tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22623650212195801702024-03-12T17:21:45.940-07:00Public Retirement Plannerswww.PublicRetirementPlanners.comAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10803465646143988753noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2262365021219580170.post-33812045409224294202014-07-22T10:24:00.000-07:002014-07-23T12:15:31.305-07:00Your 457 Plan and Long-Term Care A HUGE THANK YOU is owed to the 20 or so public sector
employees (both active and retired) who took valuable time from their day to
help me with the research presented here.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After hours of lengthy interviews, I was
able to come up with a very important discovery, and <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">that discovery is what</span></u></b><u>
</u><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">the
number 1 thing is that keeps most of you up at night</span></u></b>, or at the
very least, what that nagging feeling that follows you around is. <br />
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The information I’m going to share with you is part of a detailed guidebook that’s being written
specifically for government workers and retirees.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’ll be sharing it with you sometime in
mid-August or early September.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><br />
<br />
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">ENJOY... </span><br />
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><br /></span></div>
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Most of you
in government have already chosen to do something about the huge long-term care
(LTC) costs that could potentially come your way.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>You’re already self-insuring (intentionally or unintentionally) by
contributing to your 457 deferred compensation plan.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>There’s the real possibility that by the time you reach retirement,
you’ll have saved $200,000-$300,000 or more in your deferred comp plan alone.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There’s also a good chance that your home
mortgage will be paid off, meaning if you aren’t already in great shape
financially, you probably will be.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><br />
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If you’ve
done a good job saving and investing in your 457 plan, and through some
research you’ve learned that the average annual cost of a private nursing-home
room in 2013 was over $94,000<sup>3</sup>, then you know that if you only spend
a couple of years in a nursing home, you’ll be burning through close to
$200,000 of your retirement nest egg.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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Realistically,
the self-insurance route could work and many of you are taking this path
whether you know it or not.<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">You may even be subconsciously thinking that
your 457 plan is your long-term care piggy bank</span></b><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span>The
good part is at least you have some type of plan in place because <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-size: 16.0pt;">a</span></u></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">
long-term illness or injury doesn’t wait around to hit you until you’ve saved
enough money or bought an insurance policy.</span></u></b></div>
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If you only spent around
$200,000 of your $300,000-$400,000 in savings on long-term care, then it’s
realistic to guess that you and your spouse could still be okay financially for
the rest of your lives.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It will be a bit
of a tightrope act, but you should be able to get by.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After all, with things like deferred comp, <span style="color: blue;"><a href="http://www.imrf.org/" target="_blank">IMRF</a></span>
or a similar pension, Social Security, and little to no debt, you have some
room for a heavy financial hit.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">HOWEVER,
you have to be very careful here because<span style="font-family: Calibri;">
</span><span style="font-family: Calibri;">the
cracks in the foundation of your strategy show when you need more than a couple
years of care</span>, and what can happen is your $300,000-$400,000 deferred comp
plan or other savings will dry up in a hurry.</span></div>
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<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Another
thing you have to seriously consider is if your spouse gets sick or injured and
needs long-term care for a year or two,<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">
</span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">how
much of your deferred comp or other savings are you comfortable spending just on
health expenses? </span></b><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span>Are you willing to say goodbye to your hard-earned dollars that you’ve sacrificed so much for?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What if you want to pass your wealth onto your kids or grandkids?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Just one extended illness over a year or two means you and your family could
be out of money quickly. </div>
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Also keep
in mind that<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"> </span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">more than 70 percent of you
over the age of 65 will need long-term care services at some point in your life<sup>1</sup></span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">. </span></b><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If that doesn’t get you thinking, then there’s
really no reason to read on.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If it does,
then also consider this: Those of us who reach the age of 65 have a 40 percent
chance of entering a nursing home, with a 20 percent chance of staying there
for <span style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">at least five years<sup>2</sup><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">.</b></span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></b></i><span style="font-size: large;">What
this means is</span></span><span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></b><span style="font-family: Calibri;">the chances are pretty good that you’ll need
expensive care for some amount of time during your life.</span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"> </span></div>
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If you think your deferred comp plan,
<span style="color: blue;"><a href="http://www.imrf.org/" target="_blank">IMRF</a></span> or other pension, and Social Security will be enough to cover living
expenses and LTC costs, then you’re probably okay going
the self-insurance route.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Just make sure
that you...</div>
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<span style="font-size: x-large;"><b><u><span style="font-family: Calibri;">CAREFULLY
THINK ABOUT THESE 2013 AVERAGE ANNUAL NATIONWIDE FIGURES<sup>3</sup>:</span></u></b></span></h2>
<span style="font-size: large;"><b><u><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><br /></span></u></b></span></div>
