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Tag: Wealth Management

Financial Advisor

Why You Don’t Need Assets to Work With a Financial Advisor

In the realm of financial planning, a common misconception persists: the belief that you need significant assets before working with a financial advisor. However, this notion couldn’t be further from the truth. Planning for your financial future is paramount, especially during your accumulation years when crucial decisions are made that can shape your later life.

Consider this: if you don’t start planning early, how do you really know that you can retire at that goal age you already have in mind? How will you know if you can afford insurance, to travel, or leave a legacy for your loved ones? The answers to these questions lie in proactive financial planning, regardless of your current asset level.

Working with a financial advisor shouldn’t be a step taken only when retirement is approaching. Instead, it’s about putting a unique-for-you, comprehensive plan in place to achieve your long-term financial goals. This proactive approach ensures that you’re equipped with the knowledge and strategies necessary to navigate life’s twists and turns.

One of the most significant benefits of early engagement with a financial advisor is gaining clarity on your financial trajectory. With a well-defined plan in place, you’ll have a roadmap outlining how to reach your goals, whether it’s retiring comfortably, traveling the world, or leaving a meaningful legacy.

However, it’s essential to understand that the role of a financial advisor extends far beyond occasional meetings at your workplace to discuss your employee 401(k). An effective advisory relationship should encompass ongoing guidance, regular touchpoints and meetings, education, and personalized support tailored to your unique circumstances and goals. A relationship with an advisor should be personal.

Many individuals underestimate the value of financial education and guidance, often unaware of what they don’t know. Yet, the importance of being informed about your financial options cannot be overstated. As the saying goes, “A goal without a plan is simply a wish.” By working with a financial advisor early on, you transform your unspoken retirement wish list into tangible plans, increasing the likelihood of seeing them come to fruition.

Ultimately, the decision to engage with a financial advisor as early as possible in your financial journey can yield invaluable benefits. It’s not about your current asset level but rather about setting a solid foundation for your financial future.

What fears are holding you back? What pain points do you have that need to be addressed? Perhaps, the thought of confronting your financial realities feels overwhelming or intimidating. Maybe there’s uncertainty about where to begin or skepticism about the value of financial planning. Though all these reasons are common and realistic, it’s crucial to recognize that the longer you delay addressing these concerns, the greater the potential impact on your long-term financial well-being. Procrastination can lead to missed opportunities and unnecessary stress down the road. By acknowledging your apprehensions and taking that first step towards financial empowerment, you can overcome obstacles and pave the way for a more secure future.

To learn more about our process and how to take the first step to work with an advisor at CapSouth Wealth Management visit our website at capsouthwm.com/what-we-do/ or Connect With Us.

CapSouth Partners, Inc, dba CapSouth Wealth Management, is an independent registered Investment Advisory firm. CapSouth does not offer tax, accounting or legal advice. Consult your tax or legal advisors for all issues that may have tax or legal consequences. This information has been prepared solely for informational purposes, is general in nature, and is not intended as specific advice. This article was produced with the assistance of ChatGPT (April 24 Version); Chat GPT is an artificial intelligence

Time is Everything

Given my profession, I’ve often wondered,” What are the most commonly used words or phrases in finance?”  What would you think?  Money, the stock market, Interest rates, rate of return, buy, sell, gains, losses? And depending on the day, some may not be suitable for mixed company, am I right? I don’t have an answer, really, and your guess is as good as mine. I would imagine time would have been one of those “also receiving votes” in the poll above, don’t you think?  The time value of money, for example. Or when’s the best time to buy or sell. The most popular use of that word, for me anyway, is when discussing timing the market vs. time in the market. It comes up quite frequently. So much so, I’ve recorded videos on the subject which have been shared with hundreds of investors. It’s that important. But this weekend, I witnessed two defining moments where time expanded the lives of some and tragically departed from others.

