New Article for Multiple teams

Kevin Ward, Advisor

For many, retirement increasingly represents a meaningful share of our lives—the benefit, partly, of the miracles of modern medicine which have extended our lifespans. But without a daily job to go to, many can feel adrift, the years stretching before them shrouded in uncertainty—about how to spend their time and replace the sense of meaning that often accompanies a professional occupation. In a prior introductory piece, we explored two broad buckets for consideration when approaching retirement: financial considerations and lifestyle and emotional considerations. Herein, we will closely examine the lifestyle and emotional considerations. And while hardly a replacement for meaningful conversations with your family, friends, and other advisors or confidants, we hope this piece provides you with a starting point for approaching retirement ready to embrace its changes and evolution productively and joyfully.

One of retirement’s most significant lifestyle shifts is how you will spend much of your time. Most professionals spend anywhere between 40 and 80+ hours each week dedicated primarily to work. The sudden shift to zero hours can be jarring, particularly if you were passionate about your work. Fortunately, you don’t necessarily have to slam quite so hard on the brakes if you don’t want to. Perhaps your employer is willing—even eager—to retain your services part-time. Your years of experience are undoubtedly valuable—if not to your last employer, then perhaps to another who recognizes the value a seasoned professional could provide their staff. Maybe there are opportunities to mentor younger employees. Such an approach—partially stepping away and decreasing but not eliminating the hours you spend at the office—could help you ease out of full-time employment.

Depending on how you spent your career and how eager you are for a new professional challenge, there might also be an opportunity to start your own business. Many professionals spend years learning the inside baseball of their industry and their specific company. You undoubtedly have some insights into how to do things more efficiently, profitably, etc., which could form the basis of a valuable second career as a consultant—either on your own or with an existing consulting company. A significant benefit to pursuing this type of occupation is you call more of your shots—you control how much time you spend working and which clients you take on. This also means you can better balance a sense of purpose with other occupations or interests you may want to pursue in retirement.

Many of us are drawn to particular causes because of personal experiences or a desire to give back. Serving on a board can be an excellent way to support your preferred cause while continuing to exercise the professional muscles you spent years developing and strengthening. For example, many retired executives or professionals find their accumulated experience and wisdom useful on boards, both for-profits, and non-profits.

On the other hand, maybe your career was never your life’s passion, and you’re ready for an entirely new chapter. In which case, assuming you’ve planned accordingly financially, the world is your oyster. You could take courses in which you’re interested at a local college. You could take up a new hobby and take classes to develop your skills and meet others who share your interest. Maybe your piano has sat neglected in your living room for too long, and it’s time to refresh your skills, take some lessons, and rekindle your love of music. Others prefer to scratch the athletic itch, join golf or tennis clubs, and stay active.

Many also choose to spend more time traveling during retirement—whether touring the US in an RV or flying to far-flung destinations. Provided you’ve saved enough to support your travel dreams, retirement can be a wonderful time to explore whatever part of the world takes your fancy.

Another significant lifestyle shift in retirement could be where you live. While some of these decisions are likely tied to financial considerations:

• Is your home paid off?
• Is it expensive to maintain?
• Is it in a costly location, like a major city?

Some of it is undoubtedly emotional, too. Perhaps you and your spouse raised your family in your current home, and you’ve always envisioned grandchildren running around the backyard during summer visits. Or maybe the house feels too big now, and you’d prefer to move into a more manageable home.

If moving is in your plans, location is the next big question. And the considerations here are many:

• What kind of climate would you prefer?
• What cost of living?
• Rural or urban?
• Condo or townhome?

Maybe you’d prefer to be in a high-rise downtown in a major city, with public transportation to cultural events and nice restaurants. Or perhaps you’d prefer to buy the small farmhouse that needs some tender, loving care on a reasonable piece of land.

The key to many of these emotional and lifestyle shifts is considering them in advance and critically discussing them with your loved ones. Changes in your life will equally impact your spouse. Presumably, you will be spending more time together. How will that look? Would you like to do things together, or would you prefer to have your own interests to pursue, or somewhere in between? Aligning your visions of the future will help you both make the transition successfully and, ideally, joyfully. Retirement is a tremendous reward for a life dedicated to work and responsibility. Planning ahead and communicating with your family can ensure you fully capitalize on all the benefits it can offer.

Also important is communicating these preferences and dreams to your financial advisor so that you can live them out in a financially responsible way. The last thing you want is to retire, having dreamed of traveling the world without financial care, only to find out you can’t afford it. So, communicate with everyone who will be impacted by your retirement early and often—and make sure your financial advisor is among them. Then, get ready to enjoy the journey, wherever it takes you.

If you have more questions, please reach out to our team at breckenridgeteam@monetagroup.com.

© 2022 Moneta Group Investment Advisors, LLC. All rights reserved. The information contained herein is for informational purposes only, is not intended to be comprehensive or exclusive, and is based on materials deemed reliable, but the accuracy of which has not been verified. Examples contained herein are for illustrative purposes only based on generic assumptions. Given the dynamic nature of the subject matter and the environment in which this communication was written, the information and opinions contained herein are subject to change. This is not an offer to sell or buy securities, nor does it represent any specific recommendation. You should consult with an appropriately credentialed professional before making any financial, investment, tax or legal decision. Past performance is not indicative of future returns. All investments are subject to a risk of loss. Diversification and strategic asset allocation do not assure profit or protect against loss in declining markets. These materials do not take into consideration your personal circumstances, financial or otherwise.

The post New Article for Multiple teams appeared first on Moneta Group.

source https://monetagroup.com/blog/new-article-for-multiple-teams/

You’ve Worked a Lifetime to Build Your Wealth. Here’s How to Keep It

By Michael Torney, CFP, J.D., LL.M.

As someone approaches retirement, sells a business or inherits money, they need to develop a new skill: staying wealthy. Just as you had a goal to build your wealth, now you need one to maintain it.

To accomplish this goal, everyone needs a plan to address the following:

• Their goals for wealth in retirement.
• A spending and investment plan.
• Executing the plan and adapting to any changes.

The Why of Your Wealth

This first step is the most important one.  An individual or couple needs to determine their priorities, including how they will enjoy the wealth they have built.  Most people not only want to maintain their current living standard, but also, spend money on new activities and exciting adventures while continuing to support their adult children and grandchildren.

Here are some of the common ways people choose to spend their wealth, which will allow us to develop a financial plan to meet them:

• Additional travel and vacations.
• Contributing to a grandchild’s 529 college education plan.
• Donating more money to local charities.
• Purchasing a second home.
• Leaving a sizable inheritance for adult children and other family members.

Making a Budget, Developing an Investment Plan

With your goals laid out, the second step is developing a plan to pay for these items while also protecting your portfolio. Unfortunately, the trap some wealthy retirees fall into is thinking their assets – even if they have millions of dollars — will sustain them no matter what.

Begin with developing a budget to determine how much it will take to accomplish one or more of your goals.  Here’s a good example:

A couple receives $200,000 annually from Social Security benefits and investment income. With no mortgage or car payment, they have annual living expenses of $120,000 (including fixed and variable expenses). They’ve also set aside $40,000 annually for emergencies, including any home improvements.

The remaining amount can easily cover their desire for travel, 529 plan contributions to a grandchild’s education and some charitable donations. However, if they want to purchase a second home, this amount will likely need to come from their investments – thereby cutting into the amount of money in their investments.

Less money in the couple’s investment account would likely reduce the amount of money they could withdraw each month from their portfolio. Plus, once they purchase the home, they will have the additional expenses of maintaining and caring for it – everything from utilities and a home security system to lawn maintenance and any needed repairs.

If you desire a second home, work with a financial advisor to make certain you can afford to pay for it without having a dramatic impact on living expenses and other needs. This is generally accomplished by running a financial analysis to show the impact of the extra expense on the portfolio over the next 20-30 years.

Executing and Revisiting Your Plan

When it comes to actually putting your plan into action, the first few years of retirement are crucial for establishing good habits. If you aren’t used to living on a budget, it can be easy to spend more money than have you coming in. After settling into retirement for a few months, you may decide it’s time for an unplanned exotic vacation – fun stuff, but it could impact other plans for your money.

