Retirement Planning: The Basics

Weekly Market Performance – Emerging Markets Emerge this Week

Published: Fri, 14 Jan 2022 21:02:02 +0000

Friday, January 14, 2022 Index Performance View enlarged chart. U.S. Markets Lower The major equity markets finished the week lower as concerns about inflation and higher interest rates continue to weigh on investors’ minds. A weaker than expected December retail … Continue reading →

Reversal in the Energy Sector

Published: Fri, 14 Jan 2022 16:58:38 +0000

Friday, January 14, 2022 Over the past 10 years, no sector has been worse than the S&P 500 Energy sector. It has gained just 2.4% annualized over the past 10 years, the only sector without a double-digit return, and all … Continue reading →

Busting Two Myths: Why Higher Yields And Rate Hikes Aren’t Always Bad

Published: Thu, 13 Jan 2022 13:00:29 +0000

Thursday, January 13, 2022 Lately we’ve seen two things swirling that some investors think could hurt them down the road. The idea that higher yields and rate hikes are bad is all over the place, but it all might not … Continue reading →

Inflation Soars, Markets Shrug

Published: Wed, 12 Jan 2022 16:58:57 +0000

Wednesday, January 12, 2022 Inflation soared 7% in 2021 according to Consumer Price Index (CPI) data released this morning by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, as seen in the LPL Chart of the Day, its highest level since 1982. There … Continue reading →

Wow, What a Year Last Week Was!

Published: Tue, 11 Jan 2022 17:00:53 +0000

Tuesday, January 11, 2022 After negative returns for many fixed income sectors in 2021, the last thing fixed income investors wanted to see to start 2022 was more red, but that is unfortunately what happened. The Federal Reserve (Fed) meeting … Continue reading →

Weekly Market Performance – Markets Begin Year On A Weak Note

Published: Fri, 07 Jan 2022 21:27:01 +0000

Friday, January 7, 2022 Index Performance View enlarged chart. U.S. and International Equities Major Markets Lower The major equity markets finished the week lower, as concerns about inflation and interest rates intensified after the Federal Reserve’s (Fed) minutes were released … Continue reading →

Messy Jobs Report Unlikely to Change Rate Hike Path

Published: Fri, 07 Jan 2022 17:37:48 +0000

Friday, January 7, 2022 A disappointing jobs report against a messy backdrop of uncertain seasonal adjustments, diverging internal surveys, unknown future effects from the Omicron variant, and the expiration of the monthly child tax credit is unlikely to alter the … Continue reading →

Still Waiting for Elusive Synchronized Global Expansion

Published: Thu, 06 Jan 2022 17:28:57 +0000

January 6, 2022 In this week’s Weekly Market Commentary (click here) we shared some lessons investors may have learned—or re-learned—in 2021 (LPL Research strategists included). One of those lessons was about how valuations are rarely good timing tools. That lesson … Continue reading →

Santa Came To Town And 5 More Charts To Watch

Published: Wed, 05 Jan 2022 17:00:27 +0000

Wednesday, January 5, 2022 Here is one chart about Santa and five more charts (or tables) that caught our attention recently. Well, stocks did what they were supposed to do, which was gain during the historically bullish Santa Claus Rally … Continue reading →

December Market Insights – Markets End December on a Positive Note

Published: Tue, 04 Jan 2022 19:00:45 +0000

Tuesday, January 4, 2022 Index Performance View enlarged chart. U.S. and International Equities Equities finished December on a strong note as both the S&P 500 Index and the Dow Industrials rose over 4%. These markets took in stride higher COVID-19 … Continue reading →

What Could Core Bond Investors Expect in 2022?

