When it comes to your Fort Worth retirement planning, staying on top of the sources of your retirement incomes is paramount. Social Security, a government program designed to provide financial support—and is the major source of income for most retirees—plays a significant role in this endeavor. In this article, our Fort Worth retirement financial advisor will shed light on the importance of incorporating social security in your retirement plan. Let us journey together towards your dream retirement.

Fort Worth Retirement Planning: Significance of Social Security in Retirement

Social security serves as a foundational pillar of retirement income for many Americans. It provides a reliable steady stream of income that can supplement your savings, investments, and any other pension plans you may have. It is, therefore, crucial for you and your Fort Worth retirement financial advisor to understand how social security benefits factor in your overall retirement strategy. This will allow you to navigate your retirement roadmap without any complications.

Social security benefits can be determined based on your earnings history, specifically the income you earned during your working years. The Social Security Administration (SSA) calculates your benefits using a formula that takes into account your highest-earning years and adjusts for inflation. It’s important to note that claiming benefits at different ages can impact the amount you will receive.

Incorporating Social Security Income to Your Fort Worth Retirement Planning

When engaging in Fort Worth retirement planning, it is essential to consider your social security income. A Fort Worth retirement financial advisor can help you evaluate your benefits, your desired retirement lifestyle, and come up with a retirement plan that will help you reach your retirement destination. A Fort Worth financial advisor can assist in determining the optimal age to claim benefits, as well as the potential impact on other retirement income sources.

To maximize your social security benefits, it is crucial to understand the factors that influence them. Working with a Fort Worth financial advisor can help you navigate the complexities. They can provide you a personal retirement roadmap that you can easily follow to ensure you receive the highest possible benefit amount based on your circumstances.

Make Smart Investment and Financial Decisions with an Easy to Follow Retirement Plan from Your Trusted Fort Worth Retirement Financial Advisor

Social security benefits and other sources of retirement income is just one of the elements you must understand when it comes to your Fort Worth retirement planning. You should also figure out taxation after retirement, healthcare costs, and your dream lifestyle, among others. Partnering with a trusted Fort Worth financial advisor is invaluable. They possess the expertise and knowledge to assess your financial situation and develop a holistic retirement plan that you can follow to reach your dream retirement. Call us now and help us make your retirement dreams a reality.

When you sit down with your Dallas retirement financial advisor, make sure to always keep your  taxes in retirement in mind. This is because tax efficiency is a crucial component of your Fort Worth retirement planning and directly determines whether or not you will be able to maintain your lifestyle throughout your entire retirement. Thankfully, you and your Dallas retirement financial advisor have a few strategies you can employ to keep your tax bill as low as possible. Here are just a few of them to consider as brought to you by the expert advisors at Retire Guides.

Choose a Tax-Friendly State For Your Fort Worth Retirement Planning

In most Fort Worth retirement planning, savings held in 401(k) plans or IRAs make up a majority of the income source for retirees. As any Fort Worth financial advisor will tell you, the withdrawals you make from such accounts are considered income for tax purposes. Fortunately, not all states treat retirement income the same way. The following states don’t charge taxes on any income of any kind: Alaska, Florida, Nevada, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Washington, and Wyoming. In addition, four more states have made exceptions to not tax retirement income: Illinois, Iowa, Mississippi, and Pennsylvania. You and your Dallas retirement financial advisor should plan for moving to one of these states for your golden years.

Other Fort Worth Retirement Planning Tax Efficiency Strategies

There are other ways to minimize taxes in retirement. You can use capital losses on some investments to offset capital gains on others. Your Fort Worth financial advisor can explain to you how to bundle or defer income to a single tax year or take advantage of tax deductions and credits. Or your Dallas retirement financial advisor could recommend investments that pay little current income but have strong growth potential. These could include index funds, exchange-traded funds, managed accounts, real estate, individual securities, and mutual funds. Another strategy to adopt as part of your Fort Worth retirement planning is to make charitable gifts of assets that have increased in value. This method allows you to avoid capital gains taxes while taking a tax deduction for the current value of the asset.

