Mpact Financial Solutions

Holistic and Forward Thinking Portfolio Management

Safe Money Strategies

 

Money invested in the traditional asset mix of stocks and bonds are subject to systematic risk no matter how diversified your portfolio is. There is so much more volatility in the markets today, we can no longer depend on the traditional "buy and hold" strategies of yesterday to make us whole again.

If you:

 

1.have an IRA/ROTH IRA

2.have a 401K in a previous employer plan

3.are 59 1/2 and have a 401K at your current company you can do an inservice rollover and have more control over the investment choices for your retirement to protect yourself better.

 

All of these can be rolled over into and IRA and be invested in safe money strategies.

 

Find out how you can eliminate the systematic risk and protect your principal.

Long Term Care

 

Most folks don’t want to think about needing Long Term or Terminal Illness care. But the reality is, that you have to think about it, and you have to plan for it, or it can and will devastate any well-constructed retirement plan.

 

Truth is, 70% of people turning 65 today will need some type of LTC services at some point, either at home, in their community, or in a facility. 14% of people will need LTC for longer than 5 years. If you have any idea the cost of nursing care you know it can easily top $8K/mo.  

 

I like to think about LTC insurance as the “stay OUT of the nursing home” insurance because today’s LTC insurance gives you flexibility to use it in a number of different ways and it is no longer "use it or lose it". It is more of a hybrid Life Insurance with LTC  benefits.

Education

 

If you are like me, the decisions looming around saving for retirement can all be daunting. Face it, you spent the good part of the Accumulation period contributing to your retirement plan, but not really "managing" it actively. Sound about right?

401K plans don't come with work instructions. This makes us incredibly unprepared for the Distribution phase of retirement which makes the 5 years just before, and just after retiring the MOST IMPORTANT YEARS to determine if we will have a successful, and worry-free retirement, OR NOT!

They say the happiest people in retirement are those that do not have to worry whether or not they will outlive their money.

 

Make sure you get help now so you can retire happy!

About Mpact Financial Solutions

 

 

 

 

Delivering Personal Service, Quality Products and Retirement Education that regular folks can understand
 
Personally, I have always had a passion for retirement planning and helping others understand the strategies around safe money planning, protecting your principal and ensuring we build "pension" type incomes that you cannot outlive by growing and maximizing your retirement savings. This was to be my long-term plan for my second career after I retired from the workforce, but fate interceded earlier than anticipated when my global position was eliminated after 19 years at my company and I found myself "retired" about 4 years earlier than planned so I decided to embark on my passion earlier,  and I've never regretted a single day of it. I believe everything happens for a reason and I truly believe this is my purpose.

 

My mentor, Patrick Smith who is one of my strategic partners, has been in this business for more than 40 years, saw my passion and potential a few years ago, gave me the push I needed at the right time to strike out on this new journey, and is helping to guide me in this business and fast tracking my learning curve.

Professional team

Tracy H. Smith

Founder, Mpact Financial Solutions

Licensed Specialist

Strategic Partners

PATRICK SMITH

President & Founder

Senior Advisor

What we offer

 

1. How to be 100% confident you won't outlive your money
2. How to not get double taxed on social security benefits
3. Plan for worry-free retirement
4. Ensure you don't "spend down" for long term care
5. When to take Social Security benefits

Our Services

 

1. Income, Tax & Retirement Planning
2. Safe Asset Management to protect principal
3. Alternative Strategies
4. IRAs, ROTH IRAs, Annuities
5. Life Insurance, Long Term Care Insurance

Consultancy

 

Explore holistic, forward thinking balanced portfolio construction with the top objective being to always protect your principal, and find the best options for your specific situation to ensure the best outcomes whether that is  instruments that can produce the highest level of "pension" like forever income or leaving a legacy for your heirs.

About Mpact Financial Solutions Founder

My passion for safe money strategies for income & retirement planning set me on a path to pay it forward

Who is Tracy?

 

 

When I turned 55 I thought it was time to attend some free seminars to start “preparing for retirement”. I didn’t plan to retire until I was 62, but I realized I knew very little about this next phase of my life and I wasn’t 100% confident my husband and I had enough money for me to contemplate retirement at 62.

