A Successful Journey Starts By Knowing Exactly Where You Are
Posted on | May 20, 2013 | No Comments
Podcast: Download (22.9MB)
This week Doug Andrew discussed the following:
Upcoming Free Webinar
Attend our free 90-minute webinar live over the Internet Tuesday, May 21st at 11:00 a.m. pacific (12:00 p.m. mountain, 1:00 p.m. central, 2:00 p.m. eastern), and again at 6:30 p.m. pacific (7:30 mountain, 8:30 central, 9:30 eastern). The topic is “True Asset and Wealth Optimization.” You’ll learn how to choose the right investments for liquidity, safety, rate of return and tax benefits.
All attendees will receive $997 worth of valuable gifts, including a customized LASER Retirement Brief, The Success Formula audio program, and access to The Secrets to a Tax-Free Retirement event..
All Progress Starts by Telling the Truth
There’s a saying to the effect of “You can tell where someone is at by where they’re at.” This is true whether it’s applied to where a person is spiritually, psychologically, or financially.
Right now a lot of people are getting, and spending, their tax returns. What a lot of people don’t realize is that by simply investing the average tax refund in America, a person could realize an extra $500,000 in savings over the next 30 years. Over 40 years, that refund could result in an extra million dollars.
So why don’t more people do that? Simple. They don’t know what they don’t know. They continue to waste money on otherwise payable taxes that could be safely and legally directed toward other causes that they support. There’s no shame in paying our fair share in taxes, but being taxed to the max is not a good way to go.
Case in point, IRAs and 401(k)s used to be a good way to go, but from a tax standpoint they are now poor at best. This is because of where we’re headed in America with future higher taxes a near certainty.
The most important thing you can know when you set out to take a journey for the first time is knowing exactly where you are currently. Once you’re clear on where you’re at, then you can chart your course for where you’d like to go.
This clarity of knowing where you’re at includes where you are physically, intellectually, spiritually, socially, emotionally, and financially. What good does the money do unless you have your act together in these other areas?
A good example of this are those individuals who spend their health trying to build wealth and then find themselves, in their golden years, spending their wealth trying to regain their lost health.
It’s essential to stay balanced if we wish to obtain a brighter future. That’s what frees us up to focus on what matters most.
Free to Focus on What Matters Most
When we reach our golden years, we don’t want to have to worry about our money. We want to know that no matter what happens with government, such as taxes going up, that we are immune. This can only happen when our money is accumulating and distributing tax-free.
We want to know that if serious inflation is headed our way, due to government printing so much money, that inflation won’t affect us.
We’d rather know that inflation would actually help rather than hinder us because our returns are tied to those things that inflate.
We want to know that we are immune from the effects of continuing market volatility and economic uncertainty. We want the peace of mind of knowing that our money is not at risk in the market but can safely grow when the economy grows, but not lose a dime of principal during those times when the economy shrinks.
When we have addressed these three potential roadblocks, we can enjoy real peace of mind. But the first step, as always, is to have clarity of where we are currently.
Once you understand exactly where you’re at, you can chart clearly where you’d like to go. You can find balance and bring harmony between your money, your life, your values, your family, and your time.
If this message is resonating with you, it may be time to get that needed clarity and starting moving toward that balanced and brighter future you deserve.
Take that first important step by visiting with a wealth architect today.
Bonus Missed Fortune E-Book: Baby Boomer Blunders The average Baby Boomer has less than $50,000 accumulated for retirement (which means many have less than that), primarily due to bad habits and having money invested in the wrong places where economic downturns can diminish their nest egg. Download this e-book
Predictability Produces Peace and Abundance
Posted on | May 13, 2013 | No Comments
Podcast: Download (22.9MB)
This week Doug Andrew discussed the following:
Upcoming Free Webinar
Attend our free 90-minute webinar live over the Internet Tuesday, May 14th at 11:00 a.m. pacific (12:00 p.m. mountain, 1:00 p.m. central, 2:00 p.m. eastern), and again at 6:30 p.m. pacific (7:30 mountain, 8:30 central, 9:30 eastern). The topic is “True Asset and Wealth Optimization.” You’ll learn how to choose the right investments for liquidity, safety, rate of return and tax benefits.
All attendees will receive $997 worth of valuable gifts, including a customized LASER Retirement Brief, The Success Formula audio program, and access to The Secrets to a Tax-Free Retirement event..
Abundance is More Than Just Money
The great mentor Marshall Thurber taught that 94% of all failures are due to a lack of a system. In this case, SYSTEM is an acronym that stands for Save Your Self Time Energy Money.
Thurber taught about the importance of predictability in ensuring quality results. That means if you put a certain amount of wood into the fire, you’d get a certain amount of BTUs. Or if you followed the exact recipe for cinnamon rolls, you’d get a perfect batch of them 90-95% of the time.
This same principle can be applied the systems that create predictable wealth.
Most people, who are familiar with the world of finance, focus on creating predictable rates of return and predictable results with their money so they don’t have to worry about their money.
There are several different ways to accomplish this.