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<li><span style="font-family: Courier; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Courier;">$94,170: Cost of a private nursing home room</span><span style="font-family: Courier; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Courier;"> </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Courier; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Courier;">$82,855: Cost of a semi-private nursing home room</span><span style="font-family: Courier; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Courier;"> </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Courier; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Courier;">$41,124: Cost at an assisted living facility</span><span style="font-family: Courier; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Courier;"> </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Courier; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Courier;">$29,640: Cost of a home health aide</span><span style="font-family: Courier; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Courier;"> </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Courier; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Courier;">$18,460: Cost of adult daycare <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></li>
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If you decide to self insure against the potential of paying
these costs, just be very careful of a few things:</div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: Cambria; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">1)<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span>Your <span style="color: blue;"><a href="http://www.imrf.org/" target="_blank">IMRF</a> </span>or other pension and Social Security could get trimmed or more likely, lose ground to inflation</div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: Cambria; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">2)<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span>An illness or injury lasting a couple of years or
more could wipe out your savings</div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: Cambria; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">3)<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span>Illness and injury don’t wait around until
you’re prepared financially </div>
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If you’ll
be self-insuring, be sure you are saving away into your 457 deferred compensation plan or other
accounts and you’re doing it efficiently from a tax standpoint (read
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/I%20owe%20a%20debt%20of%20gratitude%20to%20the%2020%20or%20so%20public%20sector%20employees%20(both%20past%20and%20present)%20that%20took%20valuable%20time%20from%20their%20day%20to%20help%20me%20put%20together%20the%20information%20presented%20here.%20%20After%20hours%20and%20hours%20of%20interviews,%20I%20was%20able%20to%20come%20up%20with%20a%20very%20important%20discovery,%20and%20that%20discovery%20is%20what%20the%20number%201%20thing%20is%20that%20keeps%20most%20of%20you%20up%20at%20night,%20or%20at%20the%20very%20least,%20what%20that%20nagging%20feeling%20that%20follows%20you%20around%20is.%20%20%20In%20this%20month%E2%80%99s%20posting,%20I%E2%80%99m%20going%20to%20share%20with%20you%20information%20that%E2%80%99s%20part%20of%20a%20much%20more%20detailed%20report%20that%E2%80%99s%20being%20written%20specifically%20for%20public%20sector%20employees%20and%20retirees.%20%20I%E2%80%99ll%20be%20sharing%20it%20with%20you%20sometime%20in%20mid-August%20or%20early%20September.%20%20Enjoy%E2%80%A6%20%20Most%20of%20you%20in%20government%20have%20already%20chosen%20to%20do%20something%20about%20the%20huge%20long-term%20care%20costs%20that%20could%20potentially%20come%20your%20way.%20%20You%E2%80%99re%20already%20self-insuring%20(intentionally%20or%20unintentionally)%20by%20contributing%20to%20your%20457%20deferred%20comp%20plan.%20%20There%E2%80%99s%20the%20real%20possibility%20that%20by%20the%20time%20you%20reach%20retirement,%20you%E2%80%99ll%20have%20saved%20$200,000-$300,000%20or%20more%20in%20your%20457%20plan%20alone.%20%20There%E2%80%99s%20also%20a%20good%20chance%20that%20your%20home%20mortgage%20will%20be%20paid%20off,%20meaning%20if%20you%20aren%E2%80%99t%20already%20in%20great%20shape%20financially,%20you%20probably%20will%20be.%20%20%20If%20you%E2%80%99ve%20done%20a%20good%20job%20saving%20and%20investing%20in%20your%20457%20plan,%20and%20through%20some%20research%20you%E2%80%99ve%20learned%20that%20the%20average%20annual%20cost%20of%20a%20private%20nursing-home%20room%20in%202013%20was%20over%20$94,0003,%20then%20you%20know%20that%20if%20you%20only%20spend%20a%20couple%20of%20years%20in%20a%20nursing%20home,%20you%E2%80%99ll%20be%20burning%20through%20close%20to%20$200,000%20of%20your%20retirement%20nest%20egg.%20%20%20Realistically,%20the%20self-insurance%20route%20could%20work%20and%20many%20of%20you%20are%20taking%20this%20path%20whether%20you%20know%20it%20or%20not.%20%20You%20may%20even%20be%20subconsciously%20thinking%20that%20your%20457%20plan%20is%20your%20long-term%20care%20piggy%20bank.%20%20The%20good%20part%20is%20at%20least%20you%20have%20some%20type%20of%20plan%20in%20place%20because%20a%20long-term%20illness%20or%20injury%20doesn%E2%80%99t%20wait%20around%20to%20hit%20you%20until%20you%E2%80%99ve%20saved%20enough%20money%20or%20bought%20an%20insurance%20policy.%20If%20you%20only%20spent%20around%20$200,000%20of%20your%20$300,000-$400,000%20in%20savings%20on%20long-term%20care,%20then%20it%E2%80%99s%20realistic%20to%20guess%20that%20you%20and%20your%20spouse%20could%20still%20be%20okay%20financially%20for%20the%20rest%20of%20your%20lives.%20%20It%20will%20be%20a%20bit%20of%20a%20tightrope%20act,%20but%20you%20should%20be%20able%20to%20get%20by.%20%20After%20all,%20with%20things%20like%20deferred%20comp,%20IMRF%20or%20a%20similar%20pension,%20Social%20Security,%20and%20little%20to%20no%20debt,%20you%20have%20some%20room%20for%20a%20heavy%20financial%20hit.%20%20%20HOWEVER,%20you%20have%20to%20be%20very%20careful%20here%20because%20the%20cracks%20in%20the%20foundation%20of%20your%20strategy%20show%20when%20you%20need%20more%20than%20a%20couple%20years%20of%20care,%20and%20what%20can%20happen%20is%20your%20$300,000-$400,000%20457%20plan%20or%20other%20savings%20will%20dry%20up%20in%20a%20hurry.%20Another%20thing%20you%20have%20to%20seriously%20consider%20is%20if%20your%20spouse%20gets%20sick%20or%20injured%20and%20needs%20long-term%20care%20for%20a%20year%20or%20two,%20how%20much%20of%20your%20457%20plan%20or%20other%20savings%20are%20you%20comfortable%20spending%20just%20on%20health%20expenses?%20%20Are%20you%20willing%20to%20say%20goodbye%20to%20your%20deferred%20comp%20plan%20that%20you%E2%80%99ve%20sacrificed%20so%20much%20to%20save%20into?%20%20What%20if%20you%20want%20to%20pass%20your%20457%20plan%20or%20other%20accounts%20onto%20your%20kids%20or%20grandkids?%20%20Just%20one%20extended%20illness%20over%20a%20year%20or%20two%20means%20you%20and%20the%20kids%20could%20be%20out%20of%20luck%20quickly.%20%20Also%20keep%20in%20mind%20that%20more%20than%2070%20percent%20of%20you%20over%20the%20age%20of%2065%20will%20need%20long-term%20care%20services%20at%20some%20point%20in%20your%20life1.%20%20If%20that%20doesn%E2%80%99t%20get%20you%20thinking,%20then%20there%E2%80%99s%20really%20no%20reason%20to%20read%20on.%20%20If%20it%20does,%20then%20also%20consider%20this:%20Those%20of%20us%20who%20reach%20the%20age%20of%2065%20have%20a%2040%20percent%20chance%20of%20entering%20a%20nursing%20home,%20with%20a%2020%20percent%20chance%20of%20staying%20there%20for%20at%20least%20five%20years2.%20%20What%20this%20means%20is%20the%20chances%20are%20pretty%20good%20that%20you%E2%80%99ll%20need%20expensive%20care%20for%20some%20amount%20of%20time%20during%20your%20life.