Ready For Retirement

The COVID-19 pandemic hit hard in early 2020, and it continues to remain prevalent as we near the end of the year. Whether you’ve just recently retired, or it’s coming up in the next few years, it’s likely the virus has brought about some financial uncertainty regarding your readiness for retirement. Before making any sudden changes, it’s important to remain rational and avoid these five big retirement mistakes.LET'S CONNECT!FacebookLinkedInWebsiteENJOY THE SHOW?Don't miss an episode, subscribe via Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify, or Google PlayHave a question you want answered on a future episode? Submit it hereCreate Your Custom Strategy ⬇️Get Started Here.Join the new Root Collective HERE!

James introduces the problem of saving for medical expenses in retirement and explains the concept of the Health Savings Account.In this brief episode, James lays out some of the basics of the HSA, including its framework and operation.  James points out that the HSA is one of the easiest ways to save and accumulate money tax-free, whether saving for health expenses or not.He encourages listeners to consider an HSA for retirement spending needs because of its easy growth. He mentions that HSAs are only available to people who participate in a high-deductible health plan. Your decision to participate in a high-deductible plan is a separate conversation, though, so you could say this advice is for people with high-deductible plans only.LET'S CONNECT!FacebookLinkedInWebsiteENJOY THE SHOW?Don't miss an episode, subscribe via Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify, or Google PlayHave a question you want answered on a future episode? Submit it hereCreate Your Custom Strategy ⬇️Get Started Here.Join the new Root Collective HERE!

The topic of this episode of the Ready for Retirement podcast is Roth IRAs. A Roth IRA allows your money to grow tax-free and provides fewer limitations than other investment accounts. James outlines 7 of the main benefits of using Roth IRAs in your portfolio to strengthen your retirement funding.Unlike other investment accounts, you are able to withdraw your contributions at any time as long as you have met the 5-year rule, and these funds are not subject to the required minimum distributions that other investment accounts require. Also, even though Roth contributions are not included in your provisional income, if your income prohibits you from contributing to a Roth IRA usually, you could open up a spousal Roth IRA account and/or look into doing a backdoor Roth conversion from a traditional IRA account. Finally, Roth contributions are not included in the IRMAA calculation, so Roth IRAs can help your Medicare Part B and Part D premiums stay lower than contributions to other accounts that would be considered in the IRMAA. If you have questions about Roth IRAs, backdoor conversions, or anything else discussed on today’s show, reach out to James or to your personal financial advisor for more information!LET'S CONNECT!FacebookLinkedInWebsiteENJOY THE SHOW?Don't miss an episode, subscribe via Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify, or Google PlayHave a question you want answered on a future episode? Submit it hereCreate Your Custom Strategy ⬇️Get Started Here.Join the new Root Collective HERE!

In this episode of the Ready for Retirement podcast, James discusses gold and whether it is a good investment or not. He begins by giving an update on the current price, reminding listeners that this is a unique environment and conclusions should be drawn from historical data only. After giving a disclaimer about his experience, he explores whether gold has a history of holding value. Prior to 1971, the gold standard kept the price of gold artificially low. This can skew the data, so the question is not whether it held its value, but what are the alternatives? Most notably, can you compound your money by investing in companies instead?Next, James discusses whether gold is an inflation hedge and finds that the real return (earnings minus inflation) during this period falls at just 1.3%. By using the standard deviation to determine risk, James concludes that the stock market actually exhibited less risk over time. Gold hedged against inflation, but at a significant cost because fluctuations and swings were dramatic.To conclude, James studies whether gold is good for portfolio diversification. The way he looks at it, gold is not an investment because it can’t generate earnings. So is it a good investment? It depends on the decade. By looking at the growth of gold compared to the S&P 500, it is clear that gold’s growth mostly came in the period following the end of the gold standard. Not only did it have more down years than companies, but it also had more down years of large percentages. In short, James determines, gold is not the best investment given the alternatives.LET'S CONNECT!FacebookLinkedInWebsiteENJOY THE SHOW?Don't miss an episode, subscribe via Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify, or Google PlayHave a question you want answered on a future episode? Submit it hereCreate Your Custom Strategy ⬇️Get Started Here.Join the new Root Collective HERE!

The topic of this episode of the Ready for Retirement podcast is tax-efficient ways to invest after maxing out your 401(k). You might not know that you can deposit after-tax contributions to your employer 401(k) plan, which will allow you to save future money and attain higher growth in that plan. Another option is mega backdoor Roth contributions, which are in-plan conversions to Roth IRAs that grow tax-free and add to your retirement income.If you have already employed these options and you are looking for more, it would be worth your while to explore backdoor Roth IRA contributions, health savings accounts, and opening up a solo 401(k) account based on any side income that you have coming in. Beyond these options, you could also look into a regular taxable account which is not a retirement account but could be used to grow retirement savings. A great way to begin the process of determining which options you want to research further is to ask yourself what your goals are and the level of market risk you are comfortable with.LET'S CONNECT!FacebookLinkedInWebsiteENJOY THE SHOW?Don't miss an episode, subscribe via Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify, or Google PlayHave a question you want answered on a future episode? Submit it hereCreate Your Custom Strategy ⬇️Get Started Here.Join the new Root Collective HERE!

