Your 6-Step Retirement Check-up!

Join Miguel Gonzalez, CRC, this week as he guides you through an easy annual checkup for your retirement plan. From optimizing contributions to reviewing investments, learn practical steps to keep your retirement strategy on track.

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.

About Miguel Gonzalez, MBA, AIF®, CPFA®, PPC®, CRC®
Miguel Gonzalez is a Retirement Specialist with over 20 years of experience in retirement income planning, investment management, and retirement plan design.

Former Financial Advisor at JP Morgan Chase Bank, Merrill Lynch, and ING Financial Advisors.
Consultant for Barbara Corcoran Inc. and the World Bank.
MBA from Columbia Business School.
Life and Health insurance licenses, Series 7 and 66 registrations held through LPL Financial.
Fluent in English, Spanish, and Russian.
Certifications: Certified Retirement Counselor®, Certified Plan Fiduciary Advisor®, Accredited Investment Fiduciary®, Professional Plan Consultant®.

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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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Transcript

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.   

Does your retirement plan make curious noises when it travels over a few market bumps? Are you getting enough mileage out of your savings rate? Is your diversification strategy as energy efficient as it should be? Performing annual maintenance on your 401(k) can help make the road to retirement as smooth as possible. Here’s a six-step checkup that can be performed in just a couple hours over a weekend.

STEP 1: Review Your Goals and Plans. Each year you should ask yourself if you’re on track to reach your retirement goals. Part of that process is imagining (in detail) what you would like to be doing during that stage of your life. Are your goals and plans realistic? Has your thinking changed at all — and why? The American Savings Education Council (www.asec.org) has a wealth of resources to help you review and adjust your goals and plans as needed, including their "Savings Goal Calculator" and other tools that can help you determine how much money you need to save for retirement.

STEP 2: Maximize Your Contributions. If you're not contributing the maximum possible to your plan, increase your contributions by at least 1% each year, with a general goal of eventually reaching around 15% of your salary. Try to contribute at least enough right now to get the full employer match (if offered). It’s one thing to read this and say to yourself “yes, I can definitely increase by 1%.” But it’s only going to happen if you stop everything you’re doing right now, log into your account on your recordkeeper’s website and make the change!

STEP 3: Review Your Investment Strategy. Given all the market turmoil over the past few years, including inflation and economic events beyond our control, it’s smart to ask yourself each year if your asset allocation is still appropriate. Or, if your tolerance for risk has fundamentally changed. Your plan recordkeeper likely has a risk tolerance assessment exercise you can access on their website. In addition, consider working with a financial advisor to help you determine if your investment strategy is in sync with your current personal situation.

STEP 4. Rebalance. Rebalancing is the process of adjusting your portfolio's investments so they match your original allocation. When your portfolio gets out of balance, you may stray from your original risk comfort zone. For example, due to ongoing market volatility, your portfolio may have drifted toward either a more aggressive or conservative allocation than you are comfortable with. Rebalancing keeps your portfolio risk within your tolerance limits.

STEP 5: Check Beneficiaries. Your spouse is automatically the primary beneficiary of your 401k plan. But, if you are divorced, widowed or remarried, you should review your beneficiary designations to make sure the correct person is named. Also, if you want to name someone else (such as a child) as your primary beneficiary, and you are married, your spouse needs to sign a waiver of rights to your 401(k) benefits.

STEP 6. Check on Retirement Plan Changes. Does your retirement plan offer any new plan features, tools or resources? What can you do to take advantage of these opportunities? Also, be sure you have a copy of the Summary Plan Description for your plan (available for free from Human Resources). The Summary Plan Description defines, in plain language, how your plan works and what its features are.

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.