In addition, one or more major life events could disrupt your plan. If either or both spouses become quite ill, some money may be needed for additional care and medical expenses. Even if you remain healthy, you may need to care for a relative or provide financial assistance to an adult child going through a difficult period.

The final step to maintaining wealth is to ensure your plan is on track by re-evaluating it every six months. You may find you are spending more money than anticipated, or even have some savings that can be used for new activities. After some years of success, you can evaluate less often. Either way, most retirees find their plans change over the years to accommodate their vision.

Once you’ve established the purpose of your wealth and set up a plan to execute your goals, you’ll be less likely to suffer a setback and enjoy your money for a long time. That’s a goal all of us can agree on.

If you have questions about your retirement plan, our team can be reached at duffteam@monetagroup.com. We offer a free consultation to help discuss how we may be able to help you get on track to meet your retirement goals.

© 2022 Moneta Group Investment Advisors, LLC. All rights reserved. These materials were prepared for informational purposes only based on materials deemed reliable, but the accuracy of which has not been verified. This is not an offer to sell or buy securities, nor does it represent any specific recommendation. Examples contained herein are for illustrative purposes only based on generic assumptions.  These materials do not take into consideration your personal circumstances, financial or otherwise. Past performance is not indicative of future returns. You should consult with an appropriately credentialed professional before making any financial, investment, tax or legal decision.

The post You’ve Worked a Lifetime to Build Your Wealth. Here’s How to Keep It appeared first on Moneta Group.

source https://monetagroup.com/blog/youve-worked-a-lifetime-to-build-your-wealth-heres-how-to-keep-it/

QA Demo Article 2

 

 

Kevin Ward, Advisor

For many, retirement increasingly represents a meaningful share of our lives—the benefit, partly, of the miracles of modern medicine which have extended our lifespans. But without a daily job to go to, many can feel adrift, the years stretching before them shrouded in uncertainty—about how to spend their time and replace the sense of meaning that often accompanies a professional occupation. In a prior introductory piece, we explored two broad buckets for consideration when approaching retirement: financial considerations and lifestyle and emotional considerations. Herein, we will closely examine the lifestyle and emotional considerations. And while hardly a replacement for meaningful conversations with your family, friends, and other advisors or confidants, we hope this piece provides you with a starting point for approaching retirement ready to embrace its changes and evolution productively and joyfully.

One of retirement’s most significant lifestyle shifts is how you will spend much of your time. Most professionals spend anywhere between 40 and 80+ hours each week dedicated primarily to work. The sudden shift to zero hours can be jarring, particularly if you were passionate about your work. Fortunately, you don’t necessarily have to slam quite so hard on the brakes if you don’t want to. Perhaps your employer is willing—even eager—to retain your services part-time. Your years of experience are undoubtedly valuable—if not to your last employer, then perhaps to another who recognizes the value a seasoned professional could provide their staff. Maybe there are opportunities to mentor younger employees. Such an approach—partially stepping away and decreasing but not eliminating the hours you spend at the office—could help you ease out of full-time employment.

Depending on how you spent your career and how eager you are for a new professional challenge, there might also be an opportunity to start your own business. Many professionals spend years learning the inside baseball of their industry and their specific company. You undoubtedly have some insights into how to do things more efficiently, profitably, etc., which could form the basis of a valuable second career as a consultant—either on your own or with an existing consulting company. A significant benefit to pursuing this type of occupation is you call more of your shots—you control how much time you spend working and which clients you take on. This also means you can better balance a sense of purpose with other occupations or interests you may want to pursue in retirement.

Many of us are drawn to particular causes because of personal experiences or a desire to give back. Serving on a board can be an excellent way to support your preferred cause while continuing to exercise the professional muscles you spent years developing and strengthening. For example, many retired executives or professionals find their accumulated experience and wisdom useful on boards, both for-profits, and non-profits.

On the other hand, maybe your career was never your life’s passion, and you’re ready for an entirely new chapter. In which case, assuming you’ve planned accordingly financially, the world is your oyster. You could take courses in which you’re interested at a local college. You could take up a new hobby and take classes to develop your skills and meet others who share your interest. Maybe your piano has sat neglected in your living room for too long, and it’s time to refresh your skills, take some lessons, and rekindle your love of music. Others prefer to scratch the athletic itch, join golf or tennis clubs, and stay active.

Many also choose to spend more time traveling during retirement—whether touring the US in an RV or flying to far-flung destinations. Provided you’ve saved enough to support your travel dreams, retirement can be a wonderful time to explore whatever part of the world takes your fancy.

Another significant lifestyle shift in retirement could be where you live. While some of these decisions are likely tied to financial considerations:

• Is your home paid off?
• Is it expensive to maintain?
• Is it in a costly location, like a major city?

Some of it is undoubtedly emotional, too. Perhaps you and your spouse raised your family in your current home, and you’ve always envisioned grandchildren running around the backyard during summer visits. Or maybe the house feels too big now, and you’d prefer to move into a more manageable home.

If moving is in your plans, location is the next big question. And the considerations here are many:

• What kind of climate would you prefer?
• What cost of living?
• Rural or urban?
• Condo or townhome?

Maybe you’d prefer to be in a high-rise downtown in a major city, with public transportation to cultural events and nice restaurants. Or perhaps you’d prefer to buy the small farmhouse that needs some tender, loving care on a reasonable piece of land.

The key to many of these emotional and lifestyle shifts is considering them in advance and critically discussing them with your loved ones. Changes in your life will equally impact your spouse. Presumably, you will be spending more time together. How will that look? Would you like to do things together, or would you prefer to have your own interests to pursue, or somewhere in between? Aligning your visions of the future will help you both make the transition successfully and, ideally, joyfully. Retirement is a tremendous reward for a life dedicated to work and responsibility. Planning ahead and communicating with your family can ensure you fully capitalize on all the benefits it can offer.

Also important is communicating these preferences and dreams to your financial advisor so that you can live them out in a financially responsible way. The last thing you want is to retire, having dreamed of traveling the world without financial care, only to find out you can’t afford it. So, communicate with everyone who will be impacted by your retirement early and often—and make sure your financial advisor is among them. Then, get ready to enjoy the journey, wherever it takes you.

If you have more questions, please reach out to our team at breckenridgeteam@monetagroup.com.

© 2022 Moneta Group Investment Advisors, LLC. All rights reserved. The information contained herein is for informational purposes only, is not intended to be comprehensive or exclusive, and is based on materials deemed reliable, but the accuracy of which has not been verified. Examples contained herein are for illustrative purposes only based on generic assumptions. Given the dynamic nature of the subject matter and the environment in which this communication was written, the information and opinions contained herein are subject to change. This is not an offer to sell or buy securities, nor does it represent any specific recommendation. You should consult with an appropriately credentialed professional before making any financial, investment, tax or legal decision. Past performance is not indicative of future returns. All investments are subject to a risk of loss. Diversification and strategic asset allocation do not assure profit or protect against loss in declining markets. These materials do not take into consideration your personal circumstances, financial or otherwise.

The post QA Demo Article 2 appeared first on Moneta Group.

source https://monetagroup.com/blog/qa-demo-article-2/

New Demo Test

Kevin Ward, Advisor

Retirement is a sprawling topic. The word alone can raise questions, emotions, and concerns—about how exactly your future will look, what life will entail as the day-to-day changes, how the financial situation will unfold, and more. Though far from exhaustive, we will lay out herein a few of the major areas to think about and what to expect when you’re approaching retirement, broadly broken into two buckets: financial considerations and lifestyle and emotional considerations.

Naturally, some of retirement’s most significant shifts involve money and expenses, a major one of which is health insurance. Most full-time employees today receive health insurance through their employers—narrowing their range of choices and mitigating their premium costs, which are typically covered partially or fully by their employers. In contrast, retirement opens a world of health insurance options, which can be daunting to decipher. Further, prices can vary dramatically, as can coverage levels.

For most retirees 65 years and older, Medicare is an option offering generally lower premiums than many private plans—though private plans may offer coverage more suited to your health situation. Retirees under age 65 may similarly purchase a plan through the federal marketplace established under the 2010 Affordable Care Act, through their state insurance exchange, or a private insurance provider. We could easily write a short novel on all the health insurance options available—and there are many good resources available online that outline significant differences and considerations—but suffice it to say among the critical factors are:

• How much you will pay in monthly premiums.
• How high the deductible is, what is and isn’t covered.
• Whether your current doctors are in the network of the plan you’re contemplating.

