Does this sound like you?

Patty (60) has been working as an office manager in a medical practice for decades.  Her husband Paul (62) has spent his career as an engineer for both New York State and multiple private companies and is getting tired of working his regular 9-to-5. Their questions are probably much like most of their friends:

 
“How do we put all the pieces of our retirement together to better understand whether we will have enough income to live comfortably?”
“How do we fund health insurance costs for Patty before Medicare kicks in at age 65?”
 
“Are our beneficiaries up to date?”
 
“We have old 401(k)’s, 403(b)’s and IRA’s scattered all over the place. Should we consolidate?”

How can we help?

Thankfully, Patty & Paul have come to the right place. While we can generally answer questions like theirs on a high level and give a general opinion about whether we believe they are on track, to have any degree of confidence in our recommendations or to answer any of their more complicated questions, we suggest putting together a financial plan. 

What is a financial plan? Simply put, it is a roadmap that helps us to figure out where you are, where you want to go and plots out the steps to get there. More specifically, we pull together Patty & Paul’s income, expenses, assets and debts and put it together in order to give them a solid sense of how much they can reasonably expect to spend in retirement. 

Patty & Paul’s financial diagnosis:

  • They do have enough for Paul to retire at age 65.

  • If they are willing to slightly reduce their retirement spending, or increase savings in the next few years, Paul should be able to retire at age 64, one year earlier. 

  • We also determine that even though Patty’s out-of-pocket health insurance costs will be high before Medicare kicks in, they have ample after-tax savings to fund this cost. 

  • Looking at their various retirement savings accounts determines that consolidation at retirement will likely result in improved investment returns and ease of management. 

  • Running scenarios on how Patty would be financially if Paul passed away prematurely helps us to determine that a 75% survivor option on Paul’s NYS pension is a wise move. 

  • Lastly, our planning process determines what level of sustainable retirement income is likely possible for Patty and Paul, after considering social security, pensions and investments.

What does that mean for Patty & Paul?

After our planning process, Patty & Paul walk away with confidence that retirement at age 65 is definitely feasible. They also know what needs to be done if Paul wanted to retire earlier at age 64 (save more now and reduce retirement expenses slightly). 

Importantly, we are also able to answer questions that they didn’t know they had. Through our experience of working with hundreds of other similar families, we can help them to avoid pitfalls and blind spots that retirees commonly fail to recognize.  

If this sounds like you, feel free to schedule a free, no obligation meeting with us to see if we can help you, too.