Plan your future with confidence alongside a concierge-level Signature Wealth Advisor.

Retirement can be a stressful time for a lot of people, mainly because it can be difficult to ensure that you are sufficiently prepared with your finances. Because your needs can change during your golden years, it’s essential that you have a plan that can adjust to meet them.

In this article, we’re going to focus on the benefits of creating a custom Signature Life Plan. When it comes to financial planning for retirement, it’s imperative that you are prepared for anything and everything. Our time-tested 7 Step Custom Financial Planning Strategies & Process allows you to plan your future with ease.

Why Financial Planning is Critical for Retirement

Whether you’re 10 years away from retiring or 10 months, it’s imperative that you start planning for it right away. Without a comprehensive system in place well in advance, you can be in a risky position when you’re ready to stop working. Worst case scenario, you could run out of money while you’re still enjoying retirement. To avoid that situation, you must prepare a smart and flexible plan that considers an array of scenarios.   

What’s Included in a Signature Life Plan

We believe that our financial planning process is a great fit for almost anyone, and that’s because we work one on one with each of our clients to fit their needs. It all starts with putting data into the system so that you can make sure that you’re on track to meet your retirement goals. Here are some of the core components you can expect when creating your plan.

Annual Spending

How much money per year are you expecting to spend overall? A great way to figure out that number is to look at what you’re paying right now and assume that it will continue. As retirees, you want to maintain the same quality of life, so it should be similar.

With our various planning options, we are sure to incorporate a standard inflation rate. This will ensure that you can stay up-to-date with inflation so that the value of your money doesn’t diminish over time.

Healthcare Spending

Unfortunately, healthcare is one area that will only get more expensive as your retirement goes on. As we get older, our bodies require more maintenance and upkeep, and you have to plan accordingly. Since you won’t have employer-sponsored healthcare when you stop working, you have to be sure that you get the right coverage elsewhere.

We’ll break down policies and annual spending amounts so that you can be sure that you’re staying within your healthcare budget. Although you never know what the future will hold, it’s best to have a structure in place so that you know what to expect.

Long-Term Care

Once you reach a certain age, you will likely need assistance with daily activities. We believe long-term care planning is an essential part of a financial package because for some it’s an inevitability. Even though modern medical science is making advancements every day, you may reach a point where long-term care is necessary.

According to LongTermCare.gov, someone turning 65 today has almost a 70% chance of needing some type of long-term care services and supports in their remaining years.

Home Maintenance and Mortgage

Chances are that you’re going to continue paying your mortgage after you retire. The benefit though is that you can reallocate that money after it’s paid off. In addition to your mortgage payments, you also have to consider renovations and maintenance. Houses age just like we do, so it’s important to be prepared for home maintenance and repair emergencies. You don’t want your retirement fund to be affected because of a burst pipe or unexpected roof repair bill.

Wants vs. Needs

The elements we’ve discussed above would all be considered needs in retirement. You need adequate healthcare, you need a safe place to live, and you need money to live the life to which you’ve become accustomed.

But what about all of the fun things in your retirement? Now that you’re not working, you can travel more and do the things you spent years putting off.

When we build out this financial plan together, we’ll be sure to discuss items that you want to include, like tropical vacations or that new car you’ve always dreamt of. We will rank these things so that you can keep your priorities organized. Needs are going to be high (10 out of 10 on a priority scale), while some bucket list items may be rated lower (3 or 4 out of 10 on a priority scale).

 

Current and Upcoming Assets

While having an annual spending amount is a crucial part of retirement planning, it means nothing if you don’t have any money to spend. We will look at all of your assets, including savings accounts, stock options, 401(k)s, and other investments.

When building your custom plan, we’ll compare assets to liabilities to help make sure that you’ll have enough money to stay within your budget. If your liabilities are getting too high, then we may have to adjust our numbers to be more conservative.

Making Adjustments

One of the reasons we believe so strongly in this financial plan is that it will change throughout your retirement. Your wants and needs will likely shift once you’ve entered this new stage of your life, and we want to be sure that you’re ready for those changes.

You know what they say about the best-laid plans, which is precisely why we make sure to update your plan on a regular basis. If you’re staying on track and everything looks good, then we’ll keep it going. However, if and when something unexpected happens, we’ll be there to help you figure out how to make room for it in your finances.

Don’t go into retirement blind and hope for the best. A comprehensive Signature Life Plan with Signature Wealth Strategies is the best way to have peace of mind for your golden years.

Give us a call today to speak with an advisor about where to start with your financial plan.