The theme this week on the One Minute Retirement Tip podcast is: critical ages for retirement planning. Today we’re talking about why age 62 is so important:

• Social security starting age! 
• % of people who take social security at 62: - reason! They need the money 
• Health and longevity will determine whether you might start early 
• I’m a big advocate of waiting, especially if your health is good and you’re able and willing to keep working. Or maybe you want to retire, but some part-time work or tapping into your investment accounts in the early years will help lock in a higher income. 
• However, there may be some strategic or practical reasons why you would start collecting your social security checks at this age. 

Social security analysis - analyzes different social security choices based on your expected benefits and provides a break-even age for each social security starting age. Just send me an email with your full retirement age monthly benefit amount and your year of birth to [email protected]. 

That’s it for today. Thanks for listening! My name is Ashley Micciche and this is the One Minute Retirement Tip.

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Tags: retirement, investing, money, finance, financial planning, retirement planning, saving money, personal finance

The theme this week on the One Minute Retirement Tip podcast is: critical ages for retirement planning. Today we’re talking about why age 59 1/2 is so important:

• Little known reason why 59 ½ is important is because it’s the earliest age most plans allow for in-service distributions - check with your 401k plan 
• • What is an in-service distribution?
  • Why take an in service distribution? 
• More well-known reason why 59 ½ matters for your retirement is because it’s the age when the 10% early withdrawal penalty for Roth, Traditional IRA and old 401k accounts no longer applies. 
• • Generally, you don’t want to start tapping into these accounts quite this early, but depending on your health situation and when you retire, it’s good to know your options for avoiding penalties and costly mistakes. 

That’s it for today. Thanks for listening! My name is Ashley Micciche and this is the One Minute Retirement Tip. 

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>>> Visit the podcast page: https://truenorthra.com/podcast/ 

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Tags: retirement, investing, money, finance, financial planning, retirement planning, saving money, personal finance

The theme this week on the One Minute Retirement Tip podcast is: critical ages for retirement planning. Today we’re talking about why age 55 is so important:

• Milestone age for early pension
• Rule of 55 - penalty-free withdrawals from 401k before age 59 ½
• Experts say to have at least seven times your salary saved at age 55

That’s it for today. Thanks for listening! My name is Ashley Micciche and this is the One Minute Retirement Tip. 

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>>> Subscribe on Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/2DI2LSP

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>>> Visit the podcast page: https://truenorthra.com/podcast/ 

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Tags: retirement, investing, money, finance, financial planning, retirement planning, saving money, personal finance

The theme this week on the One Minute Retirement Tip podcast is: critical ages for retirement planning. Today we’re talking about why age 50 is so important:

• Catch up contributions for IRA, SIMPLE IRA & 401k accounts
• • Maxing out already? You want to take advantage of this
  • Catch up for IRA & Roth IRAs:
  • Catch up for SIMPLE IRAs
  • Catch up for 401ks
• Critical age for paying attention to asset allocation and beginning to dial back your risk.
• • Retirement is now 12-15 years away and it’s important to switch from growth-mode to smart growth mode, which involves dialing back your allocation some. 
  • Prior to age 50, I think its prudent to be as close to 100% stocks in your investment portfolio as you can handle. 
  • But at 50, it’s important to begin the process of gradually moving out of the stock market. For most people, I think an allocation of 75-80% stocks at this age is a good target to shoot for to achieve more conservative growth.

That’s it for today. Thanks for listening! My name is Ashley Micciche and this is the One Minute Retirement Tip. 

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>>> Subscribe on Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/2DI2LSP

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>>> Visit the podcast page: https://truenorthra.com/podcast/ 

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Tags: retirement, investing, money, finance, financial planning, retirement planning, saving money, personal finance

Welcome to a new week and a new theme here on the One Minute Retirement Tip Podcast. I’m your host Ashley Micciche, co-owner of True North Retirement Advisors, an independent financial advisory practice managing $300 million in client assets. I’m a Chartered Retirement Planning Counselor, a frequent speaker, radio and podcast guest, and I love talking to anyone who will listen about making a plan for the retirement you envision. 

The theme this week on the One Minute Retirement Tip podcast is: Critical Ages for retirement planning. I’m talking about the ages and milestones that are critical for planning your retirement. I’ll help you understand everything from catch up contributions starting at age 50 to what you need to know when starting your required minimum distributions at age 72 and several other must-know milestones in between. 

