Retirement Planning

The earlier the better, but it’s never too late to start saving. Just give us a call to discuss making plans for your retirement.

Ideally, as much as you can afford. Determine your monthly living costs and allocate any disposable income into your 401k and/or savings. If you’re not sure how much you can afford to save, we’re more than happy to help you. Give us a call and we’ll guide you.

If you’re unsure how to invest in your 401k, consider two things: your time horizon (when you want to retire) and your risk tolerance. Generally, your time horizon will determine the level of risk you should take in your portfolio. The sooner you plan on retiring, the less risk you should be taking. If you’re unsure how to allocate your 401k contributions, give us a call!

When you leave an employer, you generally have four options for your 401(k): leave the money in your former employer’s plan, if permitted; roll it into a new employer’s plan, if one is available and accepts rollovers; roll it into an IRA; or cash it out, which may result in taxes and, depending on your age, a penalty. Each option has trade-offs. Compare the fees and expenses of your current plan with the costs of an IRA, including any advisory fee; the investment choices available in each; the services each provides, such as ongoing investment advice; and benefits your employer plan may offer that an IRA may not, such as loan provisions, certain penalty-free withdrawal rules, or different creditor protections. If you do roll over to an IRA, a direct rollover, in which your plan sends the money straight to the IRA custodian, generally avoids mandatory tax withholding and early-withdrawal penalties; if the money is paid to you instead, it generally must be deposited into the IRA within 60 days to avoid taxes and penalties. If DWAM recommends that you roll plan assets into an IRA we manage, we earn an advisory fee on those assets, which is a conflict of interest. You are under no obligation to roll over assets to an account managed by DWAM.