When you think about your company retirement plan account, do you know what will happen to the money in the event of your passing? It’s not a pleasant topic, but it’s nevertheless important that you have a plan in place to ensure your legacy is looked after the way you want.

Enrolling in your retirement plan prompts you to name a beneficiary in the event of your death. Simply put, you designate someone to receive your account assets after your passing. Does your beneficiary plan currently reflect your wishes? Many people tend to overlook this detail, but it’s imperative that you keep this information up to date. Here’s how your account passes depending on your relationship status.

The retirement arena of the financial world can be tricky to navigate, for both employers and individuals. Retirement looks different for everybody, and plans provided by business owners come with plenty of fine-print details and considerations. It can seem daunting, to be sure, but retirement planning poses some of the most important decisions anyone can make. Doug Warzinski, CFP®, CIMA® is here to make it all connect seamlessly and responsibly as a Senior Retirement Advisor. 

Here’s more about Doug Warzinski, his background and what it’s like to work with Doug on retirement plan services.

With 20 years of expertise in retirement plan design and wealth management services, Doug Warzinski helps corporate clients and retirement plan participants address their various financial needs. He’s worked at Carnegie Investment Counsel since 2021. Doug earned his bachelor’s degree in business administration with a marketing major from Ohio University, and he later attained the Certified Investment Management Analyst® designation and CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ designation. 

When he’s not at work, Doug enjoys spending time with his wife and their two daughters, coaching the girls’ soccer teams and caring for the family Bernedoodle, Penny.

As retirement plan advisors, we understand that as pension plans in the private sector become less common, the retirement pension plan for federal employees remains an attractive retirement option. If you’re a federal employee or considering becoming a federal employee, here are the basic elements of the Federal Employee Retirement System.

You’ve spent the last few decades toiling away at your job or running your own business. You’ve provided for your family and possibly created jobs for others at the same time. And you have certainly been paying income taxes over that same time frame, probably ever since your dad got you that summer job that paid you the minimum wage.

As your retirement years come into focus, it’s a good bet that you’re looking forward to stepping away from the everyday grind of your family business or profession. Maybe you also believe that you will be walking away from paying Uncle Sam his share of your retirement income. That popular misconception is certainly not the case.

While retired Americans generally pay less in income taxes than other age groups because of a reduction in income, the tax burden can still be a significant line item in their budget.

Many different income streams in retirement, including Social Security benefits, are subject to federal and possibly state income taxes. This discussion, though, will focus on tax liabilities at the federal level. The amount of tax you will be required to pay is at least partly a function of how much income you will receive once you stop working. Let’s explore the primary sources of retirement income and what tax burden they carry.

While not exactly front-page news, many of our readers should be aware of changes implemented for 2022 by the IRS for Required Minimum Distributions (RMDs). The primary change is related to updates to the life expectancy tables that the IRS uses to compute these RMDs. 

For those new to this corner of the personal finance universe, an RMD is the minimum amount of money that a taxpayer must withdraw from a qualified retirement account each year in order to avoid adverse tax consequences. Virtually all defined contribution plans are affected, including traditional IRAs, (SEP) IRAs, and (SIMPLE) IRAs. Other accounts impacted include 401(k), 403(b), and 457 plan accounts. The date at which the RMD is triggered and the amount of the distribution are primarily determined by the age of the account holder.

In 2018 former President Trump directed the U.S. Treasury Department to better reflect increases to life expectancy for the American populace, since the existing tables had been in place for nearly twenty years.

This executive order brought about the changes that are taking place for 2022. Before we delve into this year’s differences, let’s review other relatively recent changes to RMDs.

The state of retirement planning in the United States is grim. More than a third of Americans surveyed believe they’ll never have the ability to retire, 59 percent plan to work longer and 41 percent said financial security in retirement would “take a miracle.” The good news is that saving for retirement doesn’t need to be overly complicated. Here are the top things to know about retirement planning strategies that even the least financially savvy can implement.

Welcome to 2022! The start of the new year is a great time for a retirement planning conversation and to revisit the progress you’ve made so far. We recommend scheduling a meeting with your financial advisor, who can provide in-depth knowledge about what you’ve saved so far and what retirement strategies will work for you going forward.

Retirement planning looks different for everyone, but the basic rule of thumb is that you should plan for 70 to 90 percent of your pre-retirement income. Your financial advisor will walk you through that conversation so that you’re making good progress and staying on your desired retirement schedule. Below, we’ve created a checklist of topics to guide your retirement planning.

You’ve got many important documents you keep safe: your Social Security card, your birth certificate, your marriage certificate and, perhaps most important, your will. Though some of these documents can’t be changed, your will can be modified throughout your life so that your estate is handled according to your wishes after your passing. You want to make sure the right people inherit your assets, and those circumstances can change over time in relation to choices and relationships. Here’s a look at some reasons to change your will.

Congratulations! You’ve made it to the finish line of your career, and now you’re ready to enjoy the rewards of your hard work and savvy financial planning. Nowadays, retirement looks a little different from previous generations: many retirees are now active and busy, completing their bucket lists and staying excited about tomorrow’s possibilities. You, too, can experience the enrichment of this new chapter.

Retirement looks different for everybody. It’s a great time to think of what goals you made for yourself when you were younger. What have you always wanted to do but never had the chance? Did you want to travel somewhere specific? Master a certain craft, give back to the community, or start a new hobby? Now may be the right time to say yes to all of those opportunities.

In our previous posts in this series, we discussed gifting money to family and charitable giving. In this post, we take a deep dive into enjoying your nest egg. Here are some categories.

Kim Gannis, AIF®, is a Principal at Carnegie and Director of Retirement Plan Services and works in Carnegie’s Pittsburgh office. She has been with the firm for six years. Kim earned her Bachelor of Science in mathematics from the University of Pittsburgh; she is also a designated Accredited Investment Fiduciary®. 

“With my degree, I thought I was going to be a teacher coming out of school,” Kim recalls. “I soon realized that I would rather poke my eyes out than be a teacher.” She landed at Mercer as an analyst, then continued with positions at PNC Bank and American Century Investments. Her desire to understand the real side of money led to her move to Carnegie. She has been doing financial work all her life and plans to continue for the rest of her career. 

Let’s take a look at a day in the life of a principal and director of retirement plan services.