steps toward the retirement you want From the financial advisors at Artifex Financial Group
Focus on retirement
5 steps to help you achieve your financial goals in retirement Achieving a successful and financially secure retirement is one of the most important goals in life for most working people. After a lifetime of hard work and disciplined planning, their reward is to live their ideal life in retirement—the life they’ve always dreamed of and deserve. However, most people are uncertain about what financial steps to take in order to plan for a successful retirement. Making complex financial decisions can often seem overwhelming, leaving many unsure about how and where to begin.
Our retirement-planning guidebook provides a step-by-step plan to identify and implement key actions to help you enjoy your best life in retirement. 2
The five steps
Our guidebook offers specific advice on topics such as Goal Setting and Income Planning. It also provides practical tips on Managing Cash Flow, Tax Considerations, and Investment Management. These 5 steps can help you distinguish central issues and factors in your control—and what you can do about them. Applying these steps may help you achieve your financial goals for living the life you want in retirement.
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Understanding the life you want to live in retirement
02
Determining the financial resources you’ll need
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Creating a retirement paycheck Minimizing your taxes Building your asset allocation strategy
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Understanding the life you want to live in retirement There are lots of routes to and through retirement. Many people save and invest with a certain age in mind for retiring. Some retire more than once, taking time away from work to explore the world, care for a loved one, or build a business. Others opt to work throughout their retirement. Before you create a financial plan or make investment decisions, it’s important to take the time to fully understand that your financial life isn’t just about money. At Goldman Sachs Personal Financial Management (Goldman Sachs PFM), we use two proprietary tools to help people answer a very important question: “What do I want my retirement to be like?” We employ proprietary, research-based tools that get to the heart of your relationship with money, so that you can learn how your biases affect your financial decision-making. These tools are designed to help you make more informed choices about your financial life. Our first proprietary tool is MoneyMind®, which helps you identify and understand the dominant ways you think and feel about money. Once you’ve discovered your MoneyMind, our HonestConversations® exercise helps you and those you care about determine the top 5 financial life goals you want to achieve. We then consider these responses to create an individualized road map to help you live the life you want.
Take our free MoneyMind quiz now! Click here to start >
...because your financial life isn’t just about money. It’s about you and the retirement you want to live. 4
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Determining the financial resources you’ll need Once you know your retirement life goals, you’ll need to understand how much income is required for your nest egg. Everyone’s situation is unique, but a common rule of thumb is that you’ll need 70–85% of your pre-retirement income. Also, it’s important to not withdraw more than 4–5% per year from your investment portfolio to avoid outliving your money. Determining how much you can spend every month requires creating a budget using a comprehensive budget worksheet. Most people will spend more in retirement on certain expenses such as health care, travel, and interests/hobbies. Other expenses in retirement might require less, such as gasoline or clothes. Of course, some expenses might inflate or grow faster than others. And while we can’t know what inflation will be like in the future, we’ve historically assumed an average annual inflation rate of 3% 1 for most expenses and 5-7% for healthcare costs.
...Our unique process will give you peace of mind knowing that you will achieve your retirement goals." -Darren Harp, Partner, Artifex Financial Group Click to read more > 5 1 “Historical Inflation Rate 1913 – 2020,” Inflationdata.com/inflation/inflation_Rate/Historicalinflation.aspx
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Creating a retirement paycheck Before retirement arrives, you’ll need a plan to transform the savings you’ve accumulated and the benefits you’re eligible to receive into sufficient income to sustain the life you want to live. Primary sources of retirement income typically include:
Social Security Pension: Annuity or lump sum payout Retirement accounts 401(k), 403(b), IRA Investment income
You’ll want to aggregate all your possible sources of income to understand what your current retirement paycheck could look like. Once you’ve determined your total monthly income, we can analyze whether you’ll have enough to meet your total monthly needs.
