Retirement 101
Retirement
Options:
- Individual 401 K
Not very much exposure, hard to find. Able to put a higher percentage of money
- SEP IRA
Paying tax on withdrawl. (self employed ira)
- ROTH IRA
Post tax, you're not paying tax in the future. You can pull your money out at point.
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Have to know your budget, and time of retirement. Since you don't know that, have to put the maximum amount of money away.
How do balance realistic goals, and appropriate commitments? Live with a realistic amount of happiness, and still make valuable commitments into your plan.
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Pre Tax vs. Post Tax
Pre tax accounts benefit your immediate tax situation. If we anticipate being in a higher tax rate in the future, then a post tax account has it's benefits.
SEP ~ %25 of taxable income can be invested.
Roth ~ 5,000 a year
+150,000 a year, access to a Roth changes.
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Onine resource for learning about retirement
Morningstar.com - decent calculators
Suze Orman
Buy some books - Financial something for the young and broke
Questions to ask yourselves
1. What's my target? What does retirement look to me?
1b. Generally, what's my best guess at what that costs?
2. What are my big expenses or money requirements in between now and then?
3. What are your current expenses?
4. What's a reasonable return rate?
5. What are my health insurance commitments and costs?
6. Pace yourself - Plan out your desires, plan your future trips, space them out
7. Diversify
8. Pick and choose & everything changes, and be cognizant.
9. Don't be afraid of knowing
10. There are 2 kinds of CFP (Certified Financial Planner) - Fee based = good, or sales based = bad
Stay away of people selling stuff.
You want to a pay a flat fee
• Look for referrals
• Examine their personal plans
11. VRBO (vacation rental by owner) - fun option
Retirement is a goal, that must be balanced with the rest of your goals.
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Transitioning from a Service Business to a Retail Business
Motivations
Passive Income
Diversify
Following your passion
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Steps to success
1 - Starts with an idea, either physical or virtual
2 - Do you have a business plan in place? Functions for yourself. Is this viable, is this realistic by the numbers, even if you're going to do it anyway. If you're building a product for yourself, do you still need a business plan?
3 - Start with a really big idea -> focus down to something realistic and tangible
4 - Step -1 How do you sell your product before you build it? Market research idea: create a sales web site for your product , place google ads on it, and see what the response is
5 - Marketing and PR - marketing is you telling others, pr is other's taking about you
7 - Small Business Operator (by nolo press)
8 - Am I a wholesaler or am I the retailer?
9 - Who are my customers? Where are they living?
10. Volunteer to write content -
11. Contests - online or in person. Can be a valuable option? Often will cost you more than the 'cost' of contest
12. Version 1 - if it's successful identify additional features to go into feature 2, (Getting Real by 37 Signals) be aware of what your customers want
13. Gather feedback - web apps, forums, ask for comments, Respond to every single email.
