retirement questions to ask yourself

Are you concerned about not having enough money for retirement?

If your retired years are in the near future, then you will want to browse these retirement questions. We have compiled a list of these crucial questions to help you make smart long-term financial decisions.

What is holding you back from asking yourself these questions?

Adjusting to Retirement: Initial Questions

The process of reviewing your finances with a professional is a personal and intimate one.

    • What are some of the attributes you want your retirement planner to have? Go to miramontescapital.com and take a moment to look over the “Roadmap to Retirement” resource there.
    • (A) Imagine you woke up with no responsibilities, and you could use your time to do anything. What would you do? Sketch out your perfect, worry-free life.
    • (B) In what ways are you a good time manager now, and in what ways can you improve? Do your answers help you see potential problems you may have once you are retired?
  1. Create a detailed budget, including all your income and expenses. Review your budget (preferably with your partner) and note down what will change about it during retirement. Which expenses will increase? Which will likely go down? For instance, will you be paying a mortgage, going on vacations, adding on medical expenses?
  1. Some of the best retirement questions to ask yourself: How often do you review your finances with your partner? As retirement approaches, will this schedule change? Take a look at our downloadable Retirement Planning Profile.
  1. What about your daily schedule will remain the same after retirement and what will change? Map out you and your partner’s schedules.

Breaking It Down

  1. Think about your ideal investment professional. Do you feel you can ask this person anything? Can you see yourself with this person long-term? Will the services you receive include ongoing education? Is the professional’s team supportive and open to you?
  1. Is your adviser a fiduciary? Does he or she have your best interest in mind?
  1. Think about the last three financial decisions you made. Do you think your decisions were more aggressive or conservative? Do you see a pattern? Now, go to the Rutgers New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station website and complete the Investment Risk Tolerance Quiz. How far did the decisions you’ve made recently conform to the quiz results?
  1. For further consideration, look at these questions, which will assist in determining your level of risk before meeting with a retirement planning professional.
  • How much investing have you done in the past?
  • Do you have assets invested outside of your 401(k)?
  • Do you have an online trading account?
  • How much do you know about stocks and bonds?
  • Have you purchased real estate in addition to your home?
  • How much fluctuation in your accounts are you comfortable withstanding? (Think of what percentage of annual loss your portfolio can withstand over a five-year period).
  1. Ensure you have all the necessary information regarding your company’s benefits package. Know where to get up-to-date information on your 401(k), and policies and procedures regarding company stock options. Are there changes you need to make? The professionals at Miramontes Capital have ample experience making sense of sometimes-unclear company portals and package information, so feel free to call our offices at 800-460-1595.

Calculating Funds for Retirement

  1. You have probably begun saving for retirement in some capacity. How prepared are you? What might improve your situation over time? Ramping up your contributions to an employer-sponsored plan, or looking into options outside that if you’re maxing out your contributions or if a 401(k) isn’t an option for you? Run through a scenario of savings based on income. If you regularly put aside a certain percent, see how much more you could end up with by increasing it a few percentage points. Charles Schwab has a useful Retirement Calculator that can provide you with some preliminary figures to inform your decision.
  1. Visit a site that offers mutual fund information, such as Morningstar, Bloomberg, or Seeking Alpha. Make a short list of funds that may match your situation and risk level. This will help you determine what kind of funds might boost your retirement portfolio. Call our office at Miramontes Capital for guidance in selecting mutual funds that most closely correspond with your personal goals and objectives.
  1. Choose a sector you might invest in, and use Morningstar or Bloomberg to see what that sector has been up to in the past 36 months. Does this help you infer anything about the possible potential for gain or loss in the future?
  1. Assess the tax support that you will have during retirement, including CPA or tax professional and/or retirement planner. Do you feel the amount of resources is sufficient for when you enter retirement?

Planning Ahead: Retirement Goals

  1. Do you feel that a long-term care policy is a feature you’ll work into your retirement plan? If you have reservations or questions regarding medical plans or company medical information, look over the information provided on longtermcare.gov.
  1. Do you think you will take your Social Security payments at the average age of 65 to 67? How central will the payouts be to paying your monthly expenses? Do you anticipate any larger expenses, such as debts to pay off or large purchases? Use the answers to these questions as a basis to form your preferred scenario.
  1. Have you taken a look at the Bureau of Labor Statistics inflation calculator? Seeing the increase in value of $100 over time ($100 in 1999 is $142 today) should make it clear how beneficial it is to get your retirement finances in order.
  1. Is your use of bonds in your portfolio—or lack thereof— in need of a rethink? Be aware of the ways bonds are at work for you, and if they are not, try to envision applications you might have for them in the near future. Are you focused on conserving what you have? Taking fewer risks?
  1. No matter how experienced you are with stocks, think of a few investment goals for your next year. It could be anything from allotting some time to look into a sector or market you’ve heard things about, or to simply establish a routine for more investing.
  1. Look at a variety of asset allocation models from a web source like Schwab.com.
  1. What are 5 things you pledge to be diligent about throughout your retirement planning process?

These retirement questions to ask yourself before retiring will help guide you through the planning process with Miramontes Capital.

 

Schedule an in office or over the phone consultation to discuss how Miramontes Capital can help you with your new beginning through retirement and estate planning.