Some of our members in the United States have expressed an interest in learning about strategies for Financial and Retirement Planning. We provide some basic information below and plan to provide online webinars on these topics as the need and interest arises.

 

Some of the areas this kind of planning involves include:

 

• Debt Management and Budgeting – Dave Ramsey, Susan Orman and other similar authors/organizations can provide solid information on this kind of planning.  Books by Ramsey such as Financial Peace, The Total Money Makeover, by Orman (The 9 Steps to Financial Freedom) and others can provide guidance on the basics of getting debt under control and basic steps for getting your financial house in order. Another book with an interesting perspective would be Love People, Use Things (the book proposes a minimalist lifestyle and its ideas offer some counter cultural thoughts relative to our society).

 

• Estate Planning – Everyone has an estate plan:  you either have prepared one for yourself or the government has one on file for you (called the IRS Code).  The very first area of estate planning to consider is the beneficiary information you have on file with your current and former employers regarding the beneficiary information for your company sponsored retirement accounts and your company sponsored life insurance benefits.  It is a good idea to review these designations every couple of years to make sure your current intentions are consistent with what is on file with your employer.  Wherever you are in your career, it is a good idea to have certain legal documents in place such as:

  • Will and potentially a Trust – these documents make your intentions known regarding the disposition of your assets.  These documents DO NOT override the beneficiary designations, and should be integrated with those designations.

  • Healthcare Directive / Living Will:  This document states your desires for how your healthcare should be overseen in the event of your incapacity and answers questions about what kind of measures you want implemented to maintain your life if a situation arises where those decisions must be made.

  • Healthcare and / or Financial Power of Attorney: These documents appoint a person/persons of your choice to execute on the Healthcare Directive listed above and someone to act on your behalf (financially) to oversee your affairs if you are not capable to make those decisions on your own.

 

There are a range of books and resources available on these topics as well as some online resources for drafting simpler documents for that time of life when your planning is less complicated.

 

• Tax Planning – Managing taxes by contributing to company sponsored retirement and deferred compensation plans should become an important part of your planning. Managing taxes in connection with a professional CPA who helps plan strategically throughout each year can be helpful in managing and legally reducing your tax liability annually.

 

• Retirement planning:

 

Use of your company sponsored retirement plan is often the bedrock of having a sound plan to be able to leave active work and maintain your lifestyle financially at some point in your life. Many companies today are providing access to retirement planning calculators, the opportunity to speak with someone from the company sponsoring the employer retirement plans and some are providing reimbursement for executives to hire outside advisors to maximize their own planning in this important area. Accessing these valuable resources is an important first step as these contacts can help you understand the details of the company sponsored plans and answer questions like: How much does the company match? Is there a vesting requirement? And what kind of allocation should be used for the investments inside the plan?

 

• Financial Planning / Wealth Management / Career Management

 

At some point in your professional journey, you may be faced with some more complex options or choices related to money and it’s management. Long Term Incentive Compensation, negotiating a job offer to move between companies, managing the accumulated funds as you get closer to retirement and need to turn a nest egg into a lifestyle sustaining income stream, integrating your current tax challenges with your charitable intentions, reducing concentration risk within your portfolio to diversify and reduce exposure to a handful of companies while managing your tax exposure, etc: this is where it may make sense to consult and/or hire a financial advisor.  Books like The Psychology of Money, The Millionaire Next Door, The Gone Fishin’ Portfolio, The Deca-Millionaire Next Door and Sudden Money can all be helpful in thinking about some of these decision points.

 

The Society also has a Financial Advisor on it’s Advisory Board, Wayne Wagner Jr, who has authored the book , “A Business Class Wealth Vision: Financial Planning for Pharmaceutical Executives” which offers some helpful guidance in these areas as well.  The book is available on Amazon or for free to Society affiliates by contacting Wayne’s office at www.vizionarywealth.com. Wayne and his team are happy to provide no obligation advisory conversations to Society affiliates and members on an as needed basis.

 

It is important to note the Society does not provide financial advice and nothing here should be misinterpreted as specific advice on financial matters. Our goal at the Society is to provide direction to available resources and support healthy dialogue and information for our members in these important areas of our personal planning. We welcome additional input and recommendations for dissemination to our members on these areas.