need help in helping my Mom retire

May 18, 2004
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So my Mom has been asking me for awhile to help her plan her retirement...no, I'm not talking about help investing her money, choosing health care insurance and all that - I'm talking about when and how to pull her money out of checking/savings, and when and how much she can pull out of her various retirement funds, how to maximize social security benefits and all that. She doesn't have a ton to work with but I'm basically lost here.

In my experience, financial advisor dudes will help with some of that, but they basically want to sell you annuities, IRA's, life insurance and other stuff that will get them commissions.

Anyone know of any good reference books out there? Most investment/retirement planning books seem to focus on the pre-retirement stuff and not necessarily the "how to" of actually living in retirement.
 

alkemyst

No Lifer
Feb 13, 2001
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Seek a pro seriously. How close is she to retirement? Something tells me this is something that should have been done earlier.

What does she have in place already and when is she looking to retire and how much does she want as a 'monthly income'?

 

se7en

Platinum Member
Oct 23, 2002
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I can help with inusrance since I work in a hospital but thats about it lol. I don't know of any books / material that aren't in some fashion biased in regards to health carriers.
 
May 18, 2004
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You mean seek a pro, as in a financial advisor? What's been done is done and she's already quit her job from a doctor's office. She and my Dad got divorced long ago. My brothers and I (with help from a professional) made some adjustments to her investments about 8-10yrs ago in order to make things as good as we could, since a lot of her money was in low-risk low-interest investments.

She's already collecting social security; she's basically living off savings money at this point, but that's not going to last for very long.

I guess the first thing I need to determine is how much of a monthly income we can get from what she's got. Her expenses are minimal - the house is paid off and she's got no car payment, so it's real estate taxes, food/utilities, as well as gas and car insurance.

If things look bleak, there are other options, e.g. reverse mortgage or my brothers and I supplementing her income in anticipation of the eventuality of getting her house when she dies.

The biggest thing I need to determine is how to actually collect money out of her IRA and other investments - if there's a better sequence to follow, etc.

Thanks.
 

everman

Lifer
Nov 5, 2002
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A good financial adviser can advise you in how to best handle this situation. Look for someone who has been in business for a long time, a CFP would be good. Probably someone who will just charge a flat rate for advice. If it seems like they just want to sell you insurance then walk away.
 

kranky

Elite Member
Oct 9, 1999
21,019
156
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Get a fee-based planner, pay a few hundred for a complete plan. Worth it to know all the tax angles have been considered, the withdrawal rules have been accounted for, and you all have peace of mind that everything is being done properly.
 
May 18, 2004
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Thanks a lot guys, I appreciate the advice. We've been using a guy at A.G. Edwards and I guess I can ask him to recommend someone. He seems to be more of a stock broker to me but I'm sure he would be a decent place to start.
 

JEDI

Lifer
Sep 25, 2001
29,391
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Originally posted by: courtjester123
So my Mom has been asking me for awhile to help her plan her retirement...no, I'm not talking about help investing her money, choosing health care insurance and all that - I'm talking about when and how to pull her money out of checking/savings, and when and how much she can pull out of her various retirement funds, how to maximize social security benefits and all that. She doesn't have a ton to work with but I'm basically lost here.

In my experience, financial advisor dudes will help with some of that, but they basically want to sell you annuities, IRA's, life insurance and other stuff that will get them commissions.

Anyone know of any good reference books out there? Most investment/retirement planning books seem to focus on the pre-retirement stuff and not necessarily the "how to" of actually living in retirement.

stay away from annuities! (ie: variable annuity life insurance)

general rule of thumb: 4% withdraw rate