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The Employee Benefit Research Institute’s 2013 Retirement Confidence Survey broke down the percentages of American confidence in being able to afford a comfortable retirement. While more than half of Americans express some level of confidence in their ability to afford a comfortable retirement, (13% are very confident and 38% are somewhat confident), 21% are not too confident, and 28% are not at all confident. In addition, the percentage of those “not at all confident” is at the highest level it has ever been in the 23 years this survey has been administered.

Despite a brighter economic outlook this year than last, experts believe that one of the main reasons retirement confidence remains low is that people are beginning to realize just how much they need to save for their retirement. While it’s best to start saving for retirement as early as possible, what about those who reach their 40s before they start saving? Here are a few simple things you can do to make saving for retirement a little easier:

Cut back your spending: An easy way to worry less about retirement is to decrease your spending. Try cutting back on small purchases first and see how much you miss them, (or maybe don’t miss them at all). You may need to ask yourself – “Would I rather spend $60 on coffee a month or use that money for retirement?”

Stay healthy: Health care is a big expense during retirement. Even though a large part of your health is genetic, there are still many good habits you can practice in order to maintain a good weight and good overall health. Eating right, exercising often, drinking plenty of water, and getting enough sleep at night are just a few things you can do to stay healthy.

Make a plan to pay off your mortgage: A mortgage is one of the biggest monthly household expenses. If you pay off your mortgage before retirement, it will then be much easier to make ends meet. You can even use one of the various online mortgage calculators to time your mortgage payoff to your retirement date.

Let’s face it, retiring comfortably can be expensive. If you’re looking to take control of your retirement and start building a healthy retirement nest egg, call our experienced self-directed IRA administrative staff at 407-367-3472 to discuss your investment options within a self-directed IRA.

How many times have you seen a bedraggled sign toting person at the end of an exit ramp and wondered, what is his or her story? If I hand them a dollar, will it help provide a meal or a bed, or be used for less honorable purposes. In traveling to my office in downtown Chicago, for the four block walk from the train, I’m accosted by a dozen needy citizens, each holding out a hand or cup and a sign. What is a caring person to do?

God gives us clear directions about how we are to treat those less fortunate: “Give generously to them and do so without a grudging heart; then because of this the Lord your God will bless you in all your work and in everything you put your hand to. There will always be poor people in the land.” (Deut 15:10,11)

It’s a bit confusing though, because we can run out of funds long before we make a dent in fulfilling the needs of others either with our dollars or time doing community service.

Serving others certainly embraces the idea of monetary contributions. Yet, true service demands much more of us; connection with the people that need our help. On that front, we all have an equal amount of capital to deploy.

Two years ago, the NuView staff spent several days defining the collective values that we share as an organization.  Particularly poignant was the idea that we have a desire to serve others – not just in the workplace, but in the community as well.

While some of the NuView staff were always first in line to sign up for the myriad of charitable community service activities in Central Florida, others held back a bit.  To provide a nudge, we decided to incentivize the behavior with a company- wide bonus if each employee donated at least 15 hours per quarter on any activity that benefited someone less fortunate.

How are we doing?  Well, it’s a bit embarrassing to confess that my staff is running laps around me, donating their time to the Wheelchair Foundation, Shephards Hope, Ronald McDonald House, Feeding Children Everywhere, and many more.

In the book of Matthew, Jesus said, when you give to the needy, do not let your right hand know what the left is doing.  What I have found is that public affirmation is unnecessary – the satisfaction of serving others seems to be quite enough.

So, we hope to see you at the next walk-a-thon, tutoring session, or at the local health clinic. We also enjoy hearing about the ways that our friends and clients serve others, and will be happy to join you in your ventures of community service as well.

Indeed, the poor will always be among us – perhaps just to teach us about ourselves. Although the needs are large, join us in helping make the dent just a little bit bigger.

Article by Maria Hernandez, NuView IRA, Inc.:

Lake Mary, Florida – April 29, 2013

NuView IRA, Inc. a leading self-directed IRA administrator announced today the addition of Lars Houmann, President and CEO of Florida Hospital to the NuView Advisory Board. With more than 20 years of economic development experience and various leadership roles within Florida Hospital, Lars will provide insight on how to better serve clients, employees and community.

Houmann’s accomplishments include the addition of the state-of-the-art medical center near Disney – Celebration Hospital, providing a blueprint for innovative delivery of medical services that has inspired hospital administrators internationally.  Lars’ current projects include the development of a 172 acre Health Village in downtown Orlando.

Under his leadership since 2006, Florida Hospital has continued rapid growth, reporting revenues of over $2.2B for the last period. Florida Hospital has also set the standard for excellence and being named by US News and World Report as the the number one hospital in Orlando.

