Retirement Planning: The Basics

Weekly Market Performance – Market Move Higher Amid Positive Earnings and Economic Reports

Published: Fri, 15 Oct 2021 20:02:04 +0000

Market Blog Friday, October 15, 2021 Index Performance View enlarged chart. U.S. and International Equities Major U.S. and International Markets Finished Higher The major equity markets finished solidly in the green this week as we head into the genesis of … Continue reading →

Solid Retail Sales in September

Published: Fri, 15 Oct 2021 15:58:12 +0000

Economic Blog Friday, October 15, 2021 The U.S. Census Bureau reported overall retail sales grew 0.7% month over month in September vs. forecasts for a 0.2% decline, while retail sales excluding autos and gas also saw solid gains, rising 0.7% … Continue reading →

Inflation Measures are on the Move Again: 5 Charts With LPL Research

Published: Fri, 15 Oct 2021 12:00:08 +0000

Market Blog Friday, October 15, 2021 LPL Research is excited to bring the second episode of our new video series: 5 Charts with LPL Research. This week, LPL Financial Chief Market Strategist Ryan Detrick, CMT and Technical Strategist Scott Brown, … Continue reading →

That’s It, I Quit!

Published: Thu, 14 Oct 2021 18:44:59 +0000

Economic Blog Thursday, October 14, 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 is … Continue reading →

Inflation Concerns Persist

Published: Wed, 13 Oct 2021 15:58:09 +0000

Economic Blog Wednesday, October 13, 2021 The characterization of inflation as ”transitory” by Federal Reserve (Fed) Chair Jerome Powell—which has been the subject of debate for months—is likely to come under renewed pressure after the most recent inflation data release. … Continue reading →

Renewed Inflationary Concerns Pushing Global Yields Higher

Published: Tue, 12 Oct 2021 15:58:37 +0000

Market Blog Tuesday, October 12, 2021 The week of September 20 was notable for monetary policy as there were eleven central bank meetings, including the U.S., E.U., U.K., Turkey, and Norway, to name a few. While many of these countries … Continue reading →

New Video Series: 5 Charts With LPL Research

Published: Tue, 12 Oct 2021 12:25:34 +0000

Market Blog Tuesday, October 12, 2021 LPL Research is excited to introduce a new weekly video series, 5 Charts With LPL Research. Each week, LPL Financial Chief Market Strategist Ryan Detrick, CMT and Technical Strategist Scott Brown, CMT will review … Continue reading →

Quarterly Market Insights – S&P 500 Ekes Out Positive Return as Emerging Markets Retreat

Published: Mon, 11 Oct 2021 18:00:28 +0000

Market Blog Monday, October 11, 2021 Index Performance View enlarged chart. U.S. and International Equities This quarter provided mostly negative results for the major market indices. The top performer and standout was the bellwether Dow Jones Industrial Average. The international … Continue reading →

Third Quarter Earnings Season Preview

Published: Mon, 11 Oct 2021 15:58:52 +0000

Market Blog Monday, October 11, 2021 We have used most of the superlatives we know to describe corporate America’s stunning performances over the past two earnings seasons. Despite lofty expectations, results exceeded estimates by huge margins. We expect solid earnings … Continue reading →

Weekly Market Performance – Markets Rebound From Last Week’s Decline

Published: Fri, 08 Oct 2021 20:10:34 +0000

Market Blog Friday, October 8, 2021 Index Performance View enlarged chart. U.S. and International Equities Major U.S. and International Markets Finished Higher The major equity markets reversed course from last week to finish higher. The international markets results were mixed … Continue reading →

The Job Market Continues To Frustrate In September

Published: Fri, 08 Oct 2021 15:58:17 +0000

Economic Blog Friday, October 8, 2021 The September payroll report likely created more questions than it answered. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics released its September employment report this morning, revealing that the domestic economy added a disappointing 194,000 jobs … Continue reading →

Street View: Market Volatility Is Perfectly Normal

Published: Fri, 08 Oct 2021 12:00:16 +0000

Market Blog Friday, October 8, 2021 There is no reason to panic with all the big news about the bull market—October is known for volatility. As LPL Financial Chief Market Strategist Ryan Detrick discusses in the latest LPL Street View, … Continue reading →

Demand Remains Strong Despite Persistent Supply Chain Problems

Published: Thu, 07 Oct 2021 16:15:27 +0000

Economic Blog Thursday, October 7, 2021 Based on recent readings of manufacturing and service sector activity, business demand remains strong, further damaging the “stagflation” narrative. At the same time, barriers to meeting demand continue to limit businesses’ ability to respond, … Continue reading →