Published: Tue, 04 Jan 2022 16:58:16 +0000

Tuesday, January 4, 2022 Fixed income investors aren’t used to negative total returns for core fixed income (as measured by the Bloomberg U.S. Aggregate Bond Index) but that is exactly what happened in 2021. Last year, rising interest rates were … Continue reading →

Weekly Market Performance – Markets End The Year On A Strong Note

Published: Fri, 31 Dec 2021 20:05:32 +0000

Friday, December 31, 2021 Index Performance View enlarged chart. U.S. and International Equities Major Markets in the Green The major equity markets finished the week higher, as the Santa Claus rally continued to take hold even amid concerns about the … Continue reading →

What Our Most Read Blogs Tell Us About Markets in 2021…and 2022

Published: Thu, 30 Dec 2021 17:08:26 +0000

Thursday, December 30, 2021 Here it is, our final blog of 2021, and what better topic than the blog itself and the readers who make writing it so rewarding. Our aim with the blog is simple: every day provide market … Continue reading →

Charts of the Year

Published: Wed, 29 Dec 2021 19:23:17 +0000

Wednesday, December 29, 2021 In today’s blog, we will take a look at some of the best charts and tables we shared all year. There are so many charts and tables that sum up how special 2021 was, but at … Continue reading →

2021 Was a Good Year for Munis. Valuations Remain a Headwind

Published: Tue, 28 Dec 2021 16:58:17 +0000

Tuesday, December 27, 2021 The municipal market has been a relative bright spot for core fixed income investors in 2021. While most of the other “safe” parts of the core fixed income universe have generated negative returns this year, the … Continue reading →

Weekly Market Performance – Markets March Higher Despite Omicron

Published: Thu, 23 Dec 2021 19:07:34 +0000

Thursday, December 23, 2021 Index Performance View enlarged chart. U.S. and International Equities Major Markets higher The major equity markets finished the week higher, as the Santa Claus rally took hold even amid concerns about the Omicron variant’s effects on … Continue reading →

3 Things You Might Not Know About Charitable Giving

Published: Thu, 23 Dec 2021 16:49:40 +0000

Thursday, December 23, 2021 As we head into the final week of a strong year for equities markets, we at LPL Research are thinking about the season of giving, to friends and loved ones as we wind down a difficult … Continue reading →

Do You Believe In The Santa Claus Rally?

Published: Wed, 22 Dec 2021 17:00:56 +0000

Wednesday, December 22, 2021 “If Santa should fail to call, bears may come to Broad and Wall.” —Yale Hirsh December is widely known as one of the best months of the year for stocks, but most don’t realize that the … Continue reading →

The Federal Reserve Wants to Hike Rates. Can it?

Published: Tue, 21 Dec 2021 16:58:26 +0000

Tuesday, December 21, 2021 At the conclusion of last week’s Federal Reserve (Fed) meeting, the Fed released its dot plot, which showed the median forecast among officials is now for three rate hikes in 2022. Moreover, it showed eight rate … Continue reading →

Weekly Market Performance – Markets Selloff Amid Fed Policy

Published: Fri, 17 Dec 2021 21:03:07 +0000

Friday, December 17, 2021 Index Performance View enlarged chart. U.S. and International Equities Major Markets Lower The major equity markets finished the week lower, reversing some of last week’s gains on the back of this week’s Federal Open Market Committee … Continue reading →

Sector Playbook For Fed Rate Hikes Favors Value

Published: Fri, 17 Dec 2021 16:58:44 +0000

December 17, 2021 For those of us who haven’t already started holiday vacations, we all know this was Federal Reserve (Fed) meeting week. In anticipation of how much investors would be focused on the Fed this winter, we put a … Continue reading →

Federal Reserve Meeting Recap: Powell Pivot: Confirmed

Published: Thu, 16 Dec 2021 17:00:30 +0000

Thursday, December 16, 2021 The Federal Reserve (Fed) ended its two-day Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting yesterday and there were some notable shifts to monetary policy, although these shifts were largely expected by markets. After months of carefully communicating … Continue reading →

Five Important Charts To See Right Now

Published: Wed, 15 Dec 2021 17:00:14 +0000

Wednesday, December 15, 2021 As we head into the end of 2021, here are five charts that caught our attention. First up, last week was one of the best weeks of the year for stocks, and that could be a … Continue reading →

