Implement the Plan

This is a major life transition. We help you plan out how you will spend your time when you no longer are going to work. Most people need something to look forward to in order to remain in good spirits. Human beings need human inter­action. It is important for people in this phase to maintain or develop friend­ships outside of work with others who have similar interests.

Is there a healthcare plan from your employer? COBRA (Consol­i­dated Omnibus Budget Recon­cil­i­ation Act) coverage can extend your health insurance for 18 months after you retire. Medicare coverage may be best if you retire at age 65. Private coverage, the government’s healthcare exchange, or coverage through a spouse who is still working may be other options to consider. We work with our clients to choose the right healthcare coverage option assuring the premium payments are accounted for in their cash flow projections.

Maximizing Social Security benefits is an essential part of nearly everyone’s retirement plans. Our analysis can help to determine the optimal time to start benefits. Maximization strategies focus on the age to draw benefits and the sequence of who draws first when dealing with married or divorced couples. The objective is to get the most dollars from Social Security during your retirement. We help our client consider all the critical issues before making this decision.

If you have a pension, it’s time to verify the details. When are you eligible? Is there a discount for drawing before age 65? It is important to under­stand the impli­ca­tions of each option to make a wise choice. Social Security is another major decision that must be done right. We run a Social Security optimization for each client to help determine the time to begin benefits in order to maximize benefits. Withdrawals from the investment portfolio can be used to supplement these sources based on cash flow projec­tions. Remember, you may spend as many years in retirement as you did when working. Making smart choices now can help make your income last.

We help clients to create a retirement spending plan and then ask them to live on it the year before retirement. Spending is just as important as saving when it comes to retirement. We prepare tax projec­tions for clients to compare the last year of wages with the first year of retirement income. In retirement, taxes can be withheld from income sources like pensions and Social Security or paid quarterly through estimated tax payments. Our projec­tions consider a client’s tax liability for several years after retirement.