Our topic on this episode of the Ready for Retirement podcast is the myth that investments are negatively impacted during election years. Many people shift their portfolios to less risky investments or pull out their funds entirely during election years because of this belief, but is it true? While there may be some residual effects of elections, particularly presidential elections, on the stock market and other investments, the data shows that these effects are not substantial enough for investors to need to take drastic steps. Every year has volatility and variance, but the long-term returns are optimized by staying the course regardless of the political party that is in power. In fact, the stock market seems to do best when there is some level of political gridlock in Washington.  If you want to ensure that your investments are going to provide you with adequate returns for your retirement goals, your best bet is to diversify your portfolio and include international investments as well as the typical US-based stocks, bonds, real estate, and business investments. Have an overall investment strategy, perhaps with the assistance of a financial planner, and don’t make your decisions out of the fear of what could happen if a certain person or party gets elected.LET'S CONNECT!FacebookLinkedInWebsiteENJOY THE SHOW?Don't miss an episode, subscribe via Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify, or Google PlayHave a question you want answered on a future episode? Submit it hereCreate Your Custom Strategy ⬇️Get Started Here.Join the new Root Collective HERE!

Whether you’re a freelancer or an entrepreneur, being your own boss has many perks. You can set your own schedule, prioritize the projects that mean the most to you, and you have the leverage to make key decisions that can alter the course of your career. When you’re self-employed, however, you don’t have the built-in HR benefits that come with being an employee of a company — instead, you need to manage things like retirement savings for yourself.Luckily, there are plenty of options when it comes to planning for retirement if you’re self-employed. Below we explore six types of accounts you can open to start saving for the future.Create Your Custom Strategy ⬇️Get Started Here.Join the new Root Collective HERE!

Our topic on this episode of the Ready for Retirement podcast is the issues you need to keep in mind when helping your aging parents with their finances and estate plans. James describes the five main categories of issues that need to be considered: cash flow and living arrangements, estate planning, insurance, tax planning, and asset and debt.No one is really ever prepared to walk through these categories with their aging parents, but with the help of this podcast and the downloadable checklist James has provided on www.readyforretirement.co, hopefully you will feel more adequately prepared for this process. At its core, this process is an investigative one during which you are working with your parents to locate all of their cash flow, estate planning, insurance, and asset/debt documentation. It is important to review the policies and benefits, making note of any requirements and adjusting beneficiaries or other details as needed. It would be helpful to you and your siblings or the others involved in your parents’ estate plans to have access to the contact information for any attorneys, financial planners, doctors, etc. that are key stakeholders as well as the passwords for any digital assets that your parents maintain before you have a need for them.Create Your Custom Strategy ⬇️Get Started Here.Join the new Root Collective HERE!

On this episode of the Ready for Retirement podcast, James discusses a strategy for increasing your tax savings through charitable giving. James gives the example of a couple who contributed $12,000 to charity every year but they were still taking the standard deduction every year on their taxes, so they were never able to reap any tax deduction benefits from their contributions. He helped them set up a Donor Advised Fund into which they could contribute a large sum of money that could be distributed at their discretion over the next few years while providing them significant tax savings in the process. This is a great strategy for folks who do not qualify to itemize their deductions but are contributing significantly to charity throughout the year, but there are other beneficial strategies for other situations as well. Don’t feel limited by what you “qualify for”, because you likely fall into multiple categories and a financial planner can help you navigate these dynamics.Create Your Custom Strategy ⬇️Get Started Here.Join the new Root Collective HERE!

This episode of the Ready for Retirement podcast is a top-level flyby of the topics to consider as you prepare for retirement. Many of these topics have been covered in detail in previous episodes, so you may find it helpful to go back and listen to have a better understanding. The main issues that should be involved in your retirement planning are cash flow, healthcare and insurance, asset and debt options, and tax planning. While you can do some of this planning on your own, you will notice several times throughout this episode that there are strategies for optimizing your Social Security or tax benefits based on your particular situation, which would best be handled by talking with a financial advisor or planner.Be sure you also download the issues checklist and review the HSA contributions flowchart on our website!LET'S CONNECT!FacebookLinkedInWebsiteENJOY THE SHOW?Don't miss an episode, subscribe via Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify, or Google PlayHave a question you want answered on a future episode? Submit it hereCreate Your Custom Strategy ⬇️Get Started Here.Join the new Root Collective HERE!