I hope what I have to share with you this week will help you make smart and thoughtful decisions for your retirement. And while I research each week’s topic and I am careful to not lead you astray, I am not infallible (and according to my husband and kids and pretty much everyone else in my family... I am wrong all the time). 

Personal finance is complex, and there is no one-size-fits-all solution for everyone, so I encourage you to disregard anything I say that may not be helpful for you, and to consult your own financial, tax, and legal advisors regarding your own individual situation. 

That’s it for today. Come on back tomorrow where I’m kicking things off with catch up contributions at age 50...and one bonus reason why 50 is an important milestone for planning your retirement. 

Thanks for listening! My name is Ashley Micciche...and this is the One Minute Retirement Tip. 

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>>> Visit the podcast page: https://truenorthra.com/podcast/ 

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Tags: retirement, investing, money, finance, financial planning, retirement planning, saving money, personal finance

Happy Independence Day! It’s Sunday, which means...It’s recap time! 

The theme this week on the One Minute Retirement Tip podcast was: Ask me anything! I answered your most burning questions about retirement. 

I really enjoyed this week’s podcast and answering your questions. I have to say though, it took me about 3-4x as long to digest, research, and respond to these questions. It was worth it in the end though, because I gained some insight into what you, my lovely and loyal listeners, are most concerned about as you enter the homestretch of your working years. 

So thank you for the opportunity to address your questions what’s weighing most on your mind right now. 

Here are my favorite listener-submitted questions that I answered this week: 

• Should I sell my rental properties and use the money to pay off my primary home mortgage?
• How do I know if I have enough money to retire? 
• Should I Take The Early Retirement Option With My Pension?
• Does it make sense to allocate savings to the company stock in my 401(K)?
• How can I adequately prepare to care for my elderly parents?

I also snuck in a bit of a diversion by replacing the actual names of the listeners for confidentiality with names with my favorite celebrities and historical figures. I just gave you the first names, did you guess who anyone was? 

Let’s see how you did. By the way, there was only one man in the mix...the rest were women...that’s because I stayed with the gender of the submitters of the question, not because I’m biased toward the female population in case you’re wondering why it’s so lopsided. 

Ok, so we had CS Lewis, my favorite author, Lucille Ball, my favorite TV star...by the way, fun fact...I was obsessed with I Love Lucy as a child. I’ve seen every episode at least 3 times, and her comedic genius is unmatched in my opinion. I am Catholic, so I included my 2 favorite female saints...St. Gianna Beretta Molla, an Italian physician and mother of 4 children, and Jane Frances de Chantal, a rather obscure saint who lived at the turn of the 17th century, was an excellent businesswoman and persevered through depression and many hardships, including the accidental death of her husband just after her 4th child was born. Lastly, we have Babe Didrikson. I dare you to name a better athlete than Babe. Her Wikipedia intro reads: She won two gold medals in track and field at the 1932 Summer Olympics, before turning to professional golf and winning 10 LPGA major championships. I mean, come on! 

If you missed any of these episodes, you can find them on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen to podcasts by searching for the “One Minute Retirement Tip with Ashley”. 

Tomorrow, come on back, because we’re starting a brand new theme: Critical Ages For Retirement Planning. 

Thank you so much for listening this week! My name is Ashley Micciche and I hope you have a blessed Sunday.

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Tags: retirement, investing, money, finance, financial planning, retirement planning, saving money, personal finance

The theme this week on the One Minute Retirement Tip podcast is: Ask me anything! I’m answering your listener-submitted questions about what is weighing most on your mind as you prepare for retirement. 

Today, I’m answering the following question: How can I adequately prepare to care for my elderly parents?

Babe writes: 

The thing that keeps me up at night is my parents. It is absolutely a source of distress. 

I have a mom and stepdad as well as my biological father. None of them have as much as a 6-month emergency fund let alone a viable retirement plan. The main question I have is: how can I adequately prepare to care for three elderly parents?

I don’t want them living in a nursing home, and I have mentally prepared myself for the prospect of them living with me and me caring for them. I’ve done some research, but I'm really just at a loss for how to plan for best and worst-case scenarios. 

Personally, I am set. I will retire with a government pension (& health care coverage) and I am aggressively saving for retirement. 

This question is such a common, yet difficult problem. Many of us don’t count on needing to take care of mom and dad later in life, yet it becomes a reality for many of us.  According to a 2015 study by AARP, About 34.2 million Americans have provided unpaid care to an adult age 50 or older in the last 12 months. 34.2 million of us! That’s more than 10% of the U.S. population who is providing unpaid care. 