Let Retire Guides Be Your Partner in Fort Worth Retirement Planning

The earlier you can team up with a professional Dallas retirement financial advisor, the better-informed your retirement decisions will be. Retire Guides specializes in helping people with their Fort Worth retirement planning by putting you together with a Fort Worth financial advisor who will take into account your financial realities, future plans, and retirement goals to create a unique personalized plan that ensures you get to make the most of your golden years. Call us today and get started on the path to your dream retirement!

Many people get intimidated by the idea of retirement planning—and with good reason. With so many bills you need to pay at the present, it can be hard to think about saving up for the future. For instance, you could still be paying off your student loans or setting up your kid for college. It’s understandable to have priorities as part of your daily living, but retirement planning is just as important. So how much should you be saving today? Here are some tips from a Fort Worth financial advisor.

What Is Your Saving Benchmark?

There is no “one size fits all” number when you’re saving for retirement. People have different income brackets, assets, lifestyles, dependents, and other factors that could tip the scale. But instead of blindly guessing how much to set aside for retirement, you can have a benchmark. This benchmark isn’t meant to replace a comprehensive plan drawn up by your Forth Worth financial advisor. It’s a quick way to see if you’re on track or whether you should be saving more. Keep in mind that a benchmark should be realistic in order for it to be useful. 

How Much Should You Be Saving Relative to Your Age?

A Fort Worth retirement financial advisor encourages people to start saving at a young age, as early as in their 20s. This doesn’t mean that you should have a retirement fund as soon as you join the workforce. A good benchmark is to start saving by the age of 25. Experts recommend saving 6% to 15% of your gross income during your 20s, with the percentage increasing as you get older. By the time you’re 35, you should have saved 1x to 1.5x of your gross income. When you reach 50, you should have saved 3x to 6x your gross income. 65 is an ideal retirement age for most, and by this time, you should have saved around 10x of your gross income.

How Can a Financial Advisor Help?

Benchmarks can help you stay on track of your retirement goals. However, if you want to attain the highest level of comfortable living, you can benefit from a Forth Worth financial advisor. They can help you make informed decisions in every aspect of your retirement planning, including investment management. Your financial advisor can provide tools and resources that will allow you to maximize your different sources of retirement savings.

Consult With a Fort Worth Financial Advisor Today!

At Retire Guides, our goal is making retirement possible for our clients. Our Fort Worth financial advisor can help you plan out your retirement roadmap in a personalized manner. It can be overwhelming to navigate your retirement, but we’ll be there to provide valued knowledge. Your retirement destination is within your reach when you work with Retire Guides. Let’s make your retirement dreams a reality. Contact us today to get started!

A critical aspect of Fort Worth retirement planning that often goes overlooked is knowing how to make the most of your retirement income sources. You need to know that your retirement income can cover your needs for however long you live after you retire. This is why it’s important to sit down with a Fort Worth retirement financial advisor that understands your needs and goals so that they can be planned and accounted for years in advance.  

Fort Worth Retirement Planning For Regular Sources of Retirement Income

Regular sources of retirement income include Social Security, a pension, or an annuity. These sources of income are guaranteed by an outside entity such as the federal government, your employer, or an insurance company, and involve a specific amount of retirement income that is, in most cases, given as long as you live. Part of your Fort Worth retirement planning could be to maximize your Social Security benefits by postponing filing for benefits. While you can file for Social Security retirement benefits as early as age 62, waiting until your full retirement age of either 65 to 67, depending on what year you were born, can increase your Social Security benefits by 20% to 30% for life. Similarly, your Fort Worth financial advisor should let you know that if you continue to postpone benefits even after you’ve reached your full retirement age, your benefits will rise by 8% for each year you delay up until age 70. For example, If your full retirement age is 66 and you wait until age 70 to begin receiving benefits, your monthly payments will be 32% higher for life (8% x 4 Years). There are no further payment increases for delaying taking benefits past age 70.