%20%20If%20you%20think%20your%20457%20plan,%20IMRF%20or%20other%20pension,%20and%20Social%20Security%20will%20be%20enough%20to%20cover%20living%20expenses%20and%20potential%20long-term%20care%20costs,%20then%20you%E2%80%99re%20probably%20okay%20going%20the%20self-insurance%20route.%20%20Just%20make%20sure%20that%20you%20%20%20CAREFULLY%20THINK%20ABOUT%20THESE%202013%20AVERAGE%20ANNUAL%20NATIONWIDE%20FIGURES3:%20%20%E2%80%A2$94,170:%20cost%20of%20a%20private%20nursing%20home%20room%20%E2%80%A2$82,855:%20cost%20of%20a%20semi-private%20nursing%20home%20room%20%20%20%20%20%20%E2%80%A2$41,124:%20cost%20at%20an%20assisted%20living%20facility%20%20%E2%80%A2$29,640:%20cost%20of%20a%20home%20health%20aide%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%E2%80%A2$18,460:%20cost%20of%20adult%20daycare%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20If%20you%20decide%20to%20self%20insure%20against%20the%20potential%20of%20paying%20these%20costs,%20just%20be%20very%20careful%20of%20a%20few%20things:%20%201)Your%20IMRF%20or%20other%20pension%20and%20Social%20Security%20payments%20could%20get%20trimmed%20or%20more%20likely,%20lose%20ground%20to%20inflation%202)An%20illness%20or%20injury%20lasting%20a%20couple%20of%20years%20or%20more%20could%20wipe%20out%20your%20457%20plan%20and%20other%20savings%203)Illness%20and%20injury%20don%E2%80%99t%20wait%20around%20until%20you%E2%80%99re%20prepared%20financially%20%20%20If%20you%E2%80%99ll%20be%20self-insuring,%20be%20sure%20you%20are%20saving%20away%20into%20your%20457%20plan%20or%20other%20accounts%20and%20you%E2%80%99re%20doing%20it%20efficiently%20from%20a%20tax%20standpoint%20(Read%20Attack%20of%20the%20Tax%20Zombies%20Parts%20I%20&%20II%20for%20more%20information%20on%20tax%20efficiency%20and%20your%20457%20plan).%20%20This%20is%20a%20slippery%20target,%20but%20there%20are%20things%20you%20can%20do%20to%20improve%20your%20chances%20of%20saving%20enough%20money%20to%20pay%20for%20long-term%20care.%20%20I%E2%80%99ll%20be%20spelling%20out%20these%20strategies%20when%20I%20complete%20the%20master%20report%20and%20I%E2%80%99ll%20be%20passing%20the%20information%20on%20to%20you,%20so%20stay%20tuned.%20%20So%E2%80%A6how%20much%20does%20long-term%20care%20insurance%20cost?%20%20The%20answer%20to%20this%20question%20depends%20on%20so%20many%20different%20things%20so%20the%20only%20thing%20I%20can%20give%20you%20is%20what%20the%202014%20average%20cost%20for%20men%20and%20women%20is%20expected%20to%20be.%20%20%20In%202014,%20the%20average%20cost%20of%20an%20LTC%20policy%20for%20a%20single%20male%20age%2055%20with%20$164,000%20of%20benefits%20is%20expected%20to%20be%20$925%20a%20year.%20%20If%20the%20age%2055%20male%20adds%20an%20option%20to%20have%20his%20benefit%20amount%20rise%20every%20year%20with%20inflation,%20then%20the%20average%20cost%20jumps%20to%20$1,7654%20%20Women,%20who%20received%20two-thirds%20of%20the%20LTC%20benefits%20paid%20out%20in%202013,%20pay%20higher%20premiums%20than%20men.%20%20A%20single%20woman%20age%2055%20will%20pay%20an%20average%20of%20$1,225%20a%20year%20for%20$164,000%20of%20benefits%20in%202014.4%20%20A%20married%20couple%20each%20buying%20$164,000%20of%20coverage%20that%20rises%20every%20year%20with%20inflation%20will%20pay%20an%20average%20of%20$3,840%20annually.4%20%20How%20does%20$164,000%20of%20benefits%20breakdown%20to%20daily%20coverage?%20%20It%20comes%20to%20about%20$150%20a%20day%20in%20paid%20benefits%20for%20three%20solid%20years,%20which%20is%20a%20decent%20amount%20of%20coverage.%20%20%20%20If%20one%20of%20your%20fears%20in%20life%20is%20running%20out%20of%20money%20during%20retirement,%20even%20if%20you%20have%20a%20pension%20and%20hundreds%20of%20thousands%20of%20dollars%20in%20your%20457%20plan,%20then%20it%E2%80%99s%20time%20to%20at%20least%20start%20planning%20for%20this%20possibility.%20%20You%20can%20do%20this%20by%20taking%20a%20very%20easy%20step,%20which%20is%20listing%20everything%20that%20you%20own%20then%20compare%20it%20to%20the%20average%20long-term%20care%20costs%20above,%20and%20just%20pay%20close%20attention%20to%20how%20you%20feel.%20%20Are%20you%20close%20to%20100%%20confident%20that%20whatever%20unexpected%20illness%20or%20injury%20comes%20your%20way,%20you%E2%80%99ll%20be%20able%20to%20handle%20the%20cost%20of%20care%20for%20more%20than%20a%20year?%20%20How%20about%202%20or%203%20years?%20%20What%20about%20more%20than%205%20years?%20%20Or%20do%20you%20have%20even%20the%20slightest%20feeling%20of%20uneasiness%20or%20worry%20about%20long-term%20care?%20%20If%20you%20do,%20then%20figure%20out%20how%20you%E2%80%99re%20going%20to%20get%20your%20comfort%20level%20as%20close%20to%20100%%20as%20possible.%20%20There%20are%20a%20good%20handful%20of%20ways%20of%20doing%20this%20and%20I%E2%80%99ll%20be%20showing%20you%20how%20in%20the%20coming%20months.%20%20%20%201%202014%20Medicare%20&%20You,%20National%20Medicare%20Handbook,%20Centers%20for%20Medicare%20&%20%20%20%20%20Medicaid%20Services,%20September%202013%202%20%20U.S.%20Department%20of%20Health%20and%20Human%20Services%203%20John%20Hancock%202013%20Cost%20of%20Care%20Survey%204%202014%20Long%20Term%20Care%20Insurance%20Price%20Index,%20American%20Association%20for%20Long-Term%20Care%20Insurance%20%20Securities%20and%20advisory%20services%20offered%20through%20Ausdal%20Financial%20Partners,%20Inc.%20%20Member%20FINRA/SIPC%205187%20Utica%20Ridge%20Road%20Davenport,%20IA%2052807%20%20%20%20563-326-2064%20%20www.ausdal.com.%20%20Public%20Retirement%20Planners,%20LLC%20and%20Ausdal%20Financial%20Partners,%20Inc.%20are%20separately%20owned%20and%20operated." target="_blank">Attack of the Tax Zombies Parts I & II</a> for more information on tax
efficiency and your 457 plan). <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><a href="http://publicretirementplanners.blogspot.com/2014/06/imrf-will-pay-you-75-rate-can-change-on.html" target="_blank">IMRF's Voluntary Additional Contributions program</a> is a great way to save efficiently for retirement, but consult with your tax advisor before diving in. Anyway, self-insuring </span>is a
slippery target, but there are things you can do to improve your chances of
saving enough money to pay for long-term care.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I’ll be spelling out these strategies when I complete the long-term care guidebook
for the public sector and I’ll be passing the information on to you, so stay tuned.</div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 16.0pt;">So…How Much Does Long-Term Care Insurance Cost?</span></b></div>
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The answer to this question depends on so many different
things so the only thing I can give you is what the 2014 average cost for men
and women is expected to be. </div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">In 2014, the average cost of an LTC
policy for a single male age 55 with $164,000 of benefits is expected to be
$925 a year.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If the age 55 male adds an
option to have his benefit amount rise every year with inflation, then the
average cost jumps to </span>
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<span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">$1,765<sup>4</sup>.</span>
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><sup> </sup></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Women, who received two-thirds of the
LTC benefits paid out in 2013, pay higher premiums than men.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A single woman age 55 will pay an average of
$1,225 a year for $164,000 of benefits in </span>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">A married couple each buying $164,000
of coverage that rises every year with inflation will pay an average of $3,840 </span>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">How does $164,000 of benefits breakdown
