Category Archives: Retirement Planning

By Christine Graf

Certified public accountant Brian Stidd has opened his own firm at 11 South Street in Glens Falls. Prior to opening Stidd CPA, PLLC, the Siena College graduate worked for Whittemore, Dowen & Ricciardelli LLP in Queensbury. He has almost 20 years of experience working in public accounting and the private sector. 

“I have an entrepreneurial spirit and always wanted to open my business,” said Stidd. “I enjoy working with clients, and I also enjoy the technology piece of the business.”

Stidd specializes in business and individual tax planning, advisory and preparation, and general business accounting and advisory. He also provides outsourced accounting services to small businesses that don’t have accountants on staff.

“A lot of small businesses need more than just bookkeeping but aren’t quite ready for or in need of a CFO for hire,” he said. “My clients have anywhere from $100,000 in revenue to $2 million-$3 million in revenue.”

BY DAVE KOPYC

Eventually in life we must face the reality of building out our own personal retirement plan for the golden years. We live in a society today where most of us will not have a pension benefit from our employer and we will have to take our life’s savings to create a paycheck once we lose the employer’s weekly or biweekly payment we receive in our working years.

For some of you that are reading this article it will send a chill up your spine with anxiety to think that this daunting task can be handled with great concern and respect for you, the individual that is receiving the payment and it is specific to you and your individual needs. The cookie cutter approach where you are grouped into an investment or specific type of investment program can cause you to lose some of the personal touch that you may have had during your accumulation years.

Retirement income distribution is probably the most important decision you will make in your pre- and post-retirement years. There have been many different strategies and concepts to accomplish retirement income in my 42 years of being in the financial services industry, and every strategy has pros and cons and should be specific to you and your family – no matter what the strategy may be. It is critical that 100 percent of your hard-earned assets do not go into any investment program. Diversification is your friend and low cost and flexibility follow closely behind.

By Eric Scaringe

Recently, the office of the Illinois state treasurer was tasked with handling one of the most bizarre and complicated unclaimed estate cases ever recorded in U.S. history. 

Chicago resident Joseph Stancak passed away in 2016, secretly leaving behind $11 million in his estate. Fast forward to October 2022, 119 of Stancak’s relatives have now received a portion of his wealth more than five years later.

With no siblings, children of his own, or nephews and nieces, his lineage had to be traced by going all the way back to his parents before coming back to these relatives who are located in multiple states and even countries. That is a life-changing amount of money, and there is not much information on how he accumulated the wealth, but there is an important lesson to be learned here.

The best time to begin estate planning is as soon as possible. It basically starts with going through “what if” scenarios, some financial housekeeping and then bringing in professionals to finalize the process. 

The biggest error you can make is thinking that estate planning is only for those worth tens of millions of dollars and doesn’t apply to your family.  Anyone with assets owned in their own names may be subjecting their heirs to a long and expensive probate court process to simply inherit their assets.

By Rick Schwerd

The end of the year is always a good time to take stock of your investments and look ahead. Last year at this time, it was easy to be bullish on the stock market. Vaccine distribution was just starting, the country was continuing to reopen and unprecedented stimulus was being injected into the economy.

As we head into 2022, there is still a lot to be positive about, such as robust company earnings and a very healthy consumer base. However, concerns about the Omicron variant, global supply chain issues, labor shortages and inflation are tempering enthusiasm.  

Stock markets had another good year. The Standard and Poor’s (S&P) 500, an index of 500 of the largest companies in the U.S., is up approximately 20 percent year-to-date, as of early December. Small-cap stocks, mid-cap stocks and most international markets have also shown strong gains this year. As expected, short-term interest rates have remained near zero as the Federal Reserve continues its accommodative fiscal policy. Intermediate and long-term rates have risen as the economy has improved, but in a measured way.