One is called structured cash flows. Others include putting money into a maximum funded insurance contract. During the past 12 years—possibly the worst 12-year period since the Great Depression—people who have done this have enjoyed predictable rates of return at a time that was utter chaos to others.
Many investors saw up to a 40% loss in their savings twice in the past 12 years, first in 2003 and again in 2008. It’s no wonder people were running around in a panic.
But those who used systems that created predictable returns saw their money double and triple during that same 12 years. They did not lose any money when the economy went down.
That ongoing market volatility is just one part of a triple whammy that also includes higher taxes and rising inflation. But once again, having the right system in place allows a person to enjoy predictable tax-free returns while building a nest egg that continues to produce tax-free income throughout your retirement.
Having a life of abundance begins with learning the right strategies.
Building Your Dream Life of Peace and Prosperity
On September 23, 1908, in a game against the Chicago Cubs, Fred Merkle of the New York Giants was on first base with Moose McCormick was on third base, with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning. The score was tied. The next batter singled home McCormick from third base. But Merkle, caught up in the excitement, failed to touch second base and ran to celebrate with his teammates.
The second baseman noticed this, picked up the ball and tagged second base and then appealed to the umpire who called Merkle out. This nullified the run just made by McCormick. In the ensuing chaos, the game was called a tie and the Cubs and Giants had to meet in a playoff game. The Cubs won that game.
Had the giants won that September 23rd game, that playoff would have been unnecessary and the Giants could have won the 1908 World Series that instead ended up being won by the Cubs.
The lesson here is that sometimes in life, we forget to touch all the bases and it can come back to bite us later.
We have to keep things in their proper perspective. This includes money. It’s fine to learn how to accumulate money predictably and to accumulate it tax-free in good times or bad times. But we have to remember to touch all the bases while we do it.
This means touching not only the financial bases, but also the other bases like your health, your family, your relationships, and your values. You’ve got to get your intellectual assents, your wisdom, your knowledge, and your experience in alignment as well. It’s also important to touch the base of what you give back to society through your contributions.
What good is your money without these other foundational areas? It’s impossible to be happy without remembering to touch these bases.
Our knowledge, attitudes, skills and habits contribute greatly to the kind of abundance that we all hope to enjoy.
If you’d like to learn how create greater predictability in your wealth without losing sight of those other essential areas of the abundant life, visit with a wealth architect today.
Bonus Missed Fortune E-Book: Baby Boomer Blunders The average Baby Boomer has less than $50,000 accumulated for retirement (which means many have less than that), primarily due to bad habits and having money invested in the wrong places where economic downturns can diminish their nest egg. Download this e-book
When Good Is No Longer Good Enough
Posted on | May 6, 2013 | No Comments
Podcast: Download (22.9MB)
This week Doug Andrew discussed the following:
Upcoming Free Webinar
Attend our free 90-minute webinar live over the Internet Tuesday, May 7th at 11:00 a.m. pacific (12:00 p.m. mountain, 1:00 p.m. central, 2:00 p.m. eastern), and again at 6:30 p.m. pacific (7:30 mountain, 8:30 central, 9:30 eastern). The topic is “True Asset and Wealth Optimization.” You’ll learn how to choose the right investments for liquidity, safety, rate of return and tax benefits.
All attendees will receive $997 worth of valuable gifts, including a customized LASER Retirement Brief, The Success Formula audio program, and access to The Secrets to a Tax-Free Retirement event..
Someone Thinks You’re Too Successful
If you’ve the news lately, you’ve no doubt read about Cyprus government officials passing a tax law that would seize money from the bank accounts of Cypriots. This news has people around the world rightly concerned about how safe their savings are from opportunistic politicians.
It’s true for us in America as well. President Obama’s recently released budget seeks to limit how much very successful individuals will be able to keep in IRAs, 401(k)s, and pensions and profit sharing plans. One administration official admits that this proposal would only raise around $9 billion over a decade.
The rationale behind these suggested limits is that the wealthy can accumulate much more money in IRAs or 401(k)s than is required to fund what officials consider a “reasonable” retirement. This administration official is essentially saying that those who saved must take some of their money and give it to those who didn’t save.
We’ve seen this before back in the 1990s when politicians repealed what they called the “success” tax in 1997. It was a handy tax for the redistribution of wealth in that, if you were considered too successful accumulating retirement savings, they dinged you with an extra 15% excise tax.
Here’s your advance warning: the “success” tax is coming back.
Governments around the world are attempting to grab a portion of their peoples’ retirement savings. For example, Australian citizens are also facing a proposed new 15% tax on all of their income over $100,000 drawn from their country’s equivalent of an IRA.
This amounts to being taxed on both ends since they’ve already paid their taxes before they put their money in the account.
If you are someone who government considers “rich”, you now have a huge target on your back.
At Retirement Your Planning Must Be Different
Highly successful people can still make foolish decisions. They may follow the crowd and keep their retirement saving in IRAs and 401(k)s. They often do this assuming that they’ll end up in a lower tax bracket at retirement.
But the planning you do for retirement planning is different from the planning you must do when you’re actually at retirement.