Another important monetary shift in retirement is your income source, which will no longer be primarily your employer. Planning is key—understanding your expenses and income sources and budgeting well in advance will help ease the anxiety that can accompany the cessation of regular paychecks. As with health insurance, government programs like Social Security for eligible retirees 62 years and older can help provide some monthly income. If you have an equity portfolio, you may be able to replace some or all monthly income via dividends and interest payments. Similarly, investment or rental properties may generate monthly cash flow. Establishing monthly or bi-monthly recurring transfers or deposits into your checking account can serve as a paycheck replacement and help you maintain a consistent approach to your household budgeting and spending once you’ve retired.

It’s also worth considering where you will live. Perhaps you already live in your dream home, can afford to keep and maintain it, and have no interest in moving. But you’ve always thought about a second home—maybe in a warmer location, maybe nearer the ski slopes for some winter recreation. Or, perhaps your home isn’t practical for the lifestyle you anticipate in retirement—maybe you’d like to be nearer to other family members, or you’d like a smaller place that’s easier and more cost-effective to maintain. These are all things that may shift as you approach and enter retirement.

Finally, think about whether there are other ways in which your financial goals will change—no longer will you strive for retirement, but you may have new financial goals, whether paying for your grandchildren’s educations or purchasing a second home. Your focus may shift from covering your own living expenses to thinking about leaving a legacy or supporting causes about which you are passionate.

Critical to all financial shifts in retirement, whether insurance, investments, or real estate, is planning for them sufficiently in advance—particularly if they require meaningful changes in your savings or investment strategy. Planning early will ensure you can position yourself as well as possible and increase the likelihood you can feasibly accomplish your goals and live the life you’ve envisioned for yourself and your family.

There are also important lifestyle and emotional shifts in retirement—where and how you will spend your time and how your daily emotional and physical realities will change when you’re no longer going to a job or an office. When it comes to keeping busy, the options are myriad and exciting. Perhaps you’re not ready to retire entirely and would like to work part-time, whether for your existing employer or elsewhere. Alternatively, you could offer the benefit of your years’ experience and wisdom gained via consulting, either through an independent consulting firm you establish on your own or through an existing one. Your experience could also tremendously benefit any number of boards—non-profit or for-profit, depending on your interests.

Then, of course, there are the many ways to spend time that doesn’t involve work at all, but instead family, friends, travel, and the pursuit of passions often deferred during your prime working years. Perhaps you’ve long wanted to travel the world with your spouse or other family members or friends. Maybe you’ve eagerly awaited the day you could teach your grandchildren the finer points of golf or the piano. Maybe you’re ready to take the senior tennis world by storm yourself.

However you plan to spend your time, one thing is assured: Your days will look different. And these changes can evoke confusing and challenging emotions. Shifting from going to a specific place or doing a particular set of daily tasks to planning your own time with much more autonomy can overwhelm you. It’s advisable to think about these changes and the potential emotions in advance—not necessarily so you can avert them or manage them perfectly, but so you won’t be surprised when they arise. Also important is planning with your spouse and other family members whom you anticipate will be impacted—for example, your children and grandchildren who live nearby. Envisioning your new daily life with those who regularly participate can help manage and mitigate the jolt from stepping away from a career.

As with all significant life changes and milestones, retirement introduces a wealth of considerations; financial, personal, emotional, and otherwise. Though it can be easy during your prime working years to focus on your career and keep your head down, it’s important to lift it periodically to assess your situation—where you are, where you’d like to go—and ensure you’re positioning yourself to meet those goals. Leveraging the experience of a trusted financial advisor to help you create a plan that can flex as your circumstances change will help you navigate the complex world of retirement.

If you have more questions, please reach out to our team at breckenridgeteam@monetagroup.com.

© 2022 Moneta Group Investment Advisors, LLC. All rights reserved. The information contained herein is for informational purposes only, is not intended to be comprehensive or exclusive, and is based on materials deemed reliable, but the accuracy of which has not been verified. Examples contained herein are for illustrative purposes only based on generic assumptions. Given the dynamic nature of the subject matter and the environment in which this communication was written, the information and opinions contained herein are subject to change. This is not an offer to sell or buy securities, nor does it represent any specific recommendation. You should consult with an appropriately credentialed professional before making any financial, investment, tax or legal decision. Past performance is not indicative of future returns. All investments are subject to a risk of loss. Diversification and strategic asset allocation do not assure profit or protect against loss in declining markets. These materials do not take into consideration your personal circumstances, financial or otherwise.

The post New Demo Test appeared first on Moneta Group.

source https://monetagroup.com/blog/new-demo-test/

Article Test Demo

James Chalmers – Senior Advisor

Some people are planners; others are procrastinators. Some are one-thing-at-a-timers, and some are a combination, depending on the topic. Retirement, though, is an area for which planning is not just nice, but necessary. Though it may feel too far in the future to reasonably plan for, once you reach your 40s or 50s, it’s critical to start putting pen to paper. A recent study showed a majority of workers (76%) have some form of retirement strategy, but only 33% have it written down—which can be a key determinant in your level of long-term success at reaching your retirement goals.

We refer to this phase of life—when some of life’s big expenses, like college tuition or a home remodel, may be behind you, and retirement is likely the next big milestone—as the big push. This is the time during which you can and should make some major determinations about and plans for your financial future to give yourself the highest probability of meeting your retirement goals. If you discover your current status or plan won’t lead to your preferred destination—maybe you haven’t quite hit your savings goal, or you’re unsure how to factor tax considerations into your future financial picture—you still have time to pivot to improve your likely outcome. Wait too long, though, and some of your goals may no longer be achievable—you just may not have time to correct course.

Trying to map the right road to retirement is inarguably a daunting task—which is likely why many people fail to get into the weeds, preferring to take a guess at how much income they’ll need in retirement to support and maintain their lifestyle. A better approach is starting with the current state of your personal balance sheet—what assets and liabilities you have and what your future income stream is likely to look like so you can determine what your available savings will be.  From there, it’s worth envisioning some basic outlines of your retirement goals—like at what age you’d like to retire, whether you intend to continue any part-time work thereafter, what sources of income you anticipate, and so on. Equally critical is starting to get your arms around your anticipated expenses, including tax considerations and factoring in inflation.

These considerations are just the start of crafting a sufficiently robust, comprehensive plan. Maybe you plan to leave a legacy for children or grandchildren, or you already know you’d like to be able to fund future generations’ educations. Any added complexities can make developing a coherent plan more challenging—and, importantly, can make adjusting it as circumstances change, which they inevitably will, trickier.

Living in the “there’s an app for that” era, this seems fertile ground for a technological solution—likely there’s an algorithm that can take your current financial status, account for all the variables, apply the necessary probabilities, and produce a (seemingly) failsafe plan to achieve the desired outcome. And there are undoubtedly many tools that can help with the outlines of a plan. But relying solely on calculators or apps may be insufficient in the long run because things change all the time. Goals can change. Or life may require you take a detour—possibly to pay for unanticipated expenses, whether health, or education, or something else-related. When that happens, it can be challenging to determine how best to adjust the plan.

Then, too, consider that retirement planning can be a bit like setting a reading goal. You can determine you’d like to read a certain number of books or pages in a year. You can calculate how much time you need to spend in your armchair curled up with your Dostoevsky daily. But if Crime and Punishment decorates your nightstand all year—which isn’t necessarily just a matter of discipline, but also of myriad responsibilities and options competing for your time and attention—you won’t hit your goal, no matter how well-intentioned you started the year.

So, too, with financial planning—calculating it, defining it, even writing it down may not be enough. Which is why the help of an advisor can be critical to your probability of long-term success. The best advisors spend their professional time thinking continually about retirement planning from all angles. They are immersed in the landscape, the latest developments, the risks, the possibilities, the probabilities—and they keep track of when and how any of these factors shift, which they do, often and rapidly. Consider: the tax and accounting regulatory environments, estate considerations, investing options, the investing backdrop (including the domestic political and geopolitical environments), interest rates, inflation, etc.—all shift daily. For most individuals, finding the time in their daily diaries to keep up with everything required to ensure the financial plan stays on track is challenging, if not nearly impossible. But for advisors, helping make sense of all these considerations is their primary task—not 19^th on a list of 20 things to do.