“We are extremely pleased and honored that Lars has agreed to be part of our advisory group,” said Glen Mather, NuView President.   “His innovative ideas and his legacy of service to his community are attributes that cannot help but be an inspiration to us all.” When asked why he serves on so many boards, including chairing the Florida Chamber Board of Directors as well as the Metro Orlando Economic Development Commission, Lars said “I do it because it makes a difference.”

Houmann will join three other business leaders on the NuView Advisory Board;  John Ritenour, Founder and Chairman of Insurance Office of America, Charles Gray, Founder and Chairman of Gray-Robinson law firm, and Jerry Ross, Director of the National Entrepreneurial Center.

About NuView IRA, Inc.

NuView is a leading administrator of self-directed IRAs based in Lake Mary, Florida, and through its  affiliates, holds over $600M in retirement funds.  Since 2003, thousands of NuView clients have been able to self-direct their IRAs and Individual 401(k) plans into real estate, notes, mortgages, private placements, precious metals, and much more.

Summary:

Lars Houmann, CEO of Florida Hospital, joins NuView IRA, Inc. Advisory Board providing insight and experience in customer service, employee development and community involvement.

Guest article by Joseph Seagle:

One of the benefits of holding assets in an IRA is that the assets in the account are not subject to claims of the beneficiary’s creditors. This makes the IRA an asset protection tool in addition to its benefits as a retirement planning tool. Without careful planning, this protection may be thwarted.

A common scenario for lawyers: The client purchased a home directly into his self-directed IRA, using IRA funds. After renovating the property, he flipped it for a nice $27,000.00 tax-free profit within the real estate IRA. Frantically, months later, he calls his attorney who advised him during the purchase. His IRA custodian was just served with a lawsuit alleging that the seller-IRA failed to disclose latent defects in the property such as PB plumbing in the walls and asbestos ducts running under insulation in the attic. While facts are disputed, the IRA is going to have to defend the lawsuit at great expense. If it loses, the IRA’s other assets are up for grabs. The lawyer quickly reviews his malpractice insurance policy for coverage and notification requirements.

A prudent attorney will advise the client to never purchase real estate directly into the IRA’s name. Instead, an entity should be inserted between the IRA and the real estate. To do this, many attorneys will recommend that the IRA’s custodian be the sole member of an LLC. However, the asset protection abilities of the single-member LLC have been called into question by recent court decisions, and the lack of confidentiality may make the IRA a target nonetheless.

A Florida land trust holding title to the property would be cheaper, faster, and provides anonymity of ownership. A third party independent land trustee ensures the beneficiaries’ anonymity and confidentiality. The IRA custodian would be the sole beneficiary of the land trust, or it could be a co-beneficiary with other entities, individuals, or even other IRA custodial accounts. A simple co-beneficiary agreement would be used to spell out the sharing of responsibilities and profits. And, better yet, in this case, the lawsuit would have been filed against the land trust whose only asset was the property it had just sold to the buyers, negating the need to defend the lawsuit.

Each morning as our bare feet hit the floor beside our bed, we are in fact one day closer to retirement age.  Those of us who are W2 employees may have our employers set aside a portion of our earnings in our company retirement plans.  We choose the funds we are offered and then hope that earnings will outpace the expected inflationary future.

Trouble is, often our retirement savings don’t work as hard as we do – largely around the choices we make.  Many try to time the market, pulling their money out of stocks and bonds at “just the right time”.  The trouble with the market-timing strategy is that there are no earnings while on the sidelines.  With a self-directed IRA from NuView IRA, you have more ways to keep your money invested than simply riding the ups and downs of the stock market.

For example, one of our clients owns rental properties and lends money from his real estate IRA.  Both of those categories of investments produce a cash flow into his custodial IRA account. The $2,300 per month payments received by his IRA are aggregated into a $10,000 fund that is used, combined with a hard money lender, to purchase mortgage notes.

Another investor who prefers to purchase tax liens has addressed their use of cash differently. She has a brokerage account opened under the Administration of NuView and requests a transfer of the cash as it moves into her IRA. She can invest in the public markets, building funds for the next tax-lien auction.

Many of us have multiple IRA accounts, perhaps a Roth, Traditional or even an HSA.  The ability to partner those funds together into one investment can also be a great tool for smaller balance accounts.  For example, a NuView client can purchase real estate through a tenancy in common titling, partnering several accounts together. A property priced at $50,000 can be purchased with 10% of Roth IRA funds and 90% of traditional IRA funds (titling would be NuView IRA FBO Client Roth IRA as to an undivided 10% and Nuview IRA FBO Client Traditional IRA as to an undivided 90%).

Saving consistently and investing wisely is likely the only formula to achieve your dream of retirement.  Unless you are fortunate enough to be retired, you likely spend most days working for your present.  Make sure your IRA is working as well for your future.

Glen Mather is President of NuView IRA, Inc., a national leading self-directed IRA administrator based out of Orlando, Florida. He can be contacted at 407-367-3472 or gmather@nuviewira.com.