Record High for the Consumer Staples Sector

Published: Tue, 14 Dec 2021 15:58:49 +0000

Tuesday, December 14, 2021 The S&P 500 closed at a record high on Friday, but only two of its eleven underlying sectors could say the same. The first was technology, which as we noted last month, has been showing consistent … Continue reading →

Weekly Market Performance – Markets Rebound As Omicron Concerns Lessen

Published: Fri, 10 Dec 2021 21:09:22 +0000

Index Performance View enlarged chart. U.S. and International Equities Major Markets Higher The major equity markets finished the week solidly higher, reversing last week’s declines. Traders took solace in the health reports that the effects of the Omicron variant may … Continue reading →

Peak Inflation: Are We There Yet?

Published: Fri, 10 Dec 2021 16:58:35 +0000

Friday, December 10, 2021 The Consumer Price Index, the most well known measure of inflation, climbed 6.8% over the last year through November, according to data released today by the Labor Department. While in line with economists’ consensus expectation, that’s … Continue reading →

Have We Reached Peak Quit?

Published: Thu, 09 Dec 2021 17:10:39 +0000

Thursday, December 9, 2021 The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) released its monthly Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) report this week revealing that the number of American workers who are voluntarily quitting their jobs may have peaked, … Continue reading →

LPL Market Signals: Outlook 2022 and Omicron

Published: Wed, 08 Dec 2021 17:00:03 +0000

Wednesday, December 8, 2021 LPL Research is extremely excited about the release of Outlook 2022: Passing the Baton. You can see the interactive version of our Outlook here. In conjunction with the release of the Outlook, this week in the … Continue reading →

Is the Bond Market Pricing in a Fed Policy Error?

Published: Tue, 07 Dec 2021 16:58:55 +0000

Tuesday, December 7, 2021 After months of carefully communicating the Federal Reserve’s (Fed) plan to reduce its asset purchases toward the middle of 2022, Fed Chairman Jerome Powell seemingly sped up that timetable during his Congressional testimony last week. While … Continue reading →

Outlook 2022 Is Here!

Published: Tue, 07 Dec 2021 14:20:19 +0000

Tuesday, December 7, 2021 The entire team at LPL Research is so excited to announce the release of Outlook 2022: Passing the Baton. It is hard to put into words the amount of time and cross department organization it takes … Continue reading →

Weekly Market Performance – Markets Continue Lower on COVID-19 Variant Fears

Published: Fri, 03 Dec 2021 21:02:21 +0000

Friday, December 3, 2021 Index Performance View enlarged chart. U.S. and International Equities Major Markets Lower The major equity markets finished the week lower. The markets continued to pull back following last Friday’s announcement concerning the new Omicron COVID-19 variant … Continue reading →

Job Growth Came Up Short in November

Published: Fri, 03 Dec 2021 17:00:31 +0000

Friday, December 3, 2021 The domestic economy added just 210,000 jobs during November, well below Bloomberg-surveyed economists’ consensus forecast for a gain of 550,000 and below October’s revised tally of 546,000. The net revision to prior months was positive but … Continue reading →

3 Takeaways from ISM’s Manufacturing Report

Published: Thu, 02 Dec 2021 16:58:01 +0000

Thursday, December 2, 2021 With recent concerns about Federal Reserve (Fed) policy and the Omicron variant, it’s easy to forget that we’re in a period of economic acceleration, although now with some added uncertainty. Yesterday’s manufacturing data confirmed that overall … Continue reading →

November Market Insights – Markets Mostly Lower Amid COVID-19 Variant Concerns

Published: Wed, 01 Dec 2021 20:42:02 +0000

Market Blog Wednesday, December 1, 2021 Index Performance View enlarged chart. U.S. and International Equities Equities finished November mixed as the S&P 500 and the Dow Industrials finished lower while the Nasdaq Composite gained over 0.3%. Investor concerns surrounding the … Continue reading →

6 Things To Know About December And Omicron

Published: Wed, 01 Dec 2021 14:10:54 +0000

Market Blog Wednesday, December 1, 2021 Here comes December, historically a pretty solid month for stocks, but now we have the Omicron variant wreaking havoc on markets. “What a difference a week makes. A week ago stocks were at all-time … Continue reading →

Thoughts on Friday’s Treasury Market Rally

Published: Tue, 30 Nov 2021 16:58:27 +0000

Tuesday, November 30, 2021 Financial markets tend to be relatively quiet the day after Thanksgiving but this year was a notable exception. With the news that a new COVID-19 variant—Omicron—had been discovered and is spreading quickly, prices of risk assets … Continue reading →

Weekly Market Performance – Markets Down As New COVID-19 Variant Emerges

Published: Fri, 26 Nov 2021 18:08:39 +0000

Friday, November 26, 2021 Index Performance View enlarged chart. U.S. and International Equities Major Markets Lower The major equity markets finished the week lower as markets gave up ground Friday during a holiday-shortened trading session given new COVID-19 variant concerns … Continue reading →

How Have Stocks Done Under Jerome Powell?

Published: Wed, 24 Nov 2021 17:00:34 +0000

Wednesday, November 24, 2021 The big news this week was Jerome Powell will remain in charge of the Federal Reserve (Fed) for four more years, so we wanted to do a quick blog that looked at how stocks have done … Continue reading →

Finally Some Clarity on Fed Leadership

Published: Tue, 23 Nov 2021 16:58:40 +0000

Tuesday, November 23, 2021 President Biden officially nominated Chairman Jerome Powell to a second four-year term as Chairman of the Federal Reserve (Fed) and elevated current Fed Governor Lael Brainard to Vice Chair of the Committee. Before the announcement, there … Continue reading →

Weekly Market Performance – Growth Stocks Catch a Bid Amid Renewed COVID-19 Worries In Europe

Published: Fri, 19 Nov 2021 21:05:20 +0000

Friday, November 19, 2021 Index Performance View enlarged chart. U.S. and International Equities Major Markets Mixed The major equity markets finished the week mixed as inflation worries continued to play a role in investors’ minds amid an excellent third quarter … Continue reading →

You may have a very idealistic vision of retirement—doing all of the things that you never seem to have time to do now.

But how do you pursue that vision? Social Security benefits may not provide enough income for your retirement years. And unfortunately, few employers today offer a traditional company pension plan that guarantees you a specific income at retirement. On top of that, people are living longer and must find ways to fund those additional years of retirement. Such eye-opening facts mean that today, sound retirement planning is critical.

But there's good news: Retirement planning is easier than it used to be, thanks to the many tools and resources available. Here are some basic steps to get you started.

Determine your retirement income needs

It's common to discuss desired annual retirement income as a percentage of your current income. Depending on who you're talking to, that percentage could be anywhere from 60 to 90 percent, or even more. The appeal of this approach lies in its simplicity. The problem, however, is that it doesn't account for your specific situation. To determine your specific needs, you may want to estimate your annual retirement expenses.

Use your current expenses as a starting point, but note that your expenses may change dramatically by the time you retire. If you're nearing retirement, the gap between your current expenses and your retirement expenses may be small. If retirement is many years away, the gap may be significant, and projecting your future expenses may be more difficult.

Remember to take inflation into account. The average annual rate of inflation over the past 20 years has been approximately 2.5 percent. (Source: Consumer price index (CPI-U) data published by the U.S. Department of Labor, 2013.) And keep in mind that your annual expenses may fluctuate throughout retirement. For instance, if you own a home and are paying a mortgage, your expenses will drop if the mortgage is paid off by the time you retire. Other expenses, such as health-related expenses, may increase in your later retirement years. A realistic estimate of your expenses will tell you about how much yearly income you'll need to live comfortably.

Calculate the gap

Once you have estimated your retirement income needs, take stock of your estimated future assets and income. These may come from Social Security, a retirement plan at work, a part-time job, and other sources. If estimates show that your future assets and income will fall short of what you need, the rest will have to come from additional personal retirement savings.

Figure out how much you'll need to save

By the time you retire, you'll need a nest egg that will provide you with enough income to fill the gap left by your other income sources. But exactly how much is enough? The following questions may help you find the answer:

At what age do you plan to retire? The younger you retire, the longer your retirement will be, and the more money you'll need to carry you through it.
What is your life expectancy? The longer you live, the more years of retirement you'll have to fund.
What rate of growth can you expect from your savings now and during retirement? Be conservative when projecting rates of return.
Do you expect to dip into your principal? If so, you may deplete your savings faster than if you just live off investment earnings. Build in a cushion to guard against these risks.

Build your retirement fund: Save, save, save

When you know roughly how much money you'll need, your next goal is to save that amount. First, you'll have to map out a savings plan that works for you. Assume a conservative rate of return (e.g., 5 to 6 percent), and then determine approximately how much you'll need to save every year between now and your retirement to reach your goal.

The next step is to put your savings plan into action. It's never too early to get started (ideally, begin saving in your 20s). To the extent possible, you may want to arrange to have certain amounts taken directly from your paycheck and automatically invested in accounts of your choice (e.g., 401(k) plans, payroll deduction savings). This arrangement reduces the risk of impulsive or unwise spending that will threaten your savings plan--out of sight, out of mind. If possible, save more than you think you'll need to provide a cushion.

Understand your investment options

You need to understand the types of investments that are available, and decide which ones are right for you. If you don't have the time, energy, or inclination to do this yourself, hire a financial professional. He or she will explain the options that are available to you, and will assist you in selecting investments that are appropriate for your goals, risk tolerance, and time horizon. Note that many investments may involve the risk of loss of principal.

Use the right savings tools

The following are among the most common retirement savings tools, but others are also available.

Employer-sponsored retirement plans that allow employee deferrals (like 401(k), 403(b), SIMPLE, and 457(b) plans) are powerful savings tools. Your contributions come out of your salary as pretax contributions (reducing your current taxable income) and any investment earnings are tax deferred until withdrawn. These plans often include employer-matching contributions and should be your first choice when it comes to saving for retirement. 401(k), 403(b) and 457(b) plans can also allow after-tax Roth contributions. While Roth contributions don't offer an immediate tax benefit, qualified distributions from your Roth account are federal income tax free.

IRAs, like employer-sponsored retirement plans, feature tax deferral of earnings. If you are eligible, traditional IRAs may enable you to lower your current taxable income through deductible contributions. Withdrawals, however, are taxable as ordinary income (unless you've made nondeductible contributions, in which case a portion of the withdrawals will not be taxable).

Roth IRAs don't permit tax-deductible contributions but allow you to make completely tax-free withdrawals under certain conditions. With both types, you can typically choose from a wide range of investments to fund your IRA.

Annuities are contracts issued by insurance companies. Annuities are generally funded with after-tax dollars, but their earnings are tax deferred (you pay tax on the portion of distributions that represents earnings). There is generally no annual limit on contributions to an annuity. A typical annuity provides income payments beginning at some future time, usually retirement. The payments may last for your life, for the joint life of you and a beneficiary, or for a specified number of years (guarantees are subject to the claims-paying ability of the issuing insurance company). Annuities may be subject to certain charges and expenses, including mortality charges, surrender charges, administrative fees, and other charges.

Note: In addition to any income taxes owed, a 10 percent premature distribution penalty tax may apply to taxable distributions made from employer-sponsored retirement plans, IRAs, and annuities prior to age 59½ (prior to age 55 for employer-sponsored retirement plans in some circumstances).

Contact a VyStar Investment Services Financial Advisor today by phone (904) 908-2495 or email VISMarketing@vystarcu.org.

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