March Midlife Money Errors and Your Financial Strategy

March Midlife Money Errors and Your Financial Strategy

by rwilczek on Mar 21, 2019

Thought you might find these articles of interest.

Do you have a Financial Strategy that works for you? 

Some clients dread the idea of having to live on a budget so they keep working.  Others would like to work a bit but their health prevents them from working. 

Whatever you decide, try to stay active mentally and physically. 

Need to review your Strategy?  Give us a call.

Rita

 

 

Midlife Money Errors

If you are between 40 & 60, beware of these financial blunders & assumptions.

 

Provided by Rita Wilczek

 

Mistakes happen, even for people who have some life experience under their belt. That said, your retirement strategy is one area of life where you want to avoid having some fundamental misconceptions. These errors and suppositions are worth examining, as you do not want to succumb to them. See if you notice any of these behaviors or assumptions creeping into your financial life.

  

Do you think you need to invest with more risk? If you are behind on retirement saving, you may find yourself wishing for a “silver bullet” investment or wishing you could allocate more of your portfolio to today’s hottest sectors or asset classes, so you can “catch up.” This impulse could backfire. The closer you get to retirement age, the fewer years you have to recoup investment losses. As you age, the argument for diversification and dialing down risk in your portfolio gets stronger and stronger. Diversification is an approach to help manage investment risk. It does not eliminate the risk of loss if security prices decline.

 

Have you made saving for retirement a secondary priority? It should be a top priority, even if it becomes secondary for a while, due to fate or bad luck. Some families put saving for college first, saving for mom and dad’s retirement second. Remember that college students can apply for financial aid, but retirees cannot. Building college savings ahead of your own retirement savings may leave your young adult children well-funded for the near future, but you ill-prepared for your own. 

 

Has paying off your home loan taken priority over paying off other debts? Owning your home free and clear is a great goal, but if that is what being debt free means to you, you may end up saddled with crippling consumer debt on the way toward that long-term objective. In late 2018, the average American household carried more than $6,900 in credit card debt alone. It is usually better to attack credit card debt first, thereby freeing up money you can use to invest, save for retirement, build a rainy day fund – and yes, pay the mortgage.1

 

Have you taken a loan from your workplace retirement plan? If you’ve taken this step, consider the following. One, you are drawing down your retirement savings – invested assets, which would otherwise have the capability to grow and compound. Two, you will probably repay the loan via deductions from your paycheck, cutting into your take-home pay. Three, you will probably have to repay the full amount within five years – a term that may not be long as you would like. Four, if you are fired or quit, the entire loan amount will likely have to be paid back by a deadline specified in your plan. Five, if you cannot pay the entire amount back and you are younger than 59½, the I.R.S. will characterize the unsettled portion of the loan as a premature distribution from a qualified retirement plan – fully taxable income subject to early withdrawal penalties.2

 

Do you assume that your peak earning years are straight ahead? Conventional wisdom says that your yearly earnings reach a peak sometime during your mid- to late-fifties, but this is not always the case. Those who work in physically rigorous occupations may see their earnings plateau after age 50 – or even, age 40.

   

Is your emergency fund now too small? It should be growing gradually to suit your household, and nowadays your household may need much greater cash reserves in a crisis than it once did. If you have no real emergency fund, do what you can now to build one, so you don’t have to resort to a predatory lender for expensive money.

 

Watch out for these midlife money errors & assumptions. Some are all too casually made. A review of your investment and retirement savings efforts may help you recognize and steer clear of them.

   

Rita Wilczek may be reached at (952) 542-8911 or rwilczek@hirep.net

www.ritawilczek.net

  

This material was prepared by MarketingPro, Inc., and does not necessarily represent the views of the presenting party, nor their affiliates. This information has been derived from sources believed to be accurate. Please note - investing involves risk, and past performance is no guarantee of future results. The publisher is not engaged in rendering legal, accounting or other professional services. If assistance is needed, the reader is advised to engage the services of a competent professional. This information should not be construed as investment, tax or legal advice and may not be relied on for the purpose of avoiding any Federal tax penalty. This is neither a solicitation nor recommendation to purchase or sell any investment or insurance product or service, and should not be relied upon as such. All indices are unmanaged and are not illustrative of any particular investment.

