Planning the Right Mix for Retirement

As the head of First Bank’s wealth management group, I know that many of our business customers need help preparing for retirement. As you enter this important stage in your financial well-being, are you setup to leave the workplace one day financially empowered?

Small business owners are often at the greatest risk of under-saving. Some may even withdraw from their retirement savings too soon to cover business expenses. In a period of flat interest rates, stretched monthly expenses, and recovering real estate equity, financial growth feels impossible at times.

So what’s the best way to approach your retirement, especially when your focus is on your business right now?

It starts with a plan. That sounds simple and is often overstated. But too often, small business owners enter retirement or semi-retirement without a thoughtful or updated long-term plan. Some principals we review with our clients whether you are 35 or 65 include:

Investment Risk Grading

Not everyone is moving toward a conservative approach in the later years. Have you graded your investment behavior recently? We develop a market plan and risk spread that help you analyze where, when, and how you want to invest your retirement funds.

Savings Optimization

Diversified savings options make allocation and analysis of CDs or other long-term saving options as important as ever before. Our advisors map interest and savings potentials for clients to help inform a safe and effective retirement strategy.

401k and IRA Planning

401Ks and IRAs remain important options for long-term financial well-being. These accounts have varying advantages and disadvantages and warrant expert analysis every few years as you near retirement.

Insurance Optioning

Life insurance and long-term care planning are a balancing act between now and the future. We include these options as part of a larger analysis of where to spend or save.

Trust and Estate Legal Analysis and Planning

Legal expertise is pivotal when planning estates or trusts. Our expert legal team provides detailed, but understandable guidance in shaping family and generational financial planning.

As a small business owner or employee, you understand the pressures on long-term financial gain. You’ve experience it firsthand.

Thousands of Baby Boomers are retiring each year, unsure if there money will work for them. Many Generation X-ers have relied to their savings to soften home equity loses. And Millennials still struggle to find a good starting point for retirement savings in their twenties thanks to a slow recovering job market.

These challenges are not going to disappear in the next decade. But a strong financial partner and expert in your local community can provide the best financial track to combat these external pressures.

We won’t sell you any “surefire” secrets about timing the market. And we won’t sell you any off-the-shelf solutions. Instead, you’ll get personal advice on retirement from professionals who really listen to you.

We live in an uncertain investing climate. But one thing that never changes is our desire to earn our clients’ trust with every interaction.

We’re in the business of planning for tomorrow. That’s why we know the importance of starting today.

Sincerely,

Allen D. Smith

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