Tucker Advisors, one of the nation’s largest insurance field marketing organizations, recently held a national training conference for top insurance producers in Littleton, Colorado.
The keynote speakers included Karlan Tucker, CEO, Tucker Financial Solutions and Tom Hegna, PBS TV host and best-selling author of “Don’t Worry, Retire Happy.”
Tucker and Hegna reviewed retirement topics including income planning, annuities, and happiness in retirement.
According to Tucker, most retirees are concerned with “outliving their life savings, because they [retirees] don’t know how long they’re going to live.” Hegna agreed, “The long-term care threat…can wipe out your life savings.”
To lower longevity risks, Tucker recommends that an individual self-fund a pension with their 401K accounts. An individual can create a pension by converting a 401K with a fixed index annuity into “a safe opportunity to grow for the purpose of generating income.”
Hegna recommends that individuals work with a financial advisor to assist in developing a retirement income plan. In his book, “Don’t Worry, Retire Happy” he provides seven simple steps:
Hegna noted that individuals should use life insurance as the most efficient way to transfer wealth.
Tucker recommends fixed index annuities to many of his clients as a way to produce income in retirement. Tucker said, “If you’re going to quit your job, you need income.”
Hegna noted, “Today’s media is all about investing in the market.” Hegna reminds Baby Boomers, “once you hit retirement, you’re in the distribution phase and it’s all about guaranteed income while taking key risks off the table.”
A key to a happy retirement is eliminating or lower the longevity risks. Tucker noted, “An individual doesn’t know how long they are going to live. That’s a longevity risk and most retirees never get the income right. They have a pile of assets. They either take too much and run out of money, or take too little, and then they sacrifice the quality of their retirement.” Tucker said, “Every day I help individuals with retirement income plans. This is the first step in having a happy and quality retirement.”
Karlan Tucker Reviews
Tucker Financial Solutions CEO Karlan Tucker reviews topics on retirement planning, personal finances, fixed index annuities, life insurance, and asset management. Karlan Tucker is a financial fiduciary, radio talk show host, and author.
About Tucker Financial Solutions:
Tucker Financial Solutions, a retirement planning, financial advisory, and investment firm, specializing in fixed index annuities, life insurance, asset management, and college funding. Tucker Financial Solutions, founded in 1991, is located in Littleton, Colorado. Tucker Financial Solutions is part of the Tucker companies, which include Tucker Advisors, Tucker Asset Management, and Tucker College Solutions.
Karlan Tucker reviews 7 retirement income planning tips for 2017. Tucker Financial Solutions is a full service retirement planning, financial advisory and investment firm.
1. Hold a year-end review
If you plan to retire in the next five years, or currently retired, December and January is a great time to conduct a review of your retirement income plan. Are you on track? Is your principal protected from market downside? Are you on track to meet your goals? “Every day we meet individuals, who plan to retire within the next 10 years, concerned they will run out of money during retirement. Your income plan must include a plan of reliable and increasing income that will outlast you. How could upcoming life events or employment impact your current plan? Year end is a great time to schedule a second opinion to review your plan,” noted Tucker.
2. Reduce Fees
Research and analyze the fees that are currently embedded in your portfolio. FINRA offers an excellent tool to analyze mutual funds, EFTs and ETNs. Enter the mutual funds, EFTs and ETNs in your portfolio and analyze the net fees for a specific holding period. Typically 10 years holding period provides a good benchmark to costs. “Many times after we provide a portfolio review for a prospective client, they are shocked at the amount of fees and other costs we uncover. Taxes and fees are corrosive to a retirement plan principal and earnings. Minimizing both taxes and fees can provide a more secure retirement,” added Tucker
3. Lower Your Tolerance for Risk
As the Dow attempts to crack the 20K milestone, don’t get complacent and keep a majority of your assets exposed to the market. The stock market appears to have cyclical patterns; its highs and its lows can bring a sense of achievement or despair. Avoid the emotions of the market.
“In 2017, consider taking some risk off the table. Ask yourself: if the market drops substantially over the next several months, how will that impact my retirement income plan? In many cases, a market drop of 10% or greater, can substantially impact the plan. You might consider fixed index annuities as a way to lower the risk and yet provide a retirement income vehicle,” said Tucker. Karlan Tucker reviews portfolios regularly and has found that many retirees are 100% exposed to the market downside – this is a potential retirement income catastrophe should the market drop.
4. Enjoy the Upside, Minimize the Downside
If you want to participate on the potential upside in the market; consider this, fixed index annuities as a way to participate in the market upside yet protect your principal from the market downside. The Financial Research Corporation of Boston noted “no other investment vehicle can rival the income annuity for retirement security.”
“The annualized Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) has average just 3.4% in the last 16 years. You invest your hard earn capital into stock market. You take the risk; but, there isn’t much reward,” added Tucker.
5. Start Preparing for Health Care Expenses and Long-Term Care
Health care and long-term care continue to rise year over year. Start planning now on how to pay for these expenses during your retirement years. Health care and long term care costs are fast ways to exhaust retirement savings, home equity, and other assets. “The odds are high that many retirees will need some form of long-term care. It can financially wipe out a couple’s savings in a matter of months. You don’t have a retirement plan if health care and long-term care is not planned for,” said Tucker.
6. Cut Costs, Save More
Saving when employed is easier than going back to work at age 70 because you didn’t save enough while working in younger years. Retirees who enter back into the work force after retirement are often working for minimum wage because of a lapse in skill set and experience. Find ways now to lower spending: housing, cell phone, cable, college expenses, insurance, automobiles, and etc. Take a lesson from the younger millennials. Millennials are creatively cutting housing, transportation, and entertainment costs to maintain their lifestyles.
