Retirement

What About … Reaching My Retirement Goals?

A comfortable retirement comes from what we like to call FINANCIAL INDEPENDENCE. Essentially, this means reaching the point in which your assets and income sources are sufficient to meet your and your family’s needs with a high degree of certainty. So how do you get from here to there?

Though clever advertising campaigns try to reduce the issue to A NUMBER, financial independence is so much more than that.

Start by considering these questions:

  • When should I begin taking social security?
  • What rate of return is reasonable for me?
  • How much do I need to save?
  • What is the best retirement vehicle for me?
  • What will my health care costs be?

The answers to these common questions are different for everyone. Your situation is unique.

How Can Social Security and Retirement Planning Work Together for Your Benefit?

In addition, you’ll need to address these three key areas:

  • Longevity – Because our life expectancy is increasing, we need to plan for a longer retirement. For many of us, retirement can last 30 years or more.
  • Rising Health Care Costs – Regardless of what happens with the ongoing national debate about health care, we know the costs will continue to rise, especially later in life. Many of us will also need assistance with the daily activities that we now take for granted. Though we’d like to believe that Medicare will take care of all our health care needs later in life, that’s just not the case.
  • Sequence of Returns – That nest egg so many of us count on to sustain us in our golden years will have to provide in both good markets and bad. The timing of our retirement can have a big impact on how long those funds last. Being aware of the larger picture can help you make informed decisions. If you retire at the beginning of a BULL MARKET , your assets may carry you all the way through your golden years with some money left over to give to future generations. But if you retire at the beginning of a BEAR MARKET , your investments may not last as long as you planned.

What about Stock Options?

You are fortunate. Your employer provided you with a unique and potential profitable form of compensations.  Unfortunately, the strategies required to optimize those benefits can be overwhelming.  We are here for you and our focus is on getting the best possible outcomes from your stock options.  We have tools for analyzing and modeling your options and we and always ready and willing to discuss the tax impacts with your tax professional. Start a conversation with us today about your stock options.

What You Should Know About Your Employer Stock and Options?

We can help you address your retirement concerns and help you find the right answers to prepare for your retirement. Here are a few tips to get you started:

DO

  • Have a well thought out plan and stick to it
  • Be realistic about what rate of return you can expect
  • Use simple, low-cost solutions to help you grow your nest egg

DON’T

  • Buy complicated products that you can’t understand
  • Try to make up for lost time by investing in things that are more risky than you are comfortable with
  • Do nothing because you believe it is too late to start

We’d like to partner with you to help you reach your financial independence goals. We believe in simple, low-cost savings and investment solutions that have your best interest in mind. Hicok Financial Solutions is a FIDUCIARY which we means we put your interest ahead of our own. We think that is the way it should always be, but unfortunately it is not.
Join our email list here. Or give us a call at 626-657-0260. We look forward to working with you and helping you reach financial freedom and success beyond your wildest dreams.

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1 Bull market
A bull market is a period of generally rising prices. The start of a bull market is marked by widespread pessimism. This point is when the “crowd” is the most “bearish”.[6] The feeling of despondency changes to hope, “optimism,” and eventually euphoria, as the bull runs its course.[7] This often leads the economic cycle, for example in a full recession, or earlier.

An analysis of Morningstar, Inc. stock market data from 1926 to 2014 found that a typical bull market “lasted 8.5 years with an average cumulative total return of 458%,” while annualized gains for bull markets range from 14.9% to 34.1%.[8]
Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Market_trend

2 Bear market
A bear market is a general decline in the stock market over a period of time.[9] It is a transition from high investor optimism to widespread investor fear and pessimism. According to The Vanguard Group, “While there’s no agreed-upon definition of a bear market, one generally accepted measure is a price decline of 20% or more over at least a two-month period.”[10]

An analysis of Morningstar, Inc. stock market data from 1926 to 2014 found that a typical bear market “lasted 1.3 years with an average cumulative loss of −41%”, while annualized declines for bear markets range from −19.7% to −47%.[11]
Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Market_trend