Eye on Money September/October 2016 for Clients
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EYE ON SEP O C T MONEY2016 BUILDING RETIREMENT SAVINGS AT ANY AGE WHAT TO DO IN YOUR 20s, 30s, 40s, 50s, AND 60s TO PREPARE FOR RETIREMENT plus CHARITABLE GIVING WITH A DONOR-ADVISED FUND WHY START A RETIREMENT PLAN FOR YOUR BUSINESS BOND AND CD LADDERS © iStock.com/PeopleImages © INSURANCE THREE MISTAKES TO AVOID REGARDING THREE REASONS TO START A LONG-TERM CARE RETIREMENT PLAN FOR YOUR BUSINESS 1 Thinking you won't ever need it. About 70% of people turning age 65 will need long-term care at some point in their lives, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. 2 Counting on Medicare to cover it. Medicare generally does not cover long-term custodial care services, such as assistance with bathing, dressing, and other activities of daily life, if that is the only type of care you need. Medicaid covers them, but your income must be low and your assets limited to qualify for Medicaid. If you need long- term custodial care, your only options may be to pay for it from your personal income and savings, or a combination of long-term care insurance, income, and savings. 3 Waiting too long to purchase long-term care insurance. If long-term care insurance is right for you, it is generally a good idea to purchase it well before you need it. If you wait until your health deteriorates, insurance companies may not sell you a policy. Plus, your premiums will generally be lower the younger you are when you purchase the policy. Please consult your financial advisor about how to plan for long-term care expenses. ©iStock.com/PeopleImages © iStock.com/FredFroese inside UP FRONT FEATURES FYI 2 Three Mistakes to Avoid Regarding 6 Building Retirement Savings 16 Hong Kong, China: City of Lights Long-Term Care at Any Age 18 Two Reasons to Celebrate on the National Mall What to do in your 20s, 30s, 40s, 50s, and 3 Three Reasons to Start a Retirement 60s to prepare for retirement. 19 Quiz: Test Your College Smarts Plan for Your Business 12 Charitable Giving with a 4 What Is a Bond or CD Ladder? Donor-Advised Fund © 2016 Quinn Communications Inc. An introduction to the tax benefits and This publication was created by Quinn Communications Inc. 5 Test Your Insurance Knowledge (www.quinncom.biz) for the use of the sender. It is intended to features of a donor-advised fund. Test your knowledge and gain a greater provide general information on the subject matter covered. It is not understanding of how insurance can help intended to provide a financial, legal, or other professional service. protect your financial security. The information in this publication may not be appropriate for you. Contact a financial or legal professional before making changes to your plans. 2 FR2016-0527-0174/E RETIREMENT © iStock.com/Jacob Ammentorp Lund THREE REASONS TO START A RETIREMENT PLAN FOR YOUR BUSINESS Higher Contribution Limits contributions instead of pre-tax contri- 1 Than Regular IRAs butions to your own account. Although Most business retirement plans will permit after-tax contributions will not reduce you to contribute more money per year to your current income taxes, withdrawals Retirement Plans your account than a regular IRA will allow. from your Roth account in retirement are for Small Businesses and tax-free, as long as you follow the rules. How much more? To give you one example, Self-Employed Individuals the SEP-IRA retirement plan permits a Tax-deferred or tax-free growth potential. business to contribute up to 25% of an em- Your investment earnings are not taxed SIMPLE IRA ployee’s compensation, up to a maximum while they are in the retirement plan. A good choice for businesses with contribution of $53,000, in 2016. A regular Because they are not subject to tax each fewer than 100 employees that IRA limits contributions in 2016 to $5,500 year, as they generally would be in a want an easy-to-operate plan that ($6,500 if you are age 50 or older). taxable account, your earnings have the their employees can contribute to, as well as their business. If you are self-employed or own a potential to grow faster, resulting in a small business and want to save large larger nest egg at retirement. SEP-IRA amounts each year on a tax-favored basis, Your investment earnings may even- Funded solely by employer you owe it to yourself to explore your tually be taxed, depending on your type contributions. This plan's high con- business retirement plan options. of retirement account. Earnings in a tax- tribution limits help make it a good deferred account are subject to income fit for owner-only businesses that Tax Breaks for You and tax