to daily coverage?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It comes to about
$150 a day in paid benefits for three solid years, which is a decent amount of
coverage.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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If one of your fears in life is running out of money during
retirement, <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">even if you have a pension and hundreds of thousands of dollars in your
457 plan</span></u></b>, then it’s time to at least start planning for this
possibility.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You can do this by taking a<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"> </span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">very easy step</span></b><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">, </span>which is listing everything that you
own then compare it to the average long-term care costs I gave you, and just pay
close attention to how you feel.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Are you
close to 100% confident that whatever unexpected illness or injury comes your
way, you’ll be able to handle the cost of care for more than a year?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>How about 2 or 3 years?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What about more than 5 years?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Or do you have even the slightest feeling of
uneasiness or worry about long-term care?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>If you do, then figure out how you’re going to get your comfort level as
close to 100% as possible.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There are a
good handful of ways of doing this and I’ll be showing you how in the upcoming
months.<br />
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P.S. - If you found the content useful,<b> please SHARE this with
someone you know in the public sector, whether they are working or retired.</b><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> You can share by posting this link on Linkedin or your favorite site.</span> The information here will get a lot of
people to start seriously thinking about potentially devastating long-term care expenses. </div>
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<br /></div>
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<sup><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">1 </span></sup><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">2014 Medicare & You, National Medicare Handbook, Centers
for Medicare &<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Medicaid Services, September 2013</span></div>
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<sup><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">2 </span></sup><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>U.S. Department of
Health and Human Services</span></div>
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<sup><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">3</span></sup><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> John Hancock 2013 Cost of Care Survey</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><sup>4</sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">
<span style="font-size: small;">2014 Long Term Care Insurance Price
Index, American Association for Long-Term Care Insurance</span></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: 8.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Securities and advisory services
offered through Ausdal Financial Partners, Inc. Member FINRA/SIPC 5187
Utica Ridge Road Davenport, IA 52807 563-326-2064 </span><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><a href="http://www.ausdal.com/"><span style="font-size: 8.0pt;">www.ausdal.com</span></a></span><span style="font-size: 8.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">. Public Retirement Planners, LLC and Ausdal Financial
Partners, Inc. are separately owned and perated.</span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10803465646143988753noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2262365021219580170.post-13572702768843173722014-07-09T10:04:00.000-07:002014-07-22T10:53:38.478-07:00Housing Bubble Interview <div class="zonedModule" data-module-id="6" data-module-name="resp.module.article.BylineAuthorConnect">
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<span class="c-name" itemprop="author" rel="author"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b>THE WALL STREET JOURNAL </b></span></span></span></div>
<br />
<span class="c-name" itemprop="author" rel="author">Alex Coppola's interview with Sev Meneshian, CFP®</span>
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June 20, 2014 10:06 a.m. ET</div>
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<span class="i-credit">Picture by Bari Goodman</span><br />
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The couple was in their 30s and in debt. In
2004, they purchased a condo for $200,000 and in 2007, at the height of
the real-estate boom, opened a $60,000 home-equity line of credit to
buy another property. </div>
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When the housing bubble burst a year
later, the value of their properties plummeted and they found themselves
close to $250,000 in debt. The couple had been working overtime at
their respective jobs to keep up with their mortgage and home-equity
loan payments. But they both had their hours cut after the economic
downturn, and could no longer cover their debts and other expenses. </div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="font-size: 15px;">
In
desperation, they reached out to Sev Meneshian, owner of <a href="http://publicretirementplanners.com/" target="_blank">Public Retirement Planners</a> in Evanston, Ill., who has about $1 million under
management for 30 families. They told him they might stop making loan
payments altogether and stay in their house until the end of the long
foreclosure process. </div>
<div style="font-size: 15px;">
<br />
"When they walked in they were like deer in the headlights,"
Mr. Meneshian
recalls. He could see that the
clients were overwhelmed, but he also knew that waiting longer to deal
with the debt was the worst thing they could do. He needed to help them
take those difficult first steps forward.<br />
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"I
told them that it was simple: They made a big gamble and lost," Mr.
Meneshian says. "Now it was time to focus on what they wanted for their
future." </div>
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<br /></div>
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The clients were grateful to
have a guide to help them move ahead, and said they were willing to do
whatever it took to rebuild their finances and their lives. The first
task: tackling their debt. </div>
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Sev Meneshian </div>
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Mr. Meneshian assisted the couple's
attorney in negotiating a settlement with their lender by reviewing and
organizing the couple's financial statements. They had less than $50,000
in cash and retirement savings, making it clear to both the adviser and
the bank that the couple was incapable of repaying their loans. </div>
<div style="font-size: 15px;">
They
settled the $60,000 home-equity line of credit for $6,000 and executed a
deed in lieu of foreclosure on their mortgage, handing their home over
to the bank. With that, they avoided foreclosure and were released from
their debt. </div>
<div style="font-size: 15px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-size: 15px;">
They turned their attention
to the next issue: Finding a new place to live. The couple told Mr.