“Review all of your household operating costs. What can you lower or cut to help achieve your retirement income goals? Lowering a cable, skipping going out to a restaurant or eliminate a cell phone bill can make a substantial difference. Calculating a 5% annual compound rate while saving $200 per month over 15 years, an individual could have $52,000 in savings,” added Tucker.
7. Avoid Taxes in Retirement
Income taxes and real estate taxes in retirement are difficult to predict. Many economists believe that the Federal government will need to increase taxes to offset the multi-trillion dollars deficit. If you plan now, there are several ways to get tax free income in retirement. “If taxes rise in retirement, you need a plan to receive tax free income from your Roth IRAs and the cash values of a life insurance policy,” said Tucker.
About Karlan Tucker
Karlan Tucker, CEO, Tucker Financial Solutions
Karlan Tucker is the CEO and Founder of Tucker Financial Solutions located in Littleton, Colorado. He is also a radio talk host and author. He’s been interviewed nationwide on television and radio stations. Since 1991, he and his advisory team have helped Coloradans successfully retire. Regularly he reviews topics on investing, retirement, college planning and taxes.
About Tucker Financial Solutions
Tucker Financial Solutions, a retirement and investment advisory firm, specializes in fixed index annuities, life insurance, asset management, and college funding. Tucker Financial Solutions, founded in 1991, is located in Littleton, Colorado. Tucker Financial Solutions is part of the Tucker companies, which include Tucker Advisors, Tucker Asset Management, and Tucker College Solutions.
Investment advisory services provided through Tucker Asset Management LLC, a register investment adviser. Guarantees are based on the claims-paying ability of the insurance company.
About Karlan Tucker Reviews
Karlan Tucker reviews regularly financial planning, investing, taxes, college planning, wealth management, annuities and asset allocation.
As Karlan Tucker reviews tax strategies he keeps in mind that taxes are our greatest lifetime expense. This means we should do all we can every year to reduce what we owe Uncle Sam so we get to keep more of our hard earned money.
Almost daily Karlan Tucker reviews prospective client’s portfolios to assist them in developing retirement income plans. Taxes are corrosive to both earnings and principal.
Here are ten strategies that will save you tens of thousands to millions in taxes over your life depending on your annual income.
Fund Roth IRA’s – Tax free income
Fund Life insurance then borrow the cash value tax-free. The death benefit will pay of the loan resulting in tax-free income.
Fully vested Bonus Annuities will pay up to 50% of the taxes in your traditional IRA’s using the bonus the Insurance Company gave you in exchange for managing your money. This also stops up to 50% of your RMD’s at age 70.5 and beyond.
Move to a state with no state income tax
Invest in rental properties to take advantage of the tax deductions
Purchase tax free municipal bonds
Purchase a QLAC annuity – They don’t have RMD’s reducing your taxes
Own life insurance – The death benefit is tax free – your heirs then can use it to pay the taxes in your tax infested IRA’s they just inherited.
Keep all your tax deductible expense receipts then deduct them from your income. Every year people pay taxes on income they didn’t get to keep as a result of poor record keeping
If you collect Social Security prior to your full retirement age, which for many is age 66, and continue to work, your wages will cause your Social Security income to get taxed. Be careful to coordinate when you take SS with when you actually quit working.
For the full details of every strategy above please call us to schedule a complimentary visit.
Tucker Financial Solutions 303-734-1234
Karlan Tucker has been helping his clients save taxes and be prepared for retirement for the past 35 years.
If something you thought to be true turned out to be exactly the opposite, how soon would you want to know about the actual truth? It was once believed that the world was flat, and that the earth was the center of our solar system. It was also believed that atoms were the smallest particles in existence. These once-held truths are hardly given a second thought today. Our “new” way of thinking is the result of many years of advanced discoveries and facts being passed from generation to generation. But imagine how hard it must have been to grapple with the idea that one could actually sail around the earth rather than falling off the edge of it. People were mocked, ridiculed, and even persecuted for an idea so preposterous as the sun being the center of the solar system instead of the earth.
Fast-forward several hundred years. Although it now seems almost laughable to reflect on this way of thinking, we must not forget the human process of wrestling with truth, particularly when it goes against what we have been taught for much of our lives. Decisions become exponentially harder to make when they go against ingrained thought patterns.
Investing is no exception to this rule. When it comes to choosing our investments, the same mental challenges are present that were there hundreds of years ago. When choosing the best vehicles to invest our retirement funds, what we have been taught may or may not be true. We owe it to ourselves to perform the proper due diligence and consider the best place to invest our money in this ever-changing economic environment. Below are three suggestions that will help serve as catalysts to begin this process:
Do not let your emotions get in the way of your investing. While this may be easier said than done, it is vital to making the best financial decisions. You need to base your financial choices on factual, sound evidence and not conventional wisdom. When you notice your emotions beginning to dictate your decisions, take a step back for as long as you need to gain composure. Remember, it was conventional wisdom that sent stocks down almost 50% during the great recession.
When doing research, avoid publications that are clearly biased. When a magazine is littered with advertisements from mutual fund companies, it is probably going to be a pro-mutual funds publication. Not everyone is a financial expert – just because someone has a slew of letters behind their name doesn’t mean they know everything. Be aware of extreme language. When people start describing investments as a sure thing, bullet-proof or the worst idea ever, it could be a sign of a biased point of view.
Perfection does not exist. If an investment existed that was entirely safe, 100% liquid and could outperform the market all the time, there would be no need for diversification. Everyone would simply place all of their money in this type of investment. This perfect investment vehicle simply does not exist. So remember: If something appears too good to be true, it probably is.
As Karlan Tucker reviews tax strategies he keeps in mind that taxes are our greatest lifetime expense. This means we should do all we can every year to reduce what we owe Uncle Sam so we get to keep more of our hard earned money.
