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                               Retirement Resources


Rate your 401(k) at Brightscope

Savings rate for a comfortable retirement from  FPA
Medicare.gov

Retirement Planning tools from
Analysenow.com

Retirement Quick Check Plan from Fidelity

Retirement Income caluclators from
T. Rowe Price
ING

Investinginbonds

Social Security based on when you retire

Retirement Savings and Readiness Guides from T. Rowe Price

How long your savings will last at T. Rowe Price

Determine annuity income at 
immediate
annuities.com

annuityshopper.com

   How much should you be saving on Health Insurance?

Other links

Healthinsurance
info.net

familiesusa.org

Policyholdersof
america.org

Unitedpolicy
holders.org

naic.org

rothretirement.com

 

 

Retirement Resources

Retirement Vehicles  

Roth IRA/Roth 401(k)'s can provide advantages of tax diversification and leaving assets to kids and grandkids (see Bloomberg BusinessWeek) 

Retirement Planning

  1. Understand and enter the key variables (assumptions) in retirement calculators such as that from Fidelity:

    a. Age at retirement
    b. Estimated life expectancy
        Check out the Longevity game
    c. Annual income needed in retirement,     calculator at AOL
       (example: 75% of the pre-retirement income). 
           Note: Account for cost of health insurance.
    d. Annual income available in retirement 
        (social security-calculator, pension etc.)
    e. Current assets (taxable, tax deferred)
    f. Amount added to assets each month
    g. Asset allocation (example: 75% stock, 25% bond)
    h. Withdrawal rate (example: 4%)

  2. First put enough in the 401(k) to get the full company match. Then invest as much as you can in a Roth IRA. If you can fund some more, fund the 401(k) fully.

  3. When you switch jobs, decide if you want to move your 401(k) (may have loan features,...) into an IRA (more investment choices,..).

    Decide is you are eligible and would like to convert to a traditional IRA to a Roth IRA (see pros and cons).
  4. Consider annuitizing a portion of your retirement assets to provide a continued stream of income for life although you give up control of the money. See excellent article from Money. Favor "immediate" annuities over "variable" annuities (lower payout, higher fees). Check surrender charges and how much money you can withdraw every year. Also look at options such as 10-year minimum guarantee, joint-and-survivor option, payments pegged to inflation. Check out buyapension.com and immediateannuities.com.  Some tips are to annuitize just enough to cover spending (leaving rest to heirs in case of death) and buy several annuities from different top-rated (S&P, A.M. Best) companies to lower risk. Also, annuities may have tax benefits since portion of the payout is considered return of principal. Also consider buying in stages to avoid overcommitting and investing when interest rates (which directly affect payouts) are lower.
  5. If not annuitizing, look into buying Longevity insurance for peace of mind in living too long and running out of money.
  6. Asset withdrawals should be done in a tax-efficient manner.
    Withdraw money from taxable or tax-free investments first, so that tax-deferred assets (Traditional IRAs, 401(k)’s etc.) grow as long as possible until mandatory minimum withdrawals (RMD) begin. Dip into the Roth IRA last since there is no RMD. Find out how long your assets will last at T. Rowe Price. 

    Details of IRA and 401(k) withdrawals including the 72(t) exception.
  7. Determine when to take social security from Money. See 3 "do-over's" for social security payments at Bankrate.com
     
  8. If you retire early, use COBRA health coverage until you decide on where you want to live and purchase a health insurance policy.
      
  9. Roll over part of your 401(k) plan into an IRA using a in-service distribution.

  10. Calculate your tax bracket based on your projected income. If you are in a lower tax bracket than you originally thought, you may have to rethink how much to contribute to a 401(k).

  11. Convert a fund in your traditional IRA that lost you money to a Roth IRA. Pay lower taxes now, withdrawals are tax–free. There are income limitations in order to qualify.

  12. If your employer matches your contribution in the 401(k) plan, take full advantage of it.

  13. Select funds that have large distributions in the retirement accounts and funds that have small distributions in your regular accounts (except when investing for income).

  14. Find a retirement-friendly state (Money article)

  15. Bucket Investing strategy article or Income for Life

  16. Check out Retirement income funds here. 

  17. Watch out for the up-front costs and financial products sold when doing a reverse mortgage.

  18. Check out rules for inherited IRA's in an excellent article in Forbes.

  19. Check out rules for Estate Tax planning in an excellent article in Forbes.

In Retirement

  1. Consider working in retirement (see Money article).  
  2. Check out part-time work to qualify for health benefits.

Retirement websites


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