Walthall Drake & Wallace has been our accounting firm for more than twenty-five years. I cannot think of any work that they have performed for us that has not met our expectations.

The partners and employees are very accommodating and make you feel that you are more than just another client.

RICK GOULD, Ohio Envelope

Women and Retirement Planning

~Cindy Kula, CPA, CFP

Women are unique when it comes to retirement planning.  We often place our careers on hold early to care for our children or perhaps later to care for an elderly relative.  It has been proven, that it is typical for women to earn less in their careers than their male counterpart in the same age group.  As a result, our retirement funds and social security benefits are often lower.  Not only do we have less accumulated at retirement, statistics have shown that we live longer than men.  So, how do we stretch our resources through our retirement? 

All women need to start saving for retirement as soon as possible.  As you begin your careers take advantage of all employer-sponsored retirement plans.  Put away as much as you can.  At an early age, this may be difficult to determine since you may be paying off school loans or beginning to save for your first home.  You can still do all of these AND begin saving for retirement.  It just requires a little discipline.  If you begin saving $2,000 annually in a retirement account at the age of 30 with a 6% growth rate, it will grow to over $230,000 by the age of 65.  This is a great starting point!  Saving more will just make your "pot of gold" at retirement even larger.

The key is to save as much as you can for your retirement during every phase of your life.  Even stay-at-home Moms may qualify for funding their retirements through IRAs.  There are specific tax rules on this, so please consult your tax advisor.

What is your excuse for not planning for retirement? 

  • Are you too busy to plan?
  • Does your husband take care of your finances?
  • Are you waiting for your children to graduate from college?
  • Are you afraid that you don't know the basics of investing?

All of these excuses will put you one step behind when it comes to retirement.  So, take action immediately, and stop making excuses!

Join our Sept 20th or Sept 26th Seminar, "How to Have it All and What You Need to Know to Get There."  Ask the experts how you can reach financial and physical success.