 

Does anybody know that magic number? All the normal doubts everyone has were swirling in my mind:

 

How much money will we need?

When should we take our social security?

Should my spouse take single life or joint life for his pension?

Will we outlive our money?

Do we need to buy Long Term Care Insurance?

 

It was, to say the least, a bit overwhelming as I’m sure it is to most everyone contemplating retirement around this same age.

I actually thought I was doing all the right things. After our kids left the house, I gradually upped my 401K contribution percent 1% each year with my merit increases until I was maxing out my 401K contributions per IRS limits…. check. I was maxing out the over 55 catch up contribution into my 401K….. check. I felt I was in good shape.

 

Then I attended several different retirement workshops from different retirement planning services companies on different topics…. check, and still feeling good until I attended one seminar that totally changed the way I was thinking about my retirement. No other retirement planning group was saying what this group was saying and it made total sense. I did some research, and in fact, I was doing all the WRONG things.

 

The first thing I realized was I should have started much earlier making a retirement roadmap.

 

The second epiphany was that our retirement savings in employer plans are invested in the market and so they are affected by systematic risk. There is no avoidance of systematic risk, no matter how diversified you think your portfolio is if your savings are invested in the market. Emulating the lower risk strategies like the Yale Endowment Model in balanced portfolio construction and strategically utilizing safe money strategies for a significant percentage of your portfolio to protect your principal from systematic risk are ways to protect your retirement future.

 

The third big realization is that I have some work to do to redistribute my tax deferred money into more tax advantaged buckets prior to full retirement age to maximize my tax benefits that could help me save 20% of my total retirement savings, if executed strategically. I could save even more if tax rates go up in the future depending on our uncertain election outcomes.

When I learned about these strategies and more, I felt pretty dumb even though I know I'm not. I have some work to do to prior to my retirement, but this is one reason I have now become a licensed specialist in income and retirement planning.

 

I want to pay it forward and teach others what I have learned and share the strategies I am personally executing on my own portfolio so I can help you can maximize and protect your hard-earned money for retirement.

 

This way,

 

  • You will have built a dynamic roadmap for your income & retirement planning with a trusted specialist

  • you understand your plan and your investment in executing your plan

  • you will NOT have to spend 20-30% of your retirement savings on taxes

  • you will pay the very minimum amount of taxes, and if planned properly, the goal would be to pay zero taxes in retirement

  • you will know 100%, without a doubt that you will NOT outlive your money

  • How many people think taxes are going down in the future with the current debt the US has? We are at the lowest tax rates in history right now. In 2026 they are expected to expire. You need to stop deferring your tax burden!

 

On a more personal note, since the good Lord had a different trajectory for my life, I was in a fortunate position and I definitely planned on enjoying my early retirement from the full-time, corporate work grind with my husband of over twenty years and our family of 5 grown children living nearby when my husband unexpectedly passed away from COVID. What I learned, is it is never too early to start planning for retirement and legacy planning and ensuring you have your estate planning documents in place and up-to-date. My life was completely turned upside down. All the plans we made together were suddenly null and void and I had to revisit all our plans for retirement for my way forward.

 

I'm fortunate that my retirement roadmap was solid and allowed me this luxury. Yours can too! Don't wait until you are ready to retire to make a plan. You never know when unexpected tragedy will change everything your were working towards!

 

I’d be happy to assist you with your plan.

Our Services

We offer a full range of services to maximize your income & retirement savings, grow it further, while protecting the principal from systematic risk of the market

Strategic Retirement Planning

 

Tax Rates are at a historical low now. Don't withdraw your tax deferred money in retirement at a potentially higher tax rate. Find out how to put yourself in the most tax advantaged position now. It is never too early to start making a retirement roadmap

Safe Asset Management

 

Explore the Power of Zero and find out how to protect your hard earned retirement from all systematic risk of the market.

Alternative Strategies

 

There are many alternative strategies that are part of constructing a holistic, forward thinking, balanced, portfolio retirement plan.

