Page 14 - EQ Mag-issue 5

RETIREMENT RESOURCE (Cont’d)

retire also affects your benefit. If you retire at age 62, the earliest The recommended approach to estimating your likely expenses in
possible Social Security retirement age, your benefit will be lower retirement is to capture your current expenses by category.
than if you wait until your normal retirement date based upon the Separate your expenditures into as many useful and detailed
year of your birth. categories as possible.
· FICA, Federal & State Taxes
Annually, the Social Security Administration (“SSA”) provides · Housing Expenses & Utilities
each covered individual with a benefit estimate. We encourage · Food
you to establish an account at www.ssa.gov in order to review · Transportation
your benefit estimate and also to confirm that SSA is correctly · Style- Clothing
calculating your estimate. We don't recommend waiting until you · Debt Repayment
reach your retirement target to review your benefit estimate. · Entertainment
Mistakes are sometimes made in benefits calculation, with a · Personal Care
common error being the exclusion of earning years for which an · Health Care
individual actually paid Social Security taxes. Please add your · Insurance
Social Security retirement benefits to your other sources of · Educational Expenses
retirement income, and record this information in your retirement · Children
journal under the heading “Retirement Income.” Now, it's time to · Charitable Donations
focus on your likely expenses in retirement. Your retirement
income minus expenses determines the minimum amount of This process serves two purposes: (i) you have a good idea about
income that you need in order to live comfortably in retirement. your expenses in retirement, for which you need to plan; and (ii) it
provides you with an opportunity to capture
where you are currently overspending, which
allows you to change your behavior.

We recommend tracking your expenses the
high-tech way, by using an App that categorizes
your spend or allows you to manually do so.

Now that you have estimated both your likely
retirement income and expenses, it's time to
determine whether your retirement income is
sufficient to pay your likely retirement expenses.
If not, you will need to work longer to save more
money for retirement, work longer to pay down
your debt and/or significantly focus on changing
your lifestyle in order to reduce your expenses to
retire when planned.

We look forward to seeing you on November 1-2,
2. Estimate Your Likely Expenses in Retirement 2019 for a discussion of the Million Dollar Question and the other
life changing steps to a successful retirement. It's time for you to
Forecasting and planning for your likely expenses in retirement is truly embrace “Me Time!” We look forward to being a part of your
arguably the most important aspect of retirement planning. journey.
Interestingly, there are individuals who have substantial income in
Mrs. Hatchett-Bodle is a Retirement and Tax Attorney with over 24 years of
retirement, but that means nothing when expenses exceed large international law firm experience. She is a frequent author and
income. It is imperative that your income in retirement be sufficient speaker on tax and employee benefits matters. Ms. Hatchett-Bodle has
to cover your expenses and to facilitate saving money in taught over 100 2-day retirement planning courses for the U. S.
retirement for unforeseeable events. Department of Defense on military bases throughout the United States.

13 | www.equitymovement247.com