Fort Worth Retirement Planning For Variable Sources of Retirement Income

Variable sources of retirement income are essentially made up of your savings, businesses, and assets, including employer retirement plan accounts, IRAs, lump-sum pension distributions, and taxable savings accounts. These income sources should be the cornerstone of your Fort Worth retirement planning. As the one in charge of these accounts and assets, you are responsible for managing your money and deciding how much of it you will withdraw each year. There is no outside entity to guarantee that these sources will provide lifelong income in any specific amount. This is why you and your Fort Worth retirement financial advisor should have a withdrawal plan that is designed to make it last. Numerous studies suggest that following a disciplined withdrawal plan allows your savings to have a good chance of providing income for 30 years or longer. A rule of thumb is to start by withdrawing no more than 4% of your retirement savings in the first year of retirement. 

Begin Your Fort Worth Retirement Planning With Retire Guides

A good retirement plan for your golden years involves dealing with tax laws, understanding the different types of retirement accounts, and even knowing which state is best suited to your wants and needs. This is where a professional Fort Worth retirement financial advisor can step in and make sure you make well-informed retirement decisions. Retire Guides specializes in helping people with their Fort Worth retirement planning. We can connect you with a Fort Worth financial advisor who will take the time to know and understand your retirement goals and work with you to make them a reality. Get in touch with us and make an appointment today!

Investment management and Dallas retirement planning go hand in hand, and we want to make sure you’re guided in both aspects. One of the golden rules of investment is called diversification, which can be applied to your retirement journey. Simply put, diversification is the technique of allocating your investments across several financial categories, instruments, and industries. By investing in diverse areas, you minimize the risk of losses when trying to reach your long-term financial goals. Read on to know more about the benefits of diversification.

Helps Manage Risks

We’ve heard of the saying to not put all of your eggs in one basket. The same is true for your well-deserved capital you dedicated your life to growing. In diversification, if one of your investments has a decline, it is usually offset by the growth of another. In other words, if your money isn’t doing well in one area, you’re not about to lose everything. When you picture your Dallas retirement planning, it shouldn’t be one full of risks. 

Reduces Portfolio Volatility

Being wise with asset allocation reduces the impact of market volatility, which refers to the ups and downs of prices. This means that you don’t get too many surprises and periods of unpredictability. You can be secure that your retirement fund is within a stable range since diversification prevents extreme highs and lows. Your Dallas financial advisor will help you understand that different asset classes do well at different times.

Increases Your Chances of Good Returns

Diversification is also used in Dallas retirement planning to secure more stable returns. By distributing your hard-earned savings among different types of investments, you increase your chances of benefiting from multiple returns. A Dallas retirement financial advisor can help you choose where to invest your assets. There are many options for you to choose from, such as property, international investments, bonds, and stocks. You can also invest in different sectors, including healthcare, energy, technology, and many more.

How a Financial Advisor Can Help You Invest

Retire Guides is an independent Dallas financial advisor dedicated to getting you where you need to be in your retirement journey. We offer a range of financial services, such as estate planning, assistance with taxes in retirement, and investment management. We will show you the different investment methods available and work with you in diversifying your portfolio. Our goal is to develop a retirement income strategy unique to your needs.

Start Your Dallas Retirement Planning Today!

Retire Guides is dedicated to making your retirement possible. We view your retirement as a roadmap that follows a set of steps that are specific to only you. By helping you navigate your Dallas retirement planning, we can eventually get to your retirement destination. Start making your retirement dreams a reality! Contact Retire Guides today.

One of the most critical aspects of Dallas retirement planning that gets overlooked is using smart tax strategies to make the most of your retirement income. This should be something that you and your Dallas retirement financial advisor should be planning for from the very beginning. Spending just a few hours of planning in the present will pay off handsomely in the reduction of your taxes in retirement. Here are just a few basic tax strategies for retirement that your Dallas financial advisor and your friends at Retire Guides would like you to know.

