Create a road map to retirement
Preparing for your retirement is a journey. And like most journeys, success or failure often hinges on decisions made early in the trip. Consider some of these pointers as you develop your personal road map to retirement.
You may be approaching an important deadline if you have retirement accounts and you turned 70½ last year. Generally, you must begin withdrawing money from tax-favored retirement plans in the year you turn 70½. However, you may postpone your first withdrawal until April 1 of the year after you turn 70½. That means you have until April 1, 2015, to complete your required 2014 distribution.
In this issue:
The Month of February:
Make retirement plan contributions early
With retirement plan contributions, it's the early bird who maximizes tax-deferred earnings.
Update your beneficiary designations
Who have you designated as beneficiaries for your insurance policies and retirement accounts? If you can't remember, you're not alone. But it's worth checking. If you make the wrong decision, it could affect who inherits those assets. In some cases, it could also change the taxes your beneficiaries will pay and the value they'll receive. Here are some key facts about beneficiary designations.
Avoid five common mistakes in your 401(k) plan
Participating in a 401(k) or similar retirement plan is a tax-advantaged way to save for retirement. If you have the option of participating in a 401(k) plan, avoid these five common mistakes.
* Failing to participate fully. Too many employees opt out of the plan or don't contribute as much as they can afford. At a minimum, try to set aside enough to receive the full employer-matching contribution. For example, your employer might offer to match 30% of the first 3% of payroll. That match is equivalent to a 30% first-year return on the amount you contribute.
Retirement attitudes are subject of recent survey
A recent study conducted by Harris Interactive of 1,000 middle class individuals aged 25 to 75 revealed some interesting statistics about retirement attitudes.
Among the survey's findings:
* 37% of respondents say they don't expect to retire; instead they expect to work until they are too sick or die.
Everyone wants to save taxes. Well here is a solution to defer taxes, which in the long run may save you taxes - feel free to contact us to learn more about the basic strategy of retirement planning.
Strategy: Set up a solo 401(k) plan. Due to special tax rules, you can contribute more to this type of plan than other comparable retirement plans. In fact, a solo 401(k) offers an unprecedented tax-saving opportunity for a married couple working together.
