Is understanding the best choices within the FRS retirement plan all you need to know to have a great retirement? Absolutely not. As awesome as it is, the FRS Retirement System is just the tip of the iceberg.

There’s so much more to setting up a worry-free retirement than just maximizing your FRS benefits. If you aren’t paying attention to a few other critical areas, you are likely setting yourself up for disappointment down the road. Let’s look at the top four areas of concern we see from our FRS Special Risk retirees.

We know from working with hundreds of FRS pre-retirees and retirees that the number one concern they have is just making good decisions around their money, and that does typically refer to their FRS pension, investment plan, and their deferred comp plans. But for many of you, there’s other investments in the mix, too, like IRAs, Roth IRAs, inherited IRAs, brokerage accounts, and 401(k)s or 403(b)s from a spouse or previous job. And then there’s your insurance decisions and banking decisions.

Concerns here are typically investment-related concerns around how your money is invested and allocated, if investments are performing the way they should, what the underlying costs are, what the impact of taxes are, and if improvements can be made there—in effect, leaving more to invest and grow. Is there a better investment policy or strategy that incorporates all your assets, not just those at work, that you should be using?

Making good decisions about your money starts with your investments and retirement plans, but what else should you be focusing on for a worry-free, comfortable retirement?

The second biggest concern we see for our FRS retirees is how they can get more out of what they’ve got. How do you stretch your dollars and benefits to make them last longer—in effect, getting more life out of them? In practical terms, we’re talking about how to reduce any debt costs that might be in your life, looking for better solutions that increase cash flows month to month.

Taxes, of course, are a big concern here. Nobody wants to pay more than their fair share, so how do we mitigate taxes? What strategies can we look to that not only bring taxes as low as possible now but take as much advantage as we can over the long haul—year over year?

Another concern in this area we see as we get older is avoiding the higher Medicare premiums retirees are charged when they show too much income. That’s an important one for Special Risk FRS retirees because so much of your income in retirement is coming from plans that produce high levels of taxable income when you receive the money.

When we’re working with our FRS clients, we find the next biggest concern, or number 3, is figuring out what’s going to happen to their money when something happens to them. Where’s it going to go? How’s it going to get there? Is your current plan, if you have one, realistic?

Staying on top of who the beneficiaries are of all your accounts, including your FRS accounts, and making sure you have the right kind of documents, like a will and a revocable trust if you need it, are important parts of this concern.

Let’s face it: Not too many people like to think about the day we’re no longer here, so planning here, it’s almost natural to procrastinate and put it off. Don’t do that.

What if you were to have a lawsuit filed against you? What if you got really sick and needed special care for an extended period of time? What if your home burned to the ground or got destroyed in a hurricane? Life is constantly throwing curveballs at us, and protecting your wealth and assets is the next biggest concern we see with our FRS clients.

You need to take a hard look at where the risks are that could possibly cause you harm and figure out how to minimize those risks so it doesn’t wipe you out. Maybe it’s as easy as just retitling something, or maybe it involves some form of insurance, shifting that risk to somebody else.

Whatever the solution, it starts with recognizing the problem. Understanding your FRS benefits and how to get the most out of them is important. But don’t overlook these other areas that could dramatically change your plan—and your life—if you don’t pay attention to them. And the funny thing about life is that it’s constantly changing. So plans often need to change or at least be updated from time to time as well.

It’s a lot to stay on top of, and it’s what we do here at Northstar Financial Planners—meeting regularly with our FRS retirees to see what changes have occurred in their lives and how it might be impacting their plan.

Interested in finding out more? Give us call! We’d be happy to talk to you about your situation to see if you can benefit from what we do. Thanks for watching, and stay safe!