PROBLEMS WE SOLVE
Maximizing Social Security
Tax-Free Retirement
Investment & Wealth Management
Retirement Income Planning
Maximizing Social Security
Social Security is a long–standing program in the U.S., one that’s changed significantly since it began in 1935. If you’re unfamiliar with the program, you’re certainly not alone. It’s a complex list of rules, regulations, and restrictions that can overwhelm even the most patient of people.
One fact that you may think you know about the system is that it doesn’t pay very much from month to month. Where once people might have been able to rely on a benefit check from the government, that possibility has dwindled with decade after decade of reform.
While few would ever recommend relying on the program, though, there’s no reason to ignore the money that you can receive when you file. Instead, you should look for an expert in the subject who can tell you how to get the most substantial check.
At Merit Advisory Partners, advisors Keith D. Sexton and Bobby Darwin can tell you everything about what you can expect when you file and how it will be taxed based on the rest of your portfolio.
Tips for Maximizing Social Security
If you’re wondering how to maximize Social Security, you need to have an in–depth understanding of how the government decides how much you receive. What you make is specific to your history. It has everything to do with the positions you’ve held and what you’ve given to the system, which means it’s important not to base your opinion of the program on how much your brother or grandmother received.
Your benefit check can be higher when you know how to file, and the right financial advisor can make all the difference. Your retirement should ideally start with a strong foundation of secure monthly income, and Social Security can play a significant role when it comes to covering your daily expenses. When you think of how much you’ve already paid into the system, there’s no shame in getting what you’re owed back from it. Let the financial advisors at Merit ensure that you file correctly the first time.
Tax-Free Retirement
When you’re used to paying taxes, the idea of anything being tax–free can sound like little more than a sales pitch. No matter what, you might assume that the government will get their share one way or another.
The good news is that you may have more options than you think if you want to avoid leaving the government more than they require. If you live in Beaumont, Texas, a financial advisor can show you how anything from deferrals to trusts can affect your bottom line, and how having a nearly tax–free retirement may be simpler than it sounds.
How to Have a Tax-Free Retirement
At Merit Advisory Partners, you consult with an advisor who understands more than just your investment style. Keith D. Sexton and Bobby Darwin are known for giving clients the kind of personalized attention that’s difficult to find at larger firms. They’ll look over your portfolio in search of opportunities that may not have even occurred to you.
Unless you’re deeply entrenched in the local, state, and federal tax codes that impact your margins, it may not have even occurred to you that there are ways to restructure your holdings to minimize or even almost eliminate what you pay in taxes.
No matter what your goals are for retirement, paying less means having money left over to fund everything from new investments to your descendants’ education. For instance, you might defer your capital gains taxes in order to invest in a more lucrative venture. While you’ll still need to eventually account for the profits to the government, your portfolio will be improved by the delay.
Or you might consider setting up a fund for the charities and causes that resonate with you. Whether it’s a local or a global organization, this decision can help you support the people who are doing the most active good. A financial advisor will customize their recommendations based on everything from how you invest to where you picture yourself spending the bulk of your golden years.
Investment & Wealth Management
Investment management is the process of organizing, monitoring, and adjusting your investments to help support long-term financial goals. A portfolio may include stocks, bonds, mutual funds, ETFs, retirement accounts, real estate investments, cash reserves, and other financial assets, all working together within a strategy designed to balance growth opportunities, diversification, income needs, and risk management over time.
What You Should Know About Investment & Wealth
Management Companies
Building and maintaining an investment strategy often becomes more complicated as financial goals, market conditions, and life circumstances change over time. What may have started as a handful of retirement accounts or investment holdings can gradually evolve into a larger portfolio that requires more ongoing attention and coordination.
A financial firm, like Merit Advisory Partners, can help review your current investment strategy and evaluate whether your portfolio still aligns with your long-term priorities. This may include reviewing diversification, identifying unnecessary risk exposure, evaluating income opportunities, or helping adjust investment allocations as retirement approaches.
Investment decisions are rarely made in isolation. Market volatility, inflation, interest rates, taxes, and economic trends can all influence how different investments perform over time. Ongoing portfolio oversight can help investors stay focused on long-term goals instead of reacting emotionally to short-term market fluctuations.
The Darwin and Sexton team at Merit is licensed in Texas and several states. They have assisted clients nationwide with developing personalized investment strategies designed around their unique financial objectives. They can help explain investment strategies in clear, practical terms while providing ongoing guidance as financial needs evolve.
Whether your goal is long-term growth, retirement income, wealth preservation, or a combination of priorities, investment management can help provide a more structured and disciplined approach to managing your financial future.
Retirement Income Planning
A million dollars is sometimes known as the answer to the question “how much do I need to retire?” This inquiry may be common, but it doesn’t make the logistics of the situation any less complicated. No matter where you are in the preparation process, the larger goals may always seem very far away. At Merit Advisory Partners, Keith D. Sexton and Bobby Darwin are financial advisors who can help you put your portfolio into context with the help of retirement income planning.
How to Plan Your Retirement Income in Beaumont, Texas
Retirement income is not entirely unlike your current income. If you have enough money coming in every month, you can use it to cover all of your expenses and still have enough to put into your emergency accounts. Ideally, this will leave plenty left over for your descendants, and this is the case even if you’re planning to take care of the big–ticket items (e.g., college, etc.) for all of your grandchildren.
If you’re asking how a financial advisor can help, they’re available to evaluate your investment strategies before mapping out which source of revenue will work best for you. For some clients, this may mean a combination of short–term rental income, Social Security, and stock dividends. For others, the bulk of their income may come from their pension, which is then supplemented by a part-time job in a sector that the client is passionate about (e.g., a wine pourer at a favorite vineyard). There’s no single formula to follow, it all depends on the person.
