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Show Maximize IRA assets for secure retirement By CHARLES BAKER Editors Note: Charles is a 10-year resident of Davis County and can be reached at his office at Shearson Lehman Hutton is Salt Lake City. Providing for a secure retirement is a priority for all investors. As the need to supplement Social Security and pension benefits increases, the advantages of maintaining an Individual In-dividual Retirement Account (IRA) are more apparent. In addition to securing your financial future, an IRA offers a major tax advantage-tax advantage-tax deferred compounding. Annual contributions to your IRA (and any earnings on them) are not subject to federal income tax until withdrawn. As a result, you accumulate more money for your retirement than you would with a taxable investment. Once you open an IRA, how do you ensure that your contributions will attain the highest yields possible possi-ble to meet your financial goals? The key is to maximize your rate of return within your specific risk parameters. Call 322-7601 to determine de-termine your individual situation. How Much Risk is Right for You? The level of risk you are able to assume helps determine how you should structure your portfolio, what investment approach you should take, and how assets are apportioned. ap-portioned. Most individuals are classified as either conservative, aggressive or moderate. Conservative investors seek to minimize volatility, maximize safety safe-ty of principal and generate current income. They are willing to accept a lower total rate of return (yield plus capital appreciation) in exchange for increased safety. They may prefer to invest in certain fixed-income securities that promote safety of principal and a guaranteed rate of return. Aggressive investors, on the other hand, seek the greatest possible possi-ble return on their investments. They incur a greater degree of risk to increase their income, and they understand that the value of their investments will fluctuate according accor-ding to a variety of market influences. in-fluences. Aggressive investors may want to allocate more of their IRA assets to stocks or equity mutual funds. Moderate investors occupy the middle of the spectrum. They seek as high a return on their investments as possible without taking excessive ex-cessive or unnecessary risk-Consolidating risk-Consolidating IRA Assets. If you have several IRAs at different financial institutions, consider con-sider consolidating them at one location. By combining all of your IRA assets under one umbrella, you can more easily choose an investment in-vestment portfolio to meet your retirement objectives and monitor the performance of your assets. You can also eliminate the addded expense ex-pense of several annual custodial fees and extra paperwork. The way you manage your IRA assets will have a lasting impact on your plans for retirement. Think in terms of an overall balanced portfolio one that can meet the financial needs of today and tomorrow. |