Retire VA 2019 - 10

2. Do you have a Living
Will or Advanced
Medical Directive
(AMD) that expresses
your preferences
concerning life sustaining
treatments? A Health
Care Power of Attorney
(POA) as well as a
Financial POA could also
be considered to make
handling affairs during a
difficult time a little bit
easier. Gather up these
important documents
and put them in a safe
place like a fireproof box
in the house or a safe
deposit box at a bank.

When considering your
retirement budget, you don't really
need to get buried in details to get
a handle on what you are likely to
spend. If you want to LIVE IN A
SIMILAR LIFESTYLE AS YOU HAD
WHEN WORKING, a simple formula
would go like this: A - B = C.
A is the money you are bringing
in while you are working. B is the
taxes that you pay, like income and
real estate, as well as the money
you are saving. That leaves C, which
is the money you are spending to
live on.
Then consider where that
"A" money will come from in
retirement, such as pensions, social
security and portfolio assets. You
can also consider ways to save
like having your home paid off or
maybe downsizing.
10 / Retire-VA.com / RETIRE-VA 2020

3. If you wish to seek out the advice and help of a financial
advisor, it is best to seek out one who is a Certified
Financial Planner (CFP). Be sure that they are a Fiduciary.
That means that they are legally and ethically bound to
put your best interests ahead of theirs.

For INVESTING YOUR
PORTFOLIO SAVINGS (a critical
part of "B"), there is a common
and useful "three bucket" way of
looking at it. The FIRST BUCKET
should contain about a years'
worth of living expenses in cash
or CDs. They won't be affected by
market fluctuations and will be
available at need.
The SECOND BUCKET is short
term investments. They are low-risk
investments like bonds and should
generate returns that keep up with
inflation or maybe a little bit better.
As the first bucket gets drawn
down, it will be replenished from
the second bucket.
The THIRD BUCKET is longer
term investments-like stocks-that
can provide some growth over
time.

4. For more complicated
situations where
sophisticated tax and
estate planning would be
advantageous, seek out
the advice of specialists in
those fields. Any mistakes
made in that type of plan
could have significant
impacts and would likely
not be discovered until
it was too late. It is also
important to update
the plan periodically to
reflect changes in laws or
policies.
Retire VA 2019

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