The Most Important Chart In The World

Published: Wed, 06 Oct 2021 15:58:03 +0000

Market Blog Wednesday, October 6, 2021 And just like that, the calendar turned to October and volatility picked up in a big way, with three consecutive 1% moves for the S&P 500 Index to start the month. As we noted … Continue reading →

Bond Market Showing Signs of Worry Over Debt Ceiling

Published: Tue, 05 Oct 2021 15:58:44 +0000

Market Blog Tuesday, October 5, 2021 The debt limit—commonly called the debt ceiling—is the maximum amount of debt that the Treasury Department can issue to pay its, already committed, financial obligations. The amount is set through Congress and has been … Continue reading →

September Market Insights – The September Selloff

Published: Mon, 04 Oct 2021 16:00:51 +0000

Market Blog Monday, October 4, 2021 Index Performance View enlarged chart. U.S. and International Equities September has been the worst performing month over the past 10 and 20 years. Looking at the prior year, the S&P 500 pulled back over … Continue reading →

Weekly Market Performance – Goodbye September

Published: Fri, 01 Oct 2021 20:01:49 +0000

Market Blog Friday, October 1, 2021 Index Performance View enlarged chart. U.S. and International Equities Major U.S. and International Markets Finished lower The major equity markets finished the week, along with the month of September, lower. The international markets were … Continue reading →

Is Bearish Investor Sentiment Bullish for Stocks?

Published: Fri, 01 Oct 2021 15:58:17 +0000

Market Blog Friday, October 1, 2021 The latest weekly data from the American Association of Individual Investors (AAII) show a continued increase in the percentage of individual investors who are bearish (40.7%) about short-term market expectations and a decrease in … Continue reading →

Could There Be An October Crash?

Published: Thu, 30 Sep 2021 15:58:14 +0000

Market Blog Thursday, September 30, 2021 “October: This is one of the peculiarly dangerous months to speculate in stocks. The others are July, January, September, April, November, May, March, June, December, August and February.” Mark Twain Well, it was bound … Continue reading →

Four Charts That Signal the Reopening Trade May Be Back

Published: Wed, 29 Sep 2021 15:58:41 +0000

Economic Blog Wednesday, September 29, 2021 Stocks have come a long way since the S&P 500 bear market low way back on March 23, 2020, but despite the general strength of the bull market we’ve seen two very different types … Continue reading →

Is the Infrastructure Plan a Catalyst for Lower Muni Yields?

Published: Tue, 28 Sep 2021 15:58:10 +0000

Market Blog Tuesday, September 28, 2021 The municipal market continues to be a relative bright spot for core fixed income investors. While most of the other “safe” parts of the core fixed income universe have generated negative returns this year, … Continue reading →

Weekly Market Performance – Small Caps And Energy Power This Week’s Results

Published: Fri, 24 Sep 2021 20:06:23 +0000

Market Blog Friday, September 24, 2021 Index Performance View enlarged chart. U.S. and International Equities Major U.S. Markets Finished higher while International Markets Selloff The major markets finished the week higher, with the Dow Jones Industrials leading the averages. Moreover, … Continue reading →

Leading Indicators Show Optimism For Domestic Economy

Published: Fri, 24 Sep 2021 15:58:04 +0000

Economic Blog Friday, September 24, 2021 On Thursday, September 23, the Conference Board released its August 2021 report detailing the latest reading for the Leading Economic Index (LEI), a composite of ten data series that tend to lead changes … Continue reading →

Federal Reserve Meeting Recap

Published: Thu, 23 Sep 2021 15:58:34 +0000

Economic Blog Thursday, September 23, 2021 The Federal Reserve (Fed) ended its two-day Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting yesterday and, as expected, there were no changes to current interest rate or bond purchasing policies. However, the Fed continues to … Continue reading →

LPL Market Signals: Another Lehman Brothers Moment?

Published: Wed, 22 Sep 2021 16:25:30 +0000

Market Blog Wednesday, September 22, 2021 Few had even heard of distressed Chinese property development giant Evergrande a week ago and now it’s the biggest headline for markets. This week in the latest LPL Market Signals podcast, Ryan Detrick and … Continue reading →

There Goes the 50-Day Moving Average

Published: Tue, 21 Sep 2021 15:58:52 +0000

Market Blog Tuesday, September 21, 2021 Well that was fun while it lasted. Yesterday, the S&P 500 closed below its 50-day moving average for the second consecutive day, breaking a streak that had held for the duration of 2021 and … Continue reading →

Weekly Market Performance – Markets Pull Back For Second Straight Week

Published: Fri, 17 Sep 2021 20:02:16 +0000

Market Blog Friday, September 17, 2021 Index Performance View enlarged chart. U.S. and International Equities Major Markets Finish Lower Amid Delta and Earnings Growth Concerns The major markets finished lower for a second straight week. Friday’s quadruple witching where individual … Continue reading →

