Changing Jobs? Take Your 401(k) and Roll It

Jun23

If you’ve lost your job, or are changing jobs, you may be wondering what to do with your 401(k) plan account. It’s important to understand your options.

What will I be entitled to?

If you leave your job (voluntarily or involuntarily), you’ll be entitled to a distribution of your vested balance. Your vested balance always includes your own contributions (pretax, after-tax, and Roth) and typically any investment earnings on those amounts. It also includes employer contributions (and earnings) that have satisfied your plan’s vesting schedule.

In general, you must be 100% vested in your employer’s contributions after 3 years of service (“cliff vesting”), or you must vest gradually, 20% per year until you’re fully vested after 6 years (“graded vesting”). Plans can have faster vesting schedules, and some even have 100% immediate vesting. You’ll also be 100% vested once you’ve reached your plan’s normal retirement age.

It’s important for you to understand how your particular plan’s vesting schedule works, because you’ll forfeit any employer contributions that haven’t vested by the time you leave your job. Your summary plan description (SPD) will spell out how the vesting schedule for your particular plan works. If you don’t have one, ask your plan administrator for it. If you’re on the cusp of vesting, it may make sense to wait a bit before leaving, if you have that luxury.

Don’t spend it, roll it!

While this pool of dollars may look attractive, don’t spend it unless you absolutely need to. If you take a distribution you’ll be taxed, at ordinary income tax rates, on the entire value of your account except for any after-tax or Roth 401(k) contributions you’ve made. And, if you’re not yet age 55, an additional 10% penalty may apply to the taxable portion of your payout. (Special rules may apply if you receive a lump-sum distribution and you were born before 1936, or if the lump-sum includes employer stock.)

If your vested balance is more than $5,000, you can leave your money in your employer’s plan until you reach normal retirement age. But your employer must also allow you to make a direct rollover to an IRA or to another employer’s 401(k) plan. As the name suggests, in a direct rollover the money passes directly from your 401(k) plan account to the IRA or other plan. This is preferable to a “60-day rollover,” where you get the check and then roll the money over yourself, because your employer has to withhold 20% of the taxable portion of a 60-day rollover. You can still roll over the entire amount of your distribution, but you’ll need to come up with the 20% that’s been withheld until you recapture that amount when you file your income tax return.

Should I roll over to my new employer’s 401(k) plan or to an IRA?

Assuming both options are available to you, there’s no right or wrong answer to this question. There are strong arguments to be made on both sides. You need to weigh all of the factors, and make a decision based on your own needs and priorities. It’s best to have a professional assist you with this, since the decision you make may have significant consequences–both now and in the future.

Reasons to roll over to an IRA:

You generally have more investment choices with an IRA than with an employer’s 401(k) plan. You typically may freely move your money around to the various investments offered by your IRA trustee, and you may divide up your balance among as many of those investments as you want. By contrast, employer-sponsored plans typically give you a limited menu of investments (usually mutual funds) from which to choose.
You can freely allocate your IRA dollars among different IRA trustees/custodians. There’s no limit on how many direct, trustee-to-trustee IRA transfers you can do in a year. This gives you flexibility to change trustees often if you are dissatisfied with investment performance or customer service. It can also allow you to have IRA accounts with more than one institution for added diversification. With an employer’s plan, you can’t move the funds to a different trustee unless you leave your job and roll over the funds.
An IRA may give you more flexibility with distributions. Your distribution options in a 401(k) plan depend on the terms of that particular plan, and your options may be limited. However, with an IRA, the timing and amount of distributions is generally at your discretion (until you reach age 70½ and must start taking required minimum distributions in the case of a traditional IRA).
You can roll over (essentially “convert”) your 401(k) plan distribution to a Roth IRA. You’ll generally have to pay taxes on the amount you roll over (minus any after-tax contributions you’ve made), but any qualified distributions from the Roth IRA in the future will be tax free.

Reasons to roll over to your new employer’s 401(k) plan:

Many employer-sponsored plans have loan provisions. If you roll over your retirement funds to a new employer’s plan that permits loans, you may be able to borrow up to 50% of the amount you roll over if you need the money. You can’t borrow from an IRA–you can only access the money in an IRA by taking a distribution, which may be subject to income tax and penalties. (You can, however, give yourself a short-term loan from an IRA by taking a distribution, and then rolling the dollars back to an IRA within 60 days.)
A rollover to your new employer’s 401(k) plan may provide greater creditor protection than a rollover to an IRA. Most 401(k) plans receive unlimited protection from your creditors under federal law. Your creditors (with certain exceptions) cannot attach your plan funds to satisfy any of your debts and obligations, regardless of whether you’ve declared bankruptcy. In contrast, any amounts you roll over to a traditional or Roth IRA are generally protected under federal law only if you declare bankruptcy. Any creditor protection your IRA may receive in cases outside of bankruptcy will generally depend on the laws of your particular state. If you are concerned about asset protection, be sure to seek the assistance of a qualified professional.
You may be able to postpone required minimum distributions. For traditional IRAs, these distributions must begin by April 1 following the year you reach age 70½. However, if you work past that age and are still participating in your employer’s 401(k) plan, you can delay your first distribution from that plan until April 1 following the year of your retirement. (You also must own no more than 5% of the company.)
If your distribution includes Roth 401(k) contributions and earnings, you can roll those amounts over to either a Roth IRA or your new employer’s Roth 401(k) plan (if it accepts rollovers). If you roll the funds over to a Roth IRA, the Roth IRA holding period will determine when you can begin receiving tax-free qualified distributions from the IRA. So if you’re establishing a Roth IRA for the first time, your Roth 401(k) dollars will be subject to a brand new 5-year holding period. On the other hand, if you roll the dollars over to your new employer’s Roth 401 (k) plan, your existing 5-year holding period will carry over to the new plan. This may enable you to receive tax-free qualified distributions sooner.

When evaluating whether to initiate a rollover always be sure to (1) ask about possible surrender charges that may be imposed by your employer plan, or new surrender charges that your IRA may impose, (2) compare investment fees and expenses charged by your IRA (and investment funds) with those charged by your employer plan (if any), and (3) understand any accumulated rights or guarantees that you may be giving up by transferring funds out of your employer plan.

What about outstanding plan loans?

In general, if you have an outstanding plan loan, you’ll need to pay it back, or the outstanding balance will be taxed as if it had been distributed to you in cash. If you can’t pay the loan back before you leave, you’ll still have 60 days to roll over the amount that’s been treated as a distribution to your IRA. Of course, you’ll need to come up with the dollars from other sources.

This material was prepared by Broadridge Investor Communication Solutions, Inc., and does not necessarily represent the views of Albert Aizin, and The Retirement Group or FSC Financial Corp. This information should not be construed as investment advice. Neither the named Representatives nor Broker/Dealer gives tax or legal advice. All information is believed to be from reliable sources; however, we make no representation as to its completeness or accuracy. The publisher is not engaged in rendering legal, accounting or other professional services. If other expert assistance is needed, the reader is advised to engage the services of a competent professional. Please consult your Financial Advisor for further information or call 800-900-5867.

The Retirement Group is not affiliated with nor endorsed by fidelity.com, ExxonMobil, netbenefits.fidelity.com, hewitt.com, resources.hewitt.com, access.att.com, ING Retirement, AT&T, Qwest, Chevron, Northrop Grumman, Hughes, Raytheon, Glaxosmithkline, Merck, Pfizer, Verizon, Bank of America, Alcatel-Lucent or by your employer. We are an independent financial advisory group that specializes in transition planning and lump sum distribution. Please call our office at 800-900-5867 if you have additional questions or need help in the retirement planning process.

Albert Aizin is a Representative with FSC Securities and may be reached at www.theretirementgroup.com.

Socially Responsible Investing

Jun15

Investing with an eye toward promoting social, political, or environmental concerns (or at least not supporting activities you feel are harmful) doesn’t mean you have to forgo pursuing a return on your money. Socially responsible investing may allow you to further both your own economic interests and a greater good, in whatever way you define that term.