Meneshian that their dream was to own another home, but their damaged
credit meant they likely would need to put a minimum of 20% down on any
property they wanted to buy in the future. To afford that kind of
payment in the next five to seven years, they had to start rebuilding
their savings now. </div>
<div style="font-size: 15px;">
<br />
Without a way to
increase their income, they needed to save more of what they had. "They
had to get very frugal very quickly," says the adviser. The
couple's two largest monthly expenses had been their housing payments
and child care for their newborn, which totaled almost $3,500 dollars a
month. So Mr. Meneshian suggested a way to reduce both those costs: The
couple could rent a house near the husband's parents and sister, who
could assist with child care. </div>
<div style="font-size: 15px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-size: 15px;">
The
clients followed his advice and moved into a rental home closer to their
family. The move reduced their monthly expenses by $2,000, and they
began putting those savings toward a future down payment. </div>
<div style="font-size: 15px;">
Over
the next four years the couple stuck to the budget and their savings
plan. They recently became homeowners again--an accomplishment they
attribute, in large part, to Mr. Meneshian's help in facing their
mistakes and moving past them.<br />
</div>
<div style="font-size: 15px;">
"Financially
and emotionally they are back," Mr. Meneshian says. "This couple's
story didn't begin well, but because of their willingness to make some
serious changes, it thankfully has a much better ending."<br />
<br />
P.S. - If you found the content useful,<b> please SHARE this with
someone you know in the public sector, whether they are working or retired.</b><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> You can share by posting this link on Linkedin or your favorite site.</span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 8.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Securities and advisory services
offered through Ausdal Financial Partners, Inc. Member FINRA/SIPC 5187
Utica Ridge Road Davenport, IA 52807 563-326-2064 </span><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><a href="http://www.ausdal.com/"><span style="font-size: 8.0pt;">www.ausdal.com</span></a></span><span style="font-size: 8.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">. Public Retirement Planners, LLC and Ausdal Financial
Partners, Inc. are separately owned and perated.</span></div>
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span> </div>
</article>
</div>
<a class="icn-email" href="http://online.wsj.com/articles/a-financial-adviser-shows-a-couple-a-way-forward-after-a-failed-real-estate-bet-1403273194#"><span class="icn"></span></a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10803465646143988753noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2262365021219580170.post-31371373346468088502014-06-17T12:59:00.001-07:002014-07-22T09:30:01.600-07:00IMRF will pay you 7.5% (rate can change) on voluntary contributions<style>
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--></style><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The <a href="http://www.imrf.org/" target="_blank">Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund (IMRF)</a> Voluntary Additional
Contribution program gives you the opportunity to earn 7.5% (subject to change)
on after-tax contributions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Surprisingly, only a handful of people are aware of this program and
even less are taking advantage of it!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>How does the program work?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><a href="http://www.imrf.org/" target="_blank">IMRF</a>
allows you to make after-tax contributions up to 10% of your earnings.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then, at the end of the year, whatever your
January 1<sup>st</sup> balance was, <a href="http://www.imrf.org/" target="_blank">IMRF</a> applies a credit to your account equal
to 7.5% of that amount.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Here’s an example of how
the interest crediting works:</b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
January 1, 2014 balance: $0</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
2014 contributions: $1,000</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Credit applied on December 31: $0</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
January 1, 2015 balance: $1,000</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
2015 contributions: $500</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Credit applied on December 31: $75</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">Here are your 2 options if you stop
making contributions:</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></b><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>1. </span></span><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">Leave your
VAC on deposit with <a href="http://www.imrf.org/" target="_blank">IMRF</a>, or</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>2. Request a refund</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">Here are your 2 options if you leave your
IMRF employer:</span></b><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; tab-stops: 11.0pt .5in; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>1.</span><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Times;"> </span><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">Leave your VAC
on deposit with <a href="http://www.imrf.org/" target="_blank">IMRF</a> (only if you leave your regular<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; tab-stops: 11.0pt .5in; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><a href="http://www.imrf.org/" target="_blank">IMRF</a> contributions on deposit), or<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; tab-stops: 11.0pt .5in; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;"> 2</span><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Times;">. W</span><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">ithdraw your VAC
(your regular contributions can stay)</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; tab-stops: 11.0pt .5in; text-autospace: none;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">Here are your 2 options for withdrawals:</span></b><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Times;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>1. Take </span><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">a lump sum, or</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>2.</span><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Times;"> Get </span><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">a monthly
annuity (if your VAC balance is $4,500 or more)</span><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Times;"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Important things to
consider:</b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin-left: .25in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-font-family: Cambria; mso-fareast-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">-<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">You can download
IMRF’s VAC enrollment form <a href="http://www.imrf.org/pubs/forms/form_series_6/form_630.pdf" target="_blank">here</a></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="-moz-font-feature-settings: normal; -moz-font-language-override: normal; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
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{page:WordSection1;</style><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">-<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"> </span></span></span></span></b><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="-moz-font-feature-settings: normal; -moz-font-language-override: normal; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"> <span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">The information provided is a condensed version of the VAC program. Please be complete </span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="-moz-font-feature-settings: normal; -moz-font-language-override: normal; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> in your research and review all of the VAC program rules, </span></span></span></span></span></span></b><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="-moz-font-feature-settings: normal; -moz-font-language-override: normal; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">which can be found <a href="http://www.imrf.org/pubs/er_pubs/aamanual/online_aa_manual/6.20_c.htm" target="_blank">here</a> </span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin-left: .25in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-font-family: Cambria; mso-fareast-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"></span></span><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;"><a href="http://www.imrf.org/pubs/forms/form_series_6/form_630.pdf" target="_blank"></a></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin-left: .25in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-font-family: Cambria; mso-fareast-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">-<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">If you
withdraw your VAC before 59 ½ (or 55 if leaving an IMRF employer) y</span><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">ou may have income tax penalties on
earnings unless you rollover the <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">taxable amount</i></b> to an IRA or similar
plan</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: .25in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-font-family: Cambria; mso-fareast-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">-<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">You
can get a refund of your VAC at any time, but you have to withdraw all <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span>of your VAC—you cannot take a partial
refund</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: .25in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-font-family: Cambria; mso-fareast-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">-<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">You
have to consider your tax status and determine if making pre-tax or post-tax
contributions to a retirement plan is right for you (my post
titled “<a href="http://publicretirementplanners.blogspot.com/2013/12/attack-of-taxzombies-terrifyingincome.html" target="_blank">Attack of the Tax Zombies</a>” addresses this)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 8.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Securities and advisory services offered through Ausdal
Financial Partners, Inc. Member FINRA/SIPC 5187 Utica Ridge
Road Davenport, IA 52807 563-326-2064 </span><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><a href="http://www.ausdal.com/"><span style="color: blue; font-size: 8.0pt;">www.ausdal.com</span></a></span><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 8.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">.
Public Retirement Planners, LLC and Ausdal Financial Partners, Inc. are
separately owned and operated.</span><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10803465646143988753noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2262365021219580170.post-52635030159273258142014-06-17T12:58:00.001-07:002014-06-18T11:45:42.259-07:00Start Cashing In - Chicago Tribune Interview<div class="cbx" id="cbx">
<h3>
***The content in this post is from a Chicago Tribune article I was interviewed for. I did not write the content.</h3>
<h3>
Maxing employee retirement benefits</h3>
<div style="font-family: arial; font-size: 14px;">
Many Americans 50 or older will need to put saving on a fast track to retire comfortably at age 65.</div>
A great way to do that is to ensure they are seizing every employer-provided opportunity. <br />
<div style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12px;">
According
to Rob Austin, director of retirement research at Lincolnshire-based
Aon Hewitt, 82 percent of those 50+ take advantage of their employers’
401k plans.</div>
<div style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12px;">
“So right
off the bat, 18 percent are not participating at all,” Austin says. “We
see non-savers across every age demographic. Some of that is due to
people thinking they can’t afford to save, or not knowing the steps they
need to take to participate.</div>
<div style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12px;">
<b>STEP BY STEP </b></div>
<div style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12px;">
Maximizing
retirement savings is entirely possible with a two-step approach. The
first step is participating in the 401k plan, Austin says. Step two is
to “make sure you’re saving at least robustly enough to qualify for the
full employer match,” he adds.</div>
<div style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12px;">
“Eighty
percent of those individuals participating in their plans are saving
at a rate where they receive the full match from their employers. The
pessimistic angle is that one in five — 20 percent — are saving below
the level at which they should be saving to receive dollars their
employers are offering them.”</div>
<div style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12px;">
Sev
Meneshian, president of Public Retirement Planners in Evanston, is one
who observes this all too often. “A lot of people don’t take advantage
of a 401k match, and it absolutely kills me when I see that,” he says.
