Everything we do – from choosing a career to managing career progressions at our employers – is presumably so we and our families and dependents can have a better life. But if we fail to plan for "Life after work," all of the plans and effort we put into our working lives could be jeopardized.

What will retirement look like? Are we spending too much? What if we're not saving enough? How frequently should we be saving? Could we run out of money in retirement? Are we investing in the right places? How much will we need in retirement? Will Government and Employer pension plans cover us through retirement?

Long before retirement hits our radars, we're planning what type of education, skills training, and professional designations we'll acquire. We also spend a lot of time planning which industries are the best place to work in and which employers to work for. Once employed, we carefully strategize our every career move so that we progress to the top of the ladder in our respective fields.

Sadly though, while we focus most of our efforts on all these plans, we often forget to plan for "life after work"!

Retirement planning involves an analysis of the various choices you can make today to help provide for your financial future. To make appropriate choices, you need to predict — as well as you can — your future economic circumstances. You'll also need to establish your post-retirement goals. When you've determined how much of an income stream you'll probably require in the future, you'll be in a position to make wise choices now about income, saving, investments, and employer-sponsored or other retirement plans.

Of course, you need to tailor your retirement planning to your own unique circumstances — planning methods may be different for employees and executives than for business owners. And no matter who you are, you'll probably want to gain some familiarity with the Social Security system, with post-retirement health care insurance coverage, including Medicare and long-term care (LTC) insurance. For some people, retirement may be an eagerly anticipated event, an opportunity to enjoy so many things that working may have precluded — travel, hobbies, and more family time. For other people, even the word "retirement" may conjure up feelings of fear or dread, particularly for those employees who work without the benefit of pension or other retirement plans. And newspaper stories questioning the future of the Social Security system can certainly compound anxiety. Whether you are financially comfortable or are of limited means, however, retirement planning is possible and can help you take control of your own future.

To determine your retirement income needs, you'll want to evaluate your present circumstances — your income, your expenses, your assets, and your debts. Next, you'll need to think about your future circumstances. There are four main sources for your retirement income: Social Security, pensions or other retirement vehicles, your investment portfolio, and savings. If you predict that your current income will not provide you with your desired retirement lifestyle, there are certain steps you can take now to help change your circumstances.

You'll want to think about your future sources of income, but also about where you'll live. Will you continue to live in your current home, for instance, or will you move to a condominium or retirement community? And if your employer typically provides early retirement packages to its employees, you'll need to know how to evaluate such packages from a number of perspectives.

Learning how to save for retirement is imperative. There are a number of retirement vehicles available, including traditional and Roth IRAs, employer-sponsored retirement plans, nonqualified deferred compensation plans, stock plans, and commercial annuities. Proper retirement planning requires an understanding of the workings of these tools.

In addition, your personal investment planning can help you on the road toward your retirement goals. The sooner you start, the longer you'll have to accumulate funds for retirement. You’ll want to understand the taxation of your retirement and investment vehicles. For example, you'll want to compare the pros and cons of investing within a tax-deferred retirement savings plan versus a taxable brokerage account, and perhaps a Roth IRA versus a traditional IRA.

Effective retirement planning involves not only an awareness of the types of savings vehicles available, but also an understanding of taking distributions from these vehicles. In particular, you should be familiar with the income tax ramifications of distributions (including a possible 10% premature distribution penalty tax for distributions made prior to age 59 ½). You may be interested in knowing whether you can borrow money from your retirement plan, whether it is better to receive your retirement money in one lump sum or in monthly checks, and whether you can roll your retirement plan balance into an IRA.

In addition, you may be concerned about naming one or more beneficiaries for your IRA or employer-sponsored retirement plan. What are the tax implications? What about required minimum distributions from the plan after you reach age 72 (or 70½ if you reached that age prior to January 1, 2020)?

Everything we do – from choosing a career to managing career progressions at our employers – is presumably so we and our families and dependents can have a better life. But if we fail to plan for "Life after work," all of the plans and effort we put into our working lives could be jeopardized.

What will retirement look like? Are we spending too much? What if we're not saving enough? How frequently should we be saving? Could we run out of money in retirement? Are we investing in the right places? How much will we need in retirement? Will Government and Employer pension plans cover us through retirement?

If we don't plan for retirement, we'll never be able to prepare for it. And an ill-prepared retirement is bound to be one filled with financial stress and chaos!

For some people, financial planning is mainly concerned with how best to go about building a nest egg and how to make it last through retirement. But for many, there is a desire to ensure their Estate delivers benefits beyond their own retirement and produces a lasting legacy even after they have passed.

For our clients, retirement planning doesn't start at retirement. It starts much before! Our Retirement Planning service takes a long-term view of your financial well-being. We use a life-cycle approach to ensure your "Life after work" is as well-planned as your life prior to retirement.

Here's what we do for you as part of our Retirement Planning service:

• Your personalized retirement planning strategy: Everything we do for you centers around four pillars - Helping you plan to achieve your financial goals prior to retirement, Planning to ensure you have sufficient Income during retirement, Putting plans in place to safeguard your Nest Egg and yourself against potential catastrophes; Planning for your legacy.
• Understanding your goals: Through an intensely personalized approach, we understand what your retirement goals are.
• Analyzing where you are at: To plan a meaningful retirement, you need to know where you currently stand. We'll help you build an in-depth financial inventory to use as part of our retirement planning process.
• Developing the plan: Remember all your questions on your mind – largely unanswered? Well, we'll work with you to create a retirement plan that addresses every one of them. When we're done, you'll not only know what you need (Income) to fund your retirement lifestyle and what your investments will generate; but you'll also know how to bridge the shortfall – if any.
• Implementing the plan: As you move closer to retirement, we'll work closely with you to ensure the methods are implemented in a phased and orderly manner. Our Retirement Planning approach aims to make transitioning into retirement as seamless and stress-free as possible.
• Supporting you in making decisions on pensions and benefits: Our retirement planning professionals will be right there when you need them, with help and advice on pensions and benefits (Government or Employer): Whether to apply or not? When to apply? What to do with those funds…and much more.
• Looking out for you in retirement and beyond: Our Retirement Planning service isn't done yet – not by a long shot! When you need our advice, our specialists will know precisely how to respond! To live a long and fulfilling retirement, you'll need help with many other facets of your life – Health Care, Insurance, Charitable Giving, and Legacy Planning.
• Ongoing reviews: Our Retirement Planning service ensures that we maintain a long and enduring relationship with you. We'll continue to monitor and review your retirement plans and consult with you frequently about any changes or updates needed to address your evolving retirement lifestyle needs.