The concept of putting your money where your mouth is first gained widespread attention during the 1970s, when such highly charged political issues as the Vietnam War and apartheid in South Africa led some investors to try to prevent their money from supporting policies that were counter to their beliefs.

Since then, a wide variety of investment products, such as socially conscious mutual funds, have been developed to help people invest in ways consistent with a personal philosophy. However, individuals aren’t the only ones to apply the principles behind socially responsible investing. Many colleges and universities, government pension and retirement funds, and religious groups do so to some extent.

There are many approaches to what may also be known as mission investing, double- or triple-bottom-line investing, ethical investing, socially conscious investing, green investing, sustainable investing, or impact investing.

Screening potential investments

This is perhaps the best-known aspect of socially responsible investing: evaluating investments based not only on their finances but on their social, environmental, and even corporate governance practices. Screens based on specific guidelines may eliminate from consideration companies whose products or actions are deemed contrary to the public good. Examples of companies that are frequently excluded from socially responsible funds are those involved with alcohol, tobacco, gambling, or defense, and those that contribute to environmental pollution or that have significant interests in countries considered to have repressive or racist governments.

However, as interest in socially responsible investing has evolved, the screening process has become increasingly positive, using screens to identify companies whose practices actively further a particular social good, such as protecting the environment or following a particular set of religious beliefs.

Shareholder activism

Both individual and institutional shareholders have become increasingly willing to pressure corporations to adopt socially responsible practices. In some cases, having a good social record may make a company more attractive to investors who might not have previously considered it.

Shareholder advocacy can involve filing shareholder resolutions on such topics as corporate governance, climate change, political contributions, environmental impact, and labor practices. Such activism got a boost when the Securities and Exchange Commission adopted the so-called “say on pay” rule as a result of the Dodd-Frank financial reforms. Companies over a certain size must allow shareholders a vote on executive pay at least once every three years. Though the vote is nonbinding, it could give institutional investors a stronger hand in advocating for other interests.

Community investing

Still another approach involves directing investment capital to communities and projects that may have difficulty getting traditional financing, including nonprofit organizations. Investors provide money that is then used to support organizations that help traditionally underserved populations with challenges such as gaining access to affordable housing, finding jobs, and receiving health care. Community investing often helps not only individuals but small businesses that may operate in geographic areas that mainstream financial institutions deem too risky.

Impact investing

A recent development focuses on measuring and managing performance in terms of social benefit as well as investment returns. So-called “impact investing” aims not only to further a social good, but to do so in a way that maximizes efficient use of the resources involved, using business-world methods such as benchmarking to compare returns and gauge how effectively an investment fulfills its goals. In fact, some have made a case for considering impact investing an emerging alternative asset class. Impact investments are often made directly in an individual company or organization, and may involve direct mentoring of its leaders. As a result, such unique investments may be more similar to venture capital and private equity (where the concept of impact investing originated) and may not be highly correlated with traditional assets such as stocks or bonds.

Cast a wide net or target your investments?

One of the key questions for anyone interested in socially responsible investing is whether to invest broadly or concentrate on a specific issue or area. A narrow focus could leave you overly exposed to the risks of a single industry or company, while greater diversification could weaken the impact that you might like your money to have. Even if you choose to focus on a single social issue, you may still need to decide whether to invest in a specific company or companies, or invest more broadly through a mutual fund whose objective meets your chosen criteria.

For example, as concern about the environment has grown in recent years, investing in green technology has become a prominent element in many socially responsible investing efforts. Generally, the concept (also known as “clean technology” or “cleantech”) includes renewable energy (or technologies that can improve the environmental footprint of existing energy sources), clean water, and clean air, as well as technologies that can help reduce overall consumption, particularly of nonbiodegradable substances. Such a broad scope can make it difficult to choose among the myriad investment opportunities, especially if you don’t have expertise about a particular field or the time or energy to acquire it. Unless you’re familiar with the science behind a specific company’s product or service, you might benefit from casting a wider net. Though diversification and asset allocation can’t guarantee a profit or eliminate the possibility of loss, they can help you manage the amount of risk you may face from a single source.

Even if you have special knowledge of a particular field, don’t let that blind you to the business fundamentals of a particular company; you still need to keep an eye on how it stacks up as a stock. Also, if you’re considering a small company stock that is closely aligned with or furthers your chosen issue, don’t forget that smaller companies can be extremely volatile. You also could consider investing in larger companies that have made a significant commitment to initiatives in your chosen area of interest and that might have other business advantages. Though they might not have the rapid growth potential of a small company, they often have the resources to acquire other companies, or manufacture and market globally more efficiently than a smaller company might. That might enable them to have a greater global impact while potentially offering investors a way to help mitigate the impact of smaller stocks’ generally higher volatility.
If you don’t have the time to do detailed research or don’t trust your own judgment, you could work with an advisor who may have access to more information about your area of interest.

Know your goals

“Social good” may be defined differently by every investor, and even a socially responsible fund may include multiple definitions of the types of companies that meet its investment objectives.

Also, make sure your expectations are clear and realistic. Many socially responsible investments produce solid financial returns; others may not. Though past performance is no guarantee of future results, you should have a sense of what kind of return you might expect. You shouldn’t feel you have to accept mediocrity in order to support your beliefs. Monitor your investment’s performance, and be prepared to look elsewhere if your investment doesn’t continue to meet your needs, either financially or philosophically.

The clearer you are about the goals you have for your money, the better your chances of selecting appropriate investments.

The Retirement Group is not affiliated with nor endorsed by fidelity.com, netbenefits.fidelity.com, Hughes, hewitt.com, resources.hewitt.com, access.att.com, AT&T, Qwest, Chevron, Northrop Grumman, Raytheon, ING Retirement, ExxonMobil, Glaxosmithkline, Merck, Pfizer, Verizon, Bank of America, Alcatel-Lucent or by your employer. We are an independent financial advisory group that specializes in transition planning and lump sum distribution. Please call our office at 800-900-5867 if you have additional questions or need help in the retirement planning process.

Albert Aizin is a Representative with FSC Securities and may be reached at www.theretirementgroup.com.

Net Unrealized Appreciation: The Untold Story

Jun9

If you participate in a 401(k), ESOP, or other qualified retirement plan that lets you invest in your employer’s stock, you need to know about net unrealized appreciation–a simple tax deferral opportunity with an unfortunately complicated name.

When you receive a distribution from your employer’s retirement plan, the distribution is generally taxable to you at ordinary income tax rates. A common way of avoiding immediate taxation is to make a tax-free rollover to a traditional IRA. However, when you ultimately receive distributions from the IRA, they’ll also be taxed at ordinary income tax rates. (Special rules apply to Roth and other after-tax contributions that are generally tax free when distributed.)

But if your distribution includes employer stock (or other employer securities), you may have another option–you may be able to defer paying tax on the portion of your distribution that represents net unrealized appreciation (NUA). You won’t be taxed on the NUA until you sell the stock. What’s more, the NUA will be taxed at long-term capital gains rates–typically much lower than ordinary income tax rates. This strategy can often result in significant tax savings.

What is net unrealized appreciation?

A distribution of employer stock consists of two parts: (1) the cost basis (that is, the value of the stock when it was contributed to, or purchased by, your plan), and (2) any increase in value over the cost basis until the date the stock is distributed to you. This increase in value over basis, fixed at the time the stock is distributed in-kind to you, is the NUA. For example, assume you retire and receive a distribution of employer stock worth $500,000 from your 401(k) plan, and that the cost basis in the stock is $50,000. The $450,000 gain is NUA.

How does it work?

At the time you receive a lump-sum distribution that includes employer stock, you’ll pay ordinary income tax only on the cost basis in the employer securities.

You won’t pay any tax on the NUA until you sell the securities. At that time the NUA is taxed at long-term capital gain rates, no matter how long you’ve held the securities outside of the plan (even if only for a single day). Any appreciation at the time of sale in excess of your NUA is taxed as either short-term or long-term capital gain, depending on how long you’ve held the stock outside the plan.

