Make Retirement Simple Book Hits #1 on Amazon.com Kindle

My first book has been published on Amazon Kindle and hit #1 on several of the charts!  It’s very exciting.  The print version will be coming out in the next couple of weeks.

I’d just like to thank my co-authors Travis Evans, Craig Cassidy, and Jeff Biro.   Congratulations to you guys too for being a “Best Selling Author”!Book-AmazonBestSellerCollageScreen

If you want to check out the KINDLE version here it is on Amazon.com:  http://amzn.to/2cffv2J

WOULD YOU LIKE THIS BOOK FOR FREE? Get our LABOR DAY SPECIAL and we will mail you a PRINTED COPY once it is ready later this month.  You will get ALL of the following if you get going this Labor Day weekend:

1). Full RetirementView software
2). The Latest 2016 Edition (and 2017 edition when it is ready in January)
3). you get 1 year of updates from date of purchase
4). you get our QuickStart Guide
5). you get unlimited support by e-mail and phone.
6). you get our iron-clad 100% 90-Day Unconditional Money Back Guarantee (new customers only).
7). you get our online training videos that teach you how to use the software.
8). BONUS: LIVE Q&A Call with Tim Turner – bring all your questions
9). BONUS: $25 TARGET GIFT CARD
10). BONUS: FREE 2016 CD IN THE MAIL
11). * BONUS *: Copy of Print Verion of Tim’s Best Selling Book “Make Retirement Simple” (once it is ready in print)

If you’d like to get this, click here to order!

The Surprising #1 Silent Killer in Retirement Is…

Many people are concerned about retirement finances, but that’s not the ONLY thing to worry about…

Brian Stoffel of The Motley Fool posted a fascinating article recently about what exactly the #1 silent killer in retirement really is. I was stunned! He said that the greatest silent killer is — Loneliness!

He states:

Before rolling your eyes, hear me out. In 2013, Merrill Lynch and Age Wave (MLAW) conducted a study asking pre-retirees what they would “miss most about work when they retire.” Here’s what they had to say:

  • Reliable income: 38%
  • Social connections: 17%
  • Employer health insurance: 16%
  • Having purpose and work goals: 16%
  • Mental stimulation: 12%
    • Source: Merrill Lynch/Age Wave

So, by an enormous margin, “a reliable income” was the most popular answer.

Then MLAW followed up by asking a group of currently retired folks what they missed the most about work. While ‘”reliable income” was still relevant, the responses were starkly different:

  • Social connections: 34%
  • Reliable income: 29%
  • Having purpose and work goals: 19%
  • Mental stimulation: 12%
  • Employer health insurance: 7%

 

There was much more interesting information contained in his article PLUS what it means to your finances and how to avoid it.  Read more about it here.

Do-It-Yourself Retirement Planning

Our Founder – Tim Turner – was interviewed recently by Neil Howe on Business Innovators Radio.

Listen to some of the tips he shares, Roth and Annuity discussions and some lessons learned regarding building a solid financial future.

Age is no excuse – too young or too old.

Take a moment and listen!

It only lasts 30 minutes. You can come and go at your leisure!

For more information about Tim Turner and Torrid Technologies, you can contact www.torrid-tech.com or call 888-333-5095

Want to Retire Before 65 – READ THIS!

USA today posted this article recently by Maurie Backmon addressing the pros and cons of retiring before the age of 65. In fact 62 has become a quite popular age at which to check out of the working world since that’s the earliest you can start drawing on your social security benefits.

Is it wise to retire that early?

There are 2 major negative effects to consider before retiring at that time. See what they are here.

Can You Afford to Live to 100?

This week on May 19th, 2016 my wife’s grandmother Vivian celebrated her 100th birthday in Huntsville, Alabama.

Last weekend we celebrated her birthday at a party at her retirement home.

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Vivian was in great spirits and happy to see everyone celebrating with her.

Of course we had a huge birthday cake for her.

Vivien-100-cake

It got me thinking about “what does it take financially to live to 100”?

Have you thought about that at all?  What if you make it to 100 and beyond?

Of course, using the RetirementView software you can run some scenarios out to 100 and see how your finances play out.

If you want to use the Consumer version of the software to plan for yourself or for you and your spouse, then go here to get going.

Vivian doesn’t hear all that great so I didn’t get to quiz her on the “Secret” to living such a long life.  But I do know she has been a big vegetable and fruit eater all her life.  She also was meticulous about getting to all her doctor’s appointments.

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If you wonder whether you can financially handle living to age 100, then again you can go here to get going on the software.  Build your own picture.  See how your investments and income items will work together.  You will know pretty quickly in red if you aren’t going to make it.  And more importantly, you will be able to make adjustments and see what types of changes will help you make it for the long haul.

May you be blessed to live to 100 just like Vivian.  Thanks and Happy Planning.

