Plan for a comfortable retirement while you save for your children's education. (You Can ...).Clients: Name: Renae and Rodney Johnson, Sr. Renae is a Human Resources The fancy word for "people." The human resources department within an organization, years ago known as the "personnel department," manages the administrative aspects of the employees. Director; Rodney is a Vice President of Operations Ages: Late 40s Kids: Rodney, Jr.--14, Alishia--10 Goal: Saving for college AND retirement Assets: $750,000 in combined retirement accounts and $250,000 equity in their home Advisors: Name: Lisa Scott Education/Experience: BA Degree; Executive Benefits Specialist Community Involvement: PTA PTA or parent-teacher association: see parent education. ; annual bike-a-thon for AIDS research Years at AXA AXA Anguilla, Anguilla (Airport Code) AXA Alpha Chi Alpha AXA Animal Crossing Ahead (online forum community/guide to the game Animal Crossing) AXA Auxiliary Artery Advisors: 4 Recent Achievement: Selected for the prestigious Premier Planners Conference (Alliance Capital) Name: Jan Williams Education: BS Finance and Engineering, MS Computer Science, MBA MBA abbr. Master of Business Administration Noun 1. MBA - a master's degree in business Master in Business, Master in Business Administration Finance Experience: 20 years of financial experience; Executive Benefits Specialist & Estate Planning Estate Planning The overall planning of a person's wealth, including the preparation of a will and the planning of taxes after the individual's death. Notes: Contrary to popular belief, estate planning involves much more than preparing a will, and it is not only for the Specialist Years at AXA Advisors: 6 Community Activities: Chairman--Urban Primary Healthcare Network; Treasurer--West End Medical Center; Instructor--Good Choices Inc.; Member--100 Black Men Myth: Since my children will attend college before I retire, I should focus on saving for college first. Reality: Save for college with your retirement plan in mind. With many private colleges now costing over $30,000 (2) per year, it's easy to assume that you need to funnel as much of your savings as possible into a college fund, and then focus on retirement once a few tuition For tuition fees in the United Kingdom, see . Tuition means instruction, teaching or a fee charged for educational instruction especially at a formal institution of learning or by a private tutor usually in the form of one-to-one tuition. bills are behind you. In general--it's best to keep your retirement plan in the foreground foreground - (Unix) On a time-sharing system, a task executing in foreground is one able to accept input from and return output to the user in contrast to one running in the background. . The average retirement can generally last 20 years or more, and few people can realistically live the way they want to on less than 75% of their pre-retirement income. It is also much easier to find alternate sources of funding for a college education than for retirement. Fortunately, some retirement planning Retirement financial planning refers to a collection of systems, methods, and processes which, in their aggregate, support a family unit's (client's) desire to achieve a state of financial independence, such that the need to be gainfully employed is optional. options can also indirectly help benefit your college saving strategies, For example, if you are contributing to a qualified retirement plan, most colleges will not count this type of savings as available assets when they estimate your children's eligibility for needs-based scholarships, grants and loans. Also, having appropriate wealth preservation strategies can help you protect the type of retirement you hope to have as well as the funds you've set aside for college. Since no one strategy will work for everyone, seek out the advice of a qualified professional to help determine how much emphasis you should be placing on your different financial goals--so that you aren't working toward one at the expense of another. CASE STUDY #2 Renae: Our kids seem to be growing up so fast, and I know they'll be off to college before we know it. Since my husband worked his way through school, he doesn't want Rodney, Jr. or Alishia to have to worry about paying for tuition or room and board or even books. I just want to be sure that after taking care of our kids' education, they don't end up having to take care of us! Jan and Lisa: Renae and Rodney were at the point where their children were getting closer to college age, and their own time horizon until retirement was getting shorter. Even though they had always been conscientious con·sci·en·tious adj. 1. Guided by or in accordance with the dictates of conscience; principled: a conscientious decision to speak out about injustice. 2. about saving and investing, there were some additional financial vehicles available to them that would help maximize their planning strategies. Renae: I had heard a lot about 529 college savings plans, but had been too busy to learn more about them. It was great having Jan and Lisa go over everything with us. In a short time, I learned the differences between 529 plans and Uniform Gifts to Minors, as well as the impact they each have on our taxes (3) and chances for financial aid. Lisa: 529 plans were a good match for Renae and Rodney's needs. With Rodney, Jr. starting school in just four years, they wanted to take advantage of the higher contribution amounts allowed for 529 accounts. They were happy to know that any potential growth in the account is currently tax free and can be withdrawn for eligible educational expenses tax free. (3) Renae: Rodney and I had assumed that since we had a healthy retirement fund, we only needed to have periodic reviews to make sure everything was in order. We were surprised when Jan and Lisa told us we should be thinking in terms of estate planning, not just retirement planning. Jan: Renae and Rodney were on the right track with accumulating retirement income, but they fell short in protection strategies. If anything were to happen to one of them prematurely, it would be harder to send the kids to college or accumulate Accumulate Broker/analyst recommendation that could mean slightly different things depending on the broker/analyst. In general, it means to increase the number of shares of a particular security over the near term, but not to liquidate other parts of the portfolio to buy a security retirement funds. We discussed several "what-if" scenarios and developed contingency plans A plan involving suitable backups, immediate actions and longer term measures for responding to computer emergencies such as attacks or accidental disasters. Contingency plans are part of business resumption planning. so they could be prepared for unexpected circumstances CIRCUMSTANCES, evidence. The particulars which accompany a fact. 2. The facts proved are either possible or impossible, ordinary and probable, or extraordinary and improbable, recent or ancient; they may have happened near us, or afar off; they are public or that might hinder hin·der 1 v. hin·dered, hin·der·ing, hin·ders v.tr. 1. To be or get in the way of. 2. To obstruct or delay the progress of. v.intr. their savings goals. Renae: It's that much nicer to enjoy the time we have with our kids before they go off to school, knowing that we are doing all we can to plan for their education and our own future. (2) College Board, 2001 (3) AXA Advisors does not provide legal or tax advice. Please consult your advisor. |
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