Using the example above, you would pay ordinary income tax on $50,000, the cost basis, when you receive your distribution. (You may also be subject to a 10% early distribution penalty if you’re not age 55 or totally disabled.) Let’s say you sell the stock after ten years, when it’s worth $750,000. At that time, you’ll pay long-term capital gains tax on your NUA ($450,000). You’ll also pay long-term capital gains tax on the additional appreciation ($250,000), since you held the stock for more than one year. Note that since you’ve already paid tax on the $50,000 cost basis, you won’t pay tax on that amount again when you sell the stock.

If your distribution includes cash in addition to the stock, you can either roll the cash over to an IRA or take it as a taxable distribution. And you don’t have to use the NUA strategy for all of your employer stock–you can roll a portion over to an IRA and apply NUA tax treatment to the rest.

What is a lump-sum distribution?

In general, you’re allowed to use these favorable NUA tax rules only if you receive the employer securities as part of a lump-sum distribution. To qualify as a lump-sum distribution, both of the following conditions must be satisfied:

It must be a distribution of your entire balance, within a single tax year, from all of your employer’s qualified plans of the same type (that is, all pension plans, all profit-sharing plans, or all stock bonus plans)
The distribution must be paid after you reach age 59½, or as a result of your separation from service, or after your death

There is one exception: even if your distribution doesn’t qualify as a lump-sum distribution, any securities distributed from the plan that were purchased with your after-tax (non-Roth) contributions will be eligible for NUA tax treatment.

NUA at a glance
You receive a lump-sum distribution from your 401(k) plan consisting of $500,000 of employer stock. The cost basis is $50,000. You sell the stock 10 years later for $750,000.*
Tax payable at distribution–stock valued at $500,000
Cost basis–$50,000	Taxed at ordinary income rates; 10% early payment penalty tax if you’re not 55 or disabled
NUA–$450,000	Tax deferred until sale of stock
Tax payable at sale–stock valued at $750,000
Cost basis– $50,000	Already taxed at distribution; not taxed again at sale
NUA– $450,000	Taxed at long-term capital gains rates regardless of holding period
Additional appreciation-$250,000	Taxed as long- or short-term capital gain, depending on holding period outside plan (long-term in this example)
*Assumes stock is attributable to your pretax and employer contributions and not after-tax contributions

NUA is for beneficiaries, too

If you die while you still hold employer securities in your retirement plan, your plan beneficiary can also use the NUA tax strategy if he or she receives a lump-sum distribution from the plan. The taxation is generally the same as if you had received the distribution. (The stock doesn’t receive a step-up in basis, even though your beneficiary receives it as a result of your death.)

If you’ve already received a distribution of employer stock, elected NUA tax treatment, and die before you sell the stock, your heir will have to pay long-term capital gains tax on the NUA when he or she sells the stock. However, any appreciation as of the date of your death in excess of NUA will forever escape taxation because, in this case, the stock will receive a step-up in basis. Using our example, if you die when your employer stock is worth $750,000, your heir will receive a step-up in basis for the $250,000 appreciation in excess of NUA at the time of your death. If your heir later sells the stock for $900,000, he or she will pay long-term capital gains tax on the $450,000 of NUA, as well as capital gains tax on any appreciation since your death ($150,000). The $250,000 of appreciation in excess of NUA as of your date of death will be tax free.

Some additional considerations

If you want to take advantage of NUA treatment, make sure you don’t roll the stock over to an IRA. That will be irrevocable, and you’ll forever lose the NUA tax opportunity.
You can elect not to use the NUA option. In this case, the NUA will be subject to ordinary income tax (and a potential 10% early distribution penalty) at the time you receive the distribution.
Stock held in an IRA or employer plan is entitled to significant protection from your creditors. You’ll lose that protection if you hold the stock in a taxable brokerage account.
Holding a significant amount of employer stock may not be appropriate for everyone. In some cases, it may make sense to diversify your investments.*
Be sure to consider the impact of any applicable state tax laws.

When is it the best choice?

In general, the NUA strategy makes the most sense for individuals who have a large amount of NUA and a relatively small cost basis. However, whether it’s right for you depends on many variables, including your age, your estate planning goals, and anticipated tax rates. In some cases, rolling your distribution over to an IRA may be the better choice. And if you were born before 1936, other special tax rules might apply, making a taxable distribution your best option.

The Retirement Group is not affiliated with nor endorsed by fidelity.com, netbenefits.fidelity.com, hewitt.com, resources.hewitt.com, ING Retirement, AT&T, Qwest, Chevron, Hughes, Northrop Grumman, access.att.com, Raytheon, ExxonMobil, Merck, Glaxosmithkline, Pfizer, Verizon, Bank of America, Alcatel-Lucent or by your employer. We are an independent financial advisory group that specializes in transition planning and lump sum distribution. Please call our office at 800-900-5867 if you have additional questions or need help in the retirement planning process.

Albert Aizin is a Representative with FSC Securities and may be reached at www.theretirementgroup.com.

Growth vs. Value: What’s the Difference?

Jun1

With the wide variety of stocks in the market, figuring out which ones you want to invest in can be a challenging task. Many investors feel it’s useful to have a system for finding stocks that might be worth buying, deciding what price to pay, and identifying when a stock should be sold. Bull markets–periods in which prices as a group tend to rise–and bear markets–periods of declining prices–can lead investors to make irrational choices. Having objective criteria for buying and selling can help you avoid emotional decision-making.

Even if you don’t want to select stocks yourself–and many people would much prefer to have a professional do the work of researching specific investments–it can be helpful to understand the concepts that professionals use in evaluating and buying stocks.

There are generally two schools of thought about how to choose stocks that may be worth investing in. Value investors generally buy stocks that appear to be bargains relative to the company’s intrinsic worth. Growth investors prefer companies that are growing quickly, and are less concerned with undervalued companies than with finding companies and industries that have the greatest potential for appreciation in share price. Either approach can help you better understand just what you’re buying–and why–when you choose a stock for your portfolio.

Value Stocks	Growth Stocks
Relatively low P/E ratio	High P/E ratio
Low price-to-book ratio	High price-to-book ratio
Relatively slow earnings growth	Rapid earning growth
High dividend yield	Low or no dividend yield
Sluggish sales growth	Rapid sales growth

Value investing

Value investors look for stocks with share prices that don’t fully reflect the value of the companies, and that are effectively trading at a discount to their true worth. A stock can have a low valuation for many reasons. The company may be struggling with business challenges such as legal problems, management difficulties, or tough competition. It may be in an industry that is currently out of favor with investors. It may be having difficulty expanding. It may have fallen on hard times. Or it may simply have been overlooked by other investors.

A value investor believes that eventually the share price will rise to reflect what he or she perceives as the stock’s fair value. Value investing takes into account a company’s prospects, but is equally focused on whether it’s a good buy. A stock’s price-earnings (P/E) ratio–its share price divided by its earnings per share–is of particular interest to a value investor, as are the price-to-sales ratio, the dividend yield, the price-to-book ratio, and the rate of sales growth.

Value-oriented data

Here are some of the questions a value investor might ask about a company:

What would the company be worth if all its assets were sold?
Does the company have hidden assets the market is ignoring?
What would the business be worth if another company acquired it?
Does the company have intangible assets, such as a high level of brand-name recognition, strong new management, or dominance in its industry?
Is the company on the verge of a turnaround?

Contrarians: marching to a different drummer

A contrarian investor is one example of a value investor. Contrarians believe that the best way to invest is to buy when no one else wants to, or to focus on stocks or industries that are temporarily out of favor with the market.

The challenge for any value investor, of course, is figuring out how to tell the difference between a company that is undervalued and one whose stock price is low for good reason. Value investors who do their own stock research typically comb the company’s financial reports, looking for clues about the company’s management, operations, products, and services.

