Improving your tax, financial and retirement plans
At this point, you no doubt have established a good plan for retirement. But, putting your plan on auto-pilot will not serve you well. Instead, take the opportunity each year to review your financial plan in response to market performance, Medicare changes, new tax laws and life events such as a divorce, deaths or new grandchildren. The most crucial things to focus on are continuing to review your goals, assessing the need for change, and ensuring that you are sticking to your budget.
A helpful year-end checklist can help ensure the money you saved will continue to work for you:
- Review Medicare
- Review your end of year tax situation to avoid any surprises on April 15
- Learn about Required Minimum Distributions (RMDs)
- Review beneficiaries
- Review the need to begin to draw on Social Security or delay until age 70
To make sure your retirement plans are adequate:
- Assess your spending rate in conjunction with your investment return rate.
- Stay on top of your finances. Monitor all savings and investments, both in your private accounts and your business (e.g., 401(k), pension) accounts. Total all gains to ascertain your progress. If the numbers are disappointing, consider adjusting your approach to better meet your projected needs. Bear in mind that, given the sometimes volatile nature of the American economy, some years are likely to be more lucrative than others.
The most important thing is to think through what you want for your retirement years, develop a plan, and stick to it. Contact the Granite Wealth team, we're here to help you.
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