The importance of retirement planning throughout your career cannot be understated. However, many soon-to-be retirees overlook one essential long-term retirement financial strategy component – annual taxes.
Regardless of age or financial situation, once you retire, you will likely still owe taxes yearly even though you may no longer earn a regular income. As a result, it’s imperative to consider the various tax-efficient strategies in retirement. Such as tax efficient retirement withdrawal strategies to reduce future tax bills in the coming decades.
A client-focused wealth management firm like Saddock Wealth can help you navigate this tricky and new terrain and help secure your financial health well into the future.
In the meantime, it’s helpful to brush up on how taxes could impact your income once you retire. Also, knowing how to mitigate these tax-related expenses is important.
Make an Assessment of Your Tax Bracket in Retirement
Creating an estimate of your annual taxes going forward, and post-retirement will help provide a baseline on how taxes affect your savings. Additionally, how you determine your estimated annual taxes and tax bracket during your working life.
Several common sources of retirement income are taxable, which include the following:
- Withdrawals from traditional 401(k) and IRA accounts
- Income from varying investments
- Social Security benefits, (in some cases)
- Pension income, (again, in some cases)
- Income from side jobs or temporary work
Once you have determined your retirement income, you can use this data to identify your tax bracket. However, remember that tax brackets are fluid and change every year, (based on factors like inflation or tax reform legislation), so this is a number to keep an eye on.
Tax-efficient Strategies in Retirement to Minimize Your Annual Taxes
You can take several steps before and during your retirement to minimize your taxes in the years ahead.
These strategies include some of the following methods:
Invest in Roth 401(k) and/or Roth IRA Accounts
Any distributions from Roth 401(k) and Roth IRA accounts are not taxable during retirement. Therefore, you can withdrawal from these accounts as much as you need to without owing taxes on the distributions, provided you follow the IRS guidelines.
The only drawback is that Roth accounts do not provide an up-front tax break when you initially contribute. However, converting traditional accounts to Roth accounts is possible – a process that a financial advisor best orchestrates.
Consider Investing in Municipal Bonds
Municipal bonds (also referred to as municipal securities or “munis”) are bonds issued by entities like a state, county or municipality, in addition to offering automatic benefits for your federal taxes. Additionally, they can offer state tax benefits as well. This is especially important for folks who live in a no income tax state (like Florida, Nevada, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Washington, and Wyoming). Therefore, you can generally maintain your tax-free income for the long haul with a municipal bonds investment.
Invest in Bonds and CDs
Bonds and certificates of deposit (CDs) are a reliable source of income for many retirees. In addition, investing in bonds and CDs with staggering maturity dates can help provide a steady stream of funds without harshly impacting your annual taxes.
For the most part, retirees will not owe any taxes on the original principal of these investments. That is why it is important to maintain a bond or CD until its maturity date. Also, it is best not to make any early withdrawals. An early sale of a bond or CD will likely trigger a capital gains tax scenario if it results in a profit.
Get Expert Assistance Today to Make a Complete and Varied Strategy
Planning for retirement is challenging, as there are so many unknowns about what the future will bring. Tax regulations and rules change every year. As a retiree, your personal goals and ambitions may also change over the coming years and decades.
Retirement is meant to be a time when you can fully enjoy life. So, one of the best ways to accomplish this dream is to ensure you are financially prepared. Therefore, you can have ample peace of mind concerning your income and taxes.
Reach out to Saddock Wealth today to start expanding on the above guidelines. You can also create a tax-efficient retirement strategy perfectly tailored to your income and lifelong ambitions. With a smart plan, the many fulfilling years ahead can easily become the best years of your life.