Dallas Retirement Planning Tax Strategies For Before Your Retirement

Your Dallas financial advisor will be the first to tell you to make the most out of whatever tax-deferred accounts you have available to you. This can be a traditional 401(k) or traditional IRA, where any contributions you make reduce your taxable income for the year you make the contribution. Additionally, pretax contributions and gains aren't usually taxed until you retire, at which point withdrawals are subject to income tax rates. On the other hand, any contributions you make to a Roth 401(k) or Roth IRA are made with after-tax dollars. While they won't reduce your current taxable income for that year, you won't owe any taxes on appreciation, income, or withdrawals.

Dallas Retirement Planning Tax Strategies For After Your Retirement

There are also some tax-saving moves your Dallas financial advisor can advise you to do upon reaching retirement age. One of the first things you should plan for is moving to a tax-friendly state. There is no income tax in the states of Alaska, Florida, Nevada, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Washington, and Wyoming, while New Hampshire and Tennessee tax only interest and dividends. Even if you earned most of your retirement income in another tax-heavy state such as New York or California, federal law bars states from taxing you on benefits earned in a different state. This way, upon moving to a tax-friendly state like Florida or Texas upon retirement, you avoid taxes on your pension income. Ask your Dallas retirement financial advisor about other ways you can reduce your taxes in retirement.

Begin Your Dallas Retirement Planning To Reap Lower Taxes Tomorrow

When it comes to taxes in retirement, it’s best to hire a professional to help you make the best choices for your money. After all, there’s no such thing as beginning your Dallas retirement planning too early in life. An experienced and highly qualified Dallas retirement financial advisor from Retire Guides offers tax efficiency services that will help you make the best long-term plans to secure your wealth for your golden years. If you want to make the most of your retirement, our Dallas financial advisors are only an appointment away. Give us a call and let’s begin your Dallas retirement planning today!

Most people make the mistake of not having planned for their golden years. Some do make plans but fail to account for a number of important factors. The result is that they have to delay retirement or worse, face the prospect of not retiring at all. That’s why Fort Worth retirement planning is so important, and why you should not hesitate to seek help and advice to make sure that you do it right. At Retire Guides, we can put you in touch with a Dallas retirement financial advisor who will help you put together a realistic and actionable plan that will help you enjoy the golden years that you deserve.

Most Common Fort Worth Retirement Planning Mistakes

Here are a few of the mistakes we see the most when people plan for their retirement without the help or advice of a Fort Worth financial advisor:

Over-Relying On The Government

A lot of people think that social security and other government-run programs will be enough to cover their living expenses during their golden years. While you might barely get by day-to-day, it’s unlikely that your social security check will let you live the retired lifestyle you envision for yourself. With a little Fort Worth retirement planning, you could increase your sources of retirement income and give yourself some security and more opportunities to enjoy your retirement years.

Paying Avoidable Taxes in Retirement

Without professional advice from a Fort Worth financial advisor who specializes in minimizing your tax obligations, you could end up paying more taxes in retirement than you need to on money that you have put away in your retirement accounts. A Dallas retirement financial advisor can help you set up the right kind of accounts and schedule your withdrawals to minimize your tax bills.

Not Factoring In Inflation

There is a tendency for people to plan for retirement with today’s prices in mind. If the past few years have taught us anything, it’s that inflation can erase the value of your savings and make even the most basic necessities more expensive. Proper Fort Worth retirement planning takes inflation into account and ensures that you have enough saved up to enjoy your retirement without worrying about increasing prices.

Forgetting About Healthcare Costs

While Medicare can cover a big part of your healthcare costs in retirement, your Fort Worth financial advisor should tell you that you can spend up to $5,000 to $7,000 per person per year in out of pocket on medical expenses. Make sure that you and your Dallas retirement financial advisor factor this into your retirement plans.

