Getting
It All Together for Retirement
Where
is everything? Time to organize and centralize your documents.
Provided by Jared Daniel of Wealth Guardian Group
Before retirement begins, gather what
you need. Put as much documentation
as you can in one place, for you and those you love. It could be a
password-protected online vault; it could be a file cabinet; it could be a file
folder. Regardless of what it is, by centralizing the location of important
papers you are saving yourself from disorganization and headaches in the
future.
What should go in the vault, cabinet or
folder(s)? Crucial financial
information and more. You will want to include...
Those quarterly/annual statements. Recent performance
paperwork for IRAs, 401(k)s, funds, brokerage
accounts and so forth. Include the statements from the latest quarter and the
statements from the end of the previous calendar year (that is, the last Q4
statement you received). You don’t get paper statements anymore? Print out the
equivalent, or if you really want to minimize clutter, just print out the links
to the online statements. (Someone is going to need your passwords, of course.)
These documents can also become handy in figuring out a retirement income
distribution strategy.
Healthcare benefit info. Are you enrolled in Medicare or a Medicare Advantage
plan? Are you in a group health plan? Do you pay for your own health coverage?
Own a long term care policy? Gather the policies together in your new
retirement command center and include related literature so you can study their
benefit summaries, coverage options, and rules and regulations. Contact info
for insurers, HMOs, your doctor(s) and the insurance agent who sold you a
particular policy should also go in here.
Life insurance info. Do you have a straight term insurance policy, no
potential for cash value whatsoever? Keep a record of when the level premiums
end. If you have a whole life policy, you want to keep paperwork communicating
the death benefit, the present cash value in the policy and the required
monthly premiums in your file.
Beneficiary designation forms. Few pre-retirees realize that beneficiary designations
often take priority over requests made in a will when it comes to 401(k)s,
403(b)s and IRAs. Hopefully, you have retained copies of these forms. If not,
you can request them from the account custodians and review the choices you
have made. Are they choices you would still make today? By reviewing them in
the company of a retirement planner or an attorney, you can gauge the tax
efficiency of the eventual transfer of assets.1
Social Security basics. If you haven’t claimed benefits yet, put your Social
Security card, last year’s W-2 form, certified copies of your birth
certificate, marriage license or divorce papers in one place, and military
discharge paperwork or and a copy of your W-2 form for last year (or Schedule
SE and Schedule C plus 1040 form, if you work for yourself), and military
discharge papers or proof of citizenship if applicable. Social Security no
longer mails people paper statements tracking their accrued benefits, but
e-statements are available via its website. Take a look at yours and print it
out.2
Pension matters. Will you receive a bona fide pension in retirement? If
so, you want to collect any special letters or bulletins from your employer.
You want your Individual Benefit Statement telling you about the benefits you
have earned and for which you may become eligible; you also want the Summary
Plan Description and contact info for someone at the employee benefits
department where you worked.
Real estate documents. Gather up your deed, mortgage docs, property tax
statements and homeowner insurance policy. Also, make a list of the contents of
your home and their estimated value – you may be away from your home more in
retirement, so those items may be more vulnerable as a consequence.
Estate planning paperwork. Put copies of your estate plan and any trust
paperwork within the collection, and of course a will. In case of a crisis of
mind or body, your loved ones may need to find a durable power of attorney or health
care directive, so include those documents if you have them and let them
know where to find them.
Tax returns. Should you only keep last year’s 1040 and state
return? How about those for the past 7 years? At the very least, you should
have a copy of last year’s returns in this collection.
A list of your digital assets. We all have them now, and they are far from trivial –
the contents of a cloud, a photo library, or a Facebook page may be vital to
your image or your business. Passwords must be compiled too, of course.
This will take a little work, but you
will be glad you did it someday. Consider
this a Saturday morning or weekend project. It may lead to some discoveries and
possibly prompt some alterations to your financial picture as you prepare for
retirement.
This material was prepared by MarketingLibrary.Net Inc., and does
not necessarily represent the views of the presenting party, nor their
affiliates. All information is believed to be from reliable sources; however we
make no representation as to its completeness or accuracy. Please note -
investing involves risk, and past performance is no guarantee of future
results. The publisher is not engaged in rendering legal, accounting or other
professional services. If assistance is needed, the reader is advised to engage
the services of a competent professional. This information should not be
construed as investment, tax or legal advice and may not be relied on for the
purpose of avoiding any Federal tax penalty. This is neither a solicitation nor
recommendation to purchase or sell any investment or insurance product or service,
and should not be relied upon as such. All indices are unmanaged and are not
illustrative of any particular investment.
Citations.
1 - fpanet.org/ToolsResources/ArticlesBooksChecklists/Articles/Retirement/10EssentialDocumentsforRetirement/
[9/12/11]
2 - cbsnews.com/8301-505146_162-57573910/planning-for-retirement-take-inventory/
[3/18/13]
