Retirement Plans

Proudly Serving all of the southern California

With ballooning annual deficits, unfunded liabilities, and entitlement programs, our country is probably headed toward stifling taxes in the future. Do you have a plan to deal with the possibility of tax increases that will be needed to pay for these programs?

Most individuals are focused during their working years on funding tax-deferred savings plans like IRAs and 401(k)s and fail to adequately prepare for the possibility that future taxes will rise. Generally, planners and advisors advocate that money should be placed in tax-deferred vehicles such as IRAs and 401(k)s now, during the working years, because they assume you will live on less in retirement. While this may be the case for the highest income earners, many will find that due to inflation in energy costs, healthcare premiums, and taxes, they may actually need more income during retirement to maintain their standard of living.

In addition, most Americans will rely to some degree upon Social Security to supplement their standard of living during retirement. If a retiree’s other income sources are taxable, then the portion of Social Security income that is taxable could rise to as high as 80%.

As part of your income strategy, we suggest that if you have the opportunity, you should make part of your income tax free. In other words, if part of your income in retirement comes from tax-free sources and never has to appear on your tax return, you will actually reduce your taxes on the rest of your income, including Social Security. Of course, the challenge is to find a financial vehicle that will allow you to accomplish this without sacrificing other important goals; we have discovered an innovative approach that combines a number of the following powerful features:

Principal protection

Market-linked growth

Tax-free accumulation

Tax-free access for major expenditures

Tax-free access for long term care

Tax-free access for retirement income