“Most of the time, if you put in three percent, (employers) will match
that.”</div>
<div style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12px;">
Why don’t
employees take advantage of what is essentially free money? Some argue
they will have to work until they die anyway, so they don’t see the
point, Meneshian says.</div>
<div style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12px;">
In
other instances, a husband and wife will max out the higher earner’s
401k contribution, and forget about the lower earner’s 401k plan.</div>
<div style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12px;">
That’s
a big mistake, Meneshian says. “They’re almost literally leaving money
on the table by not taking advantage of that match.”</div>
<div style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12px;">
Other reasons for non-participation is the plan and match aren’t fully explained or the belief they can’t afford to invest.</div>
<div style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12px;">
<b>WATCH FOR FEES </b></div>
<div style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12px;">
Employees
should be watchful for high internal fees on their investment choices
within a plan, says Donald B. Cummings, Jr., managing partner with Blue
Haven Capital LLC, an investment advisory firm in Geneva.</div>
<div style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12px;">
The
higher the fees, the lower the return. Over a decades-long career
investing into a 401k, those lower returns could mean reduced retirement
savings.</div>
<div style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12px;">
Also
remember the lowest fees aren’t always best, Austin says. Compare the
fees with the returns earned. “If you pay higher fees, you may be
getting higher returns, in which case the fees are worth it,” he
reports.</div>
<div style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12px;">
<b>OTHER WAYS TO SAVE </b></div>
<div style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12px;">
There
are other ways for employees to grow their retirement savings.
Employer-paid tuition programs are an example. Many looking to quit
their jobs at 55 or 60 will want to transition into second careers.</div>
<div style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12px;">
To
do that, they may need to pursue a degree. “They can sharpen their
skills, meet new people and possibly have (the tuition) be partially or
totally free,” Meneshian says.</div>
<div style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12px;">
Corporate discounts are another area too often overlooked.</div>
<div style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12px;">
“Few
people take advantage of them,” Meneshian reports. “Through my wife’s
employer, we save 10 percent monthly on our cell phone bills.”</div>
<div style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12px;">
One
final suggestion is that older wage earners do some belt-tightening as
they get nearer 65. Reducing the amount they’re living on by 10
percent can benefit them both in saving for retirement and during
retirement.</div>
<div style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12px;">
“If
people tighten their belts while they are still working and save a
little more, they get used to living on a slightly smaller amount,”
Austin says.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 8.0pt;"> Securities
and advisory services offered through Ausdal Financial Partners, Inc.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Member FINRA/SIPC 5187 Utica Ridge Road</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 8pt;"> Davenport, IA 52807 563-326-2064 </span><a href="http://www.ausdal.com/"><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 8.0pt;">www.ausdal.com</span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 8pt;">. Public Retirement Planners, LLC and Ausdal
Financial Partners, Inc. are separately owned and operated.</span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10803465646143988753noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2262365021219580170.post-42765573752487812432014-05-19T19:39:00.000-07:002014-08-19T09:37:23.488-07:00When Does 5 Minus 3.50 Equal 8? There's a great little pizza place near my office in Evanston that I stop in for lunch about once a week. Recently, I picked up a slice of pizza for $3.50 and was given $1.50 back in change for my $5 bill. On the face of things, I was given the right amount of change but in reality, the cashier actually handed me about $8. Keeping in mind the cashier correctly handed me a $1 bill and two quarters, how did I end up with $8? <br />
Pre-1965 dimes, quarters, and Kennedy half-dollars have a silver content
of 90%. The content of every dollar made up of these pre-1965
coins is about .715 ounces of silver, so almost three-quarters of an ounce. If you
have four quarters that were made before 1965, even though
the face value is $1, a local coin shop will give you about $14 for those quarters (minus a small transaction charge). At the time of this writing, an ounce of silver is worth about $20,
so if you take .715 times $20, you get roughly $14. What happened at the pizza place was the cashier gave me a $1 bill and two pre-1965 quarters. Those two quarters weigh about a third of an ounce, and with silver at $20 an ounce, he gave me around $8 in real change back (including the $1 bill)! <br />
<br />
If you want to try making money looking for silver coins, call your local bank and ask them to put aside rolls of Kennedy half-dollars. You can do this with quarters and dimes too, but half-dollars will obviously save you a lot of time and effort. The number of coins you want to look through depends on your time and patience, but I think $200-$300 worth of coins is a good start. Even though the coins you're looking for will be few and far between, it may be worth the time considering it's very possible you could come across a valuable batch of coins. If you happen to come across 1965-1970 Kennedy half-dollars, put those aside also. Those are comprised of 40% silver, so even though their silver content is less, $1 in face value is still worth about $7 (at the time of this writing). Money doesn't grow on trees, but anytime you pay cash for something, take a quick look at the change you get from the cashier; you could get a nice surprise from time to time!<br />
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 8.0pt;"> Securities
and advisory services offered through Ausdal Financial Partners, Inc.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Member FINRA/SIPC 5187 Utica Ridge Road</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 8pt;"> Davenport, IA 52807 563-326-2064 </span><a href="http://www.ausdal.com/"><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 8.0pt;">www.ausdal.com</span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 8pt;">. Public Retirement Planners, LLC and Ausdal
Financial Partners, Inc. are separately owned and operated.</span></div>
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<br />
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10803465646143988753noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2262365021219580170.post-36467783476177157732014-04-16T16:31:00.001-07:002014-04-16T19:43:20.612-07:00Celebrate National Biscuit Month If you do a simple Web search for "bizarre and unique holidays" you'll be entertained by what's out there. For example, there's National Welding Month, National Picnic Month (this should not apply to ants), National Sleep Comfort Month, and of course, National Fight the Filthy Fly Month. For those that are curious about how babies are made, there's Romance Awareness Month. On a trip through Nashville last year, my wife and I discovered that September is National Biscuit Month and I just <i>had </i>to take this picture:<br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-w4MiiWvJ1dw/U08J2XEXoAI/AAAAAAAAAGY/k5XkYmi9_tI/s1600/20130921_193109.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-w4MiiWvJ1dw/U08J2XEXoAI/AAAAAAAAAGY/k5XkYmi9_tI/s1600/20130921_193109.jpg" height="320" width="240" /> </a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.publicretirementplanners.com/" target="_blank">www.PublicRetirementPlanners.com</a> </div>
<br />
After looking through the various holidays out there, I never came across a month dedicated to beneficiaries, so I'm unofficially declaring April as National Beneficiary Month. I'm doing this as a public service because early on in my career, I happened to take a call from a customer whose husband had just passed away. The widow was calling in because she thought that she was the beneficiary of her husband's 457 deferred compensation plan. Sadly, her husband forgot to update his beneficiary designation on the account, and a very large sum of money went to his ex-wife. As hard as she tried to get access to the money, the last I heard, the court could not help her. The judge simply could not make assumptions and the woman wound up with nothing.<br />
Now that your taxes are done, please take some time to make sure your beneficiary designations are up to date. Accounts such as checking, savings, retirement, life insurance, etc. should be carefully reviewed from time to time. Although some jurisdictions are forgiving when it comes to unintended beneficiaries, don't leave things to the courts. Update your beneficiaries so that we can all enjoy National Beneficiary Month.<br />
<br />
<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 8.0pt;"> Securities
and advisory services offered through Ausdal Financial Partners, Inc.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Member FINRA/SIPC 5187 Utica Ridge Road</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 8pt;"> Davenport, IA 52807 563-326-2064 </span><a href="http://www.ausdal.com/"><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 8.0pt;">www.ausdal.com</span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 8pt;">. Public Retirement Planners, LLC and Ausdal
Financial Partners, Inc. are separately owned and operated.</span></div>
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10803465646143988753noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2262365021219580170.post-53208209332445632962014-03-20T19:11:00.000-07:002014-03-21T10:51:45.048-07:00Part II of ATTACK OF THE TAX ZOMBIES!<div class="MsoNormal">