If you’re amid the big push—then now is the time to start planning, while you still have an opportunity to make any necessary adjustments. Critically, engaging an experienced, top-notch advisor can help improve your results by helping you objectively assess your current status, make a sound, prudent plan, and hold you accountable to that plan, while helping you adjust as needed along the way and looking out for your best interest. Regardless of where you want to end up, step one in the big push is ensuring the task doesn’t overwhelm you to the point you procrastinate too long. In other words, step one is identifying the right advisor.

© 2022 Moneta Group Investment Advisors, LLC.  All rights reserved. These materials were prepared for informational purposes only based on materials deemed reliable, but the accuracy of which has not been verified. Trademarks and copyrights of materials referenced herein are the property of their respective owners. Index and/or Style returns reflect total return, assuming reinvestment of dividends and interest. The returns do not reflect the effect of taxes and/or fees that an investor would incur. Examples contained herein are for illustrative purposes only based on generic assumptions. Given the dynamic nature of the subject matter and the environment in which this communication was written, the information contained herein is subject to change. This is not an offer to sell or buy securities, nor does it represent any specific recommendation. You should consult with an appropriately credentialed professional before making any financial, investment, tax or legal decision. You cannot invest directly in an index. Past performance is not indicative of future returns. All investments are subject to a risk of loss. Diversification and strategic asset allocation do not assure profit or protect against loss in declining markets. These materials do not take into consideration your personal circumstances, financial or otherwise.

The post Article Test Demo appeared first on Moneta Group.

source https://monetagroup.com/blog/article-test-demo/

Demo Test Article

James Chalmers – Senior Advisor

Some people are planners; others are procrastinators. Some are one-thing-at-a-timers, and some are a combination, depending on the topic. Retirement, though, is an area for which planning is not just nice, but necessary. Though it may feel too far in the future to reasonably plan for, once you reach your 40s or 50s, it’s critical to start putting pen to paper. A recent study showed a majority of workers (76%) have some form of retirement strategy, but only 33% have it written down—which can be a key determinant in your level of long-term success at reaching your retirement goals.

We refer to this phase of life—when some of life’s big expenses, like college tuition or a home remodel, may be behind you, and retirement is likely the next big milestone—as the big push. This is the time during which you can and should make some major determinations about and plans for your financial future to give yourself the highest probability of meeting your retirement goals. If you discover your current status or plan won’t lead to your preferred destination—maybe you haven’t quite hit your savings goal, or you’re unsure how to factor tax considerations into your future financial picture—you still have time to pivot to improve your likely outcome. Wait too long, though, and some of your goals may no longer be achievable—you just may not have time to correct course.

Trying to map the right road to retirement is inarguably a daunting task—which is likely why many people fail to get into the weeds, preferring to take a guess at how much income they’ll need in retirement to support and maintain their lifestyle. A better approach is starting with the current state of your personal balance sheet—what assets and liabilities you have and what your future income stream is likely to look like so you can determine what your available savings will be.  From there, it’s worth envisioning some basic outlines of your retirement goals—like at what age you’d like to retire, whether you intend to continue any part-time work thereafter, what sources of income you anticipate, and so on. Equally critical is starting to get your arms around your anticipated expenses, including tax considerations and factoring in inflation.

These considerations are just the start of crafting a sufficiently robust, comprehensive plan. Maybe you plan to leave a legacy for children or grandchildren, or you already know you’d like to be able to fund future generations’ educations. Any added complexities can make developing a coherent plan more challenging—and, importantly, can make adjusting it as circumstances change, which they inevitably will, trickier.

Living in the “there’s an app for that” era, this seems fertile ground for a technological solution—likely there’s an algorithm that can take your current financial status, account for all the variables, apply the necessary probabilities, and produce a (seemingly) failsafe plan to achieve the desired outcome. And there are undoubtedly many tools that can help with the outlines of a plan. But relying solely on calculators or apps may be insufficient in the long run because things change all the time. Goals can change. Or life may require you take a detour—possibly to pay for unanticipated expenses, whether health, or education, or something else-related. When that happens, it can be challenging to determine how best to adjust the plan.

Then, too, consider that retirement planning can be a bit like setting a reading goal. You can determine you’d like to read a certain number of books or pages in a year. You can calculate how much time you need to spend in your armchair curled up with your Dostoevsky daily. But if Crime and Punishment decorates your nightstand all year—which isn’t necessarily just a matter of discipline, but also of myriad responsibilities and options competing for your time and attention—you won’t hit your goal, no matter how well-intentioned you started the year.

So, too, with financial planning—calculating it, defining it, even writing it down may not be enough. Which is why the help of an advisor can be critical to your probability of long-term success. The best advisors spend their professional time thinking continually about retirement planning from all angles. They are immersed in the landscape, the latest developments, the risks, the possibilities, the probabilities—and they keep track of when and how any of these factors shift, which they do, often and rapidly. Consider: the tax and accounting regulatory environments, estate considerations, investing options, the investing backdrop (including the domestic political and geopolitical environments), interest rates, inflation, etc.—all shift daily. For most individuals, finding the time in their daily diaries to keep up with everything required to ensure the financial plan stays on track is challenging, if not nearly impossible. But for advisors, helping make sense of all these considerations is their primary task—not 19^th on a list of 20 things to do.

If you’re amid the big push—then now is the time to start planning, while you still have an opportunity to make any necessary adjustments. Critically, engaging an experienced, top-notch advisor can help improve your results by helping you objectively assess your current status, make a sound, prudent plan, and hold you accountable to that plan, while helping you adjust as needed along the way and looking out for your best interest. Regardless of where you want to end up, step one in the big push is ensuring the task doesn’t overwhelm you to the point you procrastinate too long. In other words, step one is identifying the right advisor.

© 2022 Moneta Group Investment Advisors, LLC.  All rights reserved. These materials were prepared for informational purposes only based on materials deemed reliable, but the accuracy of which has not been verified. Trademarks and copyrights of materials referenced herein are the property of their respective owners. Index and/or Style returns reflect total return, assuming reinvestment of dividends and interest. The returns do not reflect the effect of taxes and/or fees that an investor would incur. Examples contained herein are for illustrative purposes only based on generic assumptions. Given the dynamic nature of the subject matter and the environment in which this communication was written, the information contained herein is subject to change. This is not an offer to sell or buy securities, nor does it represent any specific recommendation. You should consult with an appropriately credentialed professional before making any financial, investment, tax or legal decision. You cannot invest directly in an index. Past performance is not indicative of future returns. All investments are subject to a risk of loss. Diversification and strategic asset allocation do not assure profit or protect against loss in declining markets. These materials do not take into consideration your personal circumstances, financial or otherwise.

The post Demo Test Article appeared first on Moneta Group.

source https://monetagroup.com/blog/demo-test-article/

How should I save for college?

 

Research shows that the cost of education has risen 3-fold over the last 20 years.

 

Here’s a chart from U.S. News & World Report that illustrates the average tuition growth across universities from 2002 through 2022.

These numbers are staggering, exclude room and board, and only seem to be moving in one direction – UP.

One way to help prepare for future college costs is to set up a 529 plan, and start saving early.

A 529 plan is an investment account designated to be used for future education expenses. An account can be set up as soon as your child or grandchild has a Social Security Number.  Your investment in the 529 account grows on a tax-deferred basis and can be withdrawn tax-free, so long as it’s used to pay for qualified education expenses. An added tax incentive is that many states offer an income tax deduction for contributions made to their specific plan.

The number one question I get from my clients is, “How do I know how much to save?” There’s no one-size-fits-all response to this. As you’re evaluating how much to contribute, it’s important to understand what your goals or objectives are for this account. Do you want to fund it all? Would you feel better if your child or the child’s parent pays for part? Once you have a feel for the level of funding you’d like to achieve, there are tools we can utilize to help model the savings required to get there.

Another question I often get is, “What if my child doesn’t end up going to college?” Plans change. Fortunately, 529 plans offer flexibility.

What if your child decides not to go to college, or vocational school, or takes a gap year, or gets a scholarship? Rest assured, you have options.

