As a fiduciary financial advisor in Kissimmee, Holland Capital helps you see whether your 401(k), old workplace plans, IRAs, your spouse’s accounts and Social Security add up to one retirement, and what to change if they do not. We answer that first, then invest the household’s money to fit the plan.
None of it was planned as a whole.
There is the 401(k) at the job you have now. There is one from a job you left, still sitting with that company’s plan. There may be an IRA you opened years ago, or one that holds an old rollover. Your spouse has a plan at work too, and maybe an account of their own. Each of you gets a Social Security statement that shows a different number.
Every one of those pieces made sense on the day it started. The question now is different. Do they work together, and are they building toward the same retirement?
We put all of the pieces on one page, for both of you. Then we work out what they can do together, what is missing, and what to change first.
Adding It Up for the Household
Most statements show one account at a time. Retirement is paid for by all of them together.
So we start with the total. What do the two of you have across every plan and account? What will Social Security pay each of you, and at what age? What would you spend in the first year after work stops?
From those numbers, we can estimate what your savings and Social Security could support together, and when retirement becomes workable. Some households find they are on track. Some find a gap early enough to close it by saving a little more, working a little longer or changing when Social Security starts. In both cases, the guessing ends.
Which account the money comes from also changes the tax. Money in a traditional 401(k) or IRA is taxed when it comes out. Roth money usually is not. Having some of each gives you choices later about how much taxable income to show each year. Our guide to retirement income planning explains how that income is built, and our retirement planning page covers the whole approach.
What You Cannot See One Account at a Time
Accounts opened at different times were never designed around each other. You only see what the household owns when you look at them together.
You may each hold a target-date fund, or own some of the same investments in different accounts. Each choice can be perfectly reasonable on its own. What counts now is what they add up to across the household: how much stock you own, how much risk you are taking and whether that fits the retirement you are building toward.
Beneficiary forms are another piece to put on the same page. They were completed account by account too, sometimes years apart, so we check that they still say what you intend.
An old 401(k) does not automatically need to move. You can usually leave it where it is, move it into your current plan if that plan accepts it, or roll it into an IRA. Our 401(k) rollover guide compares the options. Rolling money into an IRA that we manage puts it under our advisory fee. You will know that before you decide.
RETIREMENT ENGINEERING™
The Order Matters
Five retirement decisions and why timing matters.
One Portfolio Across Two Sets of Accounts
Once the plan is clear, the investments follow it.
We write the plan into an investment policy statement for the household. It records the retirement the money has to fund, the risk the plan can accept and the tax rules on each account. Your accounts and your spouse’s are then managed as one household portfolio under that policy, to earn what they can after tax within those limits.
Which investments sit in which account is part of the same work. Our guide to asset location explains why.
Existing holdings are the starting point. A low-cost fund in your current plan can stay. Our investment management keeps the whole household in line with the plan, including the accounts we do not hold.
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.
Bring a recent statement from every account either of you has, including the old ones, and your Social Security estimates. If you cannot find something, bring what you have. We will track down the rest together.
After that, we show you the whole picture, starting with what is already working, then what we would change. If you have a CPA, we work with them so the plan and your tax return agree.
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 Florida office is in Winter Park. If you are looking for a fiduciary financial advisor in Kissimmee, we can work together without your adviser being down the street. Most meetings are by video or phone. When it makes sense to sit down together, we can meet by appointment at the Regus center at 505 West Vine Street in Kissimmee. Holland Capital does not maintain a branch office in Kissimmee.
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
What Does a Fiduciary Duty Mean When I Am Deciding About an Old 401(k)?
It means the recommendation has to serve your best interest, even when another choice would pay us more. Leaving an old 401(k) where it is, or moving it into your current employer’s plan, can be the right call, and we will say so when it is.
Holland Capital acts as a fiduciary when providing financial planning and investment advice. If a recommendation would bring money under our management, and with it our fee, you hear that before you decide.
Should I Open a Roth IRA If I Already Have a 401(k)?
Often, yes. A Roth IRA is funded with money you have already paid tax on. The growth and withdrawals that meet the rules are generally tax-free in retirement. That gives you a source of income that does not add to your taxable income later.
There is an annual contribution limit, and the ability to contribute phases out above certain income levels. The IRS publishes both each year on its Roth IRA page. If your employer matches your 401(k) contributions, it usually makes sense to contribute enough to receive the full match first.
Should My Spouse and I Invest Our Retirement Accounts the Same Way?
Not necessarily. Your accounts do not need to look alike. The plan looks at the mix the two of you hold together.
Each workplace plan has its own list of funds, and one plan may offer a low-cost option the other does not. We may lean on that fund in one account and hold something different in the other, so the household as a whole owns what the plan calls for. The same thinking decides which investments belong in a Roth account and which in a traditional one.
Does Our Fiduciary Financial Advisor Need to Be in Kissimmee?
No. Two sets of workplace accounts are easier to review on a shared screen than across a desk, and a video call fits around two work schedules.
When meeting in person is more useful, we meet by appointment at the Regus center on West Vine Street in Kissimmee.
Photo: Visitor7 / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 3.0, cropped.
