by Dave Kutcher
This has been an overriding motto for me for three decades. Helping pre and post retirees keep their principal safe without giving up the opportunity for market-like returns, all while maintaining control over their own funds.
These words might conjure up different things for different people, so I’ll tell you how I see these words fit in our everyday practice.
Safety:
Managing market volatility is of paramount importance when we are approaching or beginning our retirement distribution phase of our lives. You’ve heard me talk about negative sequence of returns before. When we can provide a floor on your retirement monies, meaning you cannot lose money due to market performance or interest crediting, and we do that in a product design where there are no fees or charges, we have provided a solution with safety to your original principal and any credited earnings on that principal going forward.
The idea that your money cannot earn less than zero means your income distributions do not have to compensate for negative market returns. That translates into being able to distribute more income from your retirement funds.
Safety is protection from negative market performance.
Growth:
Particularly in high inflationary times, outpacing the rise in cost of living is important. You can’t meet your future needs, especially when coincidentally seeking safety, by using all low-yielding fixed interest type products such as money market accounts, certificates of deposit and fixed rate annuities. Growth ideally exceeds your distribution needs today so that it can keep pace with your needs in the future too.
Growth is outpacing inflation and exceeding the needs of your retirement income objectives.
Control:
Control simply refers to establishing a plan for your retirement where you have decided how to allocate your money, how you want to manage taxes and how much leeway you need to make changes in the future. Control means being able to change course over time with minimal or no impact on your money.
Control is freedom to retire with peace of mind.
Safety, Growth and Control
I am Dave Kutcher, a retired Marine Corp Captain and founder and owner of Kutcher Financial Services in Eagle River. We are on the radio every Saturday morning, “Retirement in the Last Frontier”, 8:30-9:30 on AM 650, Keni Radio. Kutcher Financial Services, 10928 Eagle River Road; Eagle River, AK 99577, (907) 795-7452.
