Archive for March, 2015

« Older Entries

The Best Thing You Can Do To Increase Your Retirement Nest Egg

Monday, March 30th, 2015

Retirement Contribution

While there are plenty of things that you can do to increase your retirement nest egg there is one thing that can make one of the biggest impacts to your nest egg. That one thing that you can do is to consistently contribute to your retirement year after year. The more you can contribute the better. Maxing out your retirement account each year can have one of the biggest impacts to your total nest egg.

How much can you contribute to your retirement account each year and even more specifically to your self-directed IRA? The following are the contribution limits for 2014:

Traditional and Roth IRA Contribution Limits for 2014
Age 49 and under – 100% of compensation, up to $5,500
Age 50 and over – 100% of compensation, up to $6,500

To be able to make this contribution to a Roth IRA in 2014, an individual’s MAGI (modified adjusted gross income) must be less than the below numbers:

Individual – $114,000 – $129,000
Married and filing jointly – $181,000 – $191,000

For a Traditional IRA the MAGI limit to for a partial deduction are as follows:

Single- $60,000 – $70,000
Married and filing jointly – $96,000 – $116,000
married and filing separately – $0 – $10,000
Those with spouses who don’t earn income – $181,000 – $191,000

If you have the ability to take advantage of contributing to your IRA or self-directed IRA then do it now before it is too late. You don’t want to miss out on contributing to 2014 and you have already missed another year to contribute. If you let this pass you by then you are ultimately letting potentially the best thing you could do for your retirement to pass you by.

If you just don’t have the capability to save for your retirement yet then get yourself in a position to be able to invest yearly in your retirement account. One way you can get yourself into a position to be able to contribute year after year into your retirement account is to watch your spending. For more help on your spending check out, “Millenials Learned From The 2008 Recession“.

If you would like to contribute to your already open self-directed IRA account then contribute here.
Contact us for more information about contributing to your self-directed IRA today.

Author:

Posted in self directed ira | Comments Off on The Best Thing You Can Do To Increase Your Retirement Nest Egg

A Gold IRA May Be Your Way To Retirement Investing Diversification

Thursday, March 26th, 2015

Gold IRA

We talk frequently how diversifying your portfolio is one of the smartest things you can do for your retirement account. This is because if done right you can lower your risk by diversifying at the same time as not lowering our potential return. Having your retirement portfolio invested in only a few items is more risky than having it invested in a lot of different items. What that really means is that your dependency on a single one investment is lower because you are spreading the risk around.

With diversification key to a solid retirement portfolio a self-directed IRA becomes one of the best additions to your retirement accounts. One of the more popular types of investments inside of a self-directed IRA is gold and it is often referred to as a gold IRA because the self-directed IRA is invested in gold. Hopefully that is fairly obvious.

Having some of your retirement invested in gold can be a great way to help diversify your retirement accounts. If you aren’t up to investing in gold with your retirement you can invest in many other things like real estate which is referred to as a real estate IRA or even private placements. The possibilities are practically endless.

For those of you who are interested in a gold IRA I want you to be informed with the right information. There are things you can and can’t do with a gold IRA. to some of the things you can and can’t do and how to set one up so that you can invest in gold with your IRA today.

While self-directed IRAs have their fair share of rules to be aware of a gold IRA has a few extra that you’ll need to know so that you get the most out of your gold IRA. For some of the most important rules to be aware of when investing in gold with your IRA check out, Facts About A Gold-Backed IRA.

How do you set up an account to start investing in gold with your retirement account? It is much easier than you would imagine. The main thing you need to do is to set up an account. You can set up an account and once your account is set up we will help you through the actual process of getting your gold or silver purchased and in your IRA. There is minimal paperwork to be done and we will guide you through the process.

WIth Accuplan Benefits Services you can rest assured that you are getting the best service all while diversifying your retirment portfolio. For more information about a gold IRA feel free to contact us at any time.

Author:

Posted in gold ira | Comments Off on A Gold IRA May Be Your Way To Retirement Investing Diversification

Take Your 401k Up A Notch With A Self-Directed 401k

Monday, March 23rd, 2015

Self-Directed 401k

Those of you reading this article know what a self-directed IRA is but we are not going to be talking about that today. I want to talk about one of the less known self-directed accounts, the self-directed 401k.

A self-directed 401k is practically the same thing as a 401k but the main difference is that you are able to invest in non-traditional investments. At Accuplan we often refer to a self-directed 401k as a one.k. There are some great benefits to a self-directed 401k, so let’s talk about some of them.

Regular 401k plans don’t allow for non-traditional investments. If you want to diversify your 401k portfolio and invest in something other than stocks and bonds than a self-directed 401k is for you.

Because a one.k is a 401k plan setup for your company it allows you to go beyond the regular 401k capabilities. As the manager of the company you will have direct, hands-on control of and investment decisions over one.k assets. This includes control of the checkbook. Custodian involvement and hassles are eliminated, regardless of whether the investments are in securities, real estate, or other assets.

Annual fees are eliminated because you control and handle all one.k transactions and act as the custodian.

A 401k offers a great deal of deferral of income and gains. As long as the company sponsoring the plan generates income, then you can make contributions of up to $53,000 annually to the 401k plan (18,000 for employee and $35,000 for the employer for the year 2015).