Many people once considered saving for retirement in an IRA or 401(k) a good way to prepare for the future. Some found that a better way was a Roth IRA. But saving for retirement the best way can mean a whopping 50-100% greater nest egg when you get there.
We’ve reach the point now where IRAs, 401(k)s and even Roth IRAs cannot even be considered “good” any longer. One reason for this is that they still leave people vulnerable to tax hikes and that can mean ending up in a higher tax bracket at retirement, or possibly outliving your savings. This is why “good” and “better” just won’t cut it any longer.
The best ways to protect your retirement nest egg keep your money tax-free. They allow inflation to actually help you by tying your returns to those things that inflate. When the markets are volatile, these strategies protect your money so you don’t lose principle, yet they allow you to participate in any market upside the moment the markets recover.
The best ways of protecting your retirement savings allow you to enjoy liquid assets safely earning predictable rates of return.
You deserve a most amazing future. But to get there you’ll have to cut through the noise to learn what you can control and what matters most. Where most Americans default and keep doing what they’ve always done, you must instead learn to focus your time and money on today’s best choices.
The best choices are readily available once you know what they are.
Learn what those choices are by visiting with a wealth architect today.
Bonus Missed Fortune E-Book: Baby Boomer Blunders The average Baby Boomer has less than $50,000 accumulated for retirement (which means many have less than that), primarily due to bad habits and having money invested in the wrong places where economic downturns can diminish their nest egg. Download this e-book
Never Let It Rest Till Good Is Best
Posted on | April 29, 2013 | No Comments
Podcast: Download (22.9MB)
This week Doug Andrew discussed the following:
Upcoming Free Webinar
Attend our free 90-minute webinar live over the Internet Tuesday, April 30th at 11:00 a.m. pacific (12:00 p.m. mountain, 1:00 p.m. central, 2:00 p.m. eastern), and again at 6:30 p.m. pacific (7:30 mountain, 8:30 central, 9:30 eastern). The topic is “True Asset and Wealth Optimization.” You’ll learn how to choose the right investments for liquidity, safety, rate of return and tax benefits.
All attendees will receive $997 worth of valuable gifts, including a customized LASER Retirement Brief, The Success Formula audio program, and access to The Secrets to a Tax-Free Retirement event..
Never Settle For Less Than the Best
Here’s a saying you may want to commit to memory: “Good. Better. Best. Never let it rest, never let it rest, till good gets better and better gets best.”
When it comes to planning for that brighter future, the difference between best and good can be astonishing. In terms of your retirement nest egg, that difference could be as much as 50% more net spendable retirement income.
To put it another way, when we apply this distinction to financial strategies, it could be the difference between outliving your retirement savings and having money to spare.
A good example of this can be found in the way some people still put their serious retirement money into tax-deferred accounts like IRAs and 401(k)s. For many years people have believed that this was a better way to save for the future. But the truth is, it’s far from the best and it’s not even good any more because taxes are going up.
Shifts in conventional wisdom are not uncommon. For years we’ve been told that fossil fuels are destroying the planet and now some are saying that proof exists that fossil fuels are dramatically greening the planet. The point here is that billions of dollars have been spent chasing an assumption that fossil fuels were bad when there is convincing evidence that they are beneficial.
Not only have we spent decades wasting money on pursuing biofuels, but other associated costs in other areas of our lives have skyrocketed as well.
The bottom line is that sometimes we buy into faulty assumptions simply because we’re so used to simply following the crowd. When someone comes along and points out a better way, we’re amazed that we didn’t recognize it sooner. This is has been especially true in how people plan for retirement.
Reading the Writing On the Wall
Anyone who is paying attention should recognize that the only direction taxes will be heading is higher. Not just a little bit higher, but dramatically higher.
The assumption we made years ago that we were better off saving in an IRA or 401(k) where taxes are deferred to some future perceived unknown advantage is proving to be dead wrong.
Our assumption was that most of us would eventually end up in a lower tax bracket at some future point. A large percentage of Americans assumed that they would be retiring on 60-70% of their normal income and that they would therefore be in a lower bracket. But this has not been true for more than 20 years.
In reality, by the time we’ve retired, we no longer have the deductions we enjoyed during our prime earning years. Our dependents have moved on. Our homes are paid off. And we’re no longer contributing to our retirement accounts.
Even though our income may be 60-70% of what it was, we now have Social Security added on top of it and we’re being taxed on 85% of that benefit.
Too many people are finding that they are actually paying a higher percentage of federal and state income taxes than they were while they were working. Meanwhile, Congress continues to create more tax brackets and to raise taxes as a means of paying back the money that it is borrowing to support its spending habits.
You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to see where this is leading. Higher taxes, combined with rising inflation will deplete your retirement nest egg in a shorter period of time than you thought possible.
The only way to know with absolute confidence that your money is immune from the effects of taxes, inflation, and ongoing market volatility is in a tax-free vehicle. Using the best strategies, you can strategically roll that money over from your 401(k) or IRA, pay the applicable taxes now at the lowest possible rate, and then enjoy tax-free growth from then on.
Learn how to take your future from good to better to best by visiting with a Wealth Architect today.