Growth investing

A growth-oriented investor looks for companies that are expanding rapidly. Stocks of newer companies in emerging industries are often especially attractive to growth investors because of their greater potential for expansion and price appreciation despite the higher risks involved. A growth investor would give more weight to increases in a stock’s sales per share or earnings per share (EPS) than to its P/E ratio, which may be irrelevant for a company that has yet to produce any meaningful profits. However, some growth investors are more sensitive to a stock’s valuation and look for what’s called “Growth At a Reasonable Price” (GARP). A growth investor’s challenge is to avoid overpaying for a stock in anticipation of earnings that eventually prove disappointing.

Growth-oriented data

A growth investor might ask some of these questions about a stock:

Has the stock’s price been rising recently?
Is the stock reaching new highs?
Are sales and earnings per share accelerating from quarter to quarter and year to year?
Is the volume of trading in the stock rising or falling?
Is there a recent or impending announcement from or about the company that might generate investor interest?
Is the industry going up as a whole?

Momentum investing: growth to the max

A momentum investor generally looks not just for growth but for accelerating growth that is attracting a lot of investors and causing the share price to rise. Momentum investors believe you should buy a stock only when earnings growth is accelerating and the price is moving up. They often buy even when a stock is richly valued, assuming that the stock’s price will go even higher. If a stock falls, momentum theory suggests that you sell it quickly to prevent further losses, then buy more of what’s working.

Some momentum investors may hold a stock for only a few minutes or hours then sell before the market closes that day. Momentum investing obviously requires frequent monitoring of the fluctuations in each of your stock holdings, however. A momentum strategy is best suited to investors who are prepared to invest the time necessary to be aware of those price changes. The risk of loss from this type of trading strategy can be substantial. You should therefore consider whether such a strategy is suitable for you based on your individual circumstances and financial resources.

Why understand investing styles?

Growth stocks and value stocks often alternate in popularity. One style may be favored for a while but then give way to the other. Also, a company can be a growth stock at one point and later become a value stock. Some investors buy both types, so their portfolio has the potential to benefit regardless of which is doing better at any given time. Investing based on data rather than stock tips or guesswork can not only assist you as you evaluate a possible purchase; it also can help you decide when to sell because your reasons for buying are no longer valid.

Two research types: fundamentals vs. price history

Whether the growth or value approach appeals to you–and you may prefer a combination of the two–you’ll need criteria for implementing it. Many investors prefer to analyze fundamentals (data about a company’s operations) to determine just what its shares are worth given its potential. Buy-and-hold investors tend to focus on fundamental data, which doesn’t change as quickly as price charts.

Technical analysts would rather focus on a company’s stock price. They attempt to identify trading patterns on charts that show price history or trading volume, believing that those patterns can help them identify price trends. Technical analysis also is used to analyze trends in markets as a whole. It requires more day-to-day attention than does fundamental analysis. Many investors like to combine both types of research.

The Retirement Group is not affiliated with nor endorsed by fidelity.com, netbenefits.fidelity.com, hewitt.com, resources.hewitt.com, access.att.com, ING Retirement, AT&T, Qwest, Chevron, Hughes, Northrop Grumman, Raytheon, ExxonMobil, Glaxosmithkline, Merck, Pfizer, Verizon, Bank of America, Alcatel-Lucent or by your employer. We are an independent financial advisory group that specializes in transition planning and lump sum distribution. Please call our office at 800-900-5867 if you have additional questions or need help in the retirement planning process.

Albert Aizin is a Representative with FSC Securities and may be reached at www.theretirementgroup.com.

Paying the Bills: Potential Sources of Retirement Income

May25

Planning your retirement income is like putting together a puzzle with many different pieces. One of the first steps in the process is to identify all potential income sources and estimate how much you can expect each one to provide.

Social Security

According to the Social Security Administration (SSA), almost 9 of 10 people aged 65 or older receive Social Security benefits. However, most retirees also rely on other sources of income.

For a rough estimate of the annual benefit to which you would be entitled at various retirement ages, you can use the calculator on the Social Security website, http://www.ssa.gov. Your Social Security retirement benefit is calculated using a formula that takes into account your 35 highest earnings years. How much you receive ultimately depends on a number of factors, including when you start taking benefits. You can begin doing so as early as age 62. However, your benefit may be 20% to 30% less than if you waited until full retirement age (65 to 67, depending on the year you were born). Benefits increase each year that you delay taking benefits until you reach age 70.

As you’re planning, remember that the question of how Social Security will meet its long-term obligations to both baby boomers and later generations has become a hot topic of discussion. Concerns about the system’s solvency indicate that there’s likely to be a change in how those benefits are funded, administered, and/or taxed over the next 20 or 30 years. That may introduce additional uncertainty about Social Security’s role as part of your overall long-term retirement income picture, and put additional emphasis on other potential income sources.

Pensions

If you are entitled to receive a traditional pension, you’re lucky; fewer Americans are covered by them every year. Be aware that even if you expect pension payments, many companies are changing their plan provisions. Ask your employer if your pension will increase with inflation, and if so, how that increase is calculated.

Your pension will most likely be offered as either a single or a joint and survivor annuity. A single annuity provides benefits until the worker’s death; a joint and survivor annuity provides reduced benefits that last until the survivor’s death. The law requires married couples to take a joint and survivor annuity unless the spouse signs away those rights. Consider rejecting it only if the surviving spouse will have income that equals at least 75% of the current joint income. Be sure to fully plan your retirement budget before you make this decision.

Work or other income-producing activities

Many retirees plan to work for at least a while in their retirement years at part-time work, a fulfilling second career, or consulting or freelance assignments. Obviously, while you’re continuing to earn, you’ll rely less on your savings, leaving more to accumulate for the future. Work also may provide access to affordable health care.

Be aware that if you’re receiving Social Security benefits before you reach your full retirement age, earned income may affect the amount of your benefit payments until you do reach full retirement age.

If you’re covered by a pension plan, you may be able to retire, then seek work elsewhere. This way, you might be able to receive both your new salary and your pension benefit from your previous employer at the same time. Also, some employers have begun to offer phased retirement programs, which allow you to receive all or part of your pension benefit once you’ve reached retirement age, while you continue to work part-time for the same employer.

Other possible resources include rental property income and royalties from existing assets, such as intellectual property.

Retirement savings/investments

Until now, you may have been saving through retirement accounts such as IRAs, 401(k)s, or other tax-advantaged plans, as well as in taxable accounts. Your challenge now is to convert your savings into ongoing income. There are many ways to do that, including periodic withdrawals, choosing an annuity if available, increasing your allocation to income-generating investments, or using some combination. Make sure you understand the tax consequences before you act.

Some of the factors you’ll need to consider when planning how to tap your retirement savings include:

How much you can afford to withdraw each year without exhausting your nest egg. You’ll need to take into account not only your projected expenses and other income sources, but also your asset allocation, your life expectancy, and whether you expect to use both principal and income, or income alone.
The order in which you will tap various accounts. Tax considerations can affect which account you should use first, and which you should defer using.
How you’ll deal with required minimum distributions (RMDs) from certain tax-advantaged accounts. After age 70½, if you withdraw less than your RMD, you’ll pay a penalty tax equal to 50% of the amount you failed to withdraw.

Some investments, such as certain types of annuities, are designed to provide a guaranteed monthly income (subject to the claims-paying ability of the issuer). Others may pay an amount that varies periodically, depending on how your investments perform. You also can choose to balance your investment choices to provide some of both types of income.

Inheritance

One widely cited study by economists John Havens and Paul Schervish forecasts that by 2052, at least $41 trillion will have been transferred from World War II’s Greatest Generation to their descendants. (Source: “Why the $41 Trillion Wealth Transfer Is Still Valid.”) An inheritance, whether anticipated or in hand, brings special challenges. If a potential inheritance has an impact on your anticipated retirement income, you might be able to help your parents investigate estate planning tools that can minimize the impact of taxes on their estate. Your retirement income also may be affected by whether you hope to leave an inheritance for your loved ones. If you do, you may benefit from specialized financial planning advice that can integrate your income needs with a future bequest.