These are just a few reasons that make a self-directed 401k a great option. If you are looking for less fees, more control and more investment options then a self-directed 401k is for you. We can help you set up your self-directed 401k plan.

Contact us today for help and information regarding self-directed 401k plans.

Author:

Posted in self directed 401k | Comments Off on Take Your 401k Up A Notch With A Self-Directed 401k

Help Your Parents Retire

Thursday, March 19th, 2015

Help parents retire

For many of us retirement is a daunting thing to think about.  Sometimes it is even more daunting to think about our parents retirement then our own. We feel like we can control our own retirement while we don’t have much control over our parents’ retirement. Often times we worry more about our parents and their retirement situation simply because we have no control over it or because we have no idea how secure their retirement is. Here are a few tips to help you stress less about your parents retirement situation. 

Get In The Know

You must start out figuring where your parents are at with their retirement nest egg and how long that will be able to last them. It means you will need to figure out what their expenses are and incomes. Figure out the big picture so you know if they are ok or if they are going to need help in some way.
Part of this means you will want to find what type of retirement accounts your parents own. If they do not have any accounts I would strongly suggest that they open up an IRA or 401k or if they want more control of their investments you can get a self-directed account. A self-directed account can be in the form of an IRA or 401k.
This also includes making sure they are going to have all the necessities of life secured while in retirement. The main goal here is to make sure you know if they will be staying in their current home or moving to a new location. The follow up would be to make sure they are going to be able to pay for the mortgage on the place they will be living at in retirement. 

Talk With An Expert

Experts are a great way to bridge the gap. There are many of us who just don’t know enough about retirement that we don’t know where to start. If you fall into this category an expert can really help spell everything out nicely (where your parents are at, where they should be at and what this means). While not all experts are created equal one way to help find a higher quality expert is simply by word of mouth from those you trust.

Focus On Your Retirement

For most of us it isn’t likely that you can take on complete responsibility for your parents financial support while in retirement. So what should you do? The worst thing you can do is to try to help your parents out at the detriment to your own retirement. You don’t want to put your children in the same position that your parents put you in. If you stop the cycle your children will be better able to support themselves while in retirement..It can be hard to say no sometimes to parents but sometimes that’s what it comes down too. Remember, you can help your parents financially while they are in retirement but there are probably only a few select circumstances where you would actually want to help them at the detriment to your own retirement.

Stay Involved

Time has a way of changing things. Sometimes for the good and sometimes for the bad. Because of this you will want to do regular checkups on your parents financial situation so that you aren’t blindsided by any changes to their retirement security. One thing to remember is that health is a huge factor to financial security so beyond checking in to see how their finances are doing it is important to make sure you check out how they are doing mentally and physically as that can really change the security of their retirement.
Hopefully by following some of these rules you can sleep without the worry of your parents retirement financial situation.
If you would like more information on self-directed accounts contact us today

Author:

Posted in self directed ira | Comments Off on Help Your Parents Retire

I Hope You Don’t Feel Like An Outsider With Your Own IRA or 401k

Monday, March 16th, 2015

Outsider

Whether you have a 401k, IRA or both how are they doing? Are the accounts going in the direction you want them to go? Are you investing in the types of investments that you want your 401k or IRA to invest in? Do you even know? Regardless, you may not need to know what is currently going on with your account or how it is performing if it is set up wisely and in the manner that you want. The great thing about a very well set up retirement portfolio is that you don’t have to worry about it on a day to day basis.

Most of you probably don’t know the answers to the above questions. Hopefully, it is because you have already set up a great retirement portfolio and don’t worry about it from day to day.

A good portion of you who do not know the above questions is simply because you have no idea what is going on with your retirement accounts. All you know is that you continue to contribute to your 401k or IRA because you have always been told that it is a great hing to do.

In fact, many of us feel like an outsider in our own accounts. We have no idea what we are investing in nor if the way our accounts are currently set up are aligned with our current goals and values.

If you feel like an outsider with your account then now is the time to get your retirement accounts back on track. It is your retirement account so you should be in-charge of your account. Your adviser is there to support you and listen to you and take your direction. Again, remember this is your account and ultimately you should do what you want with it.

One thing to know about advisers is that they can only do so much. They are limited by the investment company that they are associated with.

For instance, if you would like to invest in real estate with your retirement account most only allow for a few options, namely REIT investments. If you want to invest in a physical real estate property it can be done but you have to find an investment company that will allow for a self-directed IRA.

Self-directed IRAs allow you to invest in things other than stocks and bonds. You can invest in real physical assets like gold and real estate. Again, the issue with doing this type of investing is that you have to find an investment company that allows for these types of investments. They are perfectly legal inside of an IRA or 401k but most investment companies don’t typically offer them because they make more money elsewhere.

Whether or not you want to diversify your retirement accounts outside of the stock markets with a self-directed IRA there is one thing that you should make sure that you do as soon as possible. What is that one thing you should do now with your retirement accounts? Make sure you stop feeling like an outsider with your own retirement accounts. Do that by getting in the know with your retirement accounts and make sure your adviser and you are on the same page with your retirement account.

If you realize you still want to do more and invest in other things then contact us about a self-directed IRA and learn how to invest in some great physical assets with your retirement account.

Author:

Posted in self directed ira | Comments Off on I Hope You Don’t Feel Like An Outsider With Your Own IRA or 401k

« Older Entries