Financial Planning for Individuals 0 - 12 Years from Retirement
Who is this for?
You may be nearing or at the peak of your career and you are not slowing down. However, retirement is coming into more focus (0-12 years from retirement) and you want to find the right balance between living for today and ensuring financial independence for tomorrow.
Areas addressed for the near-retiree
General overriding concerns for those 0 - 12 years from retirement include:
- When do I truly want to retire, and am I on the right track?
- What are the trade-offs of retiring earlier rather than later?
- What is the impact of making a career move, or pursuing that business opportunity?
- How do I get my kids through these last few years of college while still planning for retirement?
- Do I have the right amount in my cash or emergency fund? How do manage this need with the goal of generating a decent return on our money?
- Is our debt structured correctly, or should we look to make changes?
- While I have not reviewed my budget in great detail lately, perhaps it is time that we, as a couple, sit down to revisit that and make some decisions that impact us for years to come.
- How should I be saving to my company retirement plan? Should I be saving to the Roth or Traditional option?
- Should I be saving to a taxable portfolio or an IRA of some type? What's the best approach from a tax perspective, and are there any savings strategies I am missing?
- Are there other benefits at work that I should consider such as the Flexible Spending Account of Health Savings Account, and how should I be implementing these?
- Am I investing in the right funds in my company retirement plan?
- What's the best approach to exercise my stock options, taking into account tax, concentration risk, and cash flow needs?
- With as long as I have until retirement, how much do I really need in bonds compared to stocks?
- What if something happened to us prematurely? Will our kids be OK? Do we have the right documents and designations in place?
"Retirement planning is too important to address casually. We've done a decent job up until now, but we know we can be doing more. I want experienced professionals that care about the details of taxes, asset allocation, and risk mitigation so that we can have peace of mind, allowing us to focus on what really matters."
You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream.