The Finishing Touches

Read Time / 2 Minutes

Theme / Financial Planning

My wife’s sister and her husband spent several years living in their home while renovating it.  Calling it a renovation doesn’t seem to do justice to the changes they made.  They raised the roof, pushed out walls, reconfigured rooms, and relocated plumbing and electricity.  My brother-in-law is a general contractor, so he did most of the work himself.   It took a long time, but after putting the finishing touches on, they are now living in their “new” home and enjoying the fruit of their labor.

Not all of us would commit to completely renovating our home while living in it, but all of us should commit to building our financial house in anticipation of living in it during retirement.  As we live our lives in the present, we should be anticipating the future: investing in retirement plans through our employers (401k, 403b, SEP), investing on our own (IRA, Roth), and contributing to Social Security and Medicare through payroll taxes.

When we put a life-long effort into building our financial house, we want to be wise on how to live in it.  Here are a few of the questions we should ask:

·       When should I start withdrawing from my retirement plans?  What are the restrictions?

·       When should I start receiving Social Security?   What is the impact if I continue to work?

·       When should I start receiving Medicare?  What Medicare plan should I have?

·       How does a Health Savings Account factor into retirement?  What about an annuity?

·       If I have Medicare, do I need long-term care insurance?  What about life insurance?

In Scripture, God asked Solomon to build a temple.  It took effort, but “Solomon built the temple and completed it” (1 Kings 6:14).  The temple then served the people of Israel well for many years.  My brother-in-law and sister-in-law didn’t build a temple, but they built what they needed.  Likewise, let each of us build towards our retirement needs - and put the finishing touches on to fully enjoy the fruit of our labor.

Doug Hanson, MBA

Wealth Advisor

208.697.3699

doug@christianwm.com