When thinking about retirement income planning at a high level, it boils down to two main considerations: what are your retirement income sources, and what are your retirement income needs? Answering these questions is an important first step towards creating your retirement income strategy. What are Your Retirement Income Sources? We’ve written before about potential strategies to maximize social security payments, which can help to provide a supplemental boost to your retirement income. But for many investors, a main source of retirement income comes from their investment portfolios. Dividend paying stocks, dividend focused portfolio strategies, fixed income allocations, or selling stocks/portfolio holdings to raise cash are all ways investors can generate income in their investment portfolio. [+] Read More

An investment plan is a tool you can use to help you understand where you stand in retirement at every step of the way. Are you still on track to reach your retirement goals? How likely is it you be able to maintain your current lifestyle throughout retirement? Can you afford your current and potential healthcare costs? How much will you be able to leave behind for your loved ones? A well-constructed investment plan can give you a good sense of the answers to these questions. Instead of figuring it out as you go, you can examine a variety of outcomes to help you make more informed choices. Factoring Spending Goals into Investment Plans Before you can use an investment plan to help monitor your spending in retirement, it’s important to provide detailed answers to some fairly basic questions: what are your income needs/desired income in retirement? How might those needs change over time? [+] Read More

With the year coming to a close, it’s important to make sure you have taken, or are set up to take, your 2013 required minimum distribution. The amount you need to take is based on the total value of all your IRA accounts. If this is the first time that you are required to take an RMD, you may have until April 1, 2014 to do so. Below is a brief guide that will hopefully answer many of your questions about taking required minimum distributions. Alternatively, you can call one of our Wealth Managers at (800) 541-7774 to potentially determine your RMD amount. Click Here to Read the Report [+] Read More

In our recent post on interest rates, we reviewed Federal Reserve policy and explained how future Fed actions may cause interest rates to rise. Some fear that with the Fed gradually taking their “foot off the gas” by reducing the current quantitative easing program, the economy could feel some negative effects. But the question we ask is: Could gradually rising interest rates actually be a good thing for the economy and your portfolio? Here are four reasons it might. Reason 1: Rising Interest Rates as a Vote of Confidence In Wealth Manager Tom Wilson’s recent piece titled “Preparing Your Portfolio for Rising Interest Rates,” he mentions that the Fed’s reductions or elimination of quantitative easing would be a sign of an improving economy. This could reflect itself in rising stock prices, which could be a benefit to portfolios. [+] Read More

In response to the 2008-2009 financial crisis and global recession, the Federal Reserve (Fed) and other central banks across the world lowered interest rates and implemented asset purchase programs meant to drive down borrowing costs for banks and consumers. What is the Federal Reserve Trying to Accomplish? It works in two ways. First, by lowering short-term interest rates, the Fed and other central banks give traditional banks easier access to cheap capital, which policymakers hope will spur economic activity by increasing the amount of loans banks make to businesses and consumers. Second, the asset purchase programs, which are referred to here in the US1 as “quantitative easing,” has the Fed currently purchasing $85 billion per month of securities - divided between mortgage-backed securities and Treasury securities.i This serves two main purposes: [+] Read More

Interest rates are still at historically low levels, but recent statements about quantitative easing from Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke have put the prospect of rising interest rates front and center. Many investors are now asking - how do I prepare my portfolio for the possibility of rising interest rates? First, it’s important to understand that reducing or eliminating quantitative easing is a sign of an improving economy. Second, investors should look at how different fixed income sectors can be more or less susceptible to a rise in interest rates. And finally, investors should review their portfolios with their wealth manager, specifically the fixed income portfolio, and make adjustments as needed. [+] Read More