As we look forward, there is plenty to be positive about. The U.S. consumer is doing very well, which is vital since consumer spending accounts for nearly 70 percent of our Gross Domestic Product (GDP). The unemployment rate has fallen from 6.7 percent at the start of the year to 4.2 percent in November. Wages and salaries are up approximately 10 percent year-over-year. U.S. consumers have accumulated more than $2 trillion in excess savings and consumer net worth has surged about 30 percent since the start of the pandemic. These factors provide confidence that strong retail sales of goods and services will continue into 2022.  

By Christine Graf

According to the Federal Reserve, only 36 percent of Americans are adequately saving for retirement.  The National Institute on Retirement Security estimates that almost 40 million U.S. households have no retirement savings.

Certified Financial Planner Mark Wells, co-founder of Three Buckets Wealth Management, recommends that everyone have three to five months of living expenses in their savings accounts. A private wealth advisory practice of Ameriprise Financial Services, Three Buckets has offices in Glens Falls, Latham, and Tucson, Arizona.

“If you don’t have disability insurance through your employer, it should be closer to six months of living expenses,” said Wells.

He recommends making maximum contributions to employer matched 401K programs in order to take advantage of “free money.” He also recommends Roth IRA’s to many of his clients including recent college graduates who are in lower tax brackets than they will be later in their careers.

“What we have been doing with a lot of our clients is a Roth conversion which is essentially realizing the tax or converting pre-tax assets like a 401K or IRA to a Roth IRA so that you realize the tax in that year. But that amount going forward is tax free, and the earnings are also tax free. It’s tax free to the owner of the account but also tax free to the beneficiary when they receive it down the road. In your early years when income is lower than it will be in the future, making a Roth contribution is a wise idea.”

By Meghan M. Murray
Your employer-sponsored retirement plan is a valuable asset. But sometimes things happen that can affect the status of your plan. So, for example, if you work for a hospital that changes ownership, and you have been participating in a 403(b), 457(b) or 401(k) retirement plan, what should you do with it now?
Basically, you have four options:
Cash out your plan. You can simply cash out your plan and take the money, but you’ll have to pay taxes on it, and possibly penalties as well. So, unless you really need the funds and you have no other alternative, you may want to avoid liquidating your account.
Roll your account into your new employer’s plan. If it’s allowed, you can roll over your old 403(b), 457(b) or 401(k) plan into your new employer’s plan. Before making this move, you’ll want to look at the new plan’s investment options (which should be numerous) and fees (which should be low). If you move the money directly to the new plan, you won’t be taxed at the time of the transfer, and your funds can continue to grow tax-deferred.
Leave your plan with your old employer. If your account balance is above a certain level, you may be able to leave your plan with your old employer’s plan administrator. You won’t be able to contribute any more money to the plan, but if you like the investment options you’ve chosen, keeping the money in your old plan might be a viable choice.

By Susan E. Campbell
Whether the forecast for the economy and the investment markets is good, bad, or middle-of-the-road, retirement professionals agree that staying the course is the best course.
“The number one thing for 2020 is, in a word, uncertainty,” said Don Tenne, a financial planner with Ameriprise Financial Services and based in Glens Falls.
“Tariffs, elections, China and other international uncertainties are things that tend to slow down the market even though the economy is doing very well,” said Tenne.
Markets are driven by not only by fundamentals but also by investor psychology, which can be impacted by alarmist media, he said.
“The media says a recession is coming, but we don’t know when,” he said. “Many experts say recession may be one to six years ahead. So we see the stories, and then they go away.”

By David L. Cumming
As we move through our career, we often accumulate a number of different retirement accounts: A traditional IRA here, a rollover IRA there, and two or three scattered 401(k) accounts left in the plans of former employers.
As the accounts add up, it can become difficult to get a clear picture of your overall retirement preparedness.
Consolidating your retirement accounts into one central account can help you make sure your retirement assets are invested appropriately for your overall goals, better track the performance of your holdings and, in some cases, discover more investment choices and potentially incur lower fees.
However, consolidating retirement accounts into one account may not be right for everyone. Before taking any action, you should carefully compare your potential options in order to reach an informed decision about what makes the most sense for you.