Bonus Missed Fortune E-Book: Baby Boomer Blunders The average Baby Boomer has less than $50,000 accumulated for retirement (which means many have less than that), primarily due to bad habits and having money invested in the wrong places where economic downturns can diminish their nest egg. Download this e-book
A Tax-free Retirement Is Still Possible
Posted on | April 22, 2013 | No Comments
Podcast: Download (22.9MB)
This week Doug Andrew discussed the following:
Upcoming Free Webinar
Attend our free 90-minute webinar live over the Internet Tuesday, April 23th at 11:00 a.m. pacific (12:00 p.m. mountain, 1:00 p.m. central, 2:00 p.m. eastern), and again at 6:30 p.m. pacific (7:30 mountain, 8:30 central, 9:30 eastern). The topic is “True Asset and Wealth Optimization.” You’ll learn how to choose the right investments for liquidity, safety, rate of return and tax benefits.
All attendees will receive $997 worth of valuable gifts, including a customized LASER Retirement Brief, The Success Formula audio program, and access to The Secrets to a Tax-Free Retirement event..
Tax Hikes Are Just Beginning
The Tax Policy Center is reporting that roughly 77% of American households will pay more this year in taxes. This is due, in part to the agreement Congress passed on New Years Day in order to avoid the fiscal cliff.
Here’s why this is so. A number of Bush era tax cuts were temporarily extended, while others were allowed to expire. It was reported that the tax hikes in the legislation would only affect those with incomes of $400,000 a year or more. But the bill’s true impact goes well beyond that.
Even if Congress goes the rest of the year without another tax hike, virtually taxpayer is still paying another $500-$1,000 more in taxes this year.
This bill supposedly saved 99% of Americans from a tax hike, but we’ll all be paying more because the Social Security payroll tax cuts were allowed to expire. This is a roughly $1,000 tax increase to workers making $50,000 a year.
FICA and Medicare withholding all the way from 4.2% back up to 6.2%. This means that most Americans will experience a 50% increase in the amount withheld from their checks for Social Security and Medicare.
Other fallout included increases in capital gains and dividends for high income earners such as married couples filing jointly and earning over $70,000 annually and single earners making more than $35,000. The capital gains increased from 15% to 20%. And, finally, there was a phase out of the itemized deductions and the addition of a health care surtax of 3.5% that went into effect on all investment income.
While the higher income earners are taking it on the chin, every income earner is noticing that they are paying more in taxes this year.
The fiscal cliff may have been avoided, but serious issues like the debt ceiling and spending cuts were never even addressed. This means that economic uncertainty will continue for now.
This is prompting many Americans to consider what is happening to their taxes and to explore what they can do to immunize themselves from the effects of future tax increases.
Tax Hike Immunity Is the Answer
What if the prospect of Congress raising taxes was something you could simply shrug off as irrelevant? How would it feel to know that your retirement money was immune from tax hikes and continuing market volatility? Would you sleep a little better at night knowing that you had taken the steps to protect it?
People who are keeping their retirement money in IRAs and 401(k)s will not have this luxury. This is because their money is being accumulated in a tax-deferred vehicle that will subject them to those anticipated rising tax rates the moment they begin taking their distributions.
Not only will they be facing almost certain higher tax rates, but they’ll also have fewer deductions to offset their tax liabilities. Their homes will have been paid off; their dependents will have left the nest, etc. It’s entirely possible that many retirees will find themselves paying more in taxes during retirement than they did during their working years.
They’ll also be dealing with the effects of rising inflation that is shrinking the purchasing power of every dollar they’ve saved.
And with their retirement savings in an IRA or 401(k), their nest egg will be exposed to the economic uncertainty and market volatility that has been so common for the past 10 years.
On the other hand, there are people who have learned how to get their money out of their IRA or 401(k) through a strategic rollout, pay their tax debt now at the lower rate and get their money safely into a vehicle where it can accumulate tax-free from then on.
They’ve learned how to beat the ravages of inflation by tying their returns to those things that inflate. And they’ve learned how protect every dime of their principal through indexing strategies that allow them to participate in every market upside, but protects them during those years when the market declines.
Immunity from higher taxes, rising inflation and continuing economic uncertainty is a result of learning and applying the right strategies and a conscious refusal to keep following the herd.
Take the essential first step and visit with a wealth architect today.
Bonus Missed Fortune E-Book: Baby Boomer Blunders The average Baby Boomer has less than $50,000 accumulated for retirement (which means many have less than that), primarily due to bad habits and having money invested in the wrong places where economic downturns can diminish their nest egg. Download this e-book
Why Government Is Interested In Your Retirement Savings
Posted on | April 15, 2013 | No Comments
Podcast: Download (22.9MB)
This week Doug Andrew discussed the following:
Upcoming Free Webinar
Attend our free 90-minute webinar live over the Internet Tuesday, April 16th at 11:00 a.m. pacific (12:00 p.m. mountain, 1:00 p.m. central, 2:00 p.m. eastern), and again at 6:30 p.m. pacific (7:30 mountain, 8:30 central, 9:30 eastern). The topic is “True Asset and Wealth Optimization.” You’ll learn how to choose the right investments for liquidity, safety, rate of return and tax benefits.