<br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: -13.5pt; text-align: center;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<h2 style="text-align: center;">
Part II: <b><span style="font-size: x-large;">Terrifying Income Tax Issues are Lurking for Public Sector Retirees </span></b></h2>
<o:p></o:p></div>
</div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.publicretirementplanners.com/" target="_blank">www.PublicRetirementPlanners.com</a></div>
<br />
<br />
Your intention during your working years was to save a lot in taxes now and pay less in retirement - not the same or more, but the path to tax zombie land is paved with good intentions. To help you avoid the tax zombies, there are a few solutions to this potential problem, one of which will be explained.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The Roth IRA is a type of retirement account that allows you to save <i>after-tax</i> contributions for future expenses, including retirement. Why is this type of account such a huge benefit for public sector employees? Because during your working years, you can use tax deductions to lower your overall tax rate, then make after-tax contributions to the Roth IRA. For example, imagine a married couple; the husband is age fifty and his wife is forty-five. The husband is a police chief and will retire at the age of sixty. His wife works in the private sector and will also retire at age sixty. Currently, the couple earns $150,000, have three dependent children, and carry a mortgage. Given these facts, it is possible for the couple to bring their effective tax rate under 10%. Now, fast forward ten years when the mortgage has been paid off, the kids are no longer dependents, and the husband is retired. With the former police chief now drawing a pension and his wife still working, it is possible that the couple has a lower income, <i>yet are paying taxes at a higher overall rate!</i> Worse yet, suppose the couple want to put a down payment on a second home or pay for their kids' weddings. The husband might withdraw money from his 457 plan, which will be taxed at their current, possibly higher income tax rate. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Our fictional couple could have avoided an attack by the tax zombies by taking the tax hit at a lower rate and funding a Roth IRA during their working years. By doing so, they would have paid only, for example, 10% of their income to the IRS. Then, when it came time to put the down payment on the second home or pay for their kids’ weddings, the distributions from the Roth IRA would have been totally tax free (assuming the couple followed the Roth IRA qualified distribution rules). An even better approach from a tax standpoint, provided the municipality allowed it, would have been for the husband to make contributions to his 457 plan with a designated Roth account (DRAC). While the Roth IRA allows $5,500 of contributions, a 457 plan with a DRAC allows contributions of $17,500 (2014 figures are are subject to change). <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Contributions to a Roth IRA or DRAC during your working years can be one of the most tax-efficient ways of saving for retirement. Of course, making pre-tax contributions to a 457 plan can also be tax-efficient; it just depends upon your personal <o:p></o:p>circumstances, so I encourage you to review your income tax situation to determine if it's better for you to make pre-tax or post-tax contributions to your retirement plans.<br />
Even though the example that I provided is fairly straightforward, in reality, there are tons of moving parts involved with tax and retirement strategies, so it would serve your best interests to seek the advice of a competent, experienced financial planner and accountant before deciding on making pre-tax or post-tax contributions to your retirement accounts.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 8pt; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.publicretirementplanners.com/" target="_blank"><br class="Apple-interchange-newline" /></a> Securities and advisory services offered through Ausdal Financial Partners, Inc. Member FINRA/SIPC </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 8pt; text-align: center;">5187 Utica Ridge Road</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 8pt; text-align: center;"> Davenport, IA 52807</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 8pt; text-align: center;"> 563-326-2064 </span><a href="http://www.ausdal.com/" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 8pt;">www.ausdal.com</span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 8pt; text-align: center;">. Public Retirement Planners, LLC and Ausdal Financial Partners, Inc . are separately owned and operated.</span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10803465646143988753noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2262365021219580170.post-91941938023598759862013-12-05T18:32:00.002-08:002014-03-21T10:50:28.597-07:00TALES FROM THE GRAVE<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>TALES FROM THE GRAVE<o:p></o:p></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
Forgetting to Update
Your Beneficiaries and Other Estate Planning Horror Stories<o:p></o:p><br />
<br />
<a href="http://publicretirementplanners.com/" target="_blank">PublicRetirementPlanners.com</a></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>For many workers and retirees in the public sector, having a serious discussion about estate
planning is almost as exciting as touring a funeral parlor.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Thinking about the impact that serious
illness or death will have on your family is something most of us would rather
not do.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Similar to how life insurance is
actually ‘death insurance,’ most of estate planning is really ‘sickness and
death planning.’<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Even though it is
uncomfortable and takes a bit of time, getting an estate plan in order is something everyone should do.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Estate
planning is not only for the wealthy because everyone benefits from planning
for the possible (serious injury or sickness) and the inevitable (death).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Taking care of a few simple things ahead of
time helps family members move on after a serious illness, injury or death
without having to deal with a lot of the problems caused by a lack of planning.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As you read on, you’ll find a handful of
ideas that can be carried out immediately to ensure that your loved ones will
not have to needlessly suffer emotionally and financially.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Although
you may not realize it, chances are that you have already done some sort of
estate planning.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If you have named a
beneficiary for your 457 plan, IRA account, or life insurance policy, then you
have already done some estate planning.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The best part is, you didn’t even have to spend any money!<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The very
first step in planning for who will receive your assets when you pass away is
to update your retirement plan beneficiaries.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Is your ex-spouse still listed as a beneficiary of your 457 plan?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If so, then it’s best to review and update
all of your plans as soon as possible.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Did you name your children as beneficiaries but eventually have a
falling out with one of them?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If you
have tried everything possible to repair your relationship, but were not able
to, then it’s time to update your beneficiaries.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Lastly, give some thought to what will happen
to your retirement plan assets in the event your main beneficiary passes away
before you or around the same time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For
example, if you and your spouse are killed in a car accident and have not
listed any secondary beneficiaries, while the kids will most likely get your
assets, if your accounts have to pass through the court system to determine who
gets what, then part of their inheritance will be chipped away by court costs
and attorney fees.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>If you plan
to or already own assets with someone, another way to take care of some estate
planning at no cost is by titling your property so that at death, your half
automatically passes to the other co-owner.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>For example, if a husband and wife want to, they can title an account as
“joint tenants with right of survivorship,” meaning they are 50/50 owners and
when one spouse dies, the other one automatically becomes the only owner. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>By titling property this way, your assets
avoid being dragged through the court system.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>So far I’ve
covered a very basic estate planning technique that anyone can do, and the good
news is you can designate your beneficiaries without spending any money.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Now, however, it’s time to cover some things that
require a bit more planning and money.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>For starters, everyone needs to have a valid will.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No exceptions! <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>By writing a will, you are letting the entire
world know whom you want your assets to pass when you die.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Remember though, accounts like your 457 plan
will automatically go to the beneficiaries listed on your account, no matter
what your will says.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One of the
drawbacks of having assets pass on to family and friends through a will is that
the local court has to oversee the distribution of your assets, which means
