2: Retirement Planning

THE CHALLENGE
Mark and Laura are 6 years away from retirement and have lots of plans for the future.

Mark is an attorney with the Department of Justice, and Laura is a nurse. Both have had long, successful careers and are now ready to plan for the next phase of their life.

They want to ensure that their retirement plan not only enables the lifestyle they have envisioned in retirement but that they have a plan to make sure they never run out of money.

Reducing taxes, improving investments, and creating a reliable income stream in retirement was their priority.

Their retirement assets included Mark’s FERS pension, TSP, Social Security benefits, and Laura’s 403(b) and Social Security benefits.

They weren’t quite sure how they could turn their assets into a reliable income stream that would outlive them while facilitating the comfortable lifestyle they envisioned.

THE APPROACH

It was important to help make Mark and Laura’s retirement planning process easy, enjoyable, and stress-free.

To avoid any major surprises, the first step was to identify any potential tax challenges they may soon face.

The retirement planning process involved:

• Collecting all of their financial data
• Establishing new investment/retirement accounts
• Strategizing a withdrawal plan to provide them with a reliable income stream

Being able to see and understand all of their options removed a lot of worries. They were able to move forward with their plans in confidence.

THE RESULTS

The solutions adopted by Mark and Laura helped them in many ways:

• They were able to reduce taxes now and in the future
• Their retirement savings were better protected
• They had the advantage of a predictable stream of income that they would not outlive
  

Today, Mark and Laura are having the time of their lives traveling and spending time with their grandchildren every chance they get.

They have the confidence of knowing that their financial plan is sustainable, allowing them to relax and enjoy life on their terms.

Mark and Laura’s retirement plan is reviewed regularly. Most importantly, new tax laws are being monitored each year to ensure they are taking advantage of any opportunities available to them.

Note: The above case study is hypothetical and does not involve an actual Create Your Path client. No portion of the content should be construed by a client or prospective client as a guarantee that he/she will experience the same or a certain level of results or satisfaction if Create Your Path is engaged to provide investment advisory services.