So what is a 401k retirement plan? A 401k plan is actually a retirement investments plan that is subsidized by employee or worker payments and often, corresponding involvements from your manager or employer. In addition, the most important draw for these plans is that the payments are taken from your pre-tax wage, and the funds rise tax-free until such time that it is withdrawn or pulled out. Also, the plans are, to some degree, independent and self-sufficient, and the good thing is that they are manageable and convenient.
401k retirement plans are for profit and many kinds of tax-exempt associations and institutes can create these plans for their employees and working staff. Moreover, a 401K plan is a corporation-supported retirement plan for workers. Payments and earnings in a 401K retirement plan are not subject to federal and most state income taxes until the account is withdrawn or pulled out. With a 401K plan, you can save and invest cash from a pre-tax starting point with the employers contributing corresponding funds to add to yours, which makes the plan even more profitable. Most of the time, you will have the option to choose how much you want to contribute, up to the maximum allowed by the government and also the option to choose where your contributions go. You pick your investment vehicle from a directory of funds provided by your retirement plan sponsor or manager.
You can learn when you are entitled and permitted to start contributing in your businesss 401K retirement plan from your assistance manager or director. In addition, once you are qualified to sign up, you will be given an inventory of funds in which you can choose to invest in. You can choose to invest the maximum of $14,000 in 2005 and $15,000 in 2006. There are numerous benefits and gains to 401k plans.
First and foremost, since the contributor is permitted to make a payment to his or her plan with pre-tax cash, it lowers the total tax taken out of every pay check. Subsequently, all company payments and several enlargements in the principal capital are free of tax until withdrawal. Moreover, the compounding result of steady cyclic payments over the phase of 25 or 35 years is remarkable.
In addition, you can decide where to target upcoming payments or place present savings, giving more power over the assets to the contributor. Consequently, if your company matches your contributions, it is like receiving additional funds on top of your earnings. In addition, unlike a regular retirement fund, all payments can be shifted from one business plan to another company plan if you change jobs.
Because the plan is an individual investment for your retirement its sheltered by the retirement fund (ERISA) laws and regulations. This gives you the extra security of keeping your funds from the hands of creditors in case of bankruptcy. This does not apply to household relations court cases that deal with divorce orders or child support orders. Indeed, a 401k retirement plan is a good way to start setting yourself up for an enjoyable retirement.
Joe Smith writes-
I just retired. I have worked all my life and am ready to have some fun in retirement. I want to figure out how much income I can take in retirement without running out. I have $200,000 in my 401k plan with my former employer. I am 65 years old and my wife Emma is 56 years old and would like to be guaranteed to at least have income for the next 20 years for me or for my wife if I don’t make it that long. What are my options when it comes to annuities?
We have two solutions you may want to consider. As with all investment planning there are advantages and disadvantages to each option and my job is to help you understand them.
Option #1 Income for life
There are different types of annuities available that can help make sure you have income for the rest of your life and the rest of your beneficiary’s life. One solution is called a “lifetime five” option. This is where you invest in an annuity that is invested in a managed portfolio of stocks and bonds. The investment decision-making is left up to the annuity company.
You are initially guaranteed each year to receive 5% of the original amount invested for your life and your wife’s life. Since you are both over the age of 55 you would qualify for this type of annuity. Age 55 is the minimum age. You are guaranteed by the annuity company that you will be able to take an income payment of at least:
$200,000 x 5% = $10,000 per year for the rest of your life and the rest of your wife’s life
This is the minimum guarantee provided by the insurance company. This annuity also has the ability to raise the minimum amount you can be paid every 3 years. For example: If you invest $200,000 and in three years your portfolio has grown to $215,000 your new minimum guarantee is:
$215,000 x 5% = $10,750. You just got a $750 dollar raise per year for the rest of your lives.
On the other hand, your portfolio may fall to $190,000 after three years. In this scenario you would not have any stepped up minimum guarantee so you would just collect your original $200,000 x 5% = $10,000 per year for the rest of your lives. You would get another chance to increase your income stream in three years.
Remember, you get a chance to step up this account value every three years, but the amount of your annual payout can only go up, it can never go down.
You may ask, “What if I need some money for an emergency in a lump sum?” In this situation you would be able to withdraw your portfolio’s value, less any withdrawals and penalties. It most likely will have some value but due to market fluctuations and withdrawals it may be lower than your original investment. You may also have to pay a surrender fee of up to 10%.