Equity in your home or business

If you have built up substantial home equity, you may be able to tap it as a source of retirement income. Selling your home, then downsizing or buying in a lower-cost region, and investing that freed-up cash to produce income or to be used as needed is one possibility. Another is a reverse mortgage, which allows you to continue to live in your home while borrowing against its value. That loan and any accumulated interest is eventually repaid by the last surviving borrower when he or she eventually sells the home, permanently vacates the property, or dies. (However, you need to carefully consider the risks and costs before borrowing. A useful publication titled “Reverse Mortgages: Avoiding a Reversal of Fortune” is available online from the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority.)

If you’re hoping to convert an existing business into retirement income, you may benefit from careful financial planning to minimize the tax impact of a sale. Also, if you have partners, you’ll likely need to make sure you have a buy-sell agreement that specifies what will happen to the business when you retire and how you’ll be compensated for your interest.

With an expert to help you identify and analyze all your potential sources of retirement income, you may discover you have more options than you realize.

According to the Social Security Administration, more than 70% of Americans choose to take early Social Security benefits rather than wait until full retirement age.

Albert Aizin is a Representative with FSC Securities and may be reached at www.theretirementgroup.com.

Stretch IRAs

May18

The term “stretch IRA” has become a popular way to refer to an IRA (either traditional or Roth) with provisions that make it easier to “stretch out” the time that funds can stay in your IRA after your death, even over several generations. It’s not a special IRA, and there’s nothing dramatic about this “stretch” language. Any IRA can include stretch provisions, but not all do.

Why is “stretching” important?

Earnings in an IRA grow tax deferred. Over time, this tax-deferred growth can help you accumulate significant retirement funds. If you’re able to support yourself in retirement without the need to tap into your IRA, you may want to continue this tax-deferred growth for as long as possible. In fact, you may want your heirs to benefit–to the greatest extent possible–from this tax-deferred growth as well. But funds can’t stay in your IRA forever. Required minimum distribution (RMD) rules will apply after your death (for traditional IRAs, minimum distributions are also required during your lifetime after you reach age 70½). The goal of a stretch IRA is to make sure your beneficiary can take distributions over the maximum period the RMD rules allow. You’ll want to check your IRA custodial or trust agreement carefully to make sure that it contains the following important stretch provisions.

Key stretch provision #1

The RMD rules let your beneficiary take distributions from an inherited IRA over a fixed period of time, based on your beneficiary’s life expectancy. For example, if your beneficiary is age 20 in the year following your death, he or she can take payments over 63 additional years (special rules apply to spousal beneficiaries).

As you can see, this rule can keep your IRA funds growing tax deferred for a very long time. But even though the RMD rules allow your beneficiary to “stretch out” payments over his or her life expectancy, your particular IRA may not. For example, your IRA might require your beneficiary to take a lump-sum payment, or receive payments within five years after your death. Make sure your IRA contract lets your beneficiary take payments over his or her life expectancy.

Key stretch provision #2

But what happens if your beneficiary elects to take distributions over his or her life expectancy but dies a few years later, with funds still in the inherited IRA? This is where the IRA language becomes crucial. If, as is commonly the case, the IRA language doesn’t address what happens when your beneficiary dies, then the IRA balance is typically paid to your beneficiary’s estate. However, IRA providers are increasingly allowing an original beneficiary to name a successor beneficiary. In this case, if your original beneficiary dies, the successor beneficiary “steps into the shoes” of your original beneficiary and can continue to take RMDs over the original beneficiary’s remaining distribution schedule.

What if your IRA doesn’t stretch?

You can always transfer your funds to an IRA that contains the desired stretch language. In addition, upon your death, your beneficiary can transfer the IRA funds (in your name) directly to another IRA that has the appropriate language.

And if your spouse is your beneficiary, he or she can roll over the IRA assets to his or her own IRA, or elect to treat your IRA as his or her own (if your spouse is your sole beneficiary). Because your spouse becomes the owner of your IRA funds, rather than a beneficiary, your spouse won’t have to start taking distributions until he or she reaches age 70½. And your spouse can name a new beneficiary to continue receiving payments after your spouse dies.

Stretching your IRA–a case study

Jack dies at age 78 with an IRA worth $500,000. He had named his surviving spouse, 69-year-old Mary, as his sole beneficiary. Mary elects to roll over the funds to her own IRA. Mary names Susan, her 44-year-old daughter, as her beneficiary. At age 70½, Mary begins taking required minimum distributions over a period determined from the Uniform Lifetime Table. (Mary is allowed to recalculate her life expectancy each year.) At age 79, Mary dies and Susan begins taking required distributions over Susan’s life expectancy–29.6 years (fixed in the year following Mary’s death). Susan names Jon, her 30-year-old son, as her successor beneficiary. Susan dies at age 70 after receiving payments for 16 years, and Jon continues receiving required distributions over Susan’s remaining life expectancy (13.6 years).

Year 1	Mary becomes owner of Jack’s IRA
Year 3	Mary begins taking distributions at age 70½ over her life expectancy
Year 12	Susan begins taking distributions the year after Mary’s death over Susan’s life expectancy
Year 28	Jon begins taking distributions over Susan’s remaining life expectancy
Year 40	All of Jack’s IRA funds have been distributed

Under this scenario, total payments of over $2 million are made over 40 years, to three generations.

Note: Payments from a traditional IRA will generally be subject to income tax at the beneficiary’s tax rate. Qualified distributions from a Roth IRA are tax free.

Assumptions:

This is a hypothetical example and is not intended to reflect the actual performance of any specific investment portfolio, nor is it an estimate or guarantee of future value.

This illustration assumes a fixed 6% annual rate of return; the rate of return on your actual investment portfolio will be different, and will vary over time, according to actual market performance. This is particularly true for long-term investments. It is important to note that investments offering the potential for higher rates of return also involve a higher degree of risk to principal.

All earnings are reinvested, and all distributions are taken at year-end.

The projected figures assume that Mary takes the smallest distribution she’s allowed to take under IRS rules at the latest possible time without penalty.

The projected figures assume that tax law and IRS rules will remain constant throughout the life of the IRA.

The Retirement Group is not affiliated with nor endorsed by fidelity.com, netbenefits.fidelity.com, hewitt.com, resources.hewitt.com, access.att.com, ING Retirement, Raytheon, AT&T, Qwest, Chevron, Hughes, Northrop Grumman, ExxonMobil, Glaxosmithkline, Pfizer, Verizon, Merck, Bank of America, Alcatel-Lucent or by your employer. We are an independent financial advisory group that specializes in transition planning and lump sum distribution. Please call our office at 800-900-5867 if you have additional questions or need help in the retirement planning process.

Albert Aizin is a Representative with FSC Securities and may be reached at www.theretirementgroup.com.

Disaster Preparedness for Businesses

May11

As a successful business owner, you don’t want to think about your operations being interrupted by a natural disaster or other unexpected event. Yet the possibility is a real one.

According to the Insurance Information Institute, 80 natural disasters occurred in the United States in the first half of 2015, totaling $12.6 billion in losses. But natural disasters represent just a portion of the crises that your business could face. Although you may not be located in an area prone to hurricanes, blizzards, tornadoes, floods, earthquakes, mudslides, or wildfires, you still need to consider the possibility of power outages, civil unrest, terrorism, cyber attacks, fire, data breaches, illness epidemics, and other potential hazards. Fortunately, there are many ways you can prepare your business for an emergency.

How businesses are affected by natural disasters

As reported by preparemybusiness.org, a website created by the Small Business Administration (SBA) and Agility Recovery Solutions, approximately 40% to 60% of small businesses never recover from a disaster. For this reason, it is in the best interest of every business to identify potential risks and develop a plan to address them–before a crisis hits. Many resources are available to assist business owners in developing a disaster preparedness program.

What is a disaster preparedness program?

