Cortburg Speaks Retirement

Planning Your Retirement Flight Plan

• Miguel Gonzalez, MBA, AIF®, CPFA®, CRC® • Season 2024 • Episode 199

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 In this week's podcast, Miguel Gonzalez, a Certified Retirement Counselor with over 20 years of experience, discusses three essential steps to prepare for retirement, including understanding annual expenses, inspecting income sources, and planning for healthcare costs. 

About Cortburg Retirement Advisors, Inc.
Cortburg Retirement Advisors is a full-service, boutique financial planning firm dedicated to guiding clients through both turbulent and calm economies. Our mission is to help you grow, protect, and preserve your assets from your first job through retirement. With comprehensive in-house capabilities, our experienced team assists with all financial needs, including wealth management, estate and tax planning, group retirement, employee benefits, insurance, and retirement planning.

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Welcome to Cortburg Speaks Retirement Podcast
with Miguel Gonzalez, MBA, AIF®, CPFA®, CRC®

CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO MIGUEL'S LATEST PODCAST

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Welcome to Cortburg Speaks Retirement Podcast
with Miguel Gonzalez, MBA, AIF®, CPFA®, CRC®

 CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO MIGUEL'S LATEST PODCAST

FOLLOW US ON:


Welcome to Cortburg Speaks Retirement

An audio podcast about investing in the stock market, financial planning, money management and retirement planning.  Each Wednesday, we help investors at all stages of life learn how to potentially grow and preserve their money from first job through retirement.

Now here is your host, Miguel Gonzalez.

 HOST

Good morning and welcome to the CORTBURG SPEAKS RETIREMENT audio podcast.   

This week, as you plan summer travel, let’s talk about 3 exercises you should have in your retirement flight plan.

 

Your first step is to get the most comprehensive, clear and accurate picture of your annual expenses that you can. For reference, collect your credit card statements and checking/savings account statements from the past 12 months (most banks and credit card companies let you download a yearly review of all your transactions organized into charts and graphs so you can get a clear look at your total annual spending). You may already have a good handle on your biggest expenses each month, like housing, transportation, food, cable and cell phone. You’ll want to make sure to include other fixed costs, such as insurance (all coverages), haircuts or salon visits, gym memberships, streaming services, wellness exams and dental cleanings.

Perhaps the most important part of this step is to review all of your one-off and variable purchases to better understand how they can impact your overall yearly spend. Reviewing these transactions can show you how much you really spent on coffee, home improvement projects, online purchases, manicures and pedicures, dining out, spur-of-the-moment weekend getaways and other items. Really digging into your entire year-in-review can also help you notice patterns in your spending, like when there are increases around vacations, holidays, birthdays and other annual events.

Inspect Your Retirement Income Sources

Now that you know what you’ll need, it’s time to inspect any sources of income you can count on each month in retirement. Some examples include:

·         Social Security. The Social Security Government Website has a calculator that lets you estimate your monthly benefit checks. Try entering various retirement dates to see how waiting or claiming earlier will affect your checks.

·         Income from rental properties

·         An annuity

·         A work pension

·         Withdrawals from retirement savings (a very general rule of thumb is to budget a 4% annual withdrawal rate from retirement accounts)

Avoid Turbulence With Healthcare Costs

While Medicare is a valuable benefit for those age 65 and older, it isn’t free and it doesn’t cover everything.

Health-care costs include deductibles, premiums and things Medicare doesn’t cover, such as prescription drugs, vision and dental care, hearing aids, home care and nursing homes. Therefore, before you retire:

·         Start saving money toward covering these potential costs

·         Enroll in a health savings account to help reduce taxes (if available)

·         Look into long-term-care insurance; it may be worthwhile if you are eligible and young enough to qualify for a reasonable rate

Do your research before signing up for Medicare. Will you choose Original Medicare and supplemental (“Medigap”) insurance? Or will you choose Medicare Advantage, a popular type of private insurance coverage? Sign up now for Medicare’s newsletter on the Medicare Government Website to get updates and stay informed regarding all your options

 

Make sure to visit our website, www.CortburgRetirement.com. Our site is filled with educational videos, eBooks, publications, and financial calculators designed to help you learn more about your finances.  As you search our site, send us a note regarding any questions you may have about any particular investment concepts or products. We will get back to you quickly with a thoughtful answer.

This is Miguel Gonzalez, Certified Retirement Counselor (CRC) and Managing Partner, with Cortburg Retirement Advisors signing off for this week’s educational podcast.  

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Miguel Gonzalez, MBA, AIF®, CPFA®, PPC®, CRC®

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