RightBridge Financial Group

A Step-By-Step Plan to Design your Future

Start building your future with our Financial Blueprint.

Fiscal House Construction – Start with a Strategy

To build a home, you start with a full set of construction drawings. This is the blueprint that details not only what your house will look like, but all of the individual components that will integrate to create the home. To do so, you must first consider all of your objectives for the house, including the specific components and features that you want in the house - and those you don’t. 


With these objectives in mind, you and a professional designer work together on a plan that includes every detail of each room until you have a full set of construction plans, plus a list of materials and resources needed to build the house. Likewise, a financial portfolio comprises a foundation, walls, roof and even fencing. 


When constructing your fiscal house, you must begin with the foundation, because without a strong foundation, the house may crumble.

Design Your Fiscal House

 Timeline

When building your fiscal house, prepare a time frame in which you want to meet certain objectives. For example, stocks offer the opportunity for higher returns but are best deployed over a longer time frame to offset short term risk of loss. When establishing your retirement timeline, take into consideration your current age, the age at which you would like to retire and the amount of income you'll need at that time to meet your lifestyle goals.

Risk Management

Risk management in a fiscal house is like installing insulation to protect your walls, floors and ceilings from the elements such as market losses or inflation. Risk management strategies and insurance products that can play a role in those strategies may include:


  • Diversification
  • Growth
  • Liquidity
  • Cash Flow

Remodeling

In the same way you take on home remodeling projects to keep your home updated and working for you, your fiscal house strategies should be reviewed at minimum on an annual basis to help ensure your portfolio stays on track to meet your needs. An experienced advisor can help you determine what changes make sense based on the objectives you hope to achieve.

Sustainability

How long do you need to maintain your fiscal house? In other words, how long do you expect to live and need your portfolio to provide retirement income? Your fiscal strategy should include elements of sustainability to help ensure that you do not spend down your retirement assets too soon. The following are a few sustainability issues to carefully consider:


  • Coordinating your distribution plan with your Social Security benefits.
  • Repositioning wealth with an IRA rollover.
  • Deciding when to draw income from taxable or tax-deferred accounts.
  • Deciding when to take a lump sum in lieu of defined benefit pension benefits.
  • Minimizing tax implications related to job income, required minimum distributions and Roth IRA conversions.
  • Utilizing products that provide a steady and reliable stream of income.
  • Sustaining lifetime income for the surviving spouse.
  • Leaving a legacy to loved ones or charitable organizations. 


Remember, understanding the above issues can impact more than your retirement income. They can have tax and legal consequences as well, which is why it is important to consult with a team of professionals, including a financial advisor, insurance professional, tax professional, and attorney.

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