As a fiduciary financial advisor in Hollywood, Holland Capital helps you build a retirement plan while you are still working: how much to save, where to save it, how to invest it and what has to happen before you can retire when you want to.
You are still working, and you are saving.
Money goes into the 401(k) at work. You may also have an IRA from an earlier job, a brokerage account or savings sitting outside the retirement accounts. You have been doing the things you are supposed to do.
What you may not have is a straight answer to a plain question.
Is it enough?
And if it is not, what would make the difference? Saving more? Putting the next dollar somewhere else? Investing differently? Working another year or two? Starting Social Security at a different age?
That is what retirement planning should tell you while you still have time to do something with the answer.
How Much to Save, and Where to Put It
The first question is how much you need to save. The next is where that money should go.
We start with what you earn, what you spend and what you have already saved. Then we measure that against the retirement you want. If you are on pace, you can see it. If there is a gap, you can see how large it is and what would close it.
Sometimes the number is less than you feared. Sometimes the gap is real, and it is better to know now.
The next dollar does not automatically belong in the same account as the last one. A pre-tax 401(k) cuts this year’s taxes, and the withdrawals are taxed later. A Roth 401(k) or Roth IRA works the other way. A brokerage account has no age limits on withdrawals, which can help if you want to stop working before the retirement accounts are easy to access. The right mix depends on your tax bracket now, the one you expect later and when you will need the money.
From age 50, the IRS lets you add catch-up contributions on top of the normal limits, giving you more room to close a savings gap in the later working years.
What Has to Happen Before You Can Retire
You may already have an age in mind. The plan tells you what has to be true before that date works.
What will you spend once the paycheck stops? What will Social Security provide, and when should it start? You can start it at any age from 62 through 70, and the monthly amount grows for every year you hold off. If you stop working before 65, how will health insurance be covered until Medicare? How much will your savings need to provide each year, and can they support that for as long as you are likely to need them?
We put those pieces on one timeline and test the retirement date you have in mind. If it works, you can see how much room you have. If it does not, you can see what would need to change.
Our Social Security guide walks through the claiming choices, and our retirement planning page explains how the rest of the plan is built.
If Your Business Has Employees
If you own a business with employees, your retirement planning also reaches into the company.
The retirement plan you offer your employees is one of the places you save for yourself. Different retirement plan designs can change how much you are able to save and what the business contributes for employees.
So we look at the business plan and your personal retirement plan together. How much do you need to save? What does the company plan let you contribute? What does that cost the business?
Our 401(k) advisory work covers setting up or reviewing the company plan itself.
Investing While You Are Still Saving
Saving enough is only part of the job. The money also has to be invested for the retirement you are trying to reach.
We write that into an investment policy statement: how many years until the money is needed, how much it has to grow, how much of a decline the plan can absorb and how each account is taxed. We manage the portfolio to that statement, looking for the best return after tax within the risk the plan can carry.
Your current 401(k) stays with your employer while you work there, and we can suggest how to use the investments available inside it. The accounts you already own are the starting point, and nothing is sold without weighing the tax cost.
Our guide to portfolio construction explains how the investments fit together, and our investment management page explains how we carry out the policy.
Working with Holland Capital
Holland Capital Management is an independent registered investment adviser and a fiduciary. M. Chad Holland, CFA, CFP® works directly with clients and is responsible for the planning and advice.
To get started, bring recent statements for each account, your Social Security statement, last year’s tax return and the age you would like to stop working, even if it is only a rough guess. If you own a business, bring what you know about its retirement plan.
We will show you where you stand, what is already working and what would have to change to make the retirement you want possible.
The first conversation is free. If there is work worth doing after that, we will define the scope and cost before you decide whether to move forward.
Our offices are in Charlotte, North Carolina and Winter Park, Florida. We work with clients in Hollywood primarily by video or phone. When an in-person meeting makes sense, we meet by appointment at the Regus center at Presidential Circle, 4000 Hollywood Boulevard.
For clients whose investments we manage, accounts are held directly at Charles Schwab in the client’s own name. Holland Capital manages the investments but does not take custody of client assets. If a client ever needs in-person assistance from Schwab, the closest branch is in Aventura at 2745 NE 193rd Street.
We work with clients throughout Florida. You can see the other Florida communities we serve here.
Our what we do page explains how a planning engagement works.
RETIREMENT ENGINEERING™
The Order Matters
Five retirement decisions and why timing matters.
Frequently Asked Questions
How Early Should I Start Working with a Retirement Planner?
While the decisions that can change the answer are still open.
That means how much you save, which accounts receive the money, how it is invested and how long you keep working. The point of planning before retirement is to find out whether you are on pace while you still have choices.
Should I Save in a Roth or a Pre-Tax 401(k)?
It depends on whether your tax rate is likely to be higher now or in retirement. Pre-tax saving helps more when today’s rate is the higher one. Roth saving helps more when the later rate is.
Having some of each lets you choose which account to draw from once you retire, year by year. We look at your current bracket and the income the plan expects later before recommending a split.
Is My Fiduciary Financial Advisor on My Side Before I Retire, Too?
Yes. The duty covers every recommendation, not only the investments: how much to save, which accounts to use, an old employer’s 401(k) and, if you own a business, which retirement plan it should offer.
Holland Capital acts as a fiduciary when providing financial planning and investment advice. Moving an old 401(k) into an IRA we manage would increase what we are paid. When a recommendation would do that, we tell you before you choose.
Can I Work with a Fiduciary Financial Advisor Who Is Not in Hollywood?
Yes. Most of the planning happens by video or phone, with the numbers in front of both of us.
If sitting down together would help, we can do that by appointment at the Regus center at Presidential Circle, 4000 Hollywood Boulevard.
Photo: Tamanoeconomico / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped.