So Babe is right to be concerned about this issue. If she helps her parents, how will she pay for it considering they don’t have any assets? Will she drain her own retirement savings to help pay for care? Will she be forced to retire early and unexpectedly to care for her parents in her own home. 

For as much or as little as my opinion counts here, I think it’s a very loving and honorable thing to care for one’s parents in old age, especially by bringing them into your home to live with you like Babe mentioned. I used to volunteer with my church and through that ministry, I visited homebound seniors about once a month. I used to sign in at several places every time I walked in and I noticed that many of these places, I was the only non-healthcare worker to visit the entire nursing home over the last several days. 

I love hearing that Babe is committed to helping her parents however she can, and I hope that I have the selflessness to do the same for my parents some day. 

Ok, so on to how Babe can actually prepare for this situation. With no assets to spend down for nursing or long-term care needs later in life, her parents will be eligible for Medicaid. That’s where Babe should begin her research - look into Medicaid to see what they do and don’t qualify for. 

Even though she said she is set for retirement, spending out of her own pocket for her parents’ medical care can quickly derail her own retirement, so understanding the ins and outs of Medicaid will be essential in this situation. 

Next, if Babe has other siblings, she should have conversations with them to see how they are willing to help out. In my experience, and maybe yours as well, you probably know someone who is caring for an elderly parent. Unfortunately, the bulk of the burden of care, paying bills, driving to doctor appointments, etc. usually falls to just one child. So I think it’s important that Babe understand where her other siblings are willing to help out. 

She should prepare herself for not just the potential financial burden, and change to her living situation, but also for the additional stress of the day in and day out of elderly parental care. 

But it all starts with Medicaid. Understand that and she can start thinking through the best case and worst case situations, as well as what additional resources and help will be available to her, so she doesn't have to shoulder the burden of caring for her parents alone. 

That’s it for today. Thanks for listening! My name is Ashley Micciche and this is the One Minute Retirement Tip.

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Tags: retirement, investing, money, finance, financial planning, retirement planning, saving money, personal finance

The theme this week on the One Minute Retirement Tip podcast is: Ask me anything! I’m answering your listener-submitted questions about what is weighing most on your mind as you prepare for retirement. 

Today, I’m answering the following question: Does it make sense to allocate savings to the company stock in my 401(K)?

Jane writes: 

My company offers a company stock fund within my 401K. I currently have $305,000 invested in the company stock and I would like to continue to invest in the stock. I am confident in the company’s future growth, and I want to reduce my future required minimum distributions.

Does it make sense to continue to allocate funds to the company stock in my 401k? 

Ok, this is a great question from Jane, and you might miss the nuance of her question regarding RMDs. Why would investing in her company stock in the 401k allow her to reduce her future required minimum distributions? 

Well, it’s because of a little known rule called net unrealized appreciation. When Jane retires, she will be able to withdraw her company stock from her 401k plan, only pay tax on the original purchase amount of the stock, rather than rolling over the stock to an IRA where she will have future required distributions and will pay higher income tax on those distributions. It’s such a crazy loophole, and based on the amount that Jane has in her company stock vs. her original cost basis, it will likely amount to some serious tax savings when she retires. 

She’s concerned about required minimum distributions, but I don’t think that’s the most important consideration when deciding whether or not to invest in company stock in the 401k. 

$305,000 in the company stock sounds like a lot of money, and it is. But Jane has been with the same company for nearly 40 years, and has done an amazing job of saving. She currently has just over $2 million in her company’s 401k. 

The stock makes up about 14% of her total 401k balance. So if the stock is a good quality investment with strong future growth prospects, I don’t take issue with Jane continuing to add to her company stock, as long as she and her husband would be just fine in retirement if the stock went belly up. She is getting close to retirement and classifies herself as a conservative investor, so she needs to be careful to not take on too much risk by continuing to add to the stock. 

If you work for a company where you own stock inside of your 401k, it’s important to understand the net unrealized appreciation rules, so you won’t miss out on what’s likely to be a massive tax benefit in retirement. 

Lastly, I would just like to take a moment to commend Jane for her loyalty to her employer and her diligent saving over the last 38 years! Well done, Jane! 

That’s it for today. Thanks for listening! My name is Ashley Micciche and this is the One Minute Retirement Tip.