  

Citations.

1 - nerdwallet.com/blog/credit-card-data/average-credit-card-debt-household/ [12/10/18]

2 - businessnewsdaily.com/11286-borrowing-against-401k.html [2/15/19]
 

Your Financial Strategy

Like a chess grandmaster, it’s worth thinking a few moves ahead.

 

Provided by Rita Wilczek

 

Thinking about retirement might seem unpleasant. As you budget your monthly bills, you might feel as if you simply don’t have enough to handle both your day-to-day affairs and still save for the future. It’s certainly true that it’s a challenge. That said, with some careful thought and a little imagination, you can probably think of ways to make what once felt impossible, more possible.

 

The strategic approach is known to grandmasters, generals, and sports coaches the world over. Simply put, it’s a matter of looking over your resources and options, then taking steps to use them to your greatest advantage. Strategy doesn’t guarantee any particular outcome, but it can help you make arrangements for all manner of financial situations, both positive and negative.

 

You probably have some questions. That’s good; asking questions and seeking answers is a healthy beginning to a strategy.

 

Isn’t financial strategy for rich people? Not necessarily. Building that strategy could potentially give you a boost toward a better future for you and those you love. Whether it’s just you, as a single person, or you and your family, giving some thought to your finances could be all that is standing between real life and pursuing a dream. It could also potentially be what prevents a dire financial situation from becoming even worse. All by just thinking a few moves ahead.1

 

Am I ready for this? Absolutely. Financial strategy is just a way of thinking ahead. If you’re reading this, you’re already thinking ahead. This means that you are ready to be thinking about putting money aside for retirement, contemplating insurance choices, setting up beneficiaries, creating or updating a will, and even designating a financial power of attorney and health care proxy as well as drawing up a living will.2

 

These topics might seem “far away,” in some distant future, or even fill you with a little anxiety or dread. That anxiety, though, is rooted in the uncertainties in life; you never know what’s coming next. At least with a strategy in action, you have some things in place for your family. If it still seems like too much, it’s good to know that you can reach out to professionals for help.

 

Do I have to do it all by myself? You have many choices when it comes to building a financial strategy. You could educate yourself and go it alone. It’s certainly cheaper, but you’re probably thinking more about all the things you need to learn and less about all the things you might miss by going the do-it-yourself route. There are also computer-based options, which can be affordable, but you definitely lose the advantages of human help.2

 

Finally, there is the financial professional. You might think of a financial professional as a man wearing a green visor, crunching numbers for some cartoon billionaire. The truth is that there are all sorts of financial professionals who specialize in working with people at every income level and from all walks of life. Some financial professionals charge flat rates or by the hour, and if you find a fee-only financial professional, you can rest assured that they aren’t working on commission.2,3

 

You have many choices when it comes to who you do business with – your financial professional will be able to talk you through investments, financial issues in the news, working toward your own goals, and ultimately, help you think a few moves ahead.  

   

Rita Wilczek may be reached at (952) 542-8911 or rwilczek@hirep.net

www.ritawilczek.com

 

This material was prepared by MarketingPro, Inc., and does not necessarily represent the views of the presenting party, nor their affiliates. This information has been derived from sources believed to be accurate. Please note - investing involves risk, and past performance is no guarantee of future results. The publisher is not engaged in rendering legal, accounting or other professional services. If assistance is needed, the reader is advised to engage the services of a competent professional. This information should not be construed as investment, tax or legal advice and may not be relied on for the purpose of avoiding any Federal tax penalty. This is neither a solicitation nor recommendation to purchase or sell any investment or insurance product or service, and should not be relied upon as such. All indices are unmanaged and are not illustrative of any particular investment.

 

Citations.

1 - nerdwallet.com/blog/investing/5-financial-planning-myths/ [12/7/18]
2 - investors.com/etfs-and-funds/personal-finance/steps-in-financial-planning-2019/ [12/31/18]

3 - thestreet.com/personal-finance/when-is-it-worth-it-to-work-with-a-financial-advisor-14631145 [6/23/18]

 

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