In this four part series, “Are Your Sure Your Estate Plan Is In Order?”, we’ll be unpacking some of the most commonly asked questions about this complex area of retirement planning. We’ll address issues such as:

• The Five Musts For Every Estate Plan
• Why Your IRA Should NOT Be In Your Trust
• The Risks of Joint Ownership
• The Keys To Keeping The Family Together, Even After You’re Gone

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In this four part series, “The Shocking Truth About Taxes & Retirement” we’ll address some of the most commonly overlooked tax traps that retirees fall into in their golden years. We’ll look at issues such as:

• Calculating The Tax Impact of Required Minimum Distributions
• The Pro’s and Con’s of Taxable, Tax-Deferred, and Tax-Free Accounts In Retirement
• How To Keep Uncle Sam From Inheriting Your IRA
• Nine Questions To Ask Your New Advisor Before You Hire Them

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In this three part series we’ll look at the keys to balancing risk in retirement, a feat which is easier said than done.  Many retirees today are placing their entire life savings at risk, and the sad truth is, most have no idea!  In this series we’ll address:

• Assessing The Hidden Risk In Your Portfolio
• Think You’re A Conservative Investor?  Think Again!
• Nine Questions To Ask Your New Advisor Before You Hire Them

Get the first report in the series today by completing the form to the right!

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In this six part series, “The 5 Biggest Threats To A Secure Retirement” we’ll examine the most significant issues retirees are facing today, and explore them in detail. This series will cover issues including:

• What To Do About Low Interest Rates
• Planning For Retirements Unexpected Expenses
• Assessing The Hidden Risk of Inflation
• Balancing Risk In Retirement
• How To Avoid Outliving Your Income

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In this six part series, “Ensuring Your Income Lasts Your Lifetime” we’ll look at the most common problems retirees face when it comes to making their money last throughout retirement. In this series we’ll look at income planning issues such as:

• How To Harvest Enough Income In Today’s Low Interest Rate Environment
• Managing The Risk/Return Tradeoff
• Calculating The Impact of Inflation
• The Importance of Budgeting For Retirement’s Unexpected Expenses
• The Impact of Long Term Care On Your Retirement
• How To Determine How Much Income You’ll Really Need To Carry You Through

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NOTE: It is 60 days, not 90 days as many taxpayers seem to believe based on PLR requests to IRS for an extension of time to complete a rollover.

It is never a good idea to wait until the last day to complete your rollover. You might find that the bank closed early for a holiday or that your 60th day falls on a weekend. The financial institution could make a mistake and put your funds in a non-IRA account. Any number of things could go wrong so you want to complete your rollover as soon as possible – not on the very last day.

In fact, don’t do a rollover at all. Do a direct transfer from one IRA custodian to another. Then you don’t have any of the problems or issues discussed above. You worked hard for that money – don’t lose it because of a stupid mistake.

To learn more about 401k, IRA or Roth IRA rollovers and avoiding mistakes, click HERE.

Eligibility to deduct contributions made to Traditional IRAs depends on a somewhat complex formula that considers your income, your retirement coverage at work and, if applicable, your spouse’s retirement coverage. If neither you nor your spouse participates in an employer-sponsored retirement plan, then all of your Traditional IRA contributions will be deductible. However, if either one of you is covered by a retirement plan at work, phase-out ranges based on the amount of your modified adjusted gross income (MAGI) for the year could limit your IRA deductibility. You will know if you are considered to have particpated in your employer’s plan by checking your W-2 form for the year in question. If the “Retirement Plan” box is checked, then you have participated. If it is not, then you haven’t, simple, right?

Go here to view 2012 IRA and tax tables for phase-out ranges

The same contribution deadline for Traditional IRAs also applies to Roth IRAs. While you get no immediate income tax benefit by making a Roth IRA contribution, the growth will be tax-free when withdrawn, provided certain conditions are met. And while there are no deductibility phase-outs to deal with, the amount of your MAGI will determine whether you qualify to make a contribution.

Keep in mind that you must have earned income at least equal to the amount you wish to contribute to either a Traditional or Roth IRA. If you don’t qualify to make a deductible contribution to a Traditional IRA because of the income limitations, consider making a non-deductible contribution. The money in the Traditional IRA will grow tax-free until withdrawn. Also, special rules allow an individual with little or no earned income to use their spouse’s compensation to make an IRA contribution. You can view IRS Publication 590 for additional information on this topic.

This type of information is useful in designing diversified portfolios that will achieve market rates of return over a long-term period of time.

Here’s the problem:

Historical information cannot offer us any indication of how any one asset class or individual investment is going to perform in the future. Past performance is not a guarantee of future performance. Therefore, it is imprudent to base future investing decisions on the track record of one asset class or individual investment. The Financial Coaching Group discourages financial professionals and investors from using short-term returns to make long-term investment decisions.

We believe in Markets, not Managers. Market performance is primarily determined by asset allocation, NOT stock picking or market timing. We believe that prudent and global diversification reduces risk. We believe that this philosophy can reduce risk, costs, taxes and expenses.

Many of the basic rules of investing are counterintuitive. For example, rising interest rates may be good news for those shopping for CD’s and other short-term savings vehicles, but they’re generally bad for bond funds. And here’s another zinger: The lazy investor is often more successful than the hard-working one.

Because it is possible to shoot yourself in the foot with overzealous trading, I’m a big proponent of conducting a portfolio review just a few times a year–semiannually or quarterly. The purpose of this portfolio checkup is to systematically troubleshoot problem spots and identify changes you may want to make as part of your rebalancing program. (You should plan to rebalance your portfolio–remove money from those investments that have performed well and plow it into your portfolio’s underachievers–at least every few years.)

Observe the following five steps as you conduct a portfolio review. Take notes as you go along. You can always get a profession free portfolio checkup by contacting us here.

1. Make sure your asset mix is in line with your targets.
One of the most important determinants of whether your portfolio is positioned to meet your goals is your asset allocation–how much you hold in stocks, bonds, and cash.

2. Analyze your portfolio positioning.
Once you’ve assessed your portfolio’s asset allocation, turn your attention to how your stock and bond holdings are positioned.

3. Review your individual holdings and have a purpose.
Once you’ve checked out your aggregate portfolio’s positioning, it’s time to conduct a quick checkup on each of your individual holdings. (Cash, stocks, bonds, annuities, etc.) Ask yourself: “What is the purpose of this money?” Then find the investment that solves that purpose.

4. Examine performance.
It’s a big mistake to focus too much attention on short-term performance, but your quarterly or semiannual portfolio review should include a quick assessment of what is going on.

5. Rebalance your portfolio
After you’ve reviewed your portfolio’s current status, it’s time to plan your next move. It’s not likely that you’ll uncover a portfolio problem you need to address right away, but you should make sure your portfolio is rebalanced quarterly – if needed.

Simply put – this is usually way too much for the average investor. Not only is it confusing, but most people don’t have the tools to make this happen. This is part of our overall service we provide to our investing clients.

Does your investing and planning mean a lot to you? Then get your FREE portfolio checkup for 2012. Contact us right away!