Regards,

-Tim Turner

 

Good News on Hump Day

Seems like all you hear is bad news…especially in regard to finances.

No one ever feels like it’s enough, but forward steps are a good sign. (Of course with RetirementView Software, you can KNOW if you have enough. You know we have to say it!)

Check out today’s good news in this article by Suzanne Wooley.

Companies Hope To Retrieve Knowledge

Companies across the country from defense contractors to General Motors and General Electric are scrambling to ensure that millions of younger managers are ready to step into leadership roles as baby boomers retire.

About 10,000 boomers reach retirement age every day, according to Bloomberg Businessweek. Companies large and small are often unaware of how much company knowledge the retirees will take with them.

Dorothy Leonard, Professor Emeritus at Harvard Business School, and her firm Leonard-Barton Group, have developed knowledge-transfer programs at several GM divisions.

Until last year, boomers made up the largest portion of the U.S. population, and Generation X represented the biggest share of the workforce. Now millennials lead in both categories. They hold 20 percent of all management jobs, up from 3 percent in 2005, according to U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

“In the next 10 to 15 years, we’re going to have the greatest transfer of knowledge that’s ever taken place,” says Chip Espinoza, Director of Organization Psychology at Concordia University Irvine. He says to handle the shift, companies need to create relationships between the generations.

Multinational defense and aerospace company BAE has been preparing for the retirement cliff for several years. They adopted a NASA program developed when the space agency started to lose expertise from lunar landings as individuals retired.

When BAE learns that an employee with deep institutional knowledge plans to retire, even in a couple of years, a knowledge transfer group of about a half-dozen people working in the same area is formed. The teams meet regularly to talk and exchange advice.

Younger workers get tips and older workers learn how to gradually hand off duties to junior employees.

4 Questions to Ask Before Retirement

From DailyFinance.com

It’s an achievement to make it to retirement. Years of hard work pay off once you have saved enough and get to hand over a resignation letter to your boss. You say farewell, and there may be a few tears as you part ways with your former life. But there’s also the excitement of finally starting the new leisurely chapter of your journey.

The next day there’s no reason to get up before 10 a.m. You feel so grateful you no longer need to wake up early just to get ready for boring morning meetings. You get up and go downstairs, brew a morning cup of coffee and sit down at the table and ask, “Now what?”

The start of retirement is a time of exploration for some people. There is a new life routine to figure out. Here are a few questions to ponder as you enter retirement.

Do you plan to reduce stock exposure? It’s commonly accepted that you should gradually decrease the risk in your portfolio as you age and accumulate more assets to protect. Many people do this by adding bonds to their portfolio in order to reduce volatility during retirement. Unfortunately, there isn’t a simple asset allocation that fits everyone’s circumstances. Adding more bonds might help you sleep well at night because they reduce volatility, but you also risk outliving your money if you live a long life. You could add more stocks if you have a long time horizon, but a bad sequence of return at the beginning of retirement could cause your portfolio to be depleted prematurely. There’s no way to determine the optimum split between stocks and bonds unless you can predict the future, so the key is to be flexible with your spending and never follow any rigid rules. You also want to avoid staying away from stocks completely, because one of the biggest enemies for retirees is inflation. Price increases don’t seem like a huge problem now, but there will be a time when the eroding effects of inflation are noticeable again. Almost every retiree will need some stock exposure to fight off the wealth destroying power of inflation.

What is your strategy to withdraw money to meet daily expenses? You spent years accumulating the assets to retire and employing investment strategies to grow your nest egg. Most people spend too much time thinking about how to tweak their portfolio for maximum gains and too little time optimizing how they will withdraw their assets in a tax efficient manner. You need to give just as much throught to the withdrawal phase. Decide how much you need to spend regularly and where the funds will come from. Without a paycheck and with your assets spread between pre-tax, post-tax and taxable accounts, you want to know exactly how to take money out without paying more in taxes than is absolutely necessary.

What do you plan to do with your assets? The flip side of not outliving your money is the opportunity to leave money to your heirs once you pass away. You could leave it to your children or grandchildren, donate the sum to charity or something else. Put together a plan to make sure your cash gets used in a way you approve of. You may also want to start gifting while you are still alive so you get to see the fruits of your contributions.

What do you plan to do every day? Finances are an essential part of retirement, but this question may be the most important one to answer. It’s easy to start relaxing and slow down once you retire because no one is pushing you to stay active. However, those who don’t keep busy could see their health erode, and no one wants to age prematurely. By staying active, you will have the energy to pursue physically demanding activities, but leisurely ones will be more enjoyable with fewer aches and pains as well. Staying active can make even being a couch potato more enjoyable.

As you linger over that first coffee of retirement, hopefully you are off to your next activity with a perfectly clear idea of where the money to fund daily life is going to come from. You’ve already spent years contemplating retirement’s toughest questions. It’s now time to enjoy it.

