Financial Planning Steps With Your Partner

By Brent Meyer — SafeMoney.com Founder & Editor Reviewed by Licensed Financial Professionals  |  SafeMoney.com — Trusted Since 2011  |  Updated Regularly Quick Answer: Explore essential financial planning steps with your partner for a secure retirement. Start planning today with expert insights from SafeMoney.com. In the past, we’ve discussed ways to create a meaningful retirement. After many years of hard work, people want to enjoy their retirement years. It’s important for this period to be enrichening, but taking steps to ensure a secure future is also paramount. Many baby boomers are couples. Oftentimes household duties and responsibilities are divvied up among partners. One handles the finances, and the other may hold responsibility for other areas of planning. Daily chores such as cooking or cleaning the kitchen are likely to be split duties. According to U.S. Census Bureau data, women live an average four years longer than men do. If one partner deals with household finances and passes away one day, it can lead the other with quite the conundrum. To avoid this situation, people should take action now. Here are a few steps to further enjoy a more secure retirement – and to ensure the future is addressed for your partner. What Steps Should We Take? Familiarize yourselves with your financial details – If a partner is a left a widower or widow, not being knowledgeable of their finances can be disastrous. Take time to communicate with your spouse and go over all details of your financial picture, including end of life. If discussing your finances is a challenge, start off by going over each other’s “bucket list” of personal goals. It’s also a good idea to discuss other factors, including what paperwork is involved and, to practice household chores usually outside of your responsibility (for example, household maintenance as a “do-it-yourselfer”). Helping your partner become familiar with these circumstances will pave the way for a smoother future. Simplify retirement accounts – Many retirees possess multiple IRAs . When you turn 70.5 years old, you have to begin taking required minimum distributions to avoid penalty by the IRS. If you are a holder of many accounts, the paperwork can be extensive and confusing. If you have the accounts combined before minimum distributions are required, dealing with distributions will be easier. Only one set of paperwork will be involved. Your investments will be the same as before, just organized