All attendees will receive $997 worth of valuable gifts, including a customized LASER Retirement Brief, The Success Formula audio program, and access to The Secrets to a Tax-Free Retirement event..
You’re Too Successful
You’ve heard about the government of Cyprus seizing money from its citizen’s bank accounts. But Cypriots aren’t the only ones who need to be concerned about the safety of their savings.
President Obama’s budget, which was recently released, will limit how much wealthy individuals may keep in IRAs and other retirement accounts. This proposal would bring in around $9 billion over a decade according to a senior administration official.
The thinking behind these proposed limits is that wealthy individuals can save much more money in IRAs or 401(k)s than is necessary to fund a “reasonable” retirement. In other words, if you are too successful and save too much money, this administration official is saying that you must take some of yours and give it to those who didn’t save.
This is nothing new. We saw it back in the 1990s before they repealed the so-called “success” tax in 1997. This was a favorite redistribution of wealth tax in that if you were deemed too successful in saving money in your retirement account, you were dinged with an extra 15% excise tax.
Pay attention, the “success” tax is being brought back.
People around the world are facing similar government attempts to grab a portion of their retirement savings. Australian citizens who have responsibly set aside savings for their own retirements are also facing a proposed new 15% tax on all their income over $100,000 drawn from their equivalent of an IRA.
What makes this appalling is the fact that this income is supposed to be tax-free because they’ve already paid the tax before they put their money in the account. They’re being taxed on both ends.
The bottom line is that people who government considers “rich” have a huge target on their backs. If it can happen to others, it can happen to us.
Protecting Your Money Is Paramount
Highly successful people can still make foolish decisions. They follow the crowd and keep their retirement saving in IRAs and 401(k)s. They assume that they’ll be in a lower tax bracket at retirement and not outlive their money.
But sometimes they don’t know what they don’t know.
When they learn that they can do what’s called a strategic rollout that allows them to do a conversion of their money from their IRAs and 401(k)s into a truly tax-free vehicle, they cheer. Then they tell their successful friends.
You deserve a most amazing future. But to get there you’ll have to cut through the noise to learn what you can control and what matters most. Where most Americans default and keep doing what they’ve always done, you must instead learn to focus your time and money on today’s best choices.
We all have good intentions. But we all face distractions, we fall behind, and we can eventually run out of time by doing the same thing over and over while expecting different results.
The best choices are readily available once you know what they are.
The best ways to protect your retirement nest egg keep your money tax-free. They allow inflation to actually help you by tying your returns to those things that inflate. When the markets are volatile, these strategies protect your money so you don’t lose principle, yet they allow you to participate in any market upside the moment the markets recover.
The best ways of protecting your retirement savings allow you to enjoy liquid assets safely earning predictable rates of return.
Take the first step by visiting with a wealth architect today.
Bonus Missed Fortune E-Book: Baby Boomer Blunders The average Baby Boomer has less than $50,000 accumulated for retirement (which means many have less than that), primarily due to bad habits and having money invested in the wrong places where economic downturns can diminish their nest egg. Download this e-book
Growing Your Money Tax-free is Essential To a Worry-free Future
Posted on | April 7, 2013 | No Comments
Podcast: Download (22.9MB)
This week Doug Andrew discussed the following:
Upcoming Free Webinar
Attend our free 90-minute webinar live over the Internet Tuesday, April 9th at 11:00 a.m. pacific (12:00 p.m. mountain, 1:00 p.m. central, 2:00 p.m. eastern), and again at 6:30 p.m. pacific (7:30 mountain, 8:30 central, 9:30 eastern). The topic is “True Asset and Wealth Optimization.” You’ll learn how to choose the right investments for liquidity, safety, rate of return and tax benefits.
All attendees will receive $997 worth of valuable gifts, including a customized LASER Retirement Brief, The Success Formula audio program, and access to The Secrets to a Tax-Free Retirement event..
Where the Crowd Goes Astray
Most people are conditioned to follow the crowd. This is especially true in how we approach saving for our retirement.
If we perceive that most people are putting their money into 401(k)s or IRAs, then we assume that these must be the ideal ways to save. In this case, however, there is no real safety in following the crowd.
The problem is that few people understand the difference between accumulating money in a tax-deferred account rather than in a tax-free vehicle. But it’s not just laypeople that don’t understand this distinction. Even tax attorneys and financial advisors are often unaware of truly tax-free methods to accumulate money.
Upon hearing the words “tax-free”, many people suppose that we’re referring to some sort of tax loophole that could be closed by Congress at any moment.
But the tax-free vehicle we’re talking about is no loophole. It is a perfectly legal tool for accumulating money tax-free and it has been grandfathered into the IRS code for over 100 years. Congress considers it such a sacred cow that it’s the only thing excluded from funding Obama’s health care law.
Once you understand that tax-free savings is possible, you’ll recognize that while the crowd’s preferred method of saving for retirement may be okay, it’s not the best way to save. People just don’t know what they don’t know.