And with the passing of The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act in 2017, families can now use 529 plans to pay for up to $10,000 in tuition expenses at elementary or secondary public, private or parochial schools.

Education funding is just one of the multiple areas of planning that we partner with our clients on. If you have more financial questions, don’t hesitate to ask your Family CFO.  We do more so you can too.

© 2022 Moneta Group Investment Advisors, LLC. All rights reserved. These materials were prepared for informational purposes only based on materials deemed reliable, but the accuracy of which has not been verified; trademarks and copyrights of materials linked herein are the property of their respective owners. Examples contained herein are for illustrative purposes only based on generic assumptions. This is not an offer to sell or buy securities, nor does it represent any specific recommendation.  You should consult with an appropriately credentialed professional before making any financial, investment, tax or legal decision. Past performance is not indicative of future returns. These materials do not take into consideration your personal circumstances, financial or otherwise.

The post How should I save for college? appeared first on Moneta Group.

source https://monetagroup.com/blog/how-should-i-save-for-college/

What to Expect in Retirement—the Financial Edition

Kevin Ward, Advisor

As life expectancies have extended and as wealth in many developed countries has grown exponentially over the last century-plus, retirement not only has increasingly become a reality for many, but it also may represent a relatively significant share of your lifespan. How you will spend it and what it will look like are increasingly relevant—and weighty—questions. In a prior introductory piece, we explored two broad buckets for consideration when approaching retirement: financial factors, and lifestyle and emotional factors. In the following paragraphs, we will dive deeper into some financial factors that can materially impact your retirement reality.

Among retirement’s primary financial considerations are health insurance, income sources, living arrangements, and financial goals. Health insurance, often paid for partly or fully by employers, understandably represents a meaningful line item on many retirement budgets. For retirees 65 years and older, Medicare can be one of the more affordable means of obtaining insurance and can possibly help you recoup some of the years of taxes you paid into the program. But Medicare isn’t a one-size-fits-all plan—rather, it’s an umbrella term for four different parts, including Part A, Part B, Part D, and Medicare Supplemental Insurance, or Medigap. Further complicating things are two additional broad terms: original Medicare and Medicare Advantage.

Original Medicare is provided by the federal government and includes Parts A, which is hospital coverage, and B, which is medical coverage. It does not include prescription drug coverage or any additional coverage like vision and dental. In contrast, Medicare Advantage is offered through private providers. It has not only Parts A and B but also often Part D, which is prescription drug coverage, and additional coverage like vision and dental.

In addition to these coverage differences, costs will also differ, as will the network of available doctors. With Original Medicare, you can typically see any doctor you’d like. In contrast, with Medicare Advantage, you must see an in-network doctor, much as you likely did under the insurance plan you had through your employer.

If those weren’t enough options to digest, there are more: You don’t have to purchase a Medicare plan at all—you can also purchase an insurance plan through the federal marketplace, through your state insurance exchange, or through a private insurance provider—though in many cases, a Medicare option will likely prove most affordable. The health insurance landscape is broad and complex, and the nuances can be tremendously important, given they can impact your health care options. The keys are doing your research, asking critical questions, and sufficiently weighing your current and future potential health situation.

Given the significant budget item health insurance represents, a natural question is: How will I replace my income in retirement? As with health insurance, the possibilities are many and varied, giving you flexibility. If you’re 62 years or older, you are likely eligible to collect Social Security—though your payments may not fully cover your living costs. Fortunately, the savings you accrued during your working years could yield passive income, which can help supplement Social Security or other pension-like payments. For example, dividend and interest payments can provide monthly cash flow. If you establish these payments as monthly or bi-monthly transfers into your checking account, you can even create your own paycheck replacement program, which can help you maintain your standard approach to monthly budgeting.

Nor are dividends and interest your only passive income possibility—maybe you have an investment property generating positive cash flow. Or perhaps you have an opportunity to invest in a piece of property that could generate income for you.

Then, too, maybe you’re not ready to rely primarily or entirely on passive income. Depending on your plans for how you’ll spend your time—which we discuss more in our lifestyle-related deep dive—maybe some part-time work appeals to you. There could be opportunities to either maintain a part-time affiliation with your employer or start your own business to generate some income monthly. Such a path may not fully cover your expenses, but every bit contributes to—maybe enhances—your ability to live the lifestyle you’ve envisioned.

Another significant financial consideration of retirement is where you will live—which admittedly straddles the financial and emotional realms. We touch on the emotional in our companion piece on lifestyle considerations. But from a strictly financial perspective, the primary considerations are related, unsurprisingly, to your budget. What do your home and its maintenance currently cost? And can you afford those costs? Think not just about the monthly bills, like water and gas, but about how much you spend on repairs or yard care. When might the house need a new roof or a coat of paint? And when those expenses come, how will you cover them? It’s also worth estimating how much equity is in your home. Maybe it makes sense to sell your current home to unlock your accrued equity and downsize into something less expensive to maintain. Or perhaps you have the option to keep your existing home but rent it out and live full-time elsewhere. Importantly, these decisions have tax implications, so as with all financial-related matters, it’s good to involve a well-informed financial advisor to help make sure you’re factoring in all the right variables.

Additionally, consider whether and how your financial goals may shift once you officially retire. The good news is that you’re no longer aiming at retirement, but the next question is: Now what? Are you striving for new financial goals, and what are they? Would you like to help pay for children’s continuing education or grandchildren’s primary education? Would you like to travel? Own a second home in a dream location? Or perhaps you’d like to plan to leave a legacy—whether on behalf of your alma mater or a cause about which you are passionate. Now that you have retired and presumably put sufficient planning into paying for your day-to-day living expenses, other options for your money are open to you, and you can begin planning for those.

Retirement represents a monumental shift—but one from which you can eliminate much of the uncertainty with planning and foresight. Obviously, no one has a crystal ball, so you can’t anticipate every twist or turn your life may take, either while you’re working full-time or once you’ve stepped away. But thinking through the various scenarios and their probabilities can help mitigate some of the discomforts accompanying such a significant life change. You can share your thoughts, ideas, goals, and plans with your family and an experienced financial advisor who can help ensure you’re asking all the right questions and turning over the right rocks. With all that advanced work, you can shift your focus to retirement’s lifestyle-oriented considerations, which we tackle in our companion piece.

If you have more questions, please reach out to our team at breckenridgeteam@monetagroup.com.

© 2022 Moneta Group Investment Advisors, LLC. All rights reserved. The information contained herein is for informational purposes only, is not intended to be comprehensive or exclusive, and is based on materials deemed reliable, but the accuracy of which has not been verified. Examples contained herein are for illustrative purposes only based on generic assumptions. Given the dynamic nature of the subject matter and the environment in which this communication was written, the information and opinions contained herein are subject to change. This is not an offer to sell or buy securities, nor does it represent any specific recommendation. You should consult with an appropriately credentialed professional before making any financial, investment, tax or legal decision. Past performance is not indicative of future returns. All investments are subject to a risk of loss. Diversification and strategic asset allocation do not assure profit or protect against loss in declining markets. These materials do not take into consideration your personal circumstances, financial or otherwise.

The post What to Expect in Retirement—the Financial Edition appeared first on Moneta Group.

source https://monetagroup.com/blog/what-to-expect-in-retirement-the-financial-edition/

The Big Push—Setting Yourself Up for Retirement Success While You Still Have Time

James Chalmers – Senior Advisor

Some people are planners; others are procrastinators. Some are one-thing-at-a-timers, and some are a combination, depending on the topic. Retirement, though, is an area for which planning is not just nice, but necessary. Though it may feel too far in the future to reasonably plan for, once you reach your 40s or 50s, it’s critical to start putting pen to paper. A recent study showed a majority of workers (76%) have some form of retirement strategy, but only 33% have it written down—which can be a key determinant in your level of long-term success at reaching your retirement goals.

We refer to this phase of life—when some of life’s big expenses, like college tuition or a home remodel, may be behind you, and retirement is likely the next big milestone—as the big push. This is the time during which you can and should make some major determinations about and plans for your financial future to give yourself the highest probability of meeting your retirement goals. If you discover your current status or plan won’t lead to your preferred destination—maybe you haven’t quite hit your savings goal, or you’re unsure how to factor tax considerations into your future financial picture—you still have time to pivot to improve your likely outcome. Wait too long, though, and some of your goals may no longer be achievable—you just may not have time to correct course.