A disaster preparedness program is a plan, either self-directed or guided by an organization, that enables business owners to prepare themselves, their employees, and their businesses for the possibility of a natural or man-made disaster. Organizations such as the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the Small Business Administration (SBA), and state governments provide disaster assistance for damages to small businesses located in declared disaster areas.

Steps to implement a disaster preparedness program

Following are five steps that will help you create a disaster preparedness program, as outlined by ready.gov, a national public service campaign designed to educate Americans about preparing for and responding to natural and man-made disasters.

Step 1: Program Management. In many cases, there are minimum regulations that govern how certain businesses manage risk, but as a business owner you will need to determine whether the minimums are enough. As ready.gov states, “Many risks cannot be insured, so a preparedness program may be the only means of managing those risks.” Management commitment to a preparedness program, as well as a written preparedness policy and oversight committee, may be critical to ensuring your business’s longevity.

Step 2: Planning. This step should include the creation of a “risk assessment” that identifies all potential risks and hazards for your business, with ideas for mitigating their impact. It should highlight threats and hazards that are considered “probable,” as well as any that could cause injury, property damage, business disruption, or environmental impact. Another critical document is the “business impact analysis,” which details sensitive or critical processes as well as the financial and operational impacts that would occur due to disruption of those processes.

Step 3: Implementation. In this step, committee members identify and assess resources, draft written plans, develop a system to manage incidents, and train employees as needed. Several key documents contribute to successful program implementation, including crisis communications, emergency response, and business continuity plans.

Step 4: Testing & Exercises. To evaluate the program’s effectiveness, including the success of employee training, management should run tests and drills to see what works and note opportunities for improvement.

Step 5: Program Improvement. During testing or an actual incident, weaknesses in the program are likely to be revealed. They should be documented, along with lessons learned and strategies for addressing such problems in the future.

Other disaster preparedness resources

The Small Business Administration (sba.gov) offers a number of resources designed to help small businesses shore up their emergency preparedness, including links to templates and worksheets that will help you gather the data you need to put together the various written documents. The SBA’s Disaster Preparedness and Recovery Plan outlines the various ways in which the SBA can assist businesses recovering from disasters.

The SBA’s main form of support for businesses is the Disaster Loan Program. The organization has two types of disaster loans designed specifically for small business owners:

The SBA Business Physical Disaster Loan provides loans of up to $2 million to help businesses and nonprofit organizations within a disaster area repair and replace real property, machinery, equipment, fixtures, and leasehold improvements.

The Economic Injury Disaster Loan offers up to $2 million in loans to help small businesses, small agricultural cooperatives, and certain nonprofit organizations that suffer substantial economic distress because of a disaster. Loan proceeds can be used to meet financial obligations and working capital needs that could have been met if a disaster had not occurred.

As of March 2015, the SBA had approved nearly 2 million disaster loans for more than $53 billion. But the SBA is only one organization that offers resources designed to help small businesses prepare for and recover from disasters.

The American Red Cross also provides resources for small businesses that are preparing for the possibility of disasters and emergencies. American Red Cross Ready Rating™(readyrating.org) is a self-guided online program designed to help member businesses, organizations, and schools assess their level of emergency preparedness. The core of the program is a 123-point assessment that is used to gauge one’s level of preparedness. Members also have access to a variety of online tools and resources to help create and refine a disaster preparedness plan. Examples include a hazard vulnerability assessment worksheet, an emergency response notification procedures document, and a damage assessment form.

Preparemybusiness.org hosts a variety of sources on disaster preparedness for business owners, including:

Downloadable educational information on how to prepare your business for a disaster

An archive of webinars to help you plan your disaster preparedness and recovery strategy

A framework of testing strategies to implement in order to assess your disaster preparedness

Resources from the SBA on the types of disaster assistance available to businesses

Finally, the Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety (disastersafety.org) offers a variety of resources, including research reports and an online tool that allows you to enter your Zip code and receive information about specific risks in your area.

Disasters are unpredictable, and they can put you, your employees, and your business in jeopardy. But many of their worst effects can be prevented, or at least mitigated, through a structured disaster management plan.

The Retirement Group is not affiliated with nor endorsed by fidelity.com, netbenefits.fidelity.com, hewitt.com, resources.hewitt.com, ING Retirement, AT&T, Qwest, Raytheon, Chevron, Hughes, Northrop Grumman, ExxonMobil, Glaxosmithkline, Merck, access.att.com, Pfizer, Verizon, Bank of America, Alcatel-Lucent or by your employer. We are an independent financial advisory group that specializes in transition planning and lump sum distribution. Please call our office at 800-900-5867 if you have additional questions or need help in the retirement planning process.

Albert Aizin is a Representative with FSC Securities and may be reached at www.theretirementgroup.com.

Rollovers

Apr26

In general, a rollover is the movement of funds from one retirement savings vehicle to another. You may want, or need, to make a rollover for any number of reasons–your employment situation has changed, you want to switch investments, or you’ve received death benefits from your spouse’s retirement plan. There are two possible ways that retirement funds can be rolled over–the 60-day rollover and the trustee-to-trustee transfer.

The 60-day, or indirect, rollover

With this method, you actually receive a distribution from your retirement plan and then, to complete the rollover transaction, you make a deposit into the new retirement plan that you want to receive the funds. You can make a rollover at any age, but there are specific rules that must be followed. Most importantly, you must generally complete the rollover within 60 days of the date the funds are paid from the distributing plan.

If properly completed, rollovers aren’t subject to income tax. But if you fail to complete the rollover or miss the 60-day deadline, all or part of your distribution may be taxed, and subject to a 10% early distribution penalty (unless you’re age 59½ or another exception applies).

Further, if you receive a distribution from an employer retirement plan, your employer must withhold 20% of the payment for taxes. This means that if you want to roll over your entire distribution, you’ll need to come up with that extra 20% from your other funds (you’ll be able to recover the withheld taxes when you file your tax return).

The direct rollover

The second type of rollover transaction occurs directly between the trustee or custodian of your old retirement plan, and the trustee or custodian of your new plan. You never actually receive the funds or have control of them, so a trustee-to-trustee transfer is not treated as a distribution. Trustee-to-trustee transfers avoid both the danger of missing the 60-day deadline and, for employer plans, the 20% withholding problem.

With employer retirement plans, a trustee-to-trustee transfer is usually referred to as a direct rollover. If you receive a distribution from your employer’s plan that’s eligible for rollover, your employer must give you the option of making a direct rollover to another employer plan or IRA.

A trustee-to-trustee transfer (direct rollover) is generally the most efficient way to move retirement funds. Taking a distribution yourself and rolling it over makes sense only if you need to use the funds temporarily, and are certain you can roll over the full amount within 60 days.

Should you roll over money from an employer plan to an IRA?

In general, you can keep your money in an employer’s plan until you reach the plan’s normal retirement age (typically age 65). But if you terminate employment before then, should you keep your money in the plan (or roll it into your new employer’s plan) or instead make a direct rollover to an IRA?

There are several reasons to consider making a rollover. In contrast to an employer plan, where your investment options are limited to those selected by your employer, the universe of IRA investments is almost unlimited. Similarly, the distribution options in an IRA (especially for your beneficiary following your death) may be more flexible than the options available in your employer’s plan.

On the other hand, your employer’s plan may offer better creditor protection. In general, federal law protects your total IRA assets up to $1,245,475 (as of April 1, 2013)–plus any amount you roll over from a qualified employer plan–if you declare bankruptcy. (The laws in your state may provide additional protection.) In contrast, assets in an employer retirement plan generally enjoy unlimited protection from creditors under federal law, regardless of whether you’ve declared bankruptcy.

