FAQ

There is never enough times to review your tax savings plan. However, if you don’t do it NOW, it could coast you millions of dollars in taxes during your life time. Remember, taxes go further an just your retirement years.

Income taxes were much higher in the past. In the 1940’s the Federal income tax for the top earners was 94%. In the 70’s the Federal income taxes for top earners was around 70%. They were this high in the past, do you think they could go back up some day soon? What if they go back to these levels while you are retired? How will that affect your retirement income?

Ted Benna is the creator of the 401k. Mr. Benna discovered that he could help employees save their own money and save taxes while they are working. At that time, federal income taxes were so high, deferring the tax was a great option for the employee. Instead of paying up to 70% taxes on their paycheck, they were allowed to defer some of their money into a new savings account named 401k (named after the IRS Code) and wait for the taxes to get lower. Hopefully, the taxes were lower when the employee was ready to retire 20-30 years later. This was the original intent of the 401k. The banks the IRS and employers win. The employee’s do not.

The 401k was designed for a high-tax environment with the expectation that the taxes were lower when it was time to withdrawal the money. Do you think putting money into this type of account would benefit you if taxes are currently historically low? Perhaps, the lowest in 30 years? Do you think today’s taxes could possibly be higher when you are ready to retire?

The Life Insurance Retirement Plan is 100% tax-free per the IRS Code 101a. This means that if you add a life insurance plan to your current taxable retirement plan, you will have a resource to get access to tax-free money to off-set any taxes in your current plan.

Take a look at your retirement plan. How much of your plan is susceptible to market fluxuation and decline? If you retire at the peak of the market and the following year the market begins a depression or recession, where will you get your income? If the market goes -20% are you going to take your retirement income from that negative account? How will this negatively affect you future growth and the principle in your account?

Well, congratulations on being part of the 5% club of employees who still have pensions. However, all pensions are 100% taxable. If you also qualify for Social Security, your retirement income is also taxable. Adding at least one of two tax-free options to your pension will help you wit taxes to increase the in-pocket money during retirement. Having a LIRP or a Roth 401k cold be a great way to hedge the market during retirement. If taxes go back up to the historical high of 94% how will that affect your liquidity?

By waiting for you to get closer to your retirement years, you could lose over $1,000,000 in retirement income to taxes. This may sound outrageous and I would agree. Contact your Smart Stash professional for a retirement tax analysis today! Don’t wait!

I agree, no one has time. Time does not waif for anyone. In-fact, there is never enough time in the day to do the important things. However, when you are retired, time is all you have. You will not be able to buy-back time. If you could have saved money in taxes 20 years ago, you can’t go back to make adjustment. Now is the time to act. Now is the time to make the changes!

I know you need enough information before you make major decisions and I applaud you for doing your research. Now is the time to act. Before time passes and you can not get it back. Contact your local Smart Stash advisor to have some individual time to answer each of your questions so you can get started now!

Monthly payments are the easiest because, they are smaller chunks. However, if you have the means to pay annually, you can sometimes save up to 9%.