No matter what your ideal retirement looks like, whether you picture yourself being a landlord or jetting off to the most exotic countries, finding the right advisor can make all the difference. As you near retirement age, income planning can help you plan for both the expected and the unexpected. It can be an immense comfort to have what you need at your disposal, particularly if you want your golden years to be as worry-free as possible.
Frequently Asked Questions About
Retirement & Financial Planning
What does a financial advisor do?
A financial advisor helps individuals and families make informed decisions about their finances and work toward their short- and long-term financial goals. Depending on the advisor's licensing and services, this may include retirement income planning, investment management, Social Security strategies, insurance, tax-aware planning, and coordination with estate planning professionals.
A financial advisor can also help bring these different areas together into a more comprehensive financial strategy based on your goals, needs, risk tolerance, and financial circumstances.
How much money do I need to retire?
There is no single amount that everyone needs to retire comfortably. Your retirement savings needs will depend on factors such as your desired lifestyle, retirement age, expected expenses, healthcare costs, inflation, life expectancy, taxes, and income sources such as Social Security, pensions, investments, and retirement accounts.
A personalized retirement analysis can help estimate your future income needs, identify potential income gaps, and determine whether adjustments to your savings, spending, investment, or retirement strategy may be appropriate.
Should I be worried about stock market volatility?
Market fluctuations are a normal part of investing, but market declines can have a greater impact when you are withdrawing money from an investment portfolio during retirement.
Rather than trying to predict short-term market movements, a retirement investment strategy may consider your income needs, time horizon, risk tolerance, liquidity, diversification, asset allocation, and other sources of retirement income.
The appropriate amount of market exposure will vary from person to person. A financial professional can help evaluate whether your investment strategy remains aligned with your retirement income needs and tolerance for risk. Investing involves risk, including the possible loss of principal, and no investment strategy can guarantee a profit or protect against all losses.
When should I start planning for retirement?
It's generally beneficial to begin planning for retirement as early as possible, but it's never too late to evaluate where you stand. Starting earlier may provide more time to save, invest, manage risk, and adjust your strategy as your circumstances change.
As retirement approaches, planning often becomes more detailed and may include decisions about Social Security, Medicare, retirement account withdrawals, taxes, investments, insurance, and creating income from your accumulated savings.
When should I claim Social Security?
The appropriate time to claim Social Security depends on your individual circumstances. Factors such as your age, health, life expectancy, marital status, employment plans, other retirement income, and financial needs may influence your decision.
Social Security retirement benefits can generally begin as early as age 62, although claiming before your full retirement age generally results in a permanently reduced monthly benefit. Delaying benefits beyond full retirement age can increase your monthly retirement benefit up to age 70.
Evaluating Social Security as part of your overall retirement income strategy can help you understand the tradeoffs associated with different claiming ages.
What is a fiduciary financial advisor?
A fiduciary is a person or firm that has a legal obligation to act in a client's best interest when providing advice within the scope of a fiduciary relationship.
Not every financial professional operates under the same regulatory standard in every situation. An advisor's obligations may depend on their registration, licensing, services, and the capacity in which they are acting.
When evaluating a financial professional, consider asking about their licenses and registrations, services, compensation, potential conflicts of interest, and whether and when they act as a fiduciary.
How can I reduce taxes in retirement?
Tax-efficient retirement planning may involve coordinating withdrawals from taxable, tax-deferred, and tax-advantaged accounts; evaluating Roth conversions when appropriate; managing Required Minimum Distributions (RMDs); and considering how retirement income may affect the taxation of Social Security benefits and other financial decisions.
The appropriate strategy depends on your income, assets, tax situation, and applicable tax laws. Financial advisors do not necessarily provide tax or legal advice, so tax strategies should generally be evaluated in coordination with a qualified tax professional.
How should my investments change as I approach retirement?
As retirement approaches, your investment strategy may need to evolve as your goals, time horizon, income needs, and ability to tolerate market fluctuations change.
A retirement investment strategy may consider diversification, asset allocation, liquidity, anticipated withdrawals, risk tolerance, tax considerations, and how much of your retirement income will depend on your investment portfolio.
There is no single investment allocation that is appropriate for every retiree. Your investment strategy should reflect your individual circumstances, objectives, time horizon, and tolerance for risk. Diversification and asset allocation can help manage risk but do not guarantee a profit or protect against loss.
What are Required Minimum Distributions (RMDs)?
Required Minimum Distributions, or RMDs, are minimum amounts that many retirement account owners are required to withdraw annually from certain tax-deferred retirement accounts after reaching the applicable age under federal tax law.
RMD rules can vary based on the type of retirement account, the account owner's age, employment status, and whether the account was inherited. Roth IRAs and designated Roth accounts generally do not require distributions while the original owner is alive under current federal rules.
Because RMDs can affect taxable income and other areas of retirement planning, it's important to understand how they fit into your broader retirement income strategy.
How do I choose a financial advisor for retirement?
Choosing a financial advisor is an important decision. Consider the advisor's experience, services, licenses and registrations, investment approach, compensation structure, potential conflicts of interest, and experience working with individuals who have needs similar to yours.
For retirement planning, you may also want to ask how the advisor approaches Social Security, retirement income, investments, taxes, insurance, healthcare expenses, and estate planning coordination.
Before hiring an investment professional, you can also review their registration status and background through resources such as FINRA BrokerCheck and the SEC's Investment Adviser Public Disclosure database, as applicable.