Rollover from:	Rollover to:
Rollover from:	Traditional/SEP-IRA	SIMPLE IRA	Roth IRA	Qualified Plan (incl. 401k)	Roth 401k/403b/457b account	403b Plan	Governmental 457b Plan
Traditional/SEP-IRA-Taxable dollars¹	Yes²	No	Yes³	Yes⁷	No	Yes	Yes⁹
Traditional IRA – nontaxable dollars¹	Yes²	No	Yes⁴	No	No	No	No
Simple IRA¹	Yes⁵	Yes	Yes^3,5	Yes^5,7	No	Yes⁵	Yes^5,9
Roth IRA¹	No	No	Yes²	No	No	No	No
Qualified Plan – taxable dollars (incl. 401k)^6,7	Yes	No	Yes¹¹	Yes	No¹²	Yes	Yes⁹
Qualified Plan – nontaxable dollars (incl. 401k)^6,7	Yes	No	Yes	Yes⁸	No¹²	Yes⁸	No
Roth 401k Account^6,7	No	No	Yes	No	No¹⁰	No	No
Roth 403b/457b Account⁶	No	No	Yes	No	No¹⁰	No	No
403b Plan – taxable dollars⁶	Yes	No	Yes¹¹	Yes⁷	No¹²	Yes	Yes⁹
403b Plan – nontaxable dollars⁶	Yes	No	Yes	Yes⁸	No¹²	Yes⁸	No
Governmental 457b Plan⁶	Yes	No	Yes¹¹	Yes⁷	No¹²	Yes²	Yes

¹Required distributions and nonspousal death benefits can’t be rolled over.

²In general, you can make only one tax-free, 60 day, rollover from one IRA to another IRA in any one year period no matter how many IRAs (traditional, Roth, SEP, and SIMPLE) you own. This does not apply to direct (trustee-to-trustee) transfers, or Roth IRA conversions. (A special rule applies to 2014 rollovers.)

³Taxable conversion

⁴Nontaxable conversion

⁵Only after employee has participated in SIMPLE IRA plan for two years.

⁶Required distributions, certain periodic payments, hardship distributions, corrective distributions, and certain other payments cannot be rolled over; nonspousal death benefits can be rolled over only to an inherited IRA, and only in a direct rollover.

⁷May result in loss of qualified plan lump-sum averaging and capital gain treatment.

⁸Direct (trustee-to-trustee) rollover only; receiving plan must separately account for the after-tax contributions and earnings.

⁹457(b) plan must separately account for rollover–10% penalty on payout may apply.

¹⁰Nontaxable dollars may be transferred only in a direct (trustee-to-trustee) rollover.

¹¹Taxable dollars included in income in the year rolled over.

¹²401(k), 403(b), and 457(b) plans can also allow participants to directly transfer non-Roth funds to a Roth account if certain requirements are met (taxable conversion).

The Retirement Group is not affiliated with nor endorsed by fidelity.com, netbenefits.fidelity.com, resources.hewitt.com, access.att.com, hewitt.com, ING Retirement, AT&T, Qwest, Chevron, Hughes, Northrop Grumman, Merck, Raytheon, ExxonMobil, Glaxosmithkline, Pfizer, Verizon, Bank of America, Alcatel-Lucent or by your employer. We are an independent financial advisory group that specializes in transition planning and lump sum distribution. Please call our office at 800-900-5867 if you have additional questions or need help in the retirement planning process.

Albert Aizin is a Representative with FSC Securities and may be reached at www.theretirementgroup.com.

Retirement Income Investing: Beyond Annuities

Apr19

One of the challenges of investing during retirement is providing for annual income while balancing that need with other considerations, such as liquidity, how long you need your funds to last, your risk tolerance, and anticipated rates of return for various types of investments. Annuities may be seen as a full or partial solution, since they can offer stable income or guaranteed lifetime payments (subject to the financial strength and claims-paying ability of the issuer). However, they’re not right for everyone.

A well-thought-out asset allocation in retirement is essential. While income investments alone are unlikely to meet all your needs, it’s important to understand some of the most common non-annuity investments that can provide income as part of your overall investment strategy.

Bonds: retirement’s traditional backbone

A bond portfolio can help you address investment goals in multiple ways. Buying individual bonds (which are essentially IOUs) at their face values and holding them to maturity can provide a predictable income stream and the assurance that you’ll receive the principal when the bond matures unless a bond issuer defaults. (Bear in mind that if a bond is callable, it may be redeemed early, and you would have to replace that income.) You also can buy bonds through mutual funds and exchange-traded funds (ETFs). Bond funds are subject to the same inflation, interest rate, and credit risks associated with their underlying bonds. Depending on your circumstances, funds may provide greater diversification at a lower cost than individual bonds. However, a bond fund has no specific maturity date and therefore behaves differently from an individual bond, though like an individual bond its price typically moves in the opposite direction from interest rates, which can adversely affect its performance.

Consider the issuer

Bonds are available from many types of issuers, including corporations, the U.S. Treasury, local and state governments, governmental agencies, and foreign governments. Each type is taxed differently. For example, the income from Treasury securities (unlike corporate bonds) is exempt from state and local taxes but not from federal taxes.

Bonds issued by state and local governments, commonly called municipal bonds or munis, are just the opposite. Often a staple for retirees in a high tax bracket, munis generally are exempt from federal income tax (though specific issues may be taxable), but may be subject to state or local taxes and the alternative minimum tax. Largely because of that tax advantage, a tax-free bond typically yields less than a corporate bond with the same maturity. You’ll need to compare a muni’s tax-equivalent yield to know whether it makes sense on an after-tax basis.

Think about bond maturities

Bond prices can drop when interest rates and/or inflation rise, because their fixed income will buy less over time. Inflation affects prices of long-term bonds–those with maturities of 10 or more years–the most. One way to keep a bond portfolio flexible is to use so-called laddering: buying bonds with various maturities. As each matures, its proceeds can be reinvested. If bond yields are up, you benefit from higher rates; if yields are down, you have the option of choosing a different maturity or investment.

Certificates of deposit/savings accounts

Certificates of deposit (CDs), which offer a fixed interest rate for a specific time period, usually pay higher interest than a regular savings account, and you typically can have interest paid at regularly scheduled intervals. A CD can be rolled over to a new CD or another investment when it matures, though you may not get the same interest rate, and you’ll pay a penalty if you cash it in early. A high-yield savings account also pays interest, and, like a CD, is FDIC insured up to $250,000.

Stocks offering dividends

Dividend-paying stocks, as well as mutual funds and ETFs that invest in them, also can provide income. Because dividends on common stock are subject to the company’s performance and a decision by its board of directors each quarter, they may not be as predictable as income from a bond.

However, dividends on preferred stock are different; the rate is fixed and they’re paid before any dividend is available for common stockholders. That fixed payment means that prices of preferred stocks tend to behave somewhat like bonds. Preferred shares usually pay a higher dividend rate than common shares, and though most preferred stockholders do not have voting rights, their claims on the company’s assets will be satisfied before those of common stockholders if the company has financial difficulties. However, a company is often permitted to call in preferred shares at a predetermined future date, and preferred stockholders do not participate in a company’s growth as fully as common shareholders would.

Pass-through securities/REITs

Some investments are designed to act as a conduit for income from underlying assets. For example, mortgage-related securities represent an ownership interest in mortgage loans made by financial institutions. The most basic of these, known as pass-throughs, represent a direct ownership interest in a trust that consists of a pool of mortgages. Examples of pass-throughs include securities issued by the Government National Mortgage Association, the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation, and the Federal National Mortgage Association.

Certain types of investment trusts–for example, REITs that buy, develop, manage, or sell real estate–don’t owe taxes as long as they pay out at least 90% of their net income to investors. That payout has traditionally made them popular as an income vehicle and portfolio diversifier (though diversification alone does not guarantee a profit or protect against a loss). There are many types of REITs, so be sure you understand how the one you choose functions before investing.

Automated inflation fighting

Some investments are designed to fight inflation for you. Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities (TIPS) pay a slightly lower fixed interest rate than regular Treasuries. However, your principal is automatically adjusted twice a year to match changes in the Consumer Price Index (CPI). Those adjusted amounts are used to calculate your interest payments.