In summary:
Advantages:
Known income stream for life, with upside potential. (In this example a minimum of $10,000 for life.)
You have upside potential but no downside risk in income streams
You can participate in market gains every three years and possibly adjust your income upward.
If, after the surrender period is up, (usually 7 to 10 years) and your account value has gone up, you can walk away from the contract if you want and invest in another annuity. This may be to your advantage if you don’t want to wait another 3 years to up your income stream.
Guaranteed an income stream for over 20 years, if you live longer than 20 years and for your wife’s life even if she lives any number of years after you die.
Disadvantages:
If you need to withdraw the entire amount of your money within the first 7 to 10 years of investing your money, you will pay a surrender fee of up to 10%.
If you want to walk away from the annuity contract because you need the money in a lump sum your account value can possibly be down from your original investment.
The insurance company allowing this “income for life guaranteed benefit” no matter what happens to the account value does not come for free. There are additional annual fees involved in order to provide these guarantees. You should expect somewhere between 0.50% and 0.75% of the account value.
Option #2 Income for your life or 20 years whichever is longer. (Immediate Annuity)
In this type of annuity we are talking about an immediate annuity. This is where you buy an annuity contract and immediately annuitize the contract. In this situation things are a little simpler, but as we may demonstrate you may pay a price for the simplicity.
In this type of contract the main advantage is the annual payout for this contract is higher than in the previous example. For an individual who has $200,000 to invest the immediate annuity quotes we get from annuity companies average out to $13,500.
Let’s look at how this works. In this example, the annuity company will pay $13,500 every year for the rest of your life, or 20 years, whichever lasts longer. So if you live for 25 years, to age 90, the annuity company will pay him $13,500 every year for 25 years. If you lives only another 11 years and dies, his beneficiary (in this case probably his wife Emma) will receive the remaining 9 years of income payments of $13,500 and that is it. At the end of your life the annuity company knows that if they have not already paid out 20 years of payments one of the beneficiaries will get the remaining payments.
Let’s say you die in 21 years after he initiated this contract. The annuity company has fulfilled their promise of a minimum of 20 years so there will not be anymore payments to anyone. There will be no more money left in the contract and your wife will get nothing.
You might ask, “What if I need to take the money out after 10 years has gone by to pay a medical bill?”
The answer is that you cannot do so. When you get into an immediate annuity contract there is virtually no way to get out of it. You will not have any cash value after you sign the paperwork. All the annuity company is obligated to do is pay out 20 years, or the length of your life whichever is longer. After the annuity’s obligation is up the contract is worth nothing.
In summary:
Advantages:
Known income stream for life of the owner.
Higher starting income stream that never changes
No concerns of the underlying investments because the annuity company is responsible for that.
Guaranteed an income stream for 20 years, if the owner lives longer than 20 years the annuity company will pay the same amount until the owner passes away.
Disadvantages:
If you need your money back at anytime after investing your money, you cannot get it back in lump sum form. You can only collect the annuity payments.
If you live for 20 years or longer your beneficiary will not see any money from this annuity.
There is no ability to increase your income stream. Your payments will stay the same and will not have a chance to increase with inflation.
These are two of many options available to one person’s situation. Both of these annuities have benefits and drawbacks. It may make sense to discuss further details with our local Denver, Colorado annuity consultant.
When you are planning for your retirement, a 401K plan is a good place to start. This a very special account that you fund with pre-tax earnings and is deducted from your paycheck each pay period. These funds are then invested in a variety of bonds, mutual funds, and stocks, and no taxes are charged upon it until the funds are withdrawn from the account. Congress created this in the early 1980s and is used as a vehicle for saving for retirement. There are many benefits of a 401k plan that can make an excellent financial net when it comes time to retire. Some of the advantages include, tax, match programs initiated by employers, the flexibility to customize your investments, portability, and the ability to withdraw for a loan or hardship cases.
Most employers match a portion of the employees 401K contribution as a appealing factor of keeping employees. Some employers will even increase the amount of their match when the employee works for them for so long, it all depends on the company. It is of your best interest to invest the maximum amount you can to the 401K to fully benefit from this program. Additionally, the 401k plan allows you to customize your investments and are flexible in this manner as well.
One very flexible and appealing option of the 401K plan is the fact that if you decide you change employers you have a variety of options available to you. These options include, leaving the 401K plan with the employer you are leaving, the administrators could begin to charge you money for keeping the records and managing your account. You also have the option of rolling over your 401K to your new employers 401k plan. You could also do the rollover and put it into an IRA. This will allow you to control the allocation of your assets meaning you are not limited to only what your employer provides. Your last options is to cash out, pay the taxes, plus a possible penalty fee.