2015 Budget Deal KILLS the Social Security Claiming Strategies

Many financial advisors and insurance agents have been going gang busters over seminars about Social Security.

Well that gravy train is now OVERRRR.  Thanks to our wonderful Congress they are calling the “Social Security Claiming Strategies” a loophole that needs to be closed.

And indeed in this disgraceful budget deal they are eliminating the loophole.  That means “claiming strategies” can’t be used in the future.  The final closure age and birthdates may change slightly.

WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO NOW?

Well you better go back to what has worked for the last 20 years… build their total retirement picture and focus on discussing it with the client.  That’s the 100% best guaranteed way to get their attention, engage them, and get them talking about their situation.  Of course the RetirementView program is the best way to do this….

To read the full story on Investment News, use the link below:

http://www.investmentnews.com/article/20151028/FREE/151029902/budget-deal-would-nix-popular-social-security-claiming-strategies

2016 IRS Contribution and Benefit Limits for IRAs and 401ks

Due to the government’s estimate of low inflation, most of the limits are NOT CHANGING for 2016.

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) highlighted the following limitations that WILL change in 2016 from 2015 levels:

  • For an IRA contributor who is not covered by a workplace retirement plan and is married to someone who is covered, the deduction is phased out if the couple’s income is between $184,000 and $194,000, up from $183,000 and $193,000, respectively.
  • The AGI phase-out range for taxpayers making contributions to a Roth IRA is $184,000 to $194,000 for married couples filing jointly, up from $183,000 to $193,000. For singles and heads of household, the income phase-out range is $117,000 to $132,000, up from $116,000 to $131,000.
  • The AGI limit for the saver’s credit (also known as the retirement savings contribution credit) for low- and moderate-income workers is $61,500 for married couples filing jointly, up from $61,000; $46,125 for heads of household, up from $45,750; and $30,750 for married individuals filing separately and for singles, up from $30,500.

Unchanged Limits

However, most limitations remain unchanged from 2015, including:

  • The elective deferral (contribution) limit for employees who participate in 401(k), 403(b), most 457 plans, and the federal government’s Thrift Savings Plan remains unchanged at $18,000, as does the limitation under Section 402(g)(1) on the exclusion for elective deferrals described in Section 402(g)(3).
  • The annual compensation limit under Sections 401(a)(17), 404(l), 408(k)(3)(C), and 408(k)(6)(D)(ii) remains unchanged at $265,000.
  • The catch-up contribution limit for employees aged 50 and over who participate in 401(k), 403(b), most 457 plans, and the federal government’s Thrift Savings Plan remains unchanged at $6,000.
  • The limit on annual contributions to an Individual Retirement Arrangement (IRA) remains unchanged at $5,500, and the additional catch-up contribution limit for individuals aged 50 and over is not subject to an annual cost-of-living adjustment and remains $1,000.
  • The limitation on deferrals under Section 457(e)(15) concerning deferred compensation plans of state and local governments and tax-exempt organizations remains unchanged at $18,000.
  • The limitation on the annual benefit under a defined benefit plan under Section 415(b)(1)(A) remains unchanged at $210,000. For a participant who separated from service before Jan. 1, 2016, the limitation for defined benefit plans under Section 415(b)(1)(B) is computed by multiplying the participant’s compensation limitation, as adjusted through 2015, by 1.0011.
  • The limitation for defined contribution plans under Section 415(c)(1)(A) remains unchanged in 2016 at $53,000.
  • The dollar limitation under Section 416(i)(1)(A)(i) concerning the definition of key employee in a top-heavy plan remains unchanged at $170,000.
  • The dollar amount under Section 409(o)(1)(C)(ii) for determining the maximum account balance in an employee stock ownership plan subject to a 5 year distribution period remains unchanged at $1,070,000, while the dollar amount used to determine the lengthening of the 5 year distribution period also remains unchanged at $210,000.
  • The limitation used in the definition of highly compensated employee under Section 414(q)(1)(B) remains unchanged at $120,000.
  • The dollar limitation under Section 414(v)(2)(B)(i) for catch-up contributions to an applicable employer remains unchanged at $6,000. The dollar limitation under Section 414(v)(2)(B)(ii) for catch-up contributions to an applicable employer plan described in Section 401(k)(11) or Section 408(p) for individuals aged 50 or over also remains unchanged at $3,000.

Compensation Limits

  • The annual compensation limitation under Section 401(a)(17) for eligible participants in certain governmental plans that, under the plan as in effect on July 1, 1993, allowed cost of living adjustments to the compensation limitation under the plan under Section 401(a)(17) to be taken into account, remains unchanged at $395,000.
  • The compensation amount under Section 408(k)(2)(C) regarding simplified employee pensions (SEPs) remains unchanged at $600.
  • The limitation under Section 408(p)(2)(E) regarding SIMPLE retirement accounts remains unchanged at $12,500.

A complete list of the changes from the IRS is available here.

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