Trying to map the right road to retirement is inarguably a daunting task—which is likely why many people fail to get into the weeds, preferring to take a guess at how much income they’ll need in retirement to support and maintain their lifestyle. A better approach is starting with the current state of your personal balance sheet—what assets and liabilities you have and what your future income stream is likely to look like so you can determine what your available savings will be.  From there, it’s worth envisioning some basic outlines of your retirement goals—like at what age you’d like to retire, whether you intend to continue any part-time work thereafter, what sources of income you anticipate, and so on. Equally critical is starting to get your arms around your anticipated expenses, including tax considerations and factoring in inflation.

These considerations are just the start of crafting a sufficiently robust, comprehensive plan. Maybe you plan to leave a legacy for children or grandchildren, or you already know you’d like to be able to fund future generations’ educations. Any added complexities can make developing a coherent plan more challenging—and, importantly, can make adjusting it as circumstances change, which they inevitably will, trickier.

Living in the “there’s an app for that” era, this seems fertile ground for a technological solution—likely there’s an algorithm that can take your current financial status, account for all the variables, apply the necessary probabilities, and produce a (seemingly) failsafe plan to achieve the desired outcome. And there are undoubtedly many tools that can help with the outlines of a plan. But relying solely on calculators or apps may be insufficient in the long run because things change all the time. Goals can change. Or life may require you take a detour—possibly to pay for unanticipated expenses, whether health, or education, or something else-related. When that happens, it can be challenging to determine how best to adjust the plan.

Then, too, consider that retirement planning can be a bit like setting a reading goal. You can determine you’d like to read a certain number of books or pages in a year. You can calculate how much time you need to spend in your armchair curled up with your Dostoevsky daily. But if Crime and Punishment decorates your nightstand all year—which isn’t necessarily just a matter of discipline, but also of myriad responsibilities and options competing for your time and attention—you won’t hit your goal, no matter how well-intentioned you started the year.

So, too, with financial planning—calculating it, defining it, even writing it down may not be enough. Which is why the help of an advisor can be critical to your probability of long-term success. The best advisors spend their professional time thinking continually about retirement planning from all angles. They are immersed in the landscape, the latest developments, the risks, the possibilities, the probabilities—and they keep track of when and how any of these factors shift, which they do, often and rapidly. Consider: the tax and accounting regulatory environments, estate considerations, investing options, the investing backdrop (including the domestic political and geopolitical environments), interest rates, inflation, etc.—all shift daily. For most individuals, finding the time in their daily diaries to keep up with everything required to ensure the financial plan stays on track is challenging, if not nearly impossible. But for advisors, helping make sense of all these considerations is their primary task—not 19^th on a list of 20 things to do.

If you’re amid the big push—then now is the time to start planning, while you still have an opportunity to make any necessary adjustments. Critically, engaging an experienced, top-notch advisor can help improve your results by helping you objectively assess your current status, make a sound, prudent plan, and hold you accountable to that plan, while helping you adjust as needed along the way and looking out for your best interest. Regardless of where you want to end up, step one in the big push is ensuring the task doesn’t overwhelm you to the point you procrastinate too long. In other words, step one is identifying the right advisor.

© 2022 Moneta Group Investment Advisors, LLC.  All rights reserved. These materials were prepared for informational purposes only based on materials deemed reliable, but the accuracy of which has not been verified. Trademarks and copyrights of materials referenced herein are the property of their respective owners. Index and/or Style returns reflect total return, assuming reinvestment of dividends and interest. The returns do not reflect the effect of taxes and/or fees that an investor would incur. Examples contained herein are for illustrative purposes only based on generic assumptions. Given the dynamic nature of the subject matter and the environment in which this communication was written, the information contained herein is subject to change. This is not an offer to sell or buy securities, nor does it represent any specific recommendation. You should consult with an appropriately credentialed professional before making any financial, investment, tax or legal decision. You cannot invest directly in an index. Past performance is not indicative of future returns. All investments are subject to a risk of loss. Diversification and strategic asset allocation do not assure profit or protect against loss in declining markets. These materials do not take into consideration your personal circumstances, financial or otherwise.

The post The Big Push—Setting Yourself Up for Retirement Success While You Still Have Time appeared first on Moneta Group.

source https://monetagroup.com/blog/the-big-push-setting-yourself-up-for-retirement-success-while-you-still-have-time/

The Big Push—Setting Yourself Up for Retirement Success While You Still Have Time

James Chalmers – Senior Advisor

Some people are planners; others are procrastinators. Some are one-thing-at-a-timers, and some are a combination, depending on the topic. Retirement, though, is an area for which planning is not just nice, but necessary. Though it may feel too far in the future to reasonably plan for, once you reach your 40s or 50s, it’s critical to start putting pen to paper. A recent study showed a majority of workers (76%) have some form of retirement strategy, but only 33% have it written down—which can be a key determinant in your level of long-term success at reaching your retirement goals.

We refer to this phase of life—when some of life’s big expenses, like college tuition or a home remodel, may be behind you, and retirement is likely the next big milestone—as the big push. This is the time during which you can and should make some major determinations about and plans for your financial future to give yourself the highest probability of meeting your retirement goals. If you discover your current status or plan won’t lead to your preferred destination—maybe you haven’t quite hit your savings goal, or you’re unsure how to factor tax considerations into your future financial picture—you still have time to pivot to improve your likely outcome. Wait too long, though, and some of your goals may no longer be achievable—you just may not have time to correct course.

Trying to map the right road to retirement is inarguably a daunting task—which is likely why many people fail to get into the weeds, preferring to take a guess at how much income they’ll need in retirement to support and maintain their lifestyle. A better approach is starting with the current state of your personal balance sheet—what assets and liabilities you have and what your future income stream is likely to look like so you can determine what your available savings will be.  From there, it’s worth envisioning some basic outlines of your retirement goals—like at what age you’d like to retire, whether you intend to continue any part-time work thereafter, what sources of income you anticipate, and so on. Equally critical is starting to get your arms around your anticipated expenses, including tax considerations and factoring in inflation.

These considerations are just the start of crafting a sufficiently robust, comprehensive plan. Maybe you plan to leave a legacy for children or grandchildren, or you already know you’d like to be able to fund future generations’ educations. Any added complexities can make developing a coherent plan more challenging—and, importantly, can make adjusting it as circumstances change, which they inevitably will, trickier.

Living in the “there’s an app for that” era, this seems fertile ground for a technological solution—likely there’s an algorithm that can take your current financial status, account for all the variables, apply the necessary probabilities, and produce a (seemingly) failsafe plan to achieve the desired outcome. And there are undoubtedly many tools that can help with the outlines of a plan. But relying solely on calculators or apps may be insufficient in the long run because things change all the time. Goals can change. Or life may require you take a detour—possibly to pay for unanticipated expenses, whether health, or education, or something else-related. When that happens, it can be challenging to determine how best to adjust the plan.

Then, too, consider that retirement planning can be a bit like setting a reading goal. You can determine you’d like to read a certain number of books or pages in a year. You can calculate how much time you need to spend in your armchair curled up with your Dostoevsky daily. But if Crime and Punishment decorates your nightstand all year—which isn’t necessarily just a matter of discipline, but also of myriad responsibilities and options competing for your time and attention—you won’t hit your goal, no matter how well-intentioned you started the year.

So, too, with financial planning—calculating it, defining it, even writing it down may not be enough. Which is why the help of an advisor can be critical to your probability of long-term success. The best advisors spend their professional time thinking continually about retirement planning from all angles. They are immersed in the landscape, the latest developments, the risks, the possibilities, the probabilities—and they keep track of when and how any of these factors shift, which they do, often and rapidly. Consider: the tax and accounting regulatory environments, estate considerations, investing options, the investing backdrop (including the domestic political and geopolitical environments), interest rates, inflation, etc.—all shift daily. For most individuals, finding the time in their daily diaries to keep up with everything required to ensure the financial plan stays on track is challenging, if not nearly impossible. But for advisors, helping make sense of all these considerations is their primary task—not 19^th on a list of 20 things to do.