Secure Your Golden Years Through Fort Worth Retirement Planning With Retire Guides

Don’t let yourself make these mistakes. Retire Guides is here to help you with your Fort Worth retirement planning and make your retirement dreams a reality. We’ll connect you with a Fort Worth financial advisor who will take the time to learn and understand your specific needs so that you can come out ahead in your golden years. Give us a call today and let’s schedule an appointment!

Everybody dreams of a comfortable and enjoyable retirement. If you have a vision of where you want to be at that stage in your life, we’re here to help make it a reality. Retire Guides is your Fort Worth financial advisor when it comes to planning the roadmap for your retirement. We offer services, such as investment management, tax efficiency, and more to ensure that your ideal retirement is possible. One of our areas of expertise is giving tips on how to make the most of your IRA or individual retirement account. 

Start Contributing Early

Research shows that more than 40% of people under 30 haven’t started Fort Worth retirement planning. Those who plan their retirement early in their lives already have an advantage. Compounding has a snowball effect, which means that your investment will generate more returns the longer it sits. Money that is invested then reinvested leads to a higher IRA balance. Don’t worry if you aren’t able to contribute the maximum amount at the start; this is perfectly normal. What’s important is that you already started, even with small contributions.

Invest Your Money

Some people make the mistake of relying solely on their IRA contributions when planning for their future. Unfortunately, there are scenarios where your money sits idly in a money market account. To avoid this, think about investing in other money-generating funds. Our Fort Worth retirement financial advisor specializes in investment management. This service helps you make the most out of your hard-earned money. We will recommend wise investments to position you for optimal growth while minimizing costs.

Pick the Right Type of IRA

There are two main types of IRA: traditional and Roth IRA. In both types, you will receive tax breaks. The difference is that in traditional IRA, you won’t have to pay taxes as you make your contributions. You will only pay the taxes once you withdraw the money. In Roth IRA, you have to pay the income taxes that same year you make a contribution. But once you withdraw the money, you will no longer pay any taxes. Our Fort Worth financial advisor guides you in choosing the right IRA so you can enjoy retired living to the fullest.

Maximize Your IRA With a Fort Worth Financial Advisor

Expand your nest egg with the help of Retire Guides. We help you navigate your retirement through tax efficiency, estate planning, medicare planning, and more. Whether you are employed by a company, self-employed, or a business owner, you need to wisely build your IRA. As an independent Fort Worth financial advisor, we provide you with a holistic perspective. We don’t just focus on one area of retirement; we make sure to cover all the important ground, from investments to your health. If you want to learn more about maximizing your IRA, don’t hesitate to call us!

At Retire Guides, we’re dedicated to making your retirement dreams a reality by being your advisor and partner in your Fort Worth retirement planning. As part of that mission, we answer many questions people have about retirement and how to plan adequately for it. Here are just a few of the most commonly asked questions that our customers ask their Fort Worth retirement financial advisor.

How Much Money Do I Need For My Fort Worth Retirement Planning?

The short answer is: It depends. Every retirement plan is different because every person’s financial goals and circumstances are unique. A Fort Worth financial advisor will help you sort out your financial status and prospects to help you set realistic retirement goals and put you on the path to achieving them.

What Are the Key Steps of Fort Worth Retirement Planning?

The first key step that your Fort Worth retirement financial advisor will want you to do is to decide what kind of lifestyle you want in retirement. This will clue you in about your major expenses. The second step is to take an accounting of your current assets, investments, liabilities, and debt so that your Fort Worth financial advisor will understand where you are starting from. From here, you will build up your portfolio of retirement income sources to ensure that you can meet the lifestyle you want for your golden years.

What Major Expenses Should I Account For In My Fort Worth Retirement Planning?

