by Micah Porter | Apr 6, 2018 | Blog, Federal Government Employees, Near Retirement, Retirement Planning
Several weeks ago, I worked with a couple who wanted to retire early. At first glance, they seemed well situated to do so, as they had both worked as teachers for decades and they would thus both have a healthy pension. However, when I put together the plan, I found... 
by Micah Porter | Mar 28, 2018 | Blog, Emory Employees, Federal Government Employees, Retirement Planning
I recently completed work with a client who was considering switching jobs. It was an interesting case, as the switch involved moving from a job with a pension plus a 401k-like retirement plan to a job with either a pension or a 401k-type plan. The primary question... 
by Micah Porter | Mar 14, 2018 | Blog, Near Retirement, Retirees, Retirement Planning, Savings, Tax Planning
In last week’s post, I covered a few things you should consider in setting up withdrawals from your portfolio in retirement. One of the considerations was planning for taxes, and more specifically, how you can impact your tax liability from year-to-year by choosing... 
by Micah Porter | Mar 8, 2018 | Blog, financial plans, Near Retirement, Retirement Planning
One of the most common questions clients ask when doing their retirement planning is how portfolio withdrawals will work. Saving is something most clients have done for years, but reversing the flow brings up a host of questions. Financial advisors, in our typical... 
by Micah Porter | Oct 25, 2017 | Blog, Retirement Planning, Tax Planning
Unless you are extremely wealthy, there aren’t many tax shelters available to you and healthcare costs are likely a rising concern. For both of those reasons, I am a big fan of Health Savings Accounts (HSAs). The HSA is one of the few avenues available to shelter... 
by Micah Porter | Sep 6, 2017 | Blog, Emory Employees, Retirees, Retirement Planning
I was listening to a podcast recently featuring Meir Statman, an academic who has long focused on the field of behavioral finance. While the topic itself was interesting, one thing Statman said that stood out to me was that he had no worries about money. He went on to... 
by Micah Porter | May 2, 2017 | Blog, Retirement Planning
One of the questions clients ask most often is whether they should invest in a Roth IRA or Traditional IRA. There is no one right answer – as with most issues in financial planning, it depends upon your specific situation. The advantage of a traditional IRA is that... 
by Micah Porter | Apr 27, 2017 | Blog, Near Retirement, Retirees, Retirement Planning
Not so many years ago, financial advisors viewed retirement planning as a 3-legged stool. The first leg was a pension, the second social security and the third being the retiree-to-be’s savings. In the intervening years, pensions have fallen by the wayside and aside... 
by Micah Porter | Apr 19, 2017 | Blog, Fee Only Financial Planning, financial plans, Retirement Planning
When my aunt founded Minerva nearly 30 years ago, one of the first groups for whom she did a good deal of work were teachers. At the time, the State was looking for assistance with financial planning for teachers, and my aunt was chosen. Between that work and...