It is important that you investigate all options and properly weigh the pros and cons of each, this will help you to make informed, educated, and practical decisions that will benefit you and your future retirement. After working hard all of your life, many people like the comfort of knowing that when they retire they will have some sort of financial backing to help them out.
Many of the brightest and hardest-working marketing and advertising people in the country are obsessed with getting you to spend money and, if necessary, to go into debt to do so. Absolutely all the media that reach you every day are designed to get you to spend money. In order to save money in this environment, you will need determination to withstand the constant pressures to spend now.
What is it that separates those who are successful from those who are not?
Successful individuals have a strong personal vision of what they want and why they want it. That vision gives them the strength to stick to their strategies even when doing so is uncomfortable. It gives them the determination to persist when they are discouraged. This is the same characteristic of women entrepreneurs and is the reason their new, small businesses are successful.
The 401k Plan
Today, the 401(k) plan has become the main investment vehicle for working women to save for retirement. But many dont take full advantage of their plan, and this could leave them with a lot less at retirement. Here are some steps we believe you can take to improve and eliminate any retirement worries about whether or not your retirement will be pleasurable or public charity; or whether you will have all the free time to spend with your family or friends.
1. Increase your contributions to the maximum that you can manage. Many women contribute just enough to take advantage of their employers matching contributions, and then they stop. By adding more to your account, beyond the matching contributions, youll end up with more in retirement.
2. Invest at the start of each year instead of taking a little bit out of each paycheck. Nothing in the law says you have to invest in a 401(k) plan a little at a time, from each paycheck. By investing early, youll put your money to work sooner for your benefit.
3. A few years ago it was reported that more than 30 percent of the money in 401(k) plans was invested in money-market funds or similar accounts. For investors nearing retirement, that may be appropriate. But most workers in their 40s and 50s need growth in their retirement investments. Put more of your investment fund in equities and less in money-market funds.
4. Research indicates that over long periods of time, small-company stocks outperform large-company stocks. Since 1926, In the equity part of your portfolio, shift some of your money into funds that invest in small companies. Dont put your entire equity portfolio in small-company stocks. But consider investing at least 25 percent of your U.S. equity investments in that fund.
5. Numerous studies have shown that value stocks outperform growth stocks. According to data going back to 1964, large U.S. value companies had a compound rate of return of 15.1 percent vs. only 11.4 percent for large U.S. growth companies. Among small U.S. companies, the difference was even more striking: a compound return of 17.4 percent for the value stocks vs. 12.1 percent for the growth stocks. Dont put your entire equity portfolio into value stocks. But if theres a value fund available to you, consider investing at least 25 percent of your U.S. equity investments in that fund.
6.Rebalance your portfolio once a year. Your asset allocation plan calls for a certain percentage to be invested in each of several kinds of assets. Rebalancing restores your asset balance and allows for the possibility that last years losers may be this years gainers. Diluting your diversification actually increases risk in your portfolio over time, which is a result thats just the opposite of what most investors want.
7.Without compromising proper asset allocation use the funds in your plan that have the lowest operating expenses. Choose funds with low turnover in their portfolios.
8. Dont borrow or make early withdrawals from your 401(k) unless that is the only way to respond to a life-threatening emergency. Furthermore, if you take an early withdrawal before you are 59.5 years old, your withdrawals will be subject to a 10 percent tax penalty (in addition to regular taxes) unless you are disabled. Just dont do it.
9. If you leave your job, youll get a chance to roll over your 401(k) into an IRA. Take that chance. In an IRA, you have the same tax deferral as a 401(k), and youll have the flexibility to invest in virtually everything you can get in a 401(k), plus much more.
10. Heres the most important thing you can do to maximize your 401(k): Keep your contributions automatically payroll deducted, and make them no matter what. Its simple, but its not easy. Half of the households in the United States have net worth of $25,000 or less. In a typical year, about two-thirds of U.S. households do not save money.
Remember, to be successful, first, imagine your early retirement; the Caribbean condo, the yacht, the new Lexus. Luxury and pleasure as far as your eyes can see. Create a strong vision, and then dont let go. The power of a clear, strong vision applies to more than just your retirement savings. Let your vision shape your life, instead of the other way around, and all of the time in the world can be yours. You wont be spending your Golden Years working at the Golden Arches.