when withdrawn from the account. want to make substantial 2 Your Business Earnings in a Roth account can be with- contributions to their own drawn tax-free in retirement, provided retirement accounts. A tax deduction for your business. Contri- the rules for Roth accounts are followed. butions that your business makes to your 401(k) Plan account and your employees’ accounts Attract and Retain A good choice for businesses that are generally deductible as a business want to allow their employees to 3 Better Employees expense. contribute, as well as their business Because many job applicants and em- to make matching or profit-sharing A reduction in your personal income ployees place a high value on access to contributions. High contribution taxes. If you choose a plan that allows an employer-sponsored retirement plan limits, vesting schedules, and a employees to contribute, you can contrib- Roth option make 401(k) when considering whether to join or stay ute part of your pay before income taxes plans attractive. with a company, adding a retirement plan are withheld from it, which reduces your to the perks that your business offers can taxes for the current year. For example, if MyRA help attract qualified job applicants and you contribute $10,000 of your compensa- A "starter" retirement plan for minimize employee turnover. tion to a SIMPLE IRA account or a tax- businesses that want to make it easy for their low- and middle- deferred 401(k) account, you will not have There is still time to set up a retirement income employees to begin to to pay income tax on that $10,000 this plan for 2016, although you will need to save for retirement without any year. Income taxes are postponed until the act soon (generally by October 1, 2016) if cost to the business. money is withdrawn from your account. you want to set up a SIMPLE IRA. Please If you choose a 401(k) plan that offers ask your financial advisor about which plan Roth accounts, you can make after-tax is the best fit for you and your business. n FR2016-0527-0174/E 3 INVESTING 101 What is a bond or CD ladder? Ladders can help you take advantage of rising interest rates. WHAT IS A BOND OR CD LADDER? A ladder is a strategy that staggers the maturity dates of individual bonds and Test Your Insurance Knowledge certificates of deposits (CDs) in order to provide you with frequent access to Test your knowledge—and gain a greater understanding of how insurance can help protect your financial security, portions of your principal and help you manage reinvestment risk. as well as the security of those people you love. Please consult your financial advisor for specific insurance advice. HOW DOES A LADDER TYPICALLY WORK? Let’s say you have $300,000 to invest in individual bonds. To build a bond ladder, © iStock.com/Johnny Greig you might invest $100,000 in bonds that mature in one year, $100,000 in bonds that mature in two years, and $100,000 in bonds that mature in three years. When the first group of bonds matures (group A in the illustration below), the proceeds are typically reinvested in bonds with the longest maturity, which in this example is three years. By following this pattern of reinvestment, a portion of your bonds will mature every year for as long as you continue to use the laddering strategy. YEAR ONE YEAR TWO Equal amounts of bonds When the bonds in group A mature, with three different maturity the proceeds are reinvested in bonds dates are purchased. (D) with the longest maturity. D C C BONDS: B B A . YEARS TO MATURITY: 1 2 3 1 2 3 WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS OF LADDERING YOUR INVESTMENTS? Laddering can help you take advantage of rising interest rates by providing you with access to a portion of your principal at regular intervals so that you have the opportunity to reinvest it in bonds or CDs paying higher rates. If interest rates decline, laddering can also help you manage reinvestment risk—the risk that comparable investments will be paying interest at a lower rate when your current investments mature. For example, if all of your bonds mature at the same time and rates decline, you’ll be faced with either accepting less in- come if you reinvest in comparable investments or shooting for equal or higher income by choosing riskier investments. If your investments mature at different times, however, those investments that are not currently maturing will continue to generate income at the same rate as before so that your overall income may not decrease as much. n PLEASE NOTE: When interest rates rise, bond prices generally fall, and vice versa. The effect is usually more pronounced for Please consult your longer-term securities.