Category: Finance

IARFC – Providing Consumers with Financial Integrity

Jeffrey L. Wendel, CEO of Wendel Retirement Planning, assists clients with the numerous tasks associated with preparing for retirement. In addition to his work with Wendel Retirement Planning, Jeffrey L. Wendel is also a member of International Association of Registered Financial Consultants (IARFC).

IARFC is an organization whose mission is to establish standards for financial ethics. The organization was founded in the 1980s to facilitate public confidence in the financial industries. A nonprofit, the organization’s central mission focuses on assisting financial consultants with planning and continuing education while also recognizing them for adhering to ethical principles. To become a member, consultants are required to follow guidelines relating to education, licensing, and continuing education. Ultimately, achieving these goals sets the foundation for financial transparency, which creates conditions where the public trusts financial institutions.

Those who become members benefit in a few ways. First, members are provided the tools to work in the financial industry in a professional and ethical manner such as white papers, document filing system, power points, and checklists. Members also benefit from networking and professional development opportunities through conferences and publications including the Journal of Finance. Finally, members save on supplies through partnership programs and insurance coverage and are exposed to new industry information through the various social media platforms (blogs, media releases, and Facebook).

Creating a Financial Portfolio

Financial consultant and money expert Jeffrey L. Wendel has helped many people achieve their wealth management goals. As a part of helping them build wealth, Jeffrey L. Wendel assists his clients with understanding taxes, the various ways to invest, and, most importantly, preparing for retirement.

One of the central focuses of wealth management is creating a financial portfolio. While working with a financial consultant is always the best way to go about building a portfolio, everyday consumers can also build their own portfolios.

Creating a financial portfolio involves a person taking inventory of their entire financial picture, which requires looking at both assets and debts. Once the inventory is complete, the person can devise a plan for increasing assets while decreasing debts. While this might appear simple, building a portfolio requires discipline and a commitment to saving and reducing existing debts.

When looking to build assets, the best strategy is to diversify. This refers to acquiring a variety of investments to hedge against risk. People looking to invest have a number of avenues from which to choose, including retirement funds (401K), real estate, the stock market, and index or mutual funds.

Building a portfolio also involves reducing one’s amount of household debt. Paying off existing credit cards and loans frees up a lot of disposable income that can be used to build assets. At the same time, if it is necessary to maintain debt, choosing loans that have investment potential can generate income at some time in the future (such as education and mortgage loans).

Building a portfolio on your own can be quite confusing, which is why it is often beneficial to seek the help of a professional financial consultant.

Figuring Out How Muc h You Must Save for Retirement

 

Ohio-based registered financial consultant Jeffrey L. Wendel leads Wendel Retirement Planning as CEO. As the leader of the company, he helps businesses and individuals with their retirement needs. Beyond this, Jeffrey L. Wendel teaches educational classes at universities around Dayton, Ohio, and has written a book about retirement called “Grand Slam Retirement.”

When it comes to figuring out how much you need for retirement, there are plenty of guidelines that you can follow. For instance, some retirement experts advise that you plan on saving about 80 to 90 percent of your pre-retirement income. Since your annual expenses are expected to decrease in retirement, some believe this estimation will still give you plenty of money to work with. However, you must multiply that annual amount by the number of years your retirement will last. Other estimates advise that you save close to $1 million for retirement, or about 12 to 25-times your pre-retirement salary.

While these rules of thumb can be effective guidelines, particularly if you begin saving for retirement at a young age, they will not give you the specific amount that is best for your life. Depending on your situation, for instance, your post-retirement spending could increase. Or, you may live much longer than you predict. To account for these personal differences, it’s best to create a realistic picture of your ideal retirement, consider your estimated spending for this lifestyle, and plan on saving enough money to cover that until you reach 95 or 100 years old.

RMDs – What They Are and What Happens if They’re Skipped

The CEO of Ohio-based financial firm Wendel Retirement Planning, Jeffrey L. Wendel is responsible for helping clients in meeting their retirement goals. Outside of the office, Jeffrey L. Wendel teaches educational classes around Dayton, Ohio, that focus on such things as retirement taxation and required minimum distributions (RMDs).

Many retirement accounts, including individual retirement accounts IRAs and 401(k) plans, have an RMD that must be taken each year after the account holder turns 70½ years old. These distributions must be taken by December 31, in most situations. However, account holders can delay the required withdrawal date until April of the year after they turned 70½ in certain situations. For instance, a person who turns 70½ in November 2013 can wait until April 2014 to take their RMD for the 2013 year. But, they must make another withdrawal later that year to cover their 2014 RMD.

If an RMD is missed, account holders are subject to a tax penalty of up to 50 percent. This is applied to the amount of money that account holders had to withdraw. So, if they did not withdraw anything, the 50 percent penalty applies to the entire RMD amount. Meanwhile, if they withdrew some, but not the full RMD amount, then the penalty is applied to the difference between what they withdrew and what they should have withdrawn.

RMD rules also apply when the retirement account is inherited. In these situations, RMDs must be taken out every year starting the year after the account owner passed away. Hypothetically, if the account owner passed in 2013, then the person who inherited the account must make RMD withdrawal every year starting in 2014.