You spent all of your life working hard so that, by the time you reach your golden years, you can live the rest of your life the way you want to. The last thing you should be worried about is whether you can afford to live in the lifestyle you want. You need to come up with a retirement plan, one that you know will grow with you as you get nearer and nearer to your future goals.

We can help you create a retirement plan that aligns with your needs. It doesn’t matter where you are in life – we will provide you with the guidance and tools to help you pursue your financial goals.

Understanding Your Employer-Sponsored Retirement Plan
For many of us, we have a retirement plan already set up through our employers. These employer-sponsored plans are pretty useful for both employers and employees, since they give each a break in taxes, can be directly deducted from the employee’s paycheck, and, in some cases, have the employee’s contributions matched by their employer.

There are several different types of employer-sponsored plans, but the most common is a 401(k) plan. The employee chooses which investments in the 401(k) plan to put his/her funds into and has complete control over the money once he/she reaches retirement. In addition, if the employee should leave the company, there are decisions to be made regarding these funds, which may include leaving them with the existing plan or rolling them over into a traditional IRA or into another employer’s 401(k) plan without the risk of penalty. We can help you understand your options.

But there are limits to a 401(k) plan. For instance, withdrawing funds early can result in a 10% early withdrawal penalty.

How a Financial Advisor Can Help You Plan for Retirement
Are you sure how much you’re going to need when you retire? Chances are, the amount you have in mind is not nearly enough.  What you may need is someone to help you:

• Determine approximately how much you’re going to need
• Manage your assets not only before retirement, but after
• Develop customized strategies on how to pursue your retirement goals

Our team will help you set up your financial goals and priorities and then offer strategies to pursue these goals, no matter how close you are to retiring.

If you are ready to start planning for your retirement, we are ready to help you get started.  Contact us today.

Stifel does not offer legal or tax advice. You should consult with your legal or tax advisor regarding your particular situation.

Decisions to roll over or transfer retirement plan or IRA assets should be made with careful consideration of the advantages and disadvantages, including investment options and services, fees and expenses, withdrawal options, required minimum distributions, tax treatment, and your unique financial needs and retirement planning. Neither Stifel nor Stifel Financial Advisors provide recommendations with respect to rollovers from an employer-sponsored retirement plan. Once you inform your Stifel Financial Advisor that you have chosen to roll your retirement assets to an IRA with Stifel, your individual investment needs can be addressed. You should consult with your tax advisor regarding your particular situation as it pertains to tax matters.