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Tags: retirement, investing, money, finance, financial planning, retirement planning, saving money, personal finance

The theme this week on the One Minute Retirement Tip podcast is: Ask me anything! I’m answering your listener-submitted questions about what is weighing most on your mind as you prepare for retirement. 

Today, I’m answering the following question: Should I Take The Early Retirement Option With My Pension?

Gianna writes: 

I am 51 and I’ve been a city employee for 26 years. I have a pension plan and a 457 plan. I will be eligible to retire when I reach age 57. 

My pension plan offers a social security equated option for single retirees. I can opt to receive a higher pension payment option from age 57 to age 65. After 65, my pension payments will be permanently reduced. If I don’t choose the equated option, my pension will be around 80% of my income and the monthly income will remain the same for the rest of my life. 

I’m wondering if I should consider this early payout option. I’m considering retiring early and collecting my pension at age 57, and continuing to work somewhere else either part-time or full time. I’m also considering just staying at my employer. 

Ok, so what Gianna is talking about here with her equated pension option is meant to allow people who retire early to receive a consistent level of income, starting earlier in retirement. 

Here’s how these equated plans work: Let’s say you’re going to receive $2,500 in social security benefits at age 65. If you have a pension that has an equated option, you can begin to receive say $3,000 when you’re eligible...in Gianna’s case, it’s age 57. She’ll get $3,000 a month until age 65, then once Social security starts, she will get $2,500 from social security and her monthly pension will drop from $3,000 to $500 a month.  Big drop, but remember, she’s front-loading those pension payments and receiving more in the early years. 

While it’s nice to begin collecting your pension income at age 57, it comes with a BIG catch with permanently reduced pension income for the rest of her life by as much as ⅔ to ¾ less than what the amount would be if she waited to her normal retirement age to start her pension.

In Gianna’s case, she needs to understand the trade-offs of retiring earlier and taking the optional equated pension amount vs. working longer. And it is possible to do the math on these options, which is exactly what she needs to do. 

My guess is that it’s unlikely that Gianna will be justified in taking the early retirement equated option, unless she has some serious health issues. She will likely be giving up too much in lifetime income by taking the equated option, especially if her health is good and she has reasonable longevity. But she really needs to talk to a tax advisor or a financial advisor to compare her options and run the actual numbers. This is a major, irreversible decision that’s going to impact her income for the rest of your life. The good news for Gianna is that she has a few more years to decide whether or not to continue working. 

That’s it for today. Thanks for listening! My name is Ashley Micciche and this is the One Minute Retirement Tip. 

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Tags: retirement, investing, money, finance, financial planning, retirement planning, saving money, personal finance

The theme this week on the One Minute Retirement Tip podcast is: Ask me anything! I’m answering your listener-submitted questions about what is weighing most on your mind as you prepare for retirement. 

Today, I’m answering the following question: How do I know if I have enough money to retire? 

Lucy writes: How do I know if I have enough money to retire? I know this is super generic and maybe you have a worksheet I could fill out to determine this?

I am 62 and my husband is almost 65 and already retired. He has a pension and very small retirement savings, so I feel I have to make up for it as I would like to maintain our lifestyle. 

There’s a lot to address in this question from Lucy. When Lucy says she is trying to “make up for it”, I assume that’s in her own savings through a 401k or some other retirement plan. 

Answering the question of if you have enough comes down to a few factors, but the most important is your spending in retirement. Is that going to be covered by your assets and income sources after you account for taxes and inflation? You also need to consider the age you retire, how your portfolio is invested, and a few other factors, but spending in retirement must be sustainable. 

I’ve seen people retire comfortably with $100,000 in assets, and I’ve seen people who needed well in excess of $1,000,000 to have everything pencil out, and the difference comes down to lifestyle and spending in retirement. 

Lucy asked if there was a worksheet that she could use to determine this. I do have a tool that you can use to give you a more concrete answer. It’s called the Retirement Success Forecaster. Using data from a simple questionnaire, I’ll be able to tell you if you’re on track for retirement, and if you’re not where you need to be, I’ll tell you what adjustments you can make today to live the retirement you envision.  

Getting a customized retirement forecast is easy. Just go to www.truenorthra.com/retirementsuccess/ to download your forecaster questionnaire.

Fill it out, send it back to me using the instructions in the forecaster, and I’ll send your personalized results for free - no strings attached. 

That’s it for today. Thanks for listening! My name is Ashley Micciche and this is the One Minute Retirement Tip. 

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Tags: retirement, investing, money, finance, financial planning, retirement planning, saving money, personal finance