The remedy is to empower yourself with knowledge. Then you’ll understand exactly how to create a dream solution that allows your retirement nest egg to accumulate tax-free.
At retirement, those who saved in tax-deferred vehicles like IRAs and 401(k)s will find that unpaid taxes will consume anywhere from a third to half of their savings. They’ll also face the prospect of being in an even higher tax bracket than they were in throughout their working years.
Lacking the deductions they used to enjoy and with higher tax rates looming, many people may outlive their retirement savings. When this happens, the fact that they went with the crowd won’t make any difference.
But it doesn’t have to be this way.
What Your Savings Vehicle Should Do
There’s still time to position your nest egg for a brighter future.
Ideally, you’ll want to have your serious money in a savings vehicle that provides some key protections. It will need liquidity for the times when you need to access your money. It should also provide safety for your principal so when the economy goes down your principal does not. Additionally, in those years that the market grows, your increase must become newly protected principal.
Your savings vehicle must also earn predictable rates of return. People who have broken with the crowd and found the optimal vehicle have been enjoying rates of return averaging 9.2% while netting 8.2% for the past 38 years. Even more impressive is the fact that they’ve continued to outperform other savings vehicles over the last 10 years—the worst decade since the Great depression.
They’ve learned how to rebalance and to use indexing to enjoy even better rates of return.
These are some of the benefits for breaking with the crowd and becoming educated about these alternatives that have existed for decades. Folks who do this arrive at their goal of financial independence much quicker. They also have much more money to show for their efforts.
For every million dollars they can generate up to $70,000 tax-free annual income that will last as long as they do without depleting their principal. And at the end of the day, this principal transfers tax-free to their spouse, their children or any other worthy cause they prefer.
On the other hand, folks who leave their money in IRAs and 401(k)s will have reason to kick themselves down the road.
Even if that’s where your money is today, you can get it out today with the least tax impact possible and roll it over into a vehicle where it will accumulate tax-free from that day forward. By linking your money to those things that inflate, you’ll no longer have to worry about inflation shrinking the purchasing power of your savings.
The only thing standing between you and that brighter future is the decision to step up and learn these strategies.
Start by visiting with a wealth architect today.
Bonus Missed Fortune E-Book: Baby Boomer Blunders The average Baby Boomer has less than $50,000 accumulated for retirement (which means many have less than that), primarily due to bad habits and having money invested in the wrong places where economic downturns can diminish their nest egg. Download this e-book
Keeping Your Money Safe is Now More Important Than Ever
Posted on | March 31, 2013 | No Comments
Podcast: Download (22.9MB)
This week Doug Andrew discussed the following:
Upcoming Free Webinar
Attend our free 90-minute webinar live over the Internet Tuesday, April 2nd at 11:00 a.m. pacific (12:00 p.m. mountain, 1:00 p.m. central, 2:00 p.m. eastern), and again at 6:30 p.m. pacific (7:30 mountain, 8:30 central, 9:30 eastern). The topic is “True Asset and Wealth Optimization.” You’ll learn how to choose the right investments for liquidity, safety, rate of return and tax benefits.
All attendees will receive $997 worth of valuable gifts, including a customized LASER Retirement Brief, The Success Formula audio program, and access to The Secrets to a Tax-Free Retirement event..
Lessons From Cyprus
The government in Cyprus recently sought to seize a certain percent of their citizens’ bank accounts in order to stave off national bankruptcy. The original plan to bailout their national economy was to levy a 6.75% tax on all bank accounts with up to 100,000 Euros and a 9.9% tax on accounts above that threshold.
When the president of Cyprus called upon their parliament to pass this measure, it sparked a run on the banks and further destabilized the entire 17-member European Union.
The impact almost instantly ricocheted into the global financial markets which shows how truly connected these markets can be.
This unprecedented action should have people everywhere considering what they can do to better protect their money from such acts of desperation.
There is a powerful lesson here for those who are paying attention and it’s that the days of the economic markets going endlessly upward are gone. People who are keeping their serious future money in IRAs and 401(k)s are counting on the Dow Jones or other indexes to start an extended period of growth. They’re going to be in for a rude awakening if they believe that the upward spiral of growth from the 1990s is going to return.
The question you should be asking yourself is “what am I doing to protect my serious cash?”
This is the time to be considering what’s known as a strategic rollout that will move your retirement money out of that 401(k) or IRA. This way, instead of putting off those taxes for some future perceived advantage when you think you may be in a lower tax bracket, you get those taxes over and done with. Then you get your money into a vehicle where it can safely accumulate tax-free from that day forward.
The strategies that make this possible have been safely grandfathered into the IRS code for well over 100 years. They are perfectly legitimate and, most importantly, they work.
Breaking Free From the Crowd
Those who will enjoy a brighter financial future are the individuals who consciously choose to take ownership of their futures instead of relying upon the government to take care of them in their golden years.
There are good ways, better ways and best ways to prepare for retirement. At one time the IRA and the 401(k) were each considered a good way to save for the future. But this is no longer the case. Not only do you face the prospect of higher taxes by the time you reach retirement, but also as we see in the case of the nation of Cyprus, the world markets are still subject to unpredictable behavior.