IRAs, ROTH IRAs

 

Offering rollover & conversion strategies to give tax deferred money an opportunity to grow safer returns than those exposed to systematic risk directly invested in the market.

Fixed-Index Annuities

 

Find out how to set up "pension" like income with interest credits that are indexed to the market that you can't outlive and retire happy and relaxed.

Life Insurance & Long Term Care Insurance

 

Are you 100% sure you won't need Long Term Care? 70% of people turning 65 today will. With expenses upwards of $8K/mo, LTC could devastate your well-thought out retirement plan if not planned for as part of your financial roadmap.

Plan to pay zero taxes in retirement

Contact US

If you would like to explore safe money strategies to ensure you retire happy and relaxed, contact us today for a no cost, no obligation income & retirement planning consultation

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Attachments

Tracy H. Smith

Licensed Specialist

Flower Mound, TX

 

Phone: +1 214.808.4437

E-mail:

 

 

info@mpactfinancialsolutions.com

www.MpactFinancialSolutions.com

 

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 The Bottom Line

Blog topics on a variety of budgeting, retirement, money saving, tax and various other interesting topics.

Major events that upset the economy, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, can leave many Americans feeling the squeeze. If your household income has dropped — perhaps from a reduction in working hours or a temporary layoff — you may be tempted to dip into retirement accounts or liquidate annuities to meet your immediate needs. But these moves can have lasting negative effects.

 

Before you put your long-term plans in jeopardy, here are five ways to help you cope with lost income. 

 

   1. Recoup your costs

           When the pandemic first hit, you may have canceled travel and entertainment plans for spring and summer. If you received        credit on prepaid transportation, lodging or activities, consider asking for your money back instead. Depending on the circumstances, you may also want to look into potential refunds on future activities, such as prepurchased concert tickets, ski passes or hotel bookings.

 

    2. Reduce or postpone payments

           There may be opportunities to freeze or lower your expenses, starting with your biggest budget line items.

 

  • The federal stimulus package passed in March 2020 allows many homeowners who experience pandemic-related financial hardship to temporarily suspend or reduce their mortgage payments. Those with a federally backed mortgage are allowed a forbearance of up to 360 days. Note, forbearance does not forgive or erase what you owe. Scheduled interest will continue to accrue and you’ll have to repay any missed or reduced payments in the future.
  • Ask if your landlord will grant a temporary rent reduction or rent freeze. 
  • If you’re paying college tuition, check if the college is reducing costs for classes that have moved online, or if they are refunding housing and meal costs. Students and parents with federally backed student loans can receive forbearance on those payments through September 30, 2020, and some private lenders are also offering emergency forbearance.
  • Contact your car and homeowner’s insurance providers to ask about rebates and discounts. Many companies are tying rebates and premium reductions to policy renewals, so shop around to see if you can find lower rates before committing to your current insurer.
  • Ask your credit card company if it will let you skip a payment or reduce the interest rate on your outstanding debt. Keep in mind if you skip a payment, the debt doesn't go away and you will still continue to accrue credit card interest.

 

    3. Curb your spending
        Your discretionary spending might be down already, but there may be even more room to tighten your budget. Review your expenses and look for potential savings on apps, services and memberships. For example, you might reduce your streaming subscriptions or cancel memberships you’re not using right now, such as fitness centers.

 

    4. Refinance your mortgage
       Refinancing during this time of record-low interest rates could help you reduce your monthly mortgage payment. You may still need to pay closing costs, but if you’ve built up considerable home equity, a cash-out refinance could give you access to cash while lowering the interest rate on your mortgage.

 

    5. Borrow with caution
        A loan could help remedy your cash-flow issues until your income returns to its usual level. A home equity line of credit allows you to borrow against your home equity as needed, with a variable rate. Consider a 401(k) loan only as a last resort, because you’ll miss out on the potential growth of those funds for your future retirement needs. You may also need to pay closing costs.

 

Facing a cash crunch is stressful. But finding solutions other than tapping into your retirement savings can help keep your long-term financial plans on track. You can also work with a licensed, financial speialist to adjust your retirement savings strategy according to your changing needs and goals.