If you’re amid the big push—then now is the time to start planning, while you still have an opportunity to make any necessary adjustments. Critically, engaging an experienced, top-notch advisor can help improve your results by helping you objectively assess your current status, make a sound, prudent plan, and hold you accountable to that plan, while helping you adjust as needed along the way and looking out for your best interest. Regardless of where you want to end up, step one in the big push is ensuring the task doesn’t overwhelm you to the point you procrastinate too long. In other words, step one is identifying the right advisor.

© 2022 Moneta Group Investment Advisors, LLC.  All rights reserved. These materials were prepared for informational purposes only based on materials deemed reliable, but the accuracy of which has not been verified. Trademarks and copyrights of materials referenced herein are the property of their respective owners. Index and/or Style returns reflect total return, assuming reinvestment of dividends and interest. The returns do not reflect the effect of taxes and/or fees that an investor would incur. Examples contained herein are for illustrative purposes only based on generic assumptions. Given the dynamic nature of the subject matter and the environment in which this communication was written, the information contained herein is subject to change. This is not an offer to sell or buy securities, nor does it represent any specific recommendation. You should consult with an appropriately credentialed professional before making any financial, investment, tax or legal decision. You cannot invest directly in an index. Past performance is not indicative of future returns. All investments are subject to a risk of loss. Diversification and strategic asset allocation do not assure profit or protect against loss in declining markets. These materials do not take into consideration your personal circumstances, financial or otherwise.

The post The Big Push—Setting Yourself Up for Retirement Success While You Still Have Time appeared first on Moneta Group.

source https://monetagroup.com/blog/the-big-push-setting-yourself-up-for-retirement-success-while-you-still-have-time/

Don’t Give Cash

Don’t Give Cash

Changes in the federal tax laws in recent years have raised the standard income tax deduction. Unfortunately, this has made it more difficult for a person to reduce their taxes owed by writing a check since many people are better off taking the standard deduction than itemizing deductions on their returns. For 2022, the standard deduction is $12,950 for single filers and $25,900 for couples. In 2020 and 2021, there were special tax deductions for non-itemizers that gave cash contributions to charity, but that deduction is not available in 2022. If you plan to give away a few thousand dollars, it probably doesn’t make sense to give cash, so look for other ways to make this gift.  Below are a few alternatives. Healthcare costs and fees concept. And of smart doctor used a calculator for medical costs in modern hospital with VR icon diagram

 

The post Don’t Give Cash appeared first on Moneta Group.

source https://monetagroup.com/blog/dont-give-cash/

QA New Post

Don’t Give Cash

Changes in the federal tax laws in recent years have raised the standard income tax deduction. Unfortunately, this has made it more difficult for a person to reduce their taxes owed by writing a check since many people are better off taking the standard deduction than itemizing deductions on their returns. For 2022, the standard deduction is $12,950 for single filers and $25,900 for couples. In 2020 and 2021, there were special tax deductions for non-itemizers that gave cash contributions to charity, but that deduction is not available in 2022. If you plan to give away a few thousand dollars, it probably doesn’t make sense to give cash, so look for other ways to make this gift.  Below are a few alternatives.Healthcare costs and fees concept.Hand of smart doctor used a calculator for medical costs in modern hospital with VR icon diagram

 

The post QA New Post appeared first on Moneta Group.

source https://monetagroup.com/blog/qa-new-post/

New Demo Article for QA

Don’t Give Cash

Changes in the federal tax laws in recent years have raised the standard income tax deduction. Unfortunately, this has made it more difficult for a person to reduce their taxes owed by writing a check since many people are better off taking the standard deduction than itemizing deductions on their returns. For 2022, the standard deduction is $12,950 for single filers and $25,900 for couples. In 2020 and 2021, there were special tax deductions for non-itemizers that gave cash contributions to charity, but that deduction is not available in 2022. If you plan to give away a few thousand dollars, it probably doesn’t make sense to give cash, so look for other ways to make this gift.  Below are a few alternatives.

The post New Demo Article for QA appeared first on Moneta Group.

source https://monetagroup.com/blog/new-demo-article-for-qa/

Demo article for QA

The desc.

The post Demo article for QA appeared first on Moneta Group.

source https://monetagroup.com/blog/demo-article-for-qa/

Ask the CFP: How Does the Federal Reserve Bank Raising Rates Affect Me?

 

Hello everyone and welcome to this month’s Ask the CFP segment. This month’s question is, “how does the Federal Reserve Bank raising rates affect me?” It’s common knowledge today that interest rates are increasing to fight high levels of inflation. Interest rates vary for many reasons but are largely based on the rate set by the Fed for lending between banks. If lending between banks becomes more expensive because of higher rates, those banks pass on the higher costs to businesses and consumers through higher rates on loans. This is where we find the answer to this month’s question.

How the Fed rate increases affect someone’s finances depends on their financial situation. For example, if you’re close to retirement and have a pension, rate increases are likely to affect the actuarial assumptions used within the pension. If you have the option of taking a lump-sum payout, your lump-sum estimate may decrease as rates increase. That’s because lump-sum pension payouts are based on the amount of money needed to provide income through someone’s life expectancy. If the pension can rely on higher rates of return on bonds, then less money would be needed to provide that income through life expectancy. Lump-sum pension payouts aren’t for everyone, but if you’ve been considering it, now may be a good time to review your options.

Aside from pensions, some people may welcome the idea of higher interest rates, especially if they use CDs, money market funds or other fixed income investments. Higher rates mean higher rates of return for these types of products. However, for anyone that already owns fixed income investments such as bonds, it means your bonds will be decrease in value – at least on paper. A bond purchased four years ago may be worth less today since someone could buy a similar bond at a higher rate today. This has been a tough market for bond owners because of this inverse relationship between bond values and interest rates. Keep in mind though, as bonds mature, they generally receive their bar value back. This means the lower value you see on paper for a four-year-old bond may rise back to it’s original par value if held to maturity.

Lastly, for anyone relying on debt, such as mortgages, business loans or student loans, the cost to borrow will likely increase as the Fed increases rates.  Mortgage rates have already seen increases from 2-3% to 5-6%. For this reason, if you need a loan, it may be wise to lock in a fixed rate now before further rate increases occur. When it comes to funding college, this is a great example of how proper planning and saving to a 529 plan can reduce or eliminate the need for student loans in the future. Cash isn’t always king, but it certainly helps to have it when loan rates increase.

Overall, rate increases cause change and change causes volatility. During this volatility, we must remember why the Fed is increases rates. It’s all in an effort to lower inflation to around 2% long-term. If you have a question about this topic or have a question for next month’s video, please send it to TFreeman@MonetaGroup.com. Thanks for watching and we’ll see you next month.

The opinions voiced in this material are for general information only and are not intended to provide specific advice or recommendations for any individual. Please speak with a qualified tax or legal professional before making any changes to your personal situation.

©2022, Moneta Group Investment Advisors, LLC. Trademarks and copyrights of materials referenced herein are the property of their respective owners. These materials have been prepared for informational purposes only based on materials deemed reliable, but the accuracy of which has not been verified. Past performance is not indicative of future returns. You cannot invest directly in an index. These materials do not constitute an offer or recommendation to buy or sell securities, and do not take into consideration your circumstances, financial or otherwise. You should consult with an appropriately credentialed investment professional before making any investment decision.

The post Ask the CFP: How Does the Federal Reserve Bank Raising Rates Affect Me? appeared first on Moneta Group.

source https://monetagroup.com/blog/ask-the-cfp-how-does-the-federal-reserve-bank-raising-rates-affect-me/

What to Expect When You’re Expecting — to Retire

Kevin Ward, Advisor

Retirement is a sprawling topic. The word alone can raise questions, emotions, and concerns—about how exactly your future will look, what life will entail as the day-to-day changes, how the financial situation will unfold, and more. Though far from exhaustive, we will lay out herein a few of the major areas to think about and what to expect when you’re approaching retirement, broadly broken into two buckets: financial considerations and lifestyle and emotional considerations.

Naturally, some of retirement’s most significant shifts involve money and expenses, a major one of which is health insurance. Most full-time employees today receive health insurance through their employers—narrowing their range of choices and mitigating their premium costs, which are typically covered partially or fully by their employers. In contrast, retirement opens a world of health insurance options, which can be daunting to decipher. Further, prices can vary dramatically, as can coverage levels.