If you think that you’re safe because your money isn’t in the bank but is instead in the market, it’s still in great potential danger from economic uncertainty.
Even Roth IRAs, which were considered a better way than a standard IRA, can no longer be thought of as the best way to build a retirement nest egg that enjoys liquid assets safely earning a predictable rate of return.
The bottom line is that there are better ways to save and to enjoy tax-free income in your retirement.
With the right strategies, you can sleep soundly at night knowing that regardless of who may be raising taxes, no matter what is happening in the markets, you don’t lose money.
In 2008 when the market in America dropped 40% for the second time in a decade, a lot of people were bewildered. The $100,000 that they had in their retirement accounts was now only worth $60,000. Every $1 million they had socked away was now only worth $600,000 and many felt that they had lost their future.
On the other hand, folks who understood and used the Missed Fortune strategies were not troubled because they didn’t lose a dime of precious principal. Better still, when the markets did experience growth, these folks got to participate in the upside immediately.
That’s what you need to be doing. You need to protect your money from higher taxes, rising inflation and ongoing market uncertainty.
Learn exactly how to do this by visiting with a wealth architect today.
Bonus Missed Fortune E-Book: Baby Boomer Blunders The average Baby Boomer has less than $50,000 accumulated for retirement (which means many have less than that), primarily due to bad habits and having money invested in the wrong places where economic downturns can diminish their nest egg. Download this e-book
Gaining the Advantage Against Higher Taxes
Posted on | March 24, 2013 | No Comments
Podcast: Download (22.9MB)
This week Doug Andrew discussed the following:
Upcoming Free Webinar
Attend our free 90-minute webinar live over the Internet Tuesday, March 26th at 11:00 a.m. pacific (12:00 p.m. mountain, 1:00 p.m. central, 2:00 p.m. eastern), and again at 6:30 p.m. pacific (7:30 mountain, 8:30 central, 9:30 eastern). The topic is “True Asset and Wealth Optimization.” You’ll learn how to choose the right investments for liquidity, safety, rate of return and tax benefits.
All attendees will receive $997 worth of valuable gifts, including a customized LASER Retirement Brief, The Success Formula audio program, and access to The Secrets to a Tax-Free Retirement event..
The First Tax Hikes Are Already Being Felt
As of January, we’ve just seen the first major tax increase in nearly 20 years for high-income earners. But all of us are feeling the pinch caused by the expiration of the payroll tax cut on employee FICA and Medicare withholding. Those rates jumped from 4.2% back up to 6.2%. This effectively means that most Americans are seeing a nearly 50% increase in the amount withheld from their checks for Social Security and Medicare.
There were also noticeable increases in capital gains and dividends for high-income earners like married couples that file jointly and earn over $70,000 annually. This also affected single earners making more than $35,000. The capital gains increased from 15% to 20%. And, finally, there was a phase out of the itemized deductions and the addition of a health care surtax of 3.5% that went into effect on all investment income.
This realization of higher taxes is causing many Americans to take notice of what is happening and to think about what can be done to immunize themselves from the effects of future tax increases.
Many of them are choosing to abandon the tax-deferred vehicles like IRAs and 401(k)s where they’ve been saving for their retirement and doing a strategic rollout that repositions their nest egg where it can accumulate tax-free.
People who have chosen to keep their retirement money in IRAs and 401(k)s will not have this luxury. This is because their money is being accumulated in a tax-deferred vehicle that will subject them to those anticipated rising tax rates the moment they begin taking their distributions. If this wasn’t enough, they’ll also be wrangling with the effects of rising inflation that is steadily shrinking the purchasing power of every dollar they’ve saved.
Immunity from the triple whammy of higher taxes, rising inflation and continuing economic uncertainty comes from learning and applying the right strategies and not simply following the herd.
Tax-Advantaged Growth Is the Way To Go
Would it surprise you to know that DALBAR is reporting that most mutual fund investors have only averaged 3.49% during the past 20 years? Not only is that a dismal rate of return, but also whatever money they did accumulate was taxable.
Those who have invested the time and effort to become educated understand that the best way to avoid higher taxes, market volatility, and rising inflation is to utilize the strategy of indexing in maximum funded tax-advantaged life insurance contracts. It’s how they can maintain liquid assets while safely earning predictable rates of return.
Facing the prospect of tax hikes, some folks are moving their retirement savings away from tax-deferred accounts like IRAs and 401(k)s. Many use a strategic rollout to reposition their nest egg to a vehicle where it can grow tax-free. These maximum funded tax-advantaged Insurance contracts that have been grandfathered into the IRS code for generations. In them, your money grows tax-free, transfers tax-free when you access it at retirement, and is tax-free when it goes to your heirs at the end of your life.
To understand the difference this tax-free growth makes, consider the following question.
If you had a $500,000 nest egg in your IRA or 401(k) 12 years ago, is it worth $1.5 million today? If the answer is “no” then it’s time to pay close attention.
Because that’s the kind of growth that was accomplished in maximum funded insurance contracts.
