight into how you can go about achieving your retirement goals.

It is also essential that you calculate how much you are likely to receive in form of social security benefits after retirement. This calculation, done through online retirement calculators, helps you perceive your future goals.

Find more information on retirement advice

Streamline your retirement planning steps:

If you are paying for your retirement from your income it would be optimal if you streamline the payments in such a way that the retirement savings are deducted automatically from your income and deposited where they need to be. It will save you trouble and mental exhaustion.

social security planning — Source: square capital

Kicking in and just a start is all you need to begin your ride into a safe and financially sound retirement.

Baby boomers do not have much time left for their retirement and to cover up this short lapse, they would have to take some immediate steps so that their retirement can be smooth and hassle-free. For professional help on how to start planning retirement, book a free consultation with our experts here at Flagship Financial

How Long Will My Retirement Savings Last

How long will my retirement savings last? This is the age old question that baffles us all. We all work hard to secure our financial future and that of our children’s. And it is not unusual to think about when that well will run dry. In fact it is considered wise to factor in these aspects of your financial pillar. Nothing lasts forever, just like your money, if anything it has this almost magical ability to sprout wings and fly.

how long will my money last — Source: time.com

The money you put aside into your bank account is typically the sum total of the interest you accumulate over the years, dividends, short and long term capital gains and mind you, these are no exempt from taxation. So if you maintain systematic withdrawals and refrain from arbitrary spending, your money could last longer.

Unfortunately, there is no sure fire way of pinpointing how long your savings will last, neither is there a crystal ball that unveils the future. How long your money will last solely depends on how much or how little you save, what your monthly fixed expenses are and how much you spend on medical and other obligatory expenses.

baby boomer retirement planning — Source: investopedia

If you invest in 50% stocks and 50% bonds you can expect an annual average return of about 6%. Albeit, that is just a ballpark. As a rule of thumb, you withdraw approximately 4% of your savings in the first year in order for it to grow and sustain. This way your money will last you at least 30 years if not more. You retirement can last 25 years or more which means that you have to save for over a decade so you can live a comfortable retirement life. You need to create a strategy and invest in the right markets and ensure that your money doesn’t stagnate. That way, you know that your bank balance is built for the long haul. You also have to factor in your taxes and that dreaded inflation rate as well.

Here is a calculator to help get better clarity on how long your retirement savings will last – Calculate how long your savings will last

financial planning for baby boomers — Source: american nurse today

Let’s look at this hypothetically. Here’s a good example you can draw a parallel from. Dave, a Realtor, decides to retire at the age of 65. He has $500,000 in his savings account which is primarily the money he is going to fall back on for the rest of his life. He decides to withdraw 4%, or $20,000, each year. He now has to use this as a yardstick and increase or decrease his future withdrawal limit based on inflation rates, the market and the value of his investments.

how long will savings last — Source: usa news group

With markets currently volatile, it is imperative that you scrutinize your investment options carefully and avoid putting all your eggs in one basket. Your withdrawal rate will also depend on many factors, some of which you can’t control, for instance, how long you live, your physical health, inflation and market returns, and some which you can control, like the age you choose to retire, and the markets you invest in.

Retirement is a bittersweet phase of life, one which if dealt with wisely, enables you to cruise through the rest of your life in comfort if not luxury. And hence the saying, “Look After the Pennies and the Pounds Will Look After Themselves”. We hope you found this article helpful. Do you need professional advice on this topic? Contact our service professionals at Flagship Financial

When Boomers face Retirement

When my generation of baby boomers, the ones born from the 1940s to the 1950s, wanted to retire in our mid-60s, we were faced with some very unexpected challenges. We grew up during the prosperous post-WWII years, which saw the greatest population growth in the history of the United States. We expected the state to care for us in our golden years, with aids such as social security and healthcare that they contributed to by way of taxes. Sadly, as we got closer to retirement, financial and health concerns were starting to cause a great deal of anxiety to a majority. This makes retirement planning for baby boomers so important.

For one thing, we are living longer and so are our parents; the nest egg we thought would take care of us and our elderly was falling short. Americans long viewed 65 as the age to stop working. It was considered full retirement age by Social Security for many, Medicare benefits kick in then and historical practice had established it as the goal. Me and my friends thought it wiser to keep working into our 70s. We figured working a few more years or drawing our Social Security benefits later would boost our retirement income, particularly since some didn’t even receive pensions. We had to take on the responsibility for saving for retirement but often failing to do so adequately. Naturally, those of us with money worries are more likely to keep working past normal retirement age to help sustain our income.

“We keep adding years of life and it all got tacked on to the retirement period and it never changed the retirement age. “In essence, 70 is the new 65,” says the Vernon report. A recent Willis Towers Watson survey of nearly 5,000 employees found that 37 percent of employees expect to work past age 70, up from 30 percent two years ago.

When I started to worry about meeting the cost of care for my parents, I began to wonder how my children will cope when it is their turn. Everyone wants to leave an income for their partners when they pass as well as a legacy for their children. But working into one’s 70s is easier said than done. Folks retire earlier than planned because of health problems, layoffs or care-giving demands. Older employees are also forced out sometimes.

However, the good news is that good solid advice took care of my concerns. I figured that I had probably 10 or 15 years to fill the gap between my savings and the ideal amount. It is in fact the best time to decide what we want our remaining decades to look like, and put in place a plan to get there. In other words, I got help to determine clear goals and objectives.

I learned that financial planning experts are equipped to identify sources of income and balancing those against expenses. They help draw up the retirement budget and formulate a long-term personal plan to follow. This took care of the fears and anxieties of my friends, of outliving our savings. We got all the guidance we needed on protecting wealth for the next generation, estate planning and growing the nest egg to provide for our loved ones in the years to come.