Retirement planning at Solomon Retirement Solutions is designed to be both customized and comprehensive. Together we will determine your retirement lifestyle goals and the budget needed to achieve those goals, and then analyze your potential income streams to see how and when you can retire. We will consider your pensions, Social Security and how we can best generate retirement income from your amassed assets. It’s much like a puzzle we put together based on your situation and retirement objectives.

In conjunction with your CPA or tax professional, we will take a look at your current tax situation as well as the future tax situation you will find yourself in during retirement. By starting to plan ahead from five to 10 years before you retire, we may uncover ways to save on taxes for the long-term using a series of Roth conversions or other advanced planning strategies. This is important, because you will owe ordinary income taxes on any money you have saved in traditional IRAs or 401(k) plans, and you must start annual withdrawals called RMDs (required minimum distributions) at the age mandated by the IRS (anywhere from age 72 to 75 depending on your individual situation) and pay taxes on the amounts you withdraw. Depending on your combined income, you might even be taxed on your Social Security benefit. Together we will take a hard look at all the possibilities in an effort to mitigate future taxes.

In trying to reach our goal of making sure you have enough money to last throughout retirement, we will consider many retirement risks, which are all exacerbated by longevity, or the high chance you will live a long life with a potential 20, 30 or 40+ years spent in retirement. We will address market risk, inflation risk and the risk of losing a spouse along with their Social Security check or pension. We will also help you plan for the high cost of health care. Medicare is not free, and the high cost of long-term care should you need it is not covered by Medicare.

In conjunction with your estate attorney, we will help you create an estate plan so that you can pass on wealth to your heirs or chosen charities in a tax-advantaged manner. Using trusts and advanced planning techniques in conjunction with life insurance are possibilities that we will consider for people with high-net worth. But the fact is that everyone needs an estate plan to help their loved ones avoid probate problems and financial stress and trauma during a time of loss. Planning ahead is the most loving thing you can do for all concerned, helping ensure your final wishes are carried out, and helping protect your loved ones as well as maintain family harmony and health in the future.