Mark Fricks - The Road Less Traveled Mark Fricks

Join Mark Fricks and Jeff Roediger as we continue on this financial journey.  In this session we address these important issues

    • Planning right means taking into consideration all the risk factors that affect your retirement savings including longevity, inflation, taxes, health care, personal events and spousal  continuation.

    • The three aspects of any investment include liquidity, safety,  and return. You can choose to maximize any two against  the third. Or you can use strategies that combine Yellow,  Green and Red Money investment tools designed for today’s  retirees and work with a financial professional. With the  right tools and strategies, it is possible to achieve aspects of  all three, Liquidity, Safety and Return.

    • Choosing to maximize liquidity alone can be an expensive  option because the sooner you need your money back, the  less you can leverage it for safety and return.  • To plan for a successful retirement in today’s economy requires a creative use of strategies and today’s financial tools.

Here is what Mark and Jeff Discuss in this session:

 • You cannot get advice about how to maximize your lifetime benefit from a Social Security representative. They are prohibited from giving advice about when to elect your benefit options.
 • To get the most out of your Social Security benefit, you need to file at the right time. Every dollar your Social Security income increases is less money you’ll have to spend from your retirement savings to supplement your income.
 • An Investment Advisor can help you determine when you should file for Social Security to get your Maximum Lifetime Benefit. 
• Deciding when to take your Social Security benefit is one of the most important decisions you make as a retiree. After the first year of taking the benefit, that amount is locked in for the duration of your lifetime. 
• Social Security is a massive, government-funded program and there are many things about this program that you cannot control. You can, however, control when and how you file for benefits

Outliving their money is what retirees fear the most. Build your retirement income from the sound foundation of Green Money, or Know So Money. The foundation of a retirement strategy depends on knowing how much money you need and when you need it.

• Identify how much of your income you need now, and how much you need later. Once you have your current Need Now income needs supplied, it’s crucial to the longevity of your income to plan for Need Later Money. This offers another opportunity to look at Red Money investments for growth.

• Working with a Registered Investment Advisor will help you compose a clear and concise inventory of your assets, and learn how much they are worth, what rules apply to them, and how they are structured for risk.

Over the course of your lifetime, it is likely that you have acquired a variety of assets. Assets can range from money that you have in a savings account or a 401(k), to a pension or an IRA. You have earned money and have made financial decisions based on the best information you had at the time. When viewed as a whole, however, you might not have an overall strategy for the management of your assets. As we have seen, it’s more important than ever to know which of your assets are at risk. High market volatility and low treasury rates make for challenging financial topography. Navigating this financial landscape starts with planful asset management that takes into account your specific needs and options.
Even if you feel that you have plenty of money in your 401(k) or IRA, not knowing how much risk those investments are exposed to can cause you major financial suffering.

"The U.S. has developed a new weapon that destroys people but leaves buildings standing. It’s called the stock market.”
~ Jay Leno
The stock market has long been relied upon to grow money. During retirement, growth is an important part of asset management
and one solution to the dilemma of running out of money. But with growth comes risk. How much risk depends on the percentage of your investments connected to stock market volatility.

Just like planning for a vacation or a trip, your retirement
plan needs to consider your goals and objectives, or it won’t
be a good plan for you. The answers to the question, when
should I retire, will be different for everyone, based on your
lifestyle and the people in it who are important to you.

• There is a difference between a retirement product such as a
mutual fund or annuity and a retirement plan. As you move
out of the working stage of your life, you are no longer earning income.

A shift must be made from the accumulation of
your money to the management of your money. Before you
take off on your retirement trip, identify where you are now
by taking the time to understand what you are invested in
and what those investments are doing for you.

• The rules for retirement planning have changed. Investing
the way your parents did will not pay off and the majority of
investment ideas used by financial professionals in the 1990s
aren’t applicable to today’s markets. That kind of investing
will likely get you in trouble and compromise your retirement.

Today, you need a better PLAN. Having a planful
approach to retirement gives consideration to today’s stock
market and economy, and the individual concerns of you,
the investor.