Think about the care you have put into your home. You may have painted rooms, planted trees, repaired a fence, or spent weekends making improvements. Each project helped turn a place you purchased into a home that reflects your priorities. There is satisfaction in looking around and seeing the results of your work.

Your retirement savings can represent a similar accomplishment. Years of contributions, decisions, and patience have helped build something intended to support the next chapter of your life. As that chapter approaches, it is reasonable to consider what kind of attention those savings will need and who you want helping with the work.

Choosing the right help

Homeowners make those choices regularly. You might enjoy tending your garden while hiring someone to replace the roof. You may be comfortable handling small repairs and still call an electrician for a complicated project. Sometimes the deciding factor is expertise. Sometimes it is the time involved or the reassurance of having someone responsible for completing the job.

You remain the homeowner. You determine your priorities, consider the cost, choose the professional, and approve the work. Professional help can allow you to devote more time to enjoying your home while someone qualified handles the responsibilities you have chosen to delegate.

At CochranMickels Retirement Specialists, we believe financial planning deserves that same thoughtful consideration. The question is which responsibilities you want to carry yourself and where professional assistance would be useful.

Preparing savings to support your life

During your working years, you may have developed a dependable routine of contributing to retirement accounts and reviewing your investments. A paycheck helped cover everyday expenses while you continued building savings.

Retirement changes the job those savings must perform. They may now help pay the bills, fund travel, support family priorities, and cover unexpected expenses. Decisions about investments become connected to decisions about withdrawals, taxes, benefits, and spending.

A couple approaching retirement may need to coordinate two retirement dates, different accounts, and different expectations about the years ahead. One spouse may be ready to leave work while the other wants to continue. They may agree that travel matters while having different ideas about its cost and frequency.

A coordinated plan gives those discussions a financial foundation. It helps the couple evaluate what their choices could mean, understand the assumptions involved, and identify what might need to change as their circumstances evolve.

Seeing how decisions fit together

Consider a hypothetical retired couple preparing to replace the roof on their home. They have enough invested to cover the contractor's estimate. Their next decision is how to fund the expense.

A traditional IRA withdrawal is generally taxable, although any after-tax basis affects the taxable amount. A qualified Roth IRA distribution is free of federal income tax. Selling investments in a taxable account may produce capital gains or losses. The same home repair can therefore have different financial consequences depending on the source of the money. (IRS Publication 590-B; IRS Topic No. 409.)

The account producing the lowest current tax bill may not be the best choice over the couple's full planning horizon. Their cash needs, future income, investment holdings, and other planned expenses also deserve consideration.

This is where professional planning can help connect the details. An adviser can evaluate the alternatives, explain the tradeoffs, and coordinate with the couple's tax professional where appropriate. The goal is an informed decision that fits the household's broader plan.

Just as a homeowner benefits from understanding what a project requires before work begins, a couple benefits from understanding a financial decision before carrying it out.

Keeping both of you involved

A retirement plan also needs to be usable by both spouses. If one person currently handles most financial matters, the other should have a clear path to understanding the arrangements and obtaining help.

Each person should have room to express priorities, ask questions, and understand the plan. Both should know whom to contact when a decision needs attention.

The professional relationship should be clear as well. What work is included? What does it cost? Who monitors changes, brings decisions forward, and follows through on agreed actions? Those are reasonable questions when choosing someone to help care for an important part of your life.

At CMRS, we start with the retirement plan and connect investment decisions with income and planning needs. We help clients evaluate their choices, understand the implications, and revisit the plan as markets, tax rules, and life change.

You have invested years of effort in building a life together. Choosing the right help can be another thoughtful decision about how to care for it.

If you are approaching retirement or reconsidering how you manage it, we welcome a conversation about the responsibilities you would value sharing and the life you want your savings to support.

Want to learn more? Call us at 256-417-4870 or 407-220-1040.

YOUR Retirement on YOUR Terms.

About the author

Mike Mickels is the President and Chief Compliance Officer of CochranMickels Retirement Specialists, LLC, and an avid sporting clay competitor. Investment advisory services are offered through CochranMickels Retirement Specialists, LLC., a state-registered investment advisor firm domiciled in Alabama and also registered in Florida. Our firm provides personalized planning and investment services to individuals approaching and in retirement.

Disclaimer

This content is intended solely for informational purposes. CochranMickels Retirement Specialists, LLC and its representatives are only authorized to offer advisory services where properly licensed or exempt from licensure. Investing carries risks, including potential loss of principal capital. Our firm does not endorse external links, nor is it responsible for third-party content.