Retire Well, with Trenden Peacock

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Retire Well, with Trenden Peacock

Educational blog from a practicing Wealth Advisor to help you build a tax-efficient retirement plan. Material posted is also of the opinion of Trenden C.

Posts, opinions, and content on this page are for educational purposes ONLY, please consult a tax or financial professional before implementing any strategies. Peacock, CFP® Practitioner and does not reflect the opinion of Daus Financial Group, LLC.

03/27/2024

There are things you go cheap on, and things you don't go cheap on. Your financial future is probably something you don't want to go cheap on ❌

Shop for value and expertise provided in all areas of finance, not just cost of managing assets.

03/26/2024

The more you learn tax code, the more you realize you don't know. The world of taxes 🌎

03/23/2024

Health Savings Accounts are one of the most powerful long-term investment tools out there. If you are fortunate enough to qualify, make sure you are utilizing this account to its full potential 🏥

03/22/2024

Will the IRS ever tax our Roth IRA money? 🤯

Most likely not, here's why:

The IRS are horrible forward-looking financial planners. They want to make the most money they can off taxes today without considering tomorrow.

Because the Roth IRA is not tax deferred, they make their money on those dollars getting taxed in the current year vs. it going into a traditional IRA or 401k.

For retirees, Roth Conversions are a very powerful strategy. Again, the IRS is fine with this as they make their money on this years conversion without acknowledging that you will not have RMD's for the rest of your life on that money & it will be tax free for the next generation of your family.

And they won't retroactively magically make it taxable on the backend for recent contributions. You've already paid tax on that money 💰

03/21/2024

Put the numbers aside for a minute.

I recently read a WebMD article stating that nearly 1/3rd of all retirees feel some sort of depression as they transition to this new stage of life.

So forget about math, numbers, returns, taxes. What are you retiring TO, not just FROM?

Your job provides you:
🟢 Daily to-do's
🟢 Structured Calendar
🟢 Coworker/social connections
🟢 Purpose and identity

Your calendar will be empty appx. 8-5pm every Mon-Fri.

What will you do? Who will you spend time with? Where will you spend your time? How will you find fulfillment?

Sometimes conversations need to go beyond numbers and percentages.

03/20/2024

"Is this a bubble?"

Last year, the S&P 500 was undoubtedly top heavy as the "Magnificent 7" carried most of the gains that last year brought. This included Apple.

This raised concerns, what if the Mag 7 companies were to fall off?

Well, fast forward to near the end of Q1 2024. Apple has not had the greatest start to the year. However, the S&P 500 and the S&P 500 equal-weighted index are both heading in a positive direction with strong starts to the year.

At least for now, the other companies that make up the S&P seem to be doing their share, even when a big monster like Apple has a short stumble.

Another win for a diversified portfolio 📈

03/10/2024

Financial planning is NOT:
❌ fixating solely on investments and returns
❌ paying $0 in taxes (this typically results in jail time)
❌ selling insurance and annuity products

Financial Planning IS:
🟢 creating 'guardrails' and having access to 3-5 years to supplement income in down markets from bonds/cash. We've already ran one thousand market scenarios good, bad, and average.
🟢 implementing relevant strategies today to save tax dollars in the future
🟢 instead of letting someone sell you on fear, getting educated by your planner on pros and cons of alternative investments and products to make informed decisions

03/09/2024

With the increasing amount of the boomer generation going on long term care claim, companies have begun to increase premiums significantly creating cash flow issues and questions around if it's still worth owning these products.

Traditional Long-Term Care Products:
🔴 Use it or lose it (no access to premiums put into policy)
🔴 No guaranteed premiums
🔴 No benefit to beneficiaries if you pass without going on claim

Hybrid Long-Term Care Policies:
🟢 Option to have access to certain % of premiums if you do not use it
🟢 Guaranteed premiums that will never increase
🟢 Death benefit attachment to go to beneficiaries if you never go on claim

While we aren't out here slinging policies, as financial planners and fiduciaries it is our duty to at least measure potential costs of self funding vs. paying into a hybrid policy, and creating a discussion to include in your plan accordingly in the future.

These fit a very specific demographic, watch out for the product salespeople out there trying to shove it down your throat to earn a commission.

03/08/2024

How should I take my Required Min. Distribution in retirement? Monthly, quarterly, annually, etc?

1. If you are actively using your RMD for income, monthly is fine to include in your monthly cash flow.

2. If you aren't using it for income, and plan to reinvest, it really depends. Most people lean towards the end of the year. Why? ⬇

🟢 if we have a good year in the market, you will keep that money invested and get the tax deferral growth until you take it out in December

🟢 if we have a bad market year, you may take a loss on that amount of money (and you would have anyways depending on how you reinvested) but your effective RMD for the next year would decrease even more based on the December 31st account value.

02/28/2024

Don't crash the car heading into retirement 🚗

I can drive from Kzoo to GR comfortably on cruise control between 78-80mph. I know I likely won't get a ticket, shouldn't lose control behind the wheel, and will get there quicker than going 70.

However, if I drive 95, I risk getting a ticket as well as losing control and putting myself in serious danger.

When we measure what is possible for retirement dates, we want to measure the risk we are taking in a similar way. We want to get to financial independence as fast as possible, without taking on too much risk where we wreck our entire plan 📝

02/27/2024

Trigger warning ‼ markets don't care about who is President

Even though the President gets all the praise for a great market run, or blame for a bad run, they typically have very little impact on actual results.

What markets do care about:
🟢 changes & updates in tax rules and regulations
🟢 fiscal spending decisions
🟢 interest rate movements

Don't make detrimental decisions to your plan based on emotion 📝

02/26/2024

If you have fallen behind on retirement savings, you STILL have time to max out IRA and HSA accounts for 2023 ‼ Don't forget about those catch up contributions

Age 50+ 2023 IRA max contributions ➡ $7500

Age 55+ 2023 HSA max contributions ➡ self: $4850 // family: $8750

Address

487 S Drake Road
Kalamazoo, MI
49009

Website

https://dausfinancial.co/meet-our-people/

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