Retirement & Long-Term CareCan’t predict the future? Plan for it instead. |
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What Is It?
When most people think of retirement planning, they think of financial planning—401(k) plans, IRAs, and the like. While it’s important to be financially secure in your later years, it’s just as important to ensure that you have a legal strategy in place to protect those assets from unexpected illness or injury, which can significantly strain or liquidate the wealth you’ve worked so hard to build. To do this, we use trusts and other legal documents to design a strategy which meets your individual needs. Also, we may suggest services from third parties, such as insurance providers and tax specialists.
Is It for Me?
If you are retired or are considering retirement in the next 5-10 years, retirement and long-term care strategy is absolutely for you. Though most see retirement as a time of peace and relaxation; accidents, illness, and economic downturns can pose threats to your financial security at a time when it is difficult for you to earn additional income. You owe it to yourself to have a legal strategy in place which gives you peace of mind, knowing that you are ready for anything which comes your way during retirement.
What Is Involved?
To start, we sit down and make an overall assessment of your goals, resources, and current situation. Then, we look for any contingencies that may arise in the future, and design a plan to minimize their risk and negative impact and maximize your ability to overcome them. Additionally, we may work with your accountant, financial planner, or other advisors to ensure that each component of your retirement strategy harmonizes with the others. Most importantly, we explain the strategy to you in plain English, so you feel confident in the strategy and understand how it works to protect you and your assets.
What if I Do Nothing?
Many people don’t have a legal strategy in place for their retirement, and so long as things are going well, they are fine. However, as soon as something unexpected arises, they can find themselves needing the help of family members or government programs just to get by. Retirement isn’t a time to hope for the best; it’s a time to enjoy the fruits of your hard work, and you need a strategy in place to ensure that you can enjoy retirement, no matter what the future brings.
Can I Do It Myself?
It’s much more difficult to create a legal strategy for retirement than to put together a basic estate plan. While the law governing estates is somewhat established, things such as tax regulations, financial regulations, and government program eligibility change on an annual basis. As a result, there is a lot of outdated information on the internet which can mislead a do-it-yourself retiree. While we encourage clients to get involved as much as possible, due to the high risk associated with having a bad strategy in place, it’s best to leave retirement and long-term care strategy to professionals.
How Much Will It Cost?
Like estate planning, the cost of retirement and long-term care strategy varies based on the complexity of the estate, the overall value of the estate, and the risks associated with future contingencies which may arise. However, the cost is a fraction of the amount you could lose by not having an effective strategy in place when an unexpected or catastrophic event occurs. For most clients, they should expect to invest $3,500-5,000 on an initial retirement and long-term care strategy, and roughly $500 annually to update the strategy as laws and circumstances change.
Where Do I Start?
Spend an evening dedicated to your retirement, thinking about your goals, potential risks, and how you would want to be prepared to handle them. Then, gather up any documents which relate to your insurance, finances, and investments, and give us a call at 704-325-9325 to schedule a consultation. We’ll listen to your goals and concerns and implement a strategy to protect you and your assets throughout retirement.
Author: Nathan Workman
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