You’re Unique,
So Are Your Financial Needs

Retirement brings a whole new set of challenges to your financial situation, one of the biggest being the loss of employment income. Transitioning from the accumulation phase of your life into a spending and distribution phase brings on unique challenges that can threaten your nest egg. To us, income planning is the foundation for a strong retirement plan.

Our discussions when planning for income involve a few important questions:

• How much can you withdrawal each year without the risk of running out of money?
• How can you position your investments with both market risk and income needs in mind?
• In which ways can you protect your income from market downturns.
• Can we protect your assets against the rising cost of inflation?
• When and how should you collect your Social Security benefits?

Most retirees will need to draw income from their investments at some point down the road. Having a strategy for when that time comes ensures as successful retirement.

Taxes is often the greatest expense one will incur over a lifetime. Tax planning is often overlooked but can be a key ingredient when creating a financial plan.

When people here tax planning, they typically think about the W2s, credits, exemptions,and 1099s for the previous year. These however are used for tax preparation purposes, and are backward looking. Tax planning, by contrast, is looking forward into the future and can have much more powerful effects on your retirement.

Unfortunately, with the U.S. deficit rising more year over year, the future of our tax system is a big uncertainty. With this in mind, tax planning addresses the following:

• How to utilize a Roth IRA
• Ways to minimize taxes on investments
• Understanding Required Minimum Distributions (RMDs) for your retirement accounts
• How to evaluate the potential benefits of converting IRA dollars into Roth IRA dollars
• The effects of timing your distributions from retirement accounts

At True Financial Partners, we work closely with you and your tax professional to evaluate the short term and long term effects of taxes on your retirement plan.

The first step when developing an investment strategy is to evaluate your goals and objectives. Whether you’re looking to retire comfortably, achieve financial independence, leave a legacy for your loved ones, or whatever outcome you wish to achieve, a properly formulated investment plan should be centered around your needs.

Investing always comes with risk. When it comes to the market, the only thing that is certain is there will be uncertainty. Risk comes in many different shapes and sizes. For most, it’s not understanding their portfolios exposure to market downturns. For others, it can be inflationary risk that erodes the value of money over time if it’s not earning enough interest.

At True Financial Partners, we work with clients to build a sound investment plan with objectives and risk in mind. A few important ingredients for this plan include:

• Understanding time horizons to achieve long term success
• Managing risk while achieving growth in investments
• Understanding how market downturns affect your ability to recover losses
• How to measure risk and reward

Educating you on the risk-reward relationship of investments allows to create a sound plan, with your goals and objectives in mind.

When and how you collect your Social Security benefits will have lasting impacts on your retirement. Most are unaware there over 100 different ways in which spouses can collect their benefits. There’s a good chance that worked for your neighbor, probably isn’t the best solution for you.

The goal when analyzing different strategies is to provide you with the highest cumulative benefits over your lifetime. We don’t know how long you will live but we can make assumptions regarding your life expectancy. After which, you’ll want to consider a few questions:

• Can you afford to delay your benefits past your full retirement age?
• If married, how might spousal benefit strategies affect your own election?
• How will your election strategy affect your tax situation?
• Will delaying benefits cause too much stress on your current income needs?

At True Financial Partners, we’ll ask questions that will reveal your current and future needs. After which, we will educate you on the different Social Security strategies that may suit your situation.

Becoming Medicare eligible can bring on many intimidating questions:

• What does Medicare cover?
• What does it not cover?
• When can I enroll?
• Should I choose a Medicare Supplement or Medicare Advantage Plan?

At True Financial Partners, we utilize a process that leaves you prepared for these important, time-sensitive decisions:

EDUCATE: Medicare can be extremely complex. We’ll break down each area until you have a clear understanding of what Medicare covers, and how much it will cost you.

COMPARE OPTIONS: Turning 65 brings on important decisions. Do I add a Medicare Supplement or Medicare Advantage? What about prescriptions? As independent insurance agents, we’ll show you options from the best companies available.

PLAN: Medicare is time sensitive, meaning we’ll need to accomplish a few things during the specific windows. By planning out the process, you’ll know exactly what to do by when.

ENROLL & MONITOR: Come your 65th birthday, we’ll have everything in place. Medicare is not an event, it is ongoing. This means we will continuously monitor your situation, and make changes when necessary.

At True Financial Partners, we believe that estate and legacy planning is an integral part of a sound financial plan. A well-constructed estate plan will ensure you are protected while you are living and after you pass on.

While living, an estate plan can establish who will pay your bills and oversee your affairs if you are not physically or mentally capable. This is crucial, especially when considering major medical decisions that may need to be made.

The second part of your estate plan will address what happens to your assets after you are gone. We’ll pose important questions such as who gets what, how, and when. All while considering tax repercussions for your loved ones.

At True Financial Partners, we work closely with clients and their legal professionals to address common estate planning needs:

• What is the difference between a will and trust?
• Common mistakes made when estate planning
• Do you need a trust, or is a will sufficient?
• Understanding the IRA tax time bomb and how it relates to your estate

Whether you already have an estate plan or aren’t sure where to start, we work you and a legal professional to create a legacy plan that has your goals in mind.