Retirement Planning

Planning for a successful retirement is a complicated, yet achievable goal. Now more than ever, you need to understand how key retirement planning opportunities may affect you and your future.


The Road to Retirement

Identify all your accounts by looking through the statements you receive, both on paper and online. While employer-sponsored plans and IRAs offer important opportunities for retirement savings, they may not be enough to provide the retirement you want. Personal savings will likely play a critical role in funding your retirement as well.

If you have company stock in your plan, determine if there are tax benefits available to you if you plan your distributions appropriately. If you have a pension, find out your distribution options from your employer. Look into Social Security and determine when you want to apply for benefits. Project your retirement expenses to determine whether your retirement income will cover them. Begin to think about when you can officially retire, write down your goals for retirement and let’s review them together.


Getting Your Ducks In A Row

Many Americans own two or more 401(k) or IRA accounts. If you are one of these people, consolidating accounts can help you save time and may provide a more comprehensive view of your financial situation. You may also benefit from the perks of a higher balance such as waived fees. When you have multiple accounts, it can be more difficult to understand how much money you have and where it is. Over time, you
may even lose track of some older accounts. Consolidating your accounts can save time by making account information more easily accessible. Determining which accounts to consolidate and handling retirement plan distributions can be complex and requires careful thought. At GCPA, we can help evaluate your situation and determine if consolidation is the right thing to do.


Generating income in retirement

Once you have the timing and order for withdrawals down, you’ll need a plan for generating cash flow while keeping some assets growing. We can show you how to provide income using three basic elements:

• A cash account for daily expenses
• A short-term reserve to cover emergencies and generate consistent income
• Long-term assets for potential growth

Cash account
A cash account is your primary access point for day-today money. It provides a convenient way to manage your income and expenses, and typically consists of checking, savings or money market accounts. Most assets in this category are liquid, so you can draw from them at any time without loss or penalty.

Short-term cash reserve
You’ll also need short-term assets to serve as a cash reserve and create consistent and predictable income. Short-term assets are investments that generally have guaranteed principal, such as:

• Certificates of deposit (CDs)
• Treasury bills
• Mid-term assets such as bonds

As these assets mature, the money may be moved to your cash account. This way, your short-term cash reserve can serve as a reliable source of income for several years, regardless of how your long-term investments are performing.

Long-term assets
The third element is long-term assets. Their primary goal is to provide growth that will help meet your financial needs throughout retirement, and help build assets for your estate. You may also draw from long-term assets to create income, which can be transferred as needed to your short-term reserves or directly to your cash account. Long-term investments may include:

• Stocks and bonds held individually or in mutual funds
• Fixed and variable annuities
• Hedge funds and commodity investments
• Life insurance cash value

When you begin drawing on your assets, it’s important to remain aware of the effects of market volatility and inflation. Investing some of your assets in annuities and other fixed-income vehicles can protect the value of your investments against inflation and stock market downturns.


Estimating how long your money will last

With careful planning, your sources of income should be enough for a long, comfortable retirement. But if your expenses are more than you expected, or your investments haven’t performed well enough, you may need to bridge a gap between your costs and income.
Visit our Learning Center to access valuable financial tools, including a retirement calculator that can help you make a reasonable estimate of how long your money will last. If you find that your money might run out too soon, you may need to make some adjustments.

Strategies to reduce expenses or increase income:

• Find discretionary expenses that you can cut.
• Keeping an expense diary can help you evaluate your current expenses.
• Consider shifting money from low-interest checking or savings accounts into cd’s and annuities that pay higher interest rates and defer taxes.
• Reduce your mortgage and living expenses.
• Downsizing to a less expensive home or area can help you save on taxes, maintenance and other costs.
• Go back to work, at least part-time, to earn extra income and enjoy the benefits of remaining active.

Using a variety of investments, GCPA can help you turn your assets into a stream of income. This includes choosing appropriate investments for your cash reserve and long-term assets, as well as setting up a central cash account for your day-to-day expenses.

We can help you evaluate what you already have to determine the financial solutions that best fit your situation. Together we can create a financial plan to help you reach your retirement goals, step by step.


About GCPA

At Grand Canyon Planning Associates, LLC (GCPA), we provide caring and personalized attention to your needs. We have been helping Arizona residents just like you with their retirement and estate planning for over 15 years. Let our family help your family.

Click here to send an e-mail requesting more information, or call 480-991-1055.

Grand Canyon Planning Associates, LLC works with several major providers to offer you a variety of insurance solutions. These are just a few:



Advisory services offered through Investment Advisory Corp., A SEC registered advisory firm.