On a perfect Saturday afternoon in September, my wife and I traveled to a small, remote town in northwest Georgia to witness the wedding of one our best friend’s daughters. We’ll call this young bride, “Kaitlyn.”  And we’ll call her that because that’s her name.  She’s a brilliant, accomplished, and beautiful young lady who recently graduated from Auburn with honors – in three years – and all while working a full-time job. (I know, sickening.) And she’s marrying one of those “too-good-to-be-true” type of guys. His name is Garrett, of course. You know him, one of those handsome, chivalrous, strong, scraggily bearded leader-types who doesn’t need a set of pronouns to show he’s a man. (They still exist, folks.) Back to our friend. He adopted Kaitlyn many years ago and is as wonderful a father as the day is long. He’s also one of those too-good-to-be-true types – just with a little less hair and a little more weight. As the sun was setting across the hills of north Georgia, the tribute he offered to his daughter was one of those only a father of girls could deliver. A sweet glimpse of their relationship over the many years as father and daughter. He filled a paternal void in Kaitlyn’s life and became her protector, provider, care giver, and just what God knew she needed – a dad. A few memorable phrases used in his speech that evening:  There was the time, Do you remember that time, and I look forward to the time…

Fast forward 19 hours…

She was a beautiful, vibrant, young lady. A beloved daughter, sister, and cherished friend to many in the community. She was only 16 and tragically killed in an automobile accident earlier that week. And with no warning, she was gone. We attended her visitation on Sunday afternoon along with what must have been thousands of friends, family and acquaintances wanting to pay their respects. They waited for hours to love on her family and perhaps share stories of how she lived and loved so mightily.  The funeral home was adorned with hundreds of pictures of this sweet young girl surrounded by friends, families, and even one of her and her approaching homecoming date.  As we moved through the procession, I couldn’t help but think back to my friend’s speech just 19 hours earlier – There was the time, Do you remember that time, I look forward to the time.  And I imagined what questions were running through her dad’s mind at this moment. It was heartbreaking. If our world shares a common belief, it’s that parents shouldn’t have to bury their children. Children shouldn’t have to mourn their friends. And a sweet young lady shouldn’t have to lose her life. But as we’re all painfully aware, life doesn’t always work out that way. All of us will experience loss. It’s inevitable. And it’s a matter of time.

Forty-eight hours ago, this article was to have covered a vastly different topic.  But forty-eight hours ago, I hadn’t experienced a wedding and a wake. I am ill-equipped to even begin to capture the raw emotion of saying good-bye to a daughter until such time the Lord sees fit for a reunion. Each day, we witnessed two stories on this notion of time. Time spent, time hopefully to be shared again soon, and time to long for yet never get back. I’m apologetically incapable of expressing the weight that the word time carries for many families this evening. My prayer for all of us is that we’re blessed to make the most of what we have of it.

And God willing, maybe I’ll be able to write about that another time.

CapSouth Partners, Inc, dba CapSouth Wealth Management, is an independent registered Investment Advisory firm.

Retirement Planning: Before and After

Working with clients, I often find that retirement planning can be an ambiguous idea for many, with numerous factors and circumstances to consider, when many of us are just trying to get through the next year…or even the next week!  We plan for retirement because we know that we likely do not want to have to work forever, and we know that there are steps we should be taking now when time is on our side to ready ourselves for that freedom of “making work optional”. 

Once clients reach retirement, there is still often a significant change of thought process.  I often get questions from clients… “What do we do now?  How do we convert our accumulated assets into monthly spendable income? 

With your input, we endeavor to devise a plan that puts you on the road to financial security.  The result is designed to leave you with sufficient assets so you can maintain your desired lifestyle or pursue new interests that you may develop in retirement.

We can help you with the numbers.  But first, let’s ask some basic open-ended questions.

  • What are your values?
  • How do you feel about money?
  • What goals do you have for retirement?
  • When would you like to retire?  Full retirement or change of employment with reduced income for a time?
  • What would you like to do in retirement?
  • How would you spend your days?
  • Do you enjoy traveling?
  • What are your hobbies?
  • Do you want to stay in your home or are you considering a smaller place?
  • Would you like to live in a different location?
  • Would you move closer to family or kids?
  • Or would you choose a location based on climate or quality of life?

Your goals are your goals.  They are not mine.  They are not your family members’ goals, and they are not your friends’ goals.  Your personal values and goals play a big role in your retirement planning picture.

BEFORE RETIREMENT (Already retired?  You can skip ahead or read anyway and tell your friends!)