There’s a reason that affluent people and banks and corporations put their tier 1 assets in Bank Owned Insurance Contracts and Corporate Owned Insurance Contracts. They maximum fund it and take the minimum death benefit for the tax-free accumulation and growth.
There’s no shame in not knowing what you don’t know. But if what you always thought to be true turned out not to be true, how soon would you want to know about it? If you’re serious about eliminating the dangers of rising taxes, you need to understand what even many professionals do not.
Learn how to take charge of your future by visiting with a wealth architect today.
Bonus Missed Fortune E-Book: Baby Boomer Blunders The average Baby Boomer has less than $50,000 accumulated for retirement (which means many have less than that), primarily due to bad habits and having money invested in the wrong places where economic downturns can diminish their nest egg. Download this e-book now at www.babyboomerblunders.com.
The Government’s Budget Problem Will Soon Be Our Problem
Posted on | March 17, 2013 | No Comments
Podcast: Download (22.9MB)
This week Doug Andrew discussed the following:
Upcoming Free Webinar
Attend our free 90-minute webinar live over the Internet Tuesday, March 19th at 11:00 a.m. pacific (12:00 p.m. mountain, 1:00 p.m. central, 2:00 p.m. eastern), and again at 6:30 p.m. pacific (7:30 mountain, 8:30 central, 9:30 eastern). The topic is “True Asset and Wealth Optimization.” You’ll learn how to choose the right investments for liquidity, safety, rate of return and tax benefits.
All attendees will receive $997 worth of valuable gifts, including a customized LASER Retirement Brief, The Success Formula audio program, and access to The Secrets to a Tax-Free Retirement event..
Putting Our National Debt In Perspective
Imagine that you just got married and that right after making the commitment your marriage partner told you that he or she was $165,000 dollars in debt. Furthermore, if your partner informed you that with their annual income of just $25,000, every single penny of what they take in is allocated to paying just the interest on that debt as well as mandatory payments on their car, etc.
Suppose they also told you that they had cut their spending by $380 and were planning on going to the bank to have their debt limit raised from $165,000 to $200,000. How would you be feeling right about now? Would you be a bit unsettled with that amount of debt?
There’s a wonderful video circulating around the Internet that very cleverly demonstrates some of the thinking behind America’s mounting debt problem. It’s worth 3 minutes of your time to watch it.
The thought of $165,000 in debt landing squarely on our shoulders helps illustrate some very important facts about our national debt and how it potentially affects all of us.
With the national debt sitting at $16.5 trillion, every single taxpayer would owe $165,000 as their prorated share of the national debt. Just 7 years ago, each taxpayer’s share of the national debt was just $90,000 each. So who do you suppose is going to bear the ultimate responsibility for paying it all back? The unpleasant answer is that it will be passed along to our children and grandchildren.
The federal government spends about a trillion dollars a year more than amount they take in from tax revenues. That’s money that must be borrowed and added to the national debt year after year.
Ongoing partisan wrangling between the Democrats and Republicans isn’t likely to produce a solution anytime soon. And that leaves the rest of us with a responsibility to do what we must to protect ourselves from the likely consequences of this continuing federal spending problem.
Two Hard Facts To Be Faced
The former comptroller for the General Accountability Office David Walker has gone on the record stating that in order to dig ourselves out of this hole, we’ll have to double taxes and cut benefits.
This means that you not only need to make your retirement nest egg immune from higher taxes but it also means that we cannot rely on the government to take care of us in our golden years.
The writing on the wall points to taxes going up. It also indicates that inflation will be rising as well. And as the debt continues to pile up, there will be continuing economic uncertainty and market volatility. Hiding our heads in the sand and pretending this oncoming triple whammy won’t affect us is not an option.
Protecting your nest egg will require learning and enacting the right strategies to enjoy liquid assets safely earning predictable rates of return for the rest of your life.
This means that you can’t simply leave your money sitting in a savings account at a bank or credit union earning a paltry 1 or 2% interest rate. It means that your money should be strategically rolled over from a tax-deferred savings account like an IRA or 401(k) into a tax-free vehicle where it is completely and legally immune from tax hikes. From that day forward your money will accumulate tax-free, distribute tax-free and eventually transfer to your heirs tax-free at the end of your life.
Likewise, to beat the effects of inflation that robs every dollar of its purchasing power, you’ll want to tie your returns to those things that inflate. This way inflation actually helps rather than hurts you.
And finally, you’ll want to protect your money from the effects of market uncertainty by using an indexing strategy that allows you to benefit from any market growth without losing a dime of principal when the market declines.
By implementing the right strategies now, you’ll have taken control of your future and will avoid the coming triple whammy that will have others kicking themselves for not having acted in time.
The government won’t take action to secure your future, but you certainly can. Start by visiting with a wealth architect today.
Bonus Missed Fortune E-Book: Baby Boomer Blunders The average Baby Boomer has less than $50,000 accumulated for retirement (which means many have less than that), primarily due to bad habits and having money invested in the wrong places where economic downturns can diminish their nest egg. Download this e-book now at www.babyboomerblunders.com.
