JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Action News Jax sat down with a certified financial planner to answer some of your questions about the key money moves you should be making, no matter what phase of life you are in.
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Diane Johnson just retired at the end of December after 37 years as a judicial assistant with Duval County Courts. She says she spent 32 of those years working for Judge John Moran.
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Johnson said, “For me, I was just doing my job for all those years, and I was honored to be there. It was a great job.” Johnson said. To prepare for retirement, she focused on aggressive saving and joined Florida’s Deferred Compensation Plan, the supplemental retirement plan for state employees.
Johnson wants to know what she can do now to help her money to grow.
To get her some answers, Action News Jax talked to Christian Barnett, certified financial planner and Managing Director of Investment Services with our Family Focus Partner, First Florida Credit Union.
Barnett said, “One thing that, that a lot of people do once they’re retired is undergo a rollover to a self-directed IRA.” He added, “Given the interest rate environment has increased, that’s one of the benefits of this difficult time is the interest rates for savers have gone up. We are able to find opportunities outside of the deferred compensation plan, which can offer a multi-year guaranteed rate -- that is fixed and again, much higher than what’s available inside the deferred comp plan.”
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Johnson, who is also the mother of an Action News Jax producer, said she also wants to help boost her grandchildren’s financial futures. “I would like to get answers about what I can do right now to get my grandkids started off in some type of aggressive savings accounts so that I can make sure that they’re going to be financially better off than I was at their age,” Johnson said.
Barnett said, “We love our kids but we love our grandchildren! So one very popular account that grandparents use is called a UTMA account. It’s an acronym for uniform transfers to minor.” Barnette continued, “It is a custodial account or a gift account whereby grandmas or grandpas can contribute financial assets into it, invest the funds appropriately, act as a fiduciary for the child and it grows in a very tax efficient manner to be distributed at the age of majority -- at age 18 for whatever use is deemed necessary.”
Johnson says she met with retirement specialist for more than a year before her last day on the job and she offered some advice of her own for people considering retirement.
Johnson said, “I would just suggest to them that they meet with whomever whenever, as often as they can. Write your questions down beforehand so that when you go in the meeting, you already prepared to get answers to things that specific to your situation.”
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If you want help with managing your finances, there are several resources available for you. You can search for certified financial planners in your area by clicking here.