For most retirees 65 years and older, Medicare is an option offering generally lower premiums than many private plans—though private plans may offer coverage more suited to your health situation. Retirees under age 65 may similarly purchase a plan through the federal marketplace established under the 2010 Affordable Care Act, through their state insurance exchange, or a private insurance provider. We could easily write a short novel on all the health insurance options available—and there are many good resources available online that outline significant differences and considerations—but suffice it to say among the critical factors are:

• How much you will pay in monthly premiums.
• How high the deductible is, what is and isn’t covered.
• Whether your current doctors are in the network of the plan you’re contemplating.

Another important monetary shift in retirement is your income source, which will no longer be primarily your employer. Planning is key—understanding your expenses and income sources and budgeting well in advance will help ease the anxiety that can accompany the cessation of regular paychecks. As with health insurance, government programs like Social Security for eligible retirees 62 years and older can help provide some monthly income. If you have an equity portfolio, you may be able to replace some or all monthly income via dividends and interest payments. Similarly, investment or rental properties may generate monthly cash flow. Establishing monthly or bi-monthly recurring transfers or deposits into your checking account can serve as a paycheck replacement and help you maintain a consistent approach to your household budgeting and spending once you’ve retired.

It’s also worth considering where you will live. Perhaps you already live in your dream home, can afford to keep and maintain it, and have no interest in moving. But you’ve always thought about a second home—maybe in a warmer location, maybe nearer the ski slopes for some winter recreation. Or, perhaps your home isn’t practical for the lifestyle you anticipate in retirement—maybe you’d like to be nearer to other family members, or you’d like a smaller place that’s easier and more cost-effective to maintain. These are all things that may shift as you approach and enter retirement.

Finally, think about whether there are other ways in which your financial goals will change—no longer will you strive for retirement, but you may have new financial goals, whether paying for your grandchildren’s educations or purchasing a second home. Your focus may shift from covering your own living expenses to thinking about leaving a legacy or supporting causes about which you are passionate.

Critical to all financial shifts in retirement, whether insurance, investments, or real estate, is planning for them sufficiently in advance—particularly if they require meaningful changes in your savings or investment strategy. Planning early will ensure you can position yourself as well as possible and increase the likelihood you can feasibly accomplish your goals and live the life you’ve envisioned for yourself and your family.

There are also important lifestyle and emotional shifts in retirement—where and how you will spend your time and how your daily emotional and physical realities will change when you’re no longer going to a job or an office. When it comes to keeping busy, the options are myriad and exciting. Perhaps you’re not ready to retire entirely and would like to work part-time, whether for your existing employer or elsewhere. Alternatively, you could offer the benefit of your years’ experience and wisdom gained via consulting, either through an independent consulting firm you establish on your own or through an existing one. Your experience could also tremendously benefit any number of boards—non-profit or for-profit, depending on your interests.

Then, of course, there are the many ways to spend time that doesn’t involve work at all, but instead family, friends, travel, and the pursuit of passions often deferred during your prime working years. Perhaps you’ve long wanted to travel the world with your spouse or other family members or friends. Maybe you’ve eagerly awaited the day you could teach your grandchildren the finer points of golf or the piano. Maybe you’re ready to take the senior tennis world by storm yourself.

However you plan to spend your time, one thing is assured: Your days will look different. And these changes can evoke confusing and challenging emotions. Shifting from going to a specific place or doing a particular set of daily tasks to planning your own time with much more autonomy can overwhelm you. It’s advisable to think about these changes and the potential emotions in advance—not necessarily so you can avert them or manage them perfectly, but so you won’t be surprised when they arise. Also important is planning with your spouse and other family members whom you anticipate will be impacted—for example, your children and grandchildren who live nearby. Envisioning your new daily life with those who regularly participate can help manage and mitigate the jolt from stepping away from a career.

As with all significant life changes and milestones, retirement introduces a wealth of considerations; financial, personal, emotional, and otherwise. Though it can be easy during your prime working years to focus on your career and keep your head down, it’s important to lift it periodically to assess your situation—where you are, where you’d like to go—and ensure you’re positioning yourself to meet those goals. Leveraging the experience of a trusted financial advisor to help you create a plan that can flex as your circumstances change will help you navigate the complex world of retirement.

If you have more questions, please reach out to our team at breckenridgeteam@monetagroup.com.

© 2022 Moneta Group Investment Advisors, LLC. All rights reserved. The information contained herein is for informational purposes only, is not intended to be comprehensive or exclusive, and is based on materials deemed reliable, but the accuracy of which has not been verified. Examples contained herein are for illustrative purposes only based on generic assumptions. Given the dynamic nature of the subject matter and the environment in which this communication was written, the information and opinions contained herein are subject to change. This is not an offer to sell or buy securities, nor does it represent any specific recommendation. You should consult with an appropriately credentialed professional before making any financial, investment, tax or legal decision. Past performance is not indicative of future returns. All investments are subject to a risk of loss. Diversification and strategic asset allocation do not assure profit or protect against loss in declining markets. These materials do not take into consideration your personal circumstances, financial or otherwise.

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Ask the CFP: How Does the Federal Reserve Bank Raising Rates Affect Me?

 

Hello everyone and welcome to this month’s Ask the CFP segment. This month’s question is, “how does the Federal Reserve Bank raising rates affect me?” It’s common knowledge today that interest rates are increasing to fight high levels of inflation. Interest rates vary for many reasons but are largely based on the rate set by the Fed for lending between banks. If lending between banks becomes more expensive because of higher rates, those banks pass on the higher costs to businesses and consumers through higher rates on loans. This is where we find the answer to this month’s question.

How the Fed rate increases affect someone’s finances depends on their financial situation. For example, if you’re close to retirement and have a pension, rate increases are likely to affect the actuarial assumptions used within the pension. If you have the option of taking a lump-sum payout, your lump-sum estimate may decrease as rates increase. That’s because lump-sum pension payouts are based on the amount of money needed to provide income through someone’s life expectancy. If the pension can rely on higher rates of return on bonds, then less money would be needed to provide that income through life expectancy. Lump-sum pension payouts aren’t for everyone, but if you’ve been considering it, now may be a good time to review your options.

Aside from pensions, some people may welcome the idea of higher interest rates, especially if they use CDs, money market funds or other fixed income investments. Higher rates mean higher rates of return for these types of products. However, for anyone that already owns fixed income investments such as bonds, it means your bonds will be decrease in value – at least on paper. A bond purchased four years ago may be worth less today since someone could buy a similar bond at a higher rate today. This has been a tough market for bond owners because of this inverse relationship between bond values and interest rates. Keep in mind though, as bonds mature, they generally receive their bar value back. This means the lower value you see on paper for a four-year-old bond may rise back to it’s original par value if held to maturity.

Lastly, for anyone relying on debt, such as mortgages, business loans or student loans, the cost to borrow will likely increase as the Fed increases rates.  Mortgage rates have already seen increases from 2-3% to 5-6%. For this reason, if you need a loan, it may be wise to lock in a fixed rate now before further rate increases occur. When it comes to funding college, this is a great example of how proper planning and saving to a 529 plan can reduce or eliminate the need for student loans in the future. Cash isn’t always king, but it certainly helps to have it when loan rates increase.

Overall, rate increases cause change and change causes volatility. During this volatility, we must remember why the Fed is increases rates. It’s all in an effort to lower inflation to around 2% long-term. If you have a question about this topic or have a question for next month’s video, please send it to TFreeman@MonetaGroup.com. Thanks for watching and we’ll see you next month.

The opinions voiced in this material are for general information only and are not intended to provide specific advice or recommendations for any individual. Please speak with a qualified tax or legal professional before making any changes to your personal situation.

©2022, Moneta Group Investment Advisors, LLC. Trademarks and copyrights of materials referenced herein are the property of their respective owners. These materials have been prepared for informational purposes only based on materials deemed reliable, but the accuracy of which has not been verified. Past performance is not indicative of future returns. You cannot invest directly in an index. These materials do not constitute an offer or recommendation to buy or sell securities, and do not take into consideration your circumstances, financial or otherwise. You should consult with an appropriately credentialed investment professional before making any investment decision.

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