How to Find the Best Retirement Planning Service

When it comes to planning your retirement and securing your future, the wisest choice is to consult a professional retirement planning services company. Many men and women who decide to plan their golden years without professional consulting advice end up regretting not having been thoroughly educated on the many aspects that retirement living entails.

Do not be one of these people. Your golden years and financial security is too important to simply “wing it” when it comes to a long-term plan.

What exactly is a retirement planning service?

By choosing the right company for your needs, you will find that a proper team of consultants should provide you at least 20 years combined experience with investment management and financial planning experience.

The organization should make you feel comfortable while offering a long-term approach to your financial needs, as well as other aspects of retirement such as strategizing your career, unplanned life events, and of course helping you live the life that you would like to live for the entirety of your senior years.

What can a qualified retirement planning service do for you?

Let’s face it, there is a bewildering and monumental array of choices to make in terms of planning out the next 30 years of your life. This can be especially stressful when we live in times where the economy is often uncertain. What you need is a crystal clear path to you and your family’s financial security during this most precious time of your life.

The right retirement consulting firm will take stock of your investments, future plans, retirement portfolio, your children’s needs, unexpected health care possibilities, projected cost of living, etc.

They will combine all of this data and analyze a complete and written financial guide for your retirement years that will make practical sense, as well as lead you to living the life you deserve, without worrying about money.

What are the most important items that I should look for when considering a retirement planning service?

Most companies that offer retirement guidance are very good at what they do, however there is a small list of specific planning services that should be offered. Below are a few of those items:

1. At the top of the list is financial planning. The company you choose should have a solid background with clients when it comes to providing maximum investment returns, expert advice on your taxes, college expenses (your children), insurance, and estate planning.

2. Next you want to be sure that the retirement planning service you hire is going to help you with mid career planning. Remember, you may have 10 to 20 years left in the workplace and making the right investment and financial decisions is of utmost importance. In fact, poor career planning into your retirement years could result in disastrous consequences.

Such important examples of mid career planning would be to determine disability needs, choosing a proper debt reduction strategy (if needed), making smart investments, and if you have children, selecting a money-saving college plan.

3. The third most important retirement planning service that should be offered by the company of your choice would be dealing with investment advice, proper allocation of your assets, and most importantly, evaluating and getting the most out of your employee benefits from the company you work for.

Payroll Software

1. EIN: Employer Identification Number . Also known as a Federal Tax Identification Number, and is used to identify a business entity. You would typically need an Employer Identification Number if you have employees or if you operate your business as a corporation or a partnership. The IRS website has an easy guide named “Do You Need an EIN?” that will help you decide if you need one or not. You can apply for a new EIN online (this is the easiest and fastest method) , by calling the Business & Specialty Tax Line at (800) 829-4933, by fax or by mail. 2. Circular E: Employer’s Tax Guide, also known as Publication 15. This publication explains employers’ responsibilities for withholding, reporting, depositing and paying payroll taxes. It includes information on employment taxes such as income, social security, Medicare, and federal unemployment. Circular E gets published annually at the end of the year. 3. EIC: Earned Income Credit. Also known as the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC). The EIC is an important anti-poverty and work incentive program that is run by the federal government. The Earned Income Credit targets families or individuals who earn low to moderate wages. If a worker qualifies for the program, the EIC will lower or eliminate any taxes owed. If a worker is not required to pay any taxes or if the credit is larger than any taxes owed by the worker, then he or she will receive a refund from the IRS after filing am individual tax return. In such cases, the federal government is providing low-income workers additional money beyond what they get paid at their jobs to encourage work and to reduce poverty. To qualify for the EIC, an individual must have a job, have wages below a certain level, and file a federal tax return to the Internal Revenue Service. There are additional rules and restrictions that apply as well. 4. FUTA: Federal Unemployment Tax Act. The Federal Unemployment Tax Act (FUTA), with state unemployment systems, provides for payments of unemployment compensation to workers who have lost their jobs. Most employers pay both a federal and a state unemployment tax. Only the employer pays FUTA tax; it is not withheld from the employee’s wages. For 2007 and 2008, the FUTA tax rate is 6.2%. The tax applies to the first $7,000 that the employers pays to each employee as wages during the year. The FUTA Taxes get deposited on a quarterly basis : on Mar. 31, June 30, Sept. 30 and Dec. 31. The IRS form 940 is used to report Federal Unemployment Taxes, you can visit the IRS website to get the instructions for using this form and to get a copy of the form itself. In general an employer is subject to FUTA taxes if s/he paid wages of $1,500 or more in any calendar quarter in 2007 or 2008, or s/he had one or more employees for at least some part of a day in any 20 or more different weeks in 2007 or 20 or more different weeks in 2008 (this rules doesn’t apply to employees who are farm-workers or household workers). 5. FICA: Federal Insurance Contribution Act. FICA Provides benefits for retired workers and their dependents as well as for disabled workers and their dependents. The taxes imposed under this law fund “Social Security Tax” and “Medicare Tax”. This tax is paid by both the employee and employer. For 2009, the wage base for withholding social security (old age, survivors, and disability insurance) is $106,800.There is no wage base limit for Medicare . For social security, the tax rate is 6.2% . For Medicare, the rate is 1.45% each for employers and employees. There are no withholding exemptions permitted for calculating Medicare or Social Security Taxes.

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Retirement Financial Planning and Retirement Ideas

Too soon we get old, and too late we get smart is the old Yiddish proverb. This applies to most people as they do retirement planning. Retirement ideas range from imagining yourself living in a life of luxury, playing golf, taking 9 month vacations, and enjoying life, down to living in a retirement community where your basic needs are taken care of. Failing to plan for your retirement can have very negative consequences on the quality of your retired life.

To do proper retirement financial planning, you should start early ? that’s the “too late smart” part of the proverb. You’re getting older every day ? are you getting smarter? Fortunately, there are retirement books that can help you with this. One of the most important is “401(k) Basics” by Motley Fool publishing. It will steer you into how to make the most of a company 401(k) plan, while taking an unsentimental retirement view ? telling you that there is no fast road to riches, only steady, regular savings and investing will help ensure you against retirement losses.

Your retirement benefits should contain a mix of growth funds early on, wealth preservation funds and income generation tools as you age ? this can be found online through a number of retirement calculators, and will help you plan the day when you can send your company your retirement letters and say “I’ll be on the golf course!” Most retirement calculators are driven by an investing rule called the Rule of 72 ? take 72 and divide it by your rate of return in points (for example, getting 6% on a savings account or CD) and that will tell you how many years it takes for your investment to double. In this case, 72 divided by 6 is 12, meaning that sitting an investment down in a 6% account means it will double in 12 years.

Remember that slow and steady contributions win the day; you can’t rush this later in life. Start early, invest everything you can afford to, and know that your money is working for you in the long term. If you’re eligible for a 401(k) program, you should take it ? it benefits you in multiple ways, from employee matching (which doubles your investment) to being take out of your paycheck before taxes (which is fundamentally giving you a 20-35% increase in the net investment from doing it in post-tax income) to tax deferral on the interest it accrues. A 401(k) is by far and away the best retirement investment vehicle possible.

One thing you should not count on is Social Security; due to changing demographics, we’re going to be disbursing more from Social Security than it takes in in about 5 to 10 years, and the fund will literally run out at the current rate of contributions in thirty years. Presume that you’re on your own and plan accordingly.