The inflation adjustment means that if you hold a TIPS until it matures, your repaid principal will likely be higher than when you bought it (the government guarantees it will not be less). However, you can still lose money if you sell a TIPS before maturity. Inflation rates change, and other interest rates can affect the value of a TIPS. If inflation is lower than expected, the total return on a TIPS could actually be less than that of a comparable non-indexed Treasury. Also, federal taxes on the interest and increases in your principal are owed yearly even though additions to principal aren’t paid until a TIPS matures. Inflation-linked CDs function much like TIPS, but you’ll generally owe federal, state, and local taxes each year.

Some mutual funds are managed with an eye toward inflation. A mutual fund that invests in inflation-protected securities pays out not only the interest but also any annual inflation adjustments, which are taxable each year as short-term capital gains. Some funds target inflation by mixing TIPS with floating rate loans, commodity-linked notes, real estate-related investments, stocks, and bonds.

Distribution funds

Some mutual funds are designed to provide an income stream from year to year. Available as part of a series, each fund designates a percentage of your assets to be distributed each year as scheduled payments, usually monthly or quarterly. Some funds are designed to last over a specific time period and plan to distribute all your assets by the end of that time; others focus on capital preservation, make payments only from earnings, and have no end date. You may withdraw money at any time from a distribution fund; however, that may reduce future returns. Also, payments may vary, and there is no guarantee a fund will achieve the desired return.

Many choices

New ways to help you translate savings into income are constantly being created. These are only a few of the many possibilities, and there’s more to understand about each.

The Retirement Group is not affiliated with nor endorsed by fidelity.com, netbenefits.fidelity.com, hewitt.com, resources.hewitt.com, Merck, ExxonMobil,access.att.com, ING Retirement, AT&T, Qwest, Chevron, Hughes, Northrop Grumman, Raytheon, , Glaxosmithkline, , Pfizer, Verizon, Bank of America, Alcatel-Lucent or by your employer. We are an independent financial advisory group that specializes in transition planning and lump sum distribution. Please call our office at 800-900-5867 if you have additional questions or need help in the retirement planning process.

Albert Aizin is a Representative with FSC Securities and may be reached at www.theretirementgroup.com.

Immediate Annuities Can Provide Lifetime Income

Apr4

Running out of income is a primary concern for most retirees. Immediate annuities offer a financial alternative to help meet retirement income needs by providing a steady stream of income designed to last through retirement.

What is an immediate annuity?

An immediate annuity is a contract between you and an annuity issuer (an insurance company) to which you pay a single lump sum of money in exchange for the issuer’s promise to make payments to you for a fixed period of time or for the rest of your life. Immediate annuities may appeal to you if you are looking for an income you cannot outlive.

Characteristics of immediate Annuities

A steady stream of payments for either a fixed period of time (such as 10 years) or for the rest of your life.

The issuer assumes all investment risk.

Generally, you pay ordinary income taxes on the part of each payment that represents earnings or interest credited to your account. The remaining portion is considered a return of your investment and is not subject to taxation.

You relinquish control over the money you invest in the immediate annuity. While there are some exceptions, usually you receive fixed payments with little or no variation in the amount or timing of each payment.

If you chose a life only payment option, you may not live long enough to receive the return of all of your investment, since payments cease at your death with this option.

How does an immediate annuity work?

As the name implies, an immediate annuity begins to pay you a stream of income immediately. The amount of income you receive is based on a number of factors, including your age at the time of purchase, your gender, whether payments will be made to only you or to you and another person, and whether payments will be made for a fixed period of time or for the rest of your life.

What are your payment options?

Most immediate annuities include a number of payment options that can affect the amount of the payment you receive. The more common payment choices are:

Life only. Payments are based on your age. Payments continue until you die, at which time they cease.

Installment refund/cash refund. If you die prior to receiving at least the return of your investment in the immediate annuity, the beneficiary you name in the policy will receive an amount equal to the difference between what you invested and what you received. The beneficiary will receive this amount in either a lump sum (cash refund) or payments (installment refund).

Life with a period certain. With this option, the issuer does not guarantee the return of your investment; rather, it guarantees a minimum period of time during which payments will be made. Payments are made for the rest of your life, but if you die prior to the end of a minimum payment period (usually between 5 and 25 years), the payments will continue to be made to your beneficiary for the remainder of the period, but no longer.

Joint and survivor. This option provides payments for the lives of two people, typically you and your spouse. When either of you dies, payments continue to be made for the life of the survivor. You can elect to have these “survivor” payments remain the same, or be reduced to a percentage of the original payment, such as two-thirds. The joint and survivor option can also be added to the life with period certain option. In this case, the issuer will make payments until both of you have died orfor the period of time you selected, whichever is longer.

Period certain. This option provides a guaranteed payment for the fixed period of time you specify (e.g., 5, 10, 15, 20 years). If you die prior to the end of the chosen period, your beneficiary will continue to receive payments for the remainder of the fixed period.

The payment option selected affects the amount of each payment. For example, life only payments will be larger than payments for life with a period certain. But life with a period certain payments will be less than payments for a fixed period certain.

Example: A 60-year-old man who invests $100,000 in an immediate annuity may receive annual payments of $7,260 for the rest of his life, or $6,696 per year for life with a minimum of 20 years, or $7,920 per year if he chooses payments for a fixed period of 20 years. (This example is for illustration purposes only and does not reflect actual insurance products or performance, nor is it intended to promote a specific company or product.)

Other factors to consider

An immediate annuity can offer a measure of relief from retirement income concerns by providing a dependable payment for the rest of your life. However, as with most investments, there are other factors to consider before deciding if investing in an immediate annuity is the right choice for you.

First, be sure that the payment option you select will address your income needs. For instance, if you are in poor health and have others who depend on you for financial support, selecting a life only payment option may not be appropriate because payments stop at your death, removing a valuable source of income from your survivors. Second, if you are considering a life only payment option, be aware that it may take many years before you receive at least the return of your investment from the immediate annuity. A 70-year-old man who invests $100,000 and selects a life only option (generating annual payments of $7,260) will have to live about 14 years to receive the return of his $100,000.

Third, consider whether there are better alternatives for providing income. For example, it’s possible that the interest or dividend from investments such as bonds and dividend-producing stock could produce more income than you could get from an immediate annuity over the same period of time based on the same investment amount. In addition, these types of investments usually are more liquid than immediate annuities, giving you the opportunity to increase your withdrawals if you need more money. On the other hand, an immediate annuity provides a guaranteed stream of income regardless of changing interest rates or investment returns. Of course, guarantees are subject to the claims-paying ability of the annuity issuer.

Should you consider an immediate annuity?

An immediate annuity can be a useful financial tool. You may want to consider the purchase of an immediate annuity if:

You want a stream of income you cannot outlive.

You have a sum of money that you would like to turn into a regular source of income and you aren’t interested in leaving the money to your heirs. If you want to leave a portion of the money as a legacy, an immediate annuity may not be a good choice.

You are uncomfortable with investments that have a significant risk of loss. If subjecting your money to the risk of loss associated with investing in securities does not appeal to you, an immediate annuity may provide a way to transfer that risk to an insurance company. While the income guaranteed by the immediate annuity is subject to the claims-paying ability of the annuity issuer, the immediate annuity payments are not subject to stock market risk.

You expect to live for a long time. If you’re healthy and have longevity in your family, an immediate annuity may be an investment to consider.

The Retirement Group is not affiliated with nor endorsed by Alcatel-Lucent, Bank of America, fidelity.com, netbenefits.fidelity.com, hewitt.com, resources.hewitt.com, access.att.com, ING Retirement, AT&T, Qwest, Chevron, Hughes, Northrop Grumman, Raytheon, ExxonMobil, Glaxosmithkline, Merck, Pfizer, Verizon or by your employer. We are an independent financial advisory group that specializes in transition planning and lump sum distribution. Please call our office at 800-900-5867 if you have additional questions or need help in the retirement planning process.

Albert Aizin is a Representative with FSC Securities and may be reached at www.theretirementgroup.com.

Albert Aizin

Registered Financial Advisor

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