Investing

People are generally holding more cash than usual right now, having reacted to COVID’s effect on the market and the economy, uncertainty about the election, and the feeling that there’s safety and security in cash.  

How you title an account, asset or business can affect current income and taxes, disposition in a divorce or incapacity, and ultimately directs how and to whom an asset can pass upon your death.  Titling can also affect whether the asset is protected from creditors. 

While you are working, you add money to your investments to build a nest egg.  In retirement, it’s time to start taking that money back out.  The income goal in retirement is to mimic the paycheck you were receiving while you worked.  This new “paycheck” often comes from several sources, including Social Security and/or pension payments, and perhaps rental incom

If you do a quick Google search to find out how much you can contribute to your 401k, you’ll usually find that the most you can defer from your salary is $19,500*. In reality, the maximum that can go into a 401k is $57,000*.

*If you’re over 50, add $6,500 to both of these numbers.

Investing in retirement takes a different approach than investing to build wealth. In retirement, investing for income becomes much more important.

A convenient truth of a 4% withdrawal rate in this market is that dividends and bond income will come pretty close to covering it. However, once you start withdrawing more than the income the portfolio can predictably produce,  you are relying on growth to fund your spending.