Why Evergrande Isn’t The Next Lehman

Published: Fri, 17 Sep 2021 15:58:13 +0000

Market Blog Friday, September 17, 2021 Chinese property developer Evergrande’s liquidity crisis has sparked fear and massive selling in Chinese property stocks over the past several weeks. The big question is could this be the first domino to fall, sparking … Continue reading →

Retail Sales Surprise To The Upside

Published: Thu, 16 Sep 2021 15:58:05 +0000

Economic Blog Thursday, September 16, 2021 U.S. consumers shocked economists in August with their willingness to spend in the face of recent jitters over the economic outlook. This morning, the U.S. Census Bureau released August retail sales data showing overall … Continue reading →

Corporate Debt Issuance Continues Unabated

Published: Wed, 15 Sep 2021 15:58:22 +0000

Market Blog Wednesday, September 15, 2021 With summer (un)officially over, investment-grade corporate bond sales are ramping up again. Despite a four-day week last week, thirty-eight investment-grade companies sold $60.5 billion in the first two sessions, breaking a record for the … Continue reading →

Inflation Shows Signs Of Moderating

Published: Tue, 14 Sep 2021 17:41:57 +0000

Economic Blog Tuesday, September 14, 2021 After a crazy summer of nosebleed inflation readings, we may finally be starting to see signs of transitory inflation. The Bureau of Labor Statistics released the August Consumer Price Index (CPI) data this morning, … Continue reading →

Weekly Market Performance – Markets Down Modestly As Worries Grow

Published: Fri, 10 Sep 2021 19:59:12 +0000

Market Blog Friday, September 10, 2021 Index Performance U.S. and International Equities Major Indices Show Modest Weekly Declines as Delta Worries Mount All major markets finished lower as the investor concerns over the Delta variant, Federal Reserve (Fed) tapering, … Continue reading →

The Most Important (Technical) Chart in the World

Published: Fri, 10 Sep 2021 15:58:02 +0000

Market Blog Friday, September 10, 2021 Fun Fact Friday: The Dow Jones Transportation Average is actually the oldest US stock market index in existence, even older than the more-popular Dow Jones Industrial Average. Charles Dow developed the index, originally called … Continue reading →

Main Street Sentiment Remains Strong Despite Risks from Speedy Recovery

Published: Thu, 09 Sep 2021 16:16:03 +0000

Economic Blog Thursday, September 9, 2021 According to LPL Research’s analysis of the Federal Reserve’s (Fed) recently released Beige Book, business sentiment on Main Street has declined in recent months as the economy navigates the latest wave of COVID-19, but … Continue reading →

What Could Happen The Rest of the Year to Stocks and Bonds?

Published: Wed, 08 Sep 2021 15:58:03 +0000

Market Blog Wednesday, September 8, 2021 This week in the latest LPL Market Signals podcast, Ryan Detrick and Lawrence Gillum discussed global central bank policy, recently weakening economic data, and where stocks and bonds could go the remainder of this … Continue reading →

Global Monetary Policy and What Likely Comes Next

Published: Tue, 07 Sep 2021 15:58:58 +0000

Market Blog Tuesday, September 7, 2021 The Covid-19 pandemic was an unprecedented shock to a large majority of global economies. But the economic damage was met with an extraordinary global monetary response with the Federal Reserve (Fed), European Central Bank … Continue reading →

Weekly Market Performance – Markets Stout Amid Weak Jobs Report

Published: Fri, 03 Sep 2021 18:19:55 +0000

Market Blog Friday, September 3, 2021 Index Performance (as of 12:50 PM ET) View enlarged chart. U.S. and International Equities Emerging Markets Rebound The major markets finished mostly higher building on last week’s gains. Emerging markets, as represented by the … Continue reading →

August Payrolls Disappoint

Published: Fri, 03 Sep 2021 15:58:53 +0000

Economic Blog Friday, September 3, 2021 It seems to be two steps forward, one step back for the U.S. labor market. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics released its August employment report this morning, revealing that the domestic economy added … Continue reading →

Accelerating Manufacturing Shows Economy’s Resiliency

Published: Thu, 02 Sep 2021 15:58:30 +0000

Market Blog Thursday, September 2, 2021 The Institute for Supply Management’s reading on U.S. manufacturing surprisingly accelerated in August, coming in at 59.9 versus July’s 59.5 and economists’ consensus expectation of 58.5. The solid reading does show the resiliency of … Continue reading →

August Market Insights – Another Strong Month for Stocks

Published: Wed, 01 Sep 2021 19:00:08 +0000

Market Blog Wednesday, September 1, 2021 Index Performance View enlarged chart. U.S. and International Equities All of the U.S. major market indexes finished August higher despite concerns about the COVID-19 Delta variant, with the S&P 500 Index making it seven … 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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