{"id":16055,"date":"2014-12-16T12:04:24","date_gmt":"2014-12-16T17:04:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.glensfalls.com\/glensfallsbusinessjournal\/2014\/12\/retirement-planning-professionals-say-start-a-plan-early-in-life-and-stick-to-it.html"},"modified":"2014-12-16T12:04:24","modified_gmt":"2014-12-16T17:04:24","slug":"retirement-planning-professionals-say-start-a-plan-early-in-life-and-stick-to-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.glensfalls.com\/glensfallsbusinessjournal\/2014\/12\/retirement-planning-professionals-say-start-a-plan-early-in-life-and-stick-to-it\/","title":{"rendered":"Retirement Planning Professionals Say Start A Plan Early In Life And Stick To It"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n\"rsz_glen_larkin.jpg\"\n<\/div>\n
Greg Larkin, investment officer and financial planner for
\nAdirondack Trust Co\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

BY SUSAN E. CAMPBELL<\/p>\n

A retirement plan is one of the few tax advantaged
\nsavings options available to just
\nabout anybody. Still, too few take advantage
\nof a plan’s unique benefits, say retirement
\nplanning professionals.<\/p>\n

“The population as a whole has not saved
\nenough at this point,” said Glen Larkin, an
\ninvestment officer and financial planner for
\nAdirondack Trust Co.’s Trust Department.<\/p>\n

Even for those fortunate enough to have
\ncompany retirement plan distributions and
\npersonal savings and investments, in addition
\nto social security payouts when they retire,
\nLarkin said the impact of taxes and inflation
\nmust be taken into account when determining
\nwhether the projected income will cover expenses
\nduring what could be a 25- to 30-year
\nretirement, or longer.
\nBut don’t retirees usually need less money
\nin their retired years than they did in their
\nworking years?
\nThat is the conventional wisdom, which
\nmay not be holding true anymore. Unpredictable
\nthings come up in life, Larkin said. The
\nculprit is rising medical costs, not only in the
\npremiums paid for coverage, he said, but also
\nin the bottom-line price of treatments.<\/p>\n

\n
\n\"ryanboucheybio.jpg\"\n<\/div>\n
Ryan S. Bouchey, vice president of Bouchey Financial Group\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

“The biggest unknown and fear today for
\nthose planning for retirement is health care
\nspending,” said Ryan S. Bouchey, vice president
\nof Bouchey Financial Group.
\n“Many components of monthly spending
\ncan be controlled but no one can predict
\nwhere health care expenses will go, ” Bouchey
\nsaid. “That is because they are inflating at a
\nmuch greater rate than the consumer price
\nindex.”<\/p>\n

As even the most generous companies
\ncome under pressure to trim health coverage,
\nthe threat of higher future medical spending
\novershadows retirees as well as current
\nemployees.<\/p>\n

Trends like this demonstrate why retirement
\nplanning is such an important and
\nintegral part of financial planning, and why
\nsuccessful retirees involve a professional to
\ndetermine future goals and objectives while
\ndesigning a plan to help meet their needs,
\nsay the experts.<\/p>\n

“Planning for retirement takes time and
\nunderstanding the needs and income sources
\nof the individual,” said
\nJim Campone, senior
\nvice president of the
\nWealth and Financial
\nGroup of NBT Bank.
\n“Many people put more
\neffort into planning
\ntheir vacation than
\ntheir retirement.”<\/p>\n

“Retirement planning
\nis not a one-size-fits-all proposition,” Larkin
\nsaid. “Planners deal with many scenarios.”
\n“A planner gives you clarity on the things
\nthat are relevant to your whole financial picture
\nin retirement,” Campone said.<\/p>\n

The first recommendation a retirement
\nplanner may make is which type among the
\nexpanding realm of tax-qualified plans to
\nestablish.
\n“Congress has been quiet this year,” said
\nBouchey. Yet it was not that long ago that
\nSimple IRA and Roth IRA plans, followed by
\nRoth 401(k) and the Solo 401(k) plans, came
\nonto the legislative scene.<\/p>\n

\n
\n\"fullerrichard.jpg\"\n<\/div>\n
Richard Fuller, of Richard W. Fuller, CPA\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

The variety of tax-qualified plans is designed
\nto provide something for everybody
\nat different stages of a career or during the
\nevolution of a company, said Richard Fuller
\nof Richard W. Fuller, CPA.<\/p>\n

Keeping on top of reporting requirements
\nand other areas of legal compliance
\nis the key challenge
\nof administrators.
\nFor example, there
\nare deductible and
\nnon-deductible types
\nof individual retirement
\naccounts and
\n“each has a different
\ntax outcome and
\nguidelines for participant
\ncontributions and reporting,” said
\nFuller.<\/p>\n

“If new in business and the owner has a
\nfew thousand dollars to put aside, contribute
\nfully to a Traditional IRA,” said Fuller. “Double
\nthat, from $10,000 to $25,000 available for
\ncontribution, and the options include a SEP
\n(Simplified Employee Pension) IRA or Simple
\nIRA, both of which avoid the complexities of
\na pension or profit sharing plan.”<\/p>\n

“A sole proprietor or partner can also begin
\na 401(k) plan for the company, but costs go
\nup with the complexity of a plan,” he said.
\n“However, to contribute more than $25,000
\na year the individual would have to set up
\na form of pension or profit sharing plan, or
\na combination of those plans, or consider
\na Solo 401(k) with reduced reporting and
\nadministration than the traditional 401(k).”<\/p>\n

As a company grows, the business owner
\nmay find switching to a different type of qualified
\nplan more beneficial for accumulating assets
\nfor retirement. There is another decision
\nto make when adding employees, as different
\nplans require employees to be covered and
\nvested as part of non-discrimination regulations
\nand other ERISA rules.<\/p>\n

