We have advice and information for you
On Monday, February 27 our topic is The Golden Years: Retirement and Money
Our Certified Financial Planners answering your questions are:
Ted Sarenski, Blue Ocean Strategic Capital 471-2672
Grace Ghezzi, Benefit Consulting Group 474-1707 ext 460
Richard Jenkins, Diversified Capital Management 472-6221
Some sobering thoughts on Social Security (it WON'T pay for it all!)
~The average payout is $1074/month
~Expect it to provide only 25% - 33% of what you will need.
~If you start drawing at age 62, you'll collect 25% less than if you wait til 66
~If you wait even longer, from age 66 to 70 you will gain 8% per year.
~If you're collecting, from ages 62 to 66 you can only earn $14,640 a year or you'll have to give the Social Security back!
The 'Buckets of Money' approach to financial planning (Asset Allocation simplified)
Think about putting your assets into three different 'buckets'---
~long term, with a return higher than inflation
~mid term, with enough of a return that's 'stable' but will produce steady income
~short term, probably cash, that you know you can depend on for the next couple years.
IF it's set up right, the long term will produce enough to put 'extra' into the mid term, which will fill the short term as you keep going..
Retirement moneys spread over several accounts?
No problem, if you trust where it's being 'stored' and the return is decent.
BUT, once you get to the age where you have to take distributions (by age 70.5) it may make sense to consolidate so you can keep track more easily, because you have to withdraw a certain percentage of your savings or face stiff penalties.
How much do you need to save?
~How much do you need to spend?
Here's an example: If you can live on $50,000 a year, subtract your expected social security income (about $15,000) and divide the remainder by 5%
---in this case you'll get $700,000--the amount of 'principal' you need if you want to withdraw 5% annually.
There are several website calculators to help....www.bankrate.com has several calculators on its homepage. Good luck (and start saving!)...
We will be back next week, talking about long-term health insurance.
You can email your questions to money@cnycentral.com or call 477-9480 on Mondays 5 until 6:30pm
