Power point for the retirement planning session for The Women Building Wealth series

1. Improving Your
Financial Health:
Retirement Planning
Presented by Laura Scharr-Bykowsky, CFP®, MBA
Ascend Financial Planning, LLC
Women Building Wealth

2. Typical Symptoms of Financial Illness
or Discomfort
• Inadequate retirement savings
–No clear vision of retirement
–No idea how much money will need

3. Are You Ready for Retirement?
• How many workers age 45+ have not done a
retirement calculation?
– A) 50% B) 30% C) 15% D) 10%
– Answer A)
Source: EBRI

4. Chief Complaint- “I don’t know how
much money I need for retirement.”
• Additional Complaint: I haven’t saved much.
• Diagnosis: Procrastination or “Late Saver”
• Symptoms:
– Low 401K balances
– No savings outside of retirement accounts
– Not taking full advantage of retirement plan(s) or
IRAs
– No vision for retirement

5. An Opportunity Lost –Delayed Savings
• Most Americans put off saving for retirement
• Early Savers make time do the work for them

6. • Early Ellen
Ellen saves $2,500 from the
time she is 21 to 66 in a
tax deferred account.
• Procrastinator Pete
Pete is having too much fun
at 21, marries at 25, buys
house at 27, has kids at 28
pays for college at 48 ,
THEN starts saving for
retirement at age 50.
The Power of the TVM
• Ellen saves
$2,500/yr and at 8%
a year by age 66 has
$966,264 savings in
a tax deferred
account.
• Pete realizes he
needs to save much
more since he starts
late(age 50). He
saves $10,000/yr. By
age 66 he has only
$303,243

7. How much would Pete have to save
to reach Ellen’s amount?
• If he started at age 50 he would need to
save $31,864 a year (assuming a 8%
return on his investment in a tax deferred
account)!

8. Quote: William Bernstein
• “Each $ you do not save at 25 will mean
– 2X inflation adjusted dollars you will need
to save at 35
–4X if you begin saving at 45
–8X if you begin at 55
–If you lack substantial savings at 45 you
are in serious trouble.”
• From The Investor’s Manifesto Preparing for Prosperity,
Armageddon, and Everything in Between

9. How Do I Catch-up?
• Perform a “Gap Analysis” to calculate your
“number.”

10. How Do You Get From Here to There?
• Rx: Do a “Gap Analysis” for retirement needs
–What is your vision of retirement and what
will it cost?
–Can you achieve it?
–Tradeoffs- work longer, cut expenses
–Refine vision

11. How Do I Catch-up?
• Create a collage of your vision of retirement

12. Determine How Much You Will Spend
in Retirement
• How much will you need?
– Plan on at least 80% or today’s expenses
– What expenses will change?
• What will increase? Travel, long term care
insurance, medical costs

13. Retirement Savings: The 3 Legged Stool
• Sources of Income
– Social Security
– Company-sponsored pensions/retirement plans
– Personal Savings!!!!!

14. Goal for Retirement: replace inflation
adjusted income
• SS- Partially inflation adjusted
• Pension-it depends
• Personal savings- rate of return that beats
inflation

15. Example : Sam the Salesman
Sam is age 50 he plans on retiring in 12 years.
• Income Needed (After Taxes) $ 50K
– Pension at age 65 $ 20K
– Social Security $ 20K
GAP $10K
At “safe” withdrawal rate of 4% will need at least
$250K in personal savings

16. Inflation Erodes Purchasing Power
• $50K at 3% inflation will be worth this much
in
–5 years $42,936
–10 years $36,871
–15 years $31,663

17. Social Security – Can you count on it?
• Reform of SS is inevitable.
• Consider reducing SS benefit (for planning
purposes) to be conservative:
Benefit Reduction
60s 100%
50s 75%
40s 50%
Under 40 0%

18. Is Social Security Secure?
• “In 2016 we will begin paying more in benefits than we
collect in taxes.”
• “Without changes, by 2037 the Social Security Trust
Fund will be exhausted* and there will be enough
money to pay only about 76 cents for each dollar of
scheduled benefits”.
• “*Your estimated benefits are based on current law.
Congress has made changes to the law in the past and
can do so at any time”.
• Source: www.socialsecurity.gov

19. The Value of a Pension
• Sam is expected to live another 22 years
after retirement to age 84.
• At retirement (62), Sam’s $20K annual
pension is equivalent to having an extra
$280K in retirement savings. (single life)
• If his pension income was $40K it would be
approx. $550K.

20. Gap Analysis Sam’s Savings Goal
1. Expenses $50K
2. Estimated Income
– Pension $20K
– Social Security $15K ($20K at 75%)
Total $35K
1. Gap $15K
2. # years in retirement 25
3. Minimum amount needed $375,000
• Consider increasing for healthcare, longevity, inflation etc.

21. Start Saving Aggressively
• Say Sam has a balance of $100K in his 401K
• He needs to save approx. $15K a year to
reach his minimum goal of $375K
– This assumes a 3.5% net inflation-adjusted return or
6.5% investment return.
• If Sam can not save that much or is worried
about health costs/longevity he may decide
to work longer.

22. How Do I Catch-up?
• Increase savings, decrease expenses in retirement
or delay retirement or invest aggressively.
• Maximum amount 2010 for tax deductible savings
in 401K:
• $16,500
• $5,500 catch-up if over age 50
• $5,000 in Traditional/Roth IRA with $1,000
catch-up
• Strict financial diet

23. Reconsider Early Retirement
Phased retirement for most Baby Boomers-need for
fulfilling work, increased benefits.
• Need healthcare coverage prior to Medicare (age
65).
• If delay SS can substantially increase benefits.
(8% for each year delayed up to 70)
• Longevity risk
• Pension benefits could be lower.
• Lower expected long range rates of return on
investments based on today’s valuations.

24. How much does early retirement affect
your bottom line?
• Sally, age 45 has a FRA (Full Retirement
Age) of 67. She decides to retire at age 62 at
which point she takes SS. Her benefit will be
reduced by how much permanently?
Answer: 30%

25. Maximize Your SS Benefit
• Sally decides to work to age
70 because she loves her job.
• How much will her benefit
be increased?
• Answer: 24%
The choice to retire at 70 versus 62 increased
her benefit by 77%!

26. How to Budget for Healthcare in Retirement
• Budget $500-700 per person per month prior
to Medicare. Costs for Medicare supplement
policies will be less.
• Set aside addl. $250K for medical costs in
retirement. (co-pays, Medicare premiums
and deductibles)
• Out-of-pocket health care costs for a typical
65-year-old couple have increased 50% in
seven years.

27. Rx: Summary of Your Prescriptions
• Develop a vision of your retirement; be specific as
possible
• Put together an estimate of your expenses in retirement.
• Do a “Gap Analysis” for retirement needs
• Take advantage of company match and savings
incentives; build reserves for medical/LTC
• Reconsider retirement date or expenses in retirement
• Still in critical condition-Get help if needed
from an expert who is a fiduciary
– Fee-only, CFP® professional

28. Other Educational Resources
www.socialsecurity.gov
www.kiplinger.com
The Investor’s Manifesto Preparing for Prosperity, Armageddon
and Everything in Between, William J. Bernstein
www.NAPFA.org
Put Your Money Where Your Heart Is Sue Stevens

29. Disclaimer
This presentation is for informational
purposes only and is not intended as specific
advice or recommendations by Ascend
Financial Planning, LLC.
© 2010, Ascend Financial, LLC