“ERISA is the governing body for retirement
\nplans,” said Campone. “Their focus in
\nthe industry has been on disclosing the fees
\nassociated with a plan and making sure plan
\nproviders are providing accurate information
\nthat the client company and participants can
\neasily compare to other plans.”<\/p>\n

\n
\n\"james\n<\/div>\n
Jim Campone, senior vice president of the Wealth and Financial
\nGroup of NBT Bank\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Therefore cost is another variable to consider.
\nCampone said there are custodial fees,
\nadministrative fees, investment management
\nfees and fees built into the underlying pools
\nof investments themselves.<\/p>\n

“Transparency is the buzzword today,” said
\nCampone. “Consumers
\nhave rights and
\nplan sponsors are
\nobliged to maintain
\ncertain records and
\ndisclose them, not
\nhide behind the
\nnumbers.”<\/p>\n

Larkin believes
\nthe media has done
\na fine job educating
\nconsumers of the benefits of retirement planning.
\nThereafter it is up to the professionals
\nto “know the customers, understand their
\nneeds and objectives, and help them work
\ntoward realistic goals,” he said.<\/p>\n

On the other hand, some believe the media
\nhas not properly educated consumers about
\nthe pitfalls of withdrawing money from a retirement
\nplan before age 59 1\/2, when penalties
\nkick in on top of ordinary income taxes.
\n“We tell our clients regularly that if they are
\nconsidering any financial change, they should
\ncall us first to investigate how their decision
\nmight impact income taxes,” said Thomas J.
\nKubiak, EA, tax advisor and owner of Accutax
\nIncome Tax Services.<\/p>\n

Even though younger workers “are not
\nthinking about retirement,” Fuller said “the
\nearlier they start, the better the result”.
\n“Younger workers are scared of the stock
\nmarket because of the turmoil of 2000 and
\n2008,” said Bouchey.<\/p>\n

“You only have one chance to retire the
\nway you want to, so focus on that,” he said.
\n“Having a discipline to savings, especially
\nduring prime earning years, and keeping at
\nit makes all the difference.”<\/p>\n

Retirement plans do not have to be invested
\nin risky options. In fact, it is better to
\nchoose an ultra-conservative option than to
\nhold off contributing altogether, the professionals
\nsay.
\nConsider what happens when a 20-year-old
\nputs aside $100 a month in an account with
\nzero interest and no capital growth. At age 65
\nthe account would be valued at $54,000. The
\nplan participant would have had a $1,200-ayear
\ntax deduction and an extra $54,000 to
\nspend during retirement.<\/p>\n

Compound the account at only two percent
\nand it will have grown to $87,466 in 45 years,
\naccording to Kubiak. The planholder had the
\nsame $54,000 deduction from current taxes
\nand earned $33,000 tax-deferred until the
\nmoney is withdrawn during retirement.
\nWhile a low-earnings investment is better
\nthan none, it is difficult to “avoid the stock
\nmarket if seeking to get growth out of a portfolio,”
\nLarkin said.<\/p>\n

Two-percent has historically not been
\ndifficult to obtain in the U.S. stock market,
\nalthough past performance does not guarantee
\nfuture results. The average annual rate
\nof return of the benchmark S&P 500 Stock
\nIndex was 9.19 percent for the past 10 years,
\n11.15 percent for the past 20 years, and 18.47
\npercent for the past five years as of December
\n31, 2013, according to www.yahoofinance.com.<\/p>\n

“Plan conservatively, but do plan,” said
\nBouchey, who works with many on the verge
\nof retirement. “A planner will help you keep
\non track.”
\n“It is not the easiest conversation to tell
\nsomeone they have to reel in spending during
\nretirement,” he said.<\/p>\n

Retirement services companies use investment
\nmodels that guide participants to the
\nbest option or options for funding their plans.
\n“The core strategy at NBT Bank is to utilize
\nresearch and asset allocation models that
\nprovide the appropriate choice that matches
\nthe participant’s goals and objectives, from
\nconservative to aggressive,” said Campone.<\/p>\n

Fuller said, “We help people navigate that
\nmatrix of choices to their best interest this
\nyear while recognizing that things may change
\nnext year, or the next.”<\/p>\n

Start it and stick to it is the mantra of retirement
\nplanning professions. And contribute
\nas much as you can.<\/p>\n

“Most companies will match at least a portion
\nof employee contributions, but employees
\nhave to participate first,” Campone said.
\n“It always makes sense to maximize
\nretirement contributions before making investments
\nor adding to savings that are not
\ntax-deductible or tax-deferred,” he said.<\/p>\n

“Get past the first step and make a commitment,”
\nsaid Fuller. “Contribute on time to get the
\ntax advantages, as deadlines for setting up and
\nfunding the account vary among plans.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Greg Larkin, investment officer and financial planner for Adirondack Trust Co BY SUSAN E. CAMPBELL A retirement plan is one of the few tax advantaged savings options available to just about anybody. Still, too few take advantage of a…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":88,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[47],"tags":[66,84,123],"yoast_head":"\r\nRetirement Planning Professionals Say Start A Plan Early In Life And Stick To It - Glens Falls Business Journal<\/title>\r\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\r\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.glensfalls.com\/glensfallsbusinessjournal\/2014\/12\/retirement-planning-professionals-say-start-a-plan-early-in-life-and-stick-to-it\/\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Retirement Planning Professionals Say Start A Plan Early In Life And Stick To It - Glens Falls Business Journal\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Greg Larkin, investment officer and financial planner for Adirondack Trust Co BY SUSAN E. 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