Retirement sounds great, but can’t we balance those savings with enjoying today as well?  Yes, and we should!  Here are some general retirement planning guidelines:

  1. Set aside six months of expenses in an emergency fund. While skyrocketing interest rates have hampered stock market performance over the last year, savers can currently earn 5% or more risk-free. We’d be happy to point you in the right direction.
  2. Save up to 15% of your income in your company’s 401k. If zero to 15 in one paycheck leaves you short of breath, start small and ratchet it up over time.  You won’t miss the cash. But if it turns out that 15% is too difficult or interferes with other financial goals, at least always capture your company’s match.  It’s free money!  Why leave any behind?
  3. Build a “Life Account”. Make sure your savings are not solely in your retirement account.  “Life” will likely happen prior to you reaching age 59 ½.  Build a comfortable level of funds in a taxable investment account that you can access without tax penalties when needed prior to retirement age.
  4. Get out of debt. This includes student loans, credit cards, and auto debt.  We can talk about whether you should try to pay down your mortgage in a timelier manner…it depends.
  5. Max out IRA/Roth IRA and HSA. Consider fully funding an IRA or Roth IRA account and max out your health savings account if it’s offered as a part of your health coverage.
  6. Are you 50 or older? If so, consider catch-up contributions for retirement savings.  For an IRA, you may contribute up to $7,500 in tax year 2023. The 401(k) contribution limit for 2023 is $22,500 for employees.  If you’re 50 or older, you’re eligible for an additional $7,500 in catch-up contributions.
  7. Diversify within asset classes and among asset classes. When you are young, a diversified portfolio that leans heavily on the equity side of the allocation is probably your best choice.  Dollar-cost averaging through regular contributions allows you to take advantage of market dips. As you near retirement, you will likely want to gradually reduce risk by shifting to fixed income investments and reducing your exposure to stocks.
  8. Leave room for fun. It is certainly important to set goals and to make a plan to achieve those goals.  It is also important to live a little!  Saving everything and living on sardines alone is not fun for most of us.  Retirement planning allows us to put our savings into perspective and to know where we want to go and what it will take to get there.  Once we have that picture, we can evaluate the tradeoffs of saving more and retiring earlier or spending more in retirement, or retiring later and being able to spend more either now or in retirement.  I believe there can be freedom in a healthy balance between saving for the future and enjoying life now.  It really is all about a personal plan to challenge you to define and to live your One Best Financial Life®.

AFTER RETIREMENT

Our retirement planning work is not done just because we reached that long-awaited goal of retirement!  The direction of our work and our questions pivot to maximizing this period of your life. 

There are many factors that can derail your retirement picture – investment risk, inflation risk, catastrophic illness, long-term care, and taxes to name some.  A comprehensive retirement planning process should account for stress testing these obstacles to provide confidence in the probability of your success under these scenarios. 

Below are some general concepts to evaluate during this period of life:

  1. Think of retirement in phases. Our ability to enjoy our retirement years often wanes over time due to our health.  This is sometimes referred to as your go-go years, your slow-go years, and your no-go years.  You may decide that you want to continue to work part-time in the early years of retirement.  You may want a larger travel budget that reduces over time.
  2. Increase your reserve fund. While six months’ expenses may be an adequate emergency fund during working years, you may want to extend that to a year’s worth of expenses during retirement.  This comfort level is certainly different for each client, however the objective is to not have to liquidate funds in a down market.  This consideration will also factor into recommendations of investment allocations across various accounts or “buckets” of money.
  3. Systematize and Keep It Simple. We generally recommend evaluating your regular living expenses and your current income sources, and then setting up an automatic, once per month transfer from an investment account to your checking account for the difference.  For you, there is still a systematic income each month that resembles the paycheck you received prior to retirement.  Your overall investment allocation can be set up so that the account those transfers are coming from is invested with about a year’s worth of funds at a conservative risk level.  This account is then replenished periodically from other accounts based on market conditions and tax strategies.  The goal is for you to be able to enjoy life, and for us to manage that income flow for you.
  4. Consider Social Security carefully. Various timing strategies are available for claiming Social Security benefits.  Many times clients are eager to begin drawing their benefits as soon as they can – after all, they have been paying into them for years.  However, claiming early can have significant impacts on your total benefit.  Though you can begin drawing at age 62, you will receive a reduction of 5/9th of one percent for each month you draw earlier than your full retirement age (FRA) up to 36 months, and 5/12th of one percent for each month thereafter.  For example, drawing at age 62 when your FRA is age 67 will result in about a 30% reduction in your benefit. Delaying Social Security after your FRA has benefits worth considering.  You receive a guaranteed 8% increase for each year you defer your benefit from your FRA to your age 70.  This is in addition to any cost of living adjustment. For married couples, the timing of Social Security claiming is of particular importance for the spouse with the higher benefit amount.  After the death of the first spouse, the surviving spouse will get the higher of the two benefits.  The lower benefit amount will then cease. It is also of note that a divorced individual who was married to their previous spouse for more than ten years has the right to claim on the former spouse’s benefit without affecting the former spouse’s personal benefit. When should you file?  The answer will depend on your specific circumstances and the greater context of your financial plan, including the consideration of your health and family longevity.  A greater Social Security benefit is helpful if you or your spouse are alive to receive it.
  5. Don’t Forget Taxes. Tax planning is arguably more important than ever in retirement.  The timing and order of withdrawals from various types of accounts can have significant tax consequences – negative and positive. For clients with no concern over beneficiaries, maybe withdrawing from taxable accounts first, then tax-deferred, and finally tax-free accounts is best.  However, even in this example, consideration should be given to current and future tax rates and brackets, and the impact of Medicare IRMAA charges and Social Security taxation on a surviving spouse. Clients who expect to leave funds to their children or other heirs should add particular consideration to substantially appreciated assets that might be better held and passed at death to obtain the step-up in basis for the heirs. Roth conversions can be utilized to take advantage of lower income years or lower tax rates, moving assets from tax-deferred to tax-free growth going forward. Charitable goals can increase the benefit of sound charitable planning.  Utilization of batched giving, a donor advised fund, or maintaining tax deferred funds for future qualified charitable distributions after age 70 ½ are some valuable strategies that may apply.
  6. Remember that your plan knows about those dollars, too. Clients sometimes mention spending accumulated funds held in outside accounts on splurge purchases with a comment like, “But those were from my funds in my other account.”  Or, “those funds came from the sale of that investment property I had”.  It is very important to remember that your plan has likely accounted for those funds, too. 

When building a client’s plan, we discuss various resources including retirement accounts, pension incomes, rental property, private investments, etc.  Sometimes those income sources are for limited periods, or they might come in as a one-time future infusion of income.  Your plan factors these income sources in, as well as the growth on those assets once received, to fund your current and future retirement goals. 

Inflation can have a significant impact on your retirement expenses over time.  The longer a retirement period, the greater the impact.  By the time that the long-term care need occurs, the cost will likely be much greater than you might think.  The cost of your current lifestyle will likely cost substantially more twenty years from now.  Funding those future goals generally requires growth of your assets over time. 

It is easy to think of your current expenses and to get too comfortable with those being covered by part-time income, short-term or level pension amounts, etc.  It is important, though, to have a comprehensive retirement plan that keeps everything in perspective and to remember that your plan is counting on those excess funds received to be invested in accordance with long-term investment allocation.

There are no easy roads, but a disciplined approach to retirement planning that emphasizes consistent savings, a modest lifestyle based on your income, and minimal debt should serve you well as you travel the road toward financial security and retirement.  A sound financial plan also provides freedom.  Once you know you have your bases covered for retirement, you can feel more free to enjoy life now as well.

If you have questions about any of these concepts or how they might apply to your situation, please reach out to me or your CapSouth advisor.

To learn more about CapSouth Wealth Management visit our website at https://capsouthwm.com/what-we-do/or Connect With Us to learn more about our process.

By: Scott F. McDowall, CFP®

CapSouth Partners, Inc, dba CapSouth Wealth Management, is an independent registered Investment Advisory firm. This material is from an unaffiliated, third-party and is used by permission. Any opinions expressed in the material are those of the author and/or contributors to the material; they are not necessarily the opinions of CapSouth. Information provided by sources deemed to be reliable. CapSouth does not guarantee the accuracy or completeness of the information. CapSouth does not offer tax, accounting or legal advice. Consult your tax or legal advisors for all issues that may have tax or legal consequences. This information has been prepared solely for informational purposes, is general in nature and is not intended as specific advice. Any performance data quoted represents past performance; past performance is no guarantee of future results.

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