The major spending categories that you and your Fort Worth retirement financial advisor should discuss include housing costs and any new activities, hobbies, and travel expenses that you might have planned. This will form the basis of how much retirement income you will need.

How Does Healthcare Figure In My Fort Worth Retirement Planning?

While Medicare does cover a majority of your healthcare expenses when you reach retirement age, your Fort Worth financial advisor will recommend that you set aside $5,000-$7,000 per year of retirement per person for out-of-pocket medical expenses.

Should I Include a Will or Trust in My Fort Worth Retirement Planning?

A Will or a Trust is a critical part of your estate and Fort Worth retirement planning. It ensures that your wishes regarding your assets are known and carried out, saving your loved ones from the additional stress and anguish of sorting out your affairs after you have gone. Your Fort Worth retirement financial advisor will ask you about this to ensure that your retirement plans are complete.

Start Your Fort Worth Retirement Planning With Retire Guides

These are just a few of the most commonly asked questions we run into when people start their Fort Worth retirement planning. We’ll help you find answers to all these questions and more by pairing you with a Fort Worth retirement financial advisor that understands your needs and your goals so that you can put together a plan to turn your retirement dreams into reality. If you have questions about retirement or want to find a Fort Worth financial advisor of your own, the Retire Guides team is eager to be at your service. Call us today to make an appointment! 

The age of 65 is a milestone for many reasons. It’s the usual age when one retires, and it is when people find out for real if their Dallas retirement planning is good enough to see them through their golden years. Any Dallas retirement financial advisor will also tell you that 65 is the age when you become eligible for Medicare. Here’s what our expert Dallas financial advisor from Retire Guides has to say about what to know about Medicare when you turn 65.

How Medicare Affects Your Dallas Retirement Planning

Medicare is a government-sponsored health insurance program for people aged 65 years old and above. When you turn 65, you enter what is called your Initial Enrollment Period for Medicare. It lasts for 7 months, starting 3 months before you turn 65, and ending 3 months after the month you turn 65. The date your Medicare coverage starts depends on which month you sign up during your Initial Enrollment Period. Coverage always starts on the first of the month. If you qualify for Premium-free Medicare Part A, which helps cover inpatient care in hospitals, skilled nursing facility care, hospice care, and home health care. your coverage starts the month you turn 65, unless your birthday is on the first of the month, in which case your Part A coverage starts the month before you turn 65. If you qualify for Part B Coverage, which covers services from doctors and other health care providers, outpatient care, home health care, durable medical equipment such as wheelchairs, walkers, and hospital beds, and preventive health services such as screenings, shots, vaccines, and yearly “wellness” visits, then your coverage starts based on the month you sign up.

Dallas Retirement Planning to Maximize Medicare Benefits

As good as Medicare sounds, it doesn’t cover all your possible medical expenses in your retirement years. That’s why you should sit down with your Dallas retirement financial advisor to talk about getting Medicare Supplement Insurance, sometimes referred to as Medigap, which helps you in covering or supplementing some of the out-of-pocket costs not covered by Medicare. If you want even more comprehensive coverage for your golden years, then you can ask your Dallas financial advisor about getting a Medicare Advantage plan. This is a type of health plan offered by a private company that contracts with Medicare to provide you with all your Medicare Parts A and B benefits. MA plans include health maintenance organizations, preferred provider organizations, private fee-for-service plans, and Special Needs Plans. These plans do require a premium that will vary depending on your circumstances, but these types of plans may offer prescription drug coverage, preventative dental care, and general wellness coverage for your yearly physicals.

Enjoy Security in Your Golden Years Through Dallas Retirement Planning

To learn how to get the most out of your Medicare coverage, turn to your Dallas financial advisor at Retire Guides. Our mission is to help our clients make investments and financial plans through personalized, exceptional financial services from your Dallas retirement financial advisor. We are here to listen to your needs and to create a retirement plan that will let you live your golden years without worries. Schedule an appointment with us today to get started on your Dallas retirement planning!