Creating a portfolio that is integrated with your financial plan is critical to retirement planning success.” – Doug Kinsey, Chief Investment Officer
Click to read more >
Goldman Sachs PFM developed a Financial Control Scorecard® so we can gauge how well your current retirement savings and resources match up against your spending and goals. Your score will indicate whether or not your retirement is likely over-funded, under-funded, or optimally funded. Once we’ve determined your preliminary score, our advisors can work with you to either maintain or move your score into the optimal zone. 6
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Minimizing your taxes Some retirement myths are repeated so often they’re mistaken for truth. For example, has anyone ever said that you’ll be in a lower federal income tax bracket when you retire? The truth is you might be. Or you might not. Also, federal income taxes are not the only taxes to consider. Distribution rules and tax consequences for tax-advantaged accounts vary. As a result, tax planning is just as important in retirement as it is on the way to retirement. Your comprehensive tax plan should address questions like:
What types of investments should be held in taxable, tax-deferred, or tax-exempt accounts? Should you move money from Traditional IRAs to Roth IRAs? Is a rollover the right choice for appreciated company stock in your 401(k)? How much should you withdraw from certain types of accounts during retirement? How much will you need to withdraw from certain types of accounts during retirement?
By working with an Artifex PFM advisor, we can help show you how to make the most of your money in retirement. And, we encourage our clients to talk with their tax professional and consult their tax advisor.
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Building your asset allocation strategy Once you have your retirement readiness score, it’s important to create an appropriate asset allocation strategy. Your investment plan should adopt an optimal amount of risk based on your time horizon, financial situation, market shifts, and your risk tolerance.
Create a personal portfolio Investing your assets in retirement can be challenging because there are several aspects to consider. The key attributes to integrate into your portfolio are:
Diversification 2 Minimizing investment costs
Your investment plan should adopt an optimal amount of risk based on your time horizon, financial situation, market shifts and your risk tolerance.
Utilization of tax-aware strategies Long-term market growth potential Focus on total return to generate income Mitigating market risk Periodic re-balancing
2 Diversification does not ensure a profit or protect against loss.
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Summary
Personalizing your retirement Planning wisely can help you enjoy your ideal life in retirement. At Artifex Financial Group, we work with hundreds of clients to help them meet their retirement objectives. Now we’d like to help you too. Together, we can help you take the necessary steps to create a plan to help you achieve your retirement goals.
To begin, request a complimentary consultation. Call us at 1 (855) 752-6644 or visit artifexfinancial.com
Our Checklist
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Understanding the life you want to live in retirement
04
Minimizing your taxes
05
Building your asset allocation strategy
Find Your MoneyMind. Complete the HonestConversations exercise with an Artifex personal financial advisor.
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Determining the financial resources you’ll need Create your budget for retirement.
03
Creating a retirement paycheck
Design a comprehensive financial plan to address the impact of taxes with our team of experienced financial planners.
Determine a suitable asset allocation 3. Implement your investment plan. Review and re-balance.
Review your financial assets with your advisor and receive your Financial Control ScoreCard. 3 Based on your goals, timeline, and risk tolerance.
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Don’t just retire—retire well. To get started call us at 1 (855) 752-6644 or visit artifexfinancial.com
Artifex Financial Group makes recommendations based on the specific needs and circumstances of each client. Clients should carefully consider their own investment objectives and never rely on any single chart, graph, or marketing piece to make decisions. Investing involves risk, and investments may lose value. Clients should carefully consider their own investment objectives and never rely on any single chart, graph, or marketing piece to make decisions. There are no investment strategies that guarantee a profit or protect against loss. Equity investing involves market risk including possible loss of principal. All indices are unmanaged and an individual cannot invest directly in an index. Index returns do not include fees or expenses and are calculated on a total return basis with dividends reinvested. Past performance doesn’t guarantee future results. Artifex Financial Group does not provide legal advice. Clients should obtain their own independent legal advice based on their particular circumstances. The information contained herein is intended for informational purposes only, is not a recommendation to buy or sell any securities, and should not be considered investment advice. The material is based upon information which we consider reliable, but we do not represent that such information is accurate or complete, and it should not be relied upon as such. The information, data, analyses, and opinions contained herein include confidential and proprietary portfolio information of Artifex Financial Group, may not be copied or redistributed for noncommercial or personal purpose without Artifex Financial's expressed permission of tactical tilts, is available upon request. No Distribution; No Offer or Solicitation. This material may not, without Artifex Financial Group's prior written consent, be copied, photocopied or duplicated in any form, by any means, or (ii) distributed to any person that is not an employee, officer, director, or authorized agent of the recipient. This material is not an offer or solicitation with respect to the purchase or sale of any security in any jurisdiction in which such offer or solicitation is not authorized or to any person to whom it would be unlawful to make such offer or solicitation. © 2021 United Capital Financial Advisers, LLC, a Goldman Sachs Company d/b/a Goldman Sachs Personal Financial Management. All Rights Reserved.