some of the money will go to pay attorney fees and court costs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Even though hiring an attorney to draft a will
is going to cost you some time and money, you can’t afford not to have one.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Because of
the nature of your job, the chances of suffering a serious injury is a lot
higher for you than it is for someone who doesn’t make a living dealing with
dangerous people or burning buildings.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Unfortunately,
way too many of you in public safety haven’t thought about who will make your
health care and financial decisions in the event of a serious illness or injury.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>By creating a healthcare power of attorney
(HCPOA) and a durable financial power of attorney, if you wind up not
being<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>capable of making financial and
health care decisions, somebody can step into your shoes to make those
decisions for you.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Most often, a husband
and wife will grant each other a power of attorney so that medical and
financial decisions can be taken care if you become incapacitated.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Death is an
inevitable part of life, but for police officers and firefighters, quickly coming
to terms with an early death is an unofficial requirement of the job.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Although an early death will be painful for
your family, it will be even more painful for your spouse and kids if they have
to watch as you’re kept alive by a machine with no reasonable chance of coming
out of your current state.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If only you
could speak, you would tell your doctor not to keep you living; the emotional
burden is too much for your family and unnecessary medical costs will drain
your assets.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, this dreadful
situation can be avoided.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>By creating a
living will, which is what I call a “dying document” you can let your wishes
about being pulled off of life support under certain circumstances known to
your doctors and family.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The language in
a living will may read something like this: “If at any time I suffer from an
incurable and irreversible injury that my physician thinks is terminal, then I
don’t want any medical treatment that is going to unnecessarily keep me
living.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Basically, you are telling your
doctors and family that if you are in really bad shape and there’s no chance that
things will turn around, then it’s time to check out for good without anyone interfering.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The
importance of having your estate plan in place, especially for law enforcement
officers and firefighters, cannot be stressed enough.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Even though it’s uncomfortable thinking about
serious illness, injury, and death, you still need to make sure your assets
will pass to those you care most about as easily and at the lowest cost
possible.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Like I showed you, there are a
couple of very easy and free ways to make this happen.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There is also a way to make sure that if severe
injury or illness strikes, you can have someone – usually a spouse – make your
healthcare and financial decisions for you.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>By following through on some of the ideas that I shared, you can make
things a lot less uncomfortable for your loved ones should the realities of
your job pay you an unwelcomed visit.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Of
course, it’s best to speak with a competent, experienced financial planner and
estate planning attorney to decide which estate planning techniques best fit
your individual situation. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 8.0pt;">Securities
and advisory services offered through Ausdal Financial Partners, Inc.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Member FINRA/SIPC </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 8pt; text-align: center;">5187 Utica Ridge Road</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 8pt; text-align: center;"> Davenport, IA 52807</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 8.0pt;"> Davenport, IA 52807 563-326-2064 </span><a href="http://www.ausdal.com/"><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 8.0pt;">www.ausdal.com</span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 8.0pt;">.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Public Retirement Planners, LLC and Ausdal
Financial Partners, Inc . are separately owned and operated.</span><span style="font-size: 8.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10803465646143988753noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2262365021219580170.post-36214083945763322972013-12-05T18:22:00.001-08:002014-03-21T10:52:08.882-07:00Part I of ATTACK OF THE TAX ZOMBIES!<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
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Part I: <b><span style="font-size: x-large;">Terrifying
Income Tax Issues are Lurking for Public Sector Retirees </span></b></h2>
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<a href="http://www.publicretirementplanners.com/" target="_blank">www.PublicRetirementPlanners.com</a></div>
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Many of you in the public sector wisely
make payroll contributions to a 457 deferred compensation plan to save for retirement.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Another
reason why you contribute to a 457 plan is to put off paying
federal income taxes until retirement.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>While saving away is a smart thing to
do, making pre-tax contributions to a 457 plan may give life to the most evil of all creatures - the dreaded tax zombie!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p><br />
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<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">Too busy to read the entire post? <a href="https://www.dropbox.com/s/843pxjq29m6eu9i/TaxZombies%21.mp3" target="_blank">CLICK HERE</a> to listen to me speak about this topic on a recent radio interview.</span><br />
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A lot of public sector employees think contributing to a 457 plan is a good idea because it reduces your income tax rate.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Since income might be lower during retirement years, the
idea is 457 plan withdrawals will be taxed at a lower rate.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> By </span>avoiding taxes now and paying them later, you might think that you're getting one over on the tax man.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> N</span>ot so fast! <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> D</span>uring retirement your income tax rate can stay the same or even jump higher than what it was
during your working years.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></div>
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There are <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">three key reasons</i></b> why so many
of you in the public sector are finding out the hard way about the flaw in your
deferred compensation tax strategy:<br />
1) A lot of you “retire” at a relatively young
age and begin pulling monthly pension payments, but soon after retirement, you may begin working again, start a business or consulting firm.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the case of married couples,
oftentimes the retiree’s spouse is employed or running her own business.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The combined income earned by the two, along
with pension payments, could boost the couple into a higher tax bracket.<o:p></o:p></div>
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2) A retiree might decide to start withdrawing money from his 457
plan to cover living expenses or large purchases like a child's wedding, which adds to taxable income.
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<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> 3) A lot of</span> you no longer are itemizing deductions and have fewer dependents to
claim.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If your mortgage has been paid off,
you don't have interest payment deductions, which reduces the chance for those payments to move you into a lower tax bracket. Also, if your children are no longer dependents, the
ability to benefit from the tax breaks they produced is eliminated.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The combination
of 457 plan withdrawals, pension payments, income from a second career or
business, and a spouse’s income can lead to an all-out attack of the tax zombies.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is because the money
from all of these sources may result in your post-retirement income
being the same or more than your pre-retirement income.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Now, couple this with fewer
tax deductions, and the end result is having a tax rate that is the same or
higher than your pre-retirement rate. The tax zombies will be taking a bigger bite of your hard earned savings!<o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 8.0pt;"> Securities
and advisory services offered through Ausdal Financial Partners, Inc.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Member FINRA/SIPC 5187 Utica Ridge Road</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 8pt;"> Davenport, IA 52807 563-326-2064 </span><a href="http://www.ausdal.com/"><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 8.0pt;">www.ausdal.com</span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 8pt;">. Public Retirement Planners, LLC and Ausdal
Financial Partners, Inc. are separately owned and operated.</span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10803465646143988753noreply@blogger.com0