El Cajon Retirement & Estate Planning Lawyer

We care about three things in retirement planning and estate planning:

• Safety First
• Reasonable Rate of Return
• Keep it Simple

Safety First

The first rule for preparing for retirement is to not lose money. Protect your principal. If you don’t, you could end up having no retirement income and no assets to pass on to your heirs. If you lose your principal savings, it could disrupt any retirement and estate planning you’ve worked so hard to design.

That’s why you want your retirement savings to be secure, so you can’t lose it. You need guaranteed safety, as a first priority. All future planning depends on it.

As for estate planning, perhaps the biggest objective is to minimize tax exposure. You want your assets safe from the powerful and far-reaching arm of the government.

Reasonable Rate of Return

Here’s what we believe as El Cajon retirement planning advisors: impressive growth of assets never comes without its attending risk. Big upside means big downside, every time. You cannot have your cake and eat it too.

As a retiree and soon-to-be-retiree in East San Diego County, you simply may not have enough time to make up for lost money. In your younger years, it matters less when you suffer downturns in the market. (It absolutely matters; it just matters less.) But in your silver years and golden years, a market downturn can be life-altering in the worst way.

That’s why we like safe, small wins. No losses. That means a reasonable rate of return. Nothing outlandish or extravagant or earth-shattering. You’re not trying to swing for the fences anymore – you’ve already accumulated most of what you’re going to accumulate in your lifetime. You just need a reasonable rate of return.

You may not realize but this is also a part of your estate plan. How so? Because your heirs are the ones who will be worrying over your and caring for you in your later years.

If estate planning is ultimately  about how you treat and take care of your loved ones, make no mistake that making sure you are stable and secure in your later years will be incredibly beneficial to you, yes, but also to your heirs. They will be so grateful that you’ve planned so well and that you’re taken care of. They will stress if you’re stressed. When you suffer, they suffer. Taking care of yourself financially in your later years is taking care of them, too.

Keep it Simple

One of the biggest obstacles to achieving the outcomes you hope for in retirement and the condition of your estate is information overload. Our El Cajon retirement planning advice is to keep things simple. There is so much to know, so many options to choose from and so much confusion. It’s easy to get overwhelmed.

When you’re overwhelmed, the consequence is often paralysis by analysis. You do nothing. You take no action at all. And then your future self suffers as a result.

When it comes to safeguarding and investing your retirement savings, including in annuities (or what we call “retirement insurance”), there are hundreds if not thousands of products and policies you can choose from. First you have to decide what kind of product you want, then the carrier you want to use, then which of the carrier’s products you want, then you have to design the product the way that suits your interests.

Our El Cajon retirement planning attorney says choosing an annuity is not unlike buying a car. First you decide if you want a sedan, truck, etc. Then do you want a Ford or Chevy, etc. Then you decide what package you want. Then you decide what additional feature or upgrades you want.

But buying a car is much, much easier because you already understand everything involved. Most people don’t understand annuities.

For these reasons, when it comes to retirement planning, we keep it very simple. We choose the best carriers and best products and then you decide the package you want.

Simple.

Keeping it simple is really advantageous in estate planning as well. At some point you’re going to want to explain to your children or grandchildren the make-up and condition of your estate. You’ll want them to understand it. A complicated estate plan tends to make for confused trustees and administrators. Confusion sows chaos and distrust, and it can fracture a family. You don’t want any of that.

Keep it simple. Protect your legacy and preserve family harmony.

Our El Cajon Retirement Planning Attorney Can Help

Crafting a retirement income strategy and estate strategy that provide you with the growth, safety, and legacy you want is absolutely possible. Whether you live in Lakeside or Spring Valley, our El Cajon retirement planning professional can help. To find out how, join us at a no-cost, no-obligation educational workshop where we walk you through your options. Alternatively, you can schedule a one-on-one meeting with us to discuss the specifics of your own situation. We’re here to help.