Financial Planning Services by Prime Wealth Management, Inc.

If you had all the money in the world, what would you do differently with your life? We many times ask new clients this questions to better understand heir dreams and aspirations. The majority of people would not change their lives a lot but they would like to know they could afford to do that one extra thing. Can I afford to buy a vacation home in Monterrey. Can I afford a fishing boat. Can I afford to get my children through college without incurring thousands of dollars of student debt that they carry around with them the rest of their life. I asked my wife Cindy this question the other day what would she do if we won a lottery ticket you know. She said she wouldn't really do a lot differently although if she could she on all the long haul flights like flying Europe she would fly first class instead of sitting in back of the plane. I think I like that! COMPLETING YOUR PERSONAL PUZZLE Doing a financial plan without help is like assembling a puzzle starting with the inside pieces without seeing the picture you are working on. The four biggest mistakes people make about retirement generally have to do with Social Security, Medicare, the sequencing of drawing down assets, and managing investments. SOCIAL SECURITY With Social Security. People rely on advice from friends. Majority of Americans take Social Security early. A lot do it because they don't know any better and many do it because they can't afford to do otherwise. We use social security software to determine your optimal social security claiming strategy, and what is the break-even analysis in years for this to be better than claiming earlier. MEDICARE A common Medicare mistake is not registering when you're supposed to at age 65. I have this couple I'm working with the wife's an artist. She's older she's turning 65 first. And she thought she didn't have to register for Medicare because she has coverage through her husband who works for a big company. As long as he is working there the only thing is she has to register for Medicare at least part age 65 because if she does it later she'll pay 10 percent more, every year for the rest of her life! ASSET DRAW-DOWN Another mistake is the sequencing of assets that you have to use in retirement. Big mistake is starting with the IRA first. This incurs way more in taxes. Instead of deferring them and also your Medicare premiums could be higher because they're based upon your income during the two years prior.  Although every situation is different, it is generally optimal to start using cash first, taxable investments second, retirement accounts like IRAs third, and Roth IRAs last. We would need to do a detailed analysis of your assets and aspirations to determine the best strategy for you. INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT When clients come and thay may be overly invested in cash or the other extreme - one hundred percent in equity and not diversified at all. Our firm uses an academic approach that believes objective based evidence and low-costs matter. We are one of a select group of fee-only advisers approved to work with Dimensional Fund Advisers. Dimensional Nobel Prize laureate advisers include Eugene Fama (University of Chicago), Kenneth French (Dartmouth College), Robert Merton (MIT) and Myron Scholes (Stanford University). What we try to do in our  financial plans is to complete the puzzle with a clear picture and a framework. Yes we have a rigorous planning process and software but everyone's situations and attitudes towards life and retirement are different.