J.L. Edwards - Retire Not Expire

RETIRE
NOT
EXPIRE

PLAN YOUR TRANSITION

J.L. Edwards

Copyright 2020 J.L. Edwards.

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ISBN: 978-1-9822-4480-4 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-9822-4482-8 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-9822-4481-1 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2020904909

Balboa Press rev. date: 05/11/2020

CONTENTS

J. L. Edwards career in the retirement and employee benefits field spans over 30 years. Originally from Brooklyn, NY, Ms. Edwards started her career at New York Life Insurance Company where she worked in the human resources and payroll departments. It was here where she focused on employee benefits administration. Ms. Edwards has worked with companies such as Discovery Communications, the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA) and the American Council on Education. She has an extensive background in employee benefits design, pricing, marketing and communications. During her tenure with the American Council on Education as project manager, she successfully transitioned a nonprofit voluntary employee benefits trust (VEBA) into a for profit captive insurance company, Association Mutual Health Insurance Company, domiciled in the District of Columbia. Ms. Edwards earned her Certified Public Manager (CPM) designation from George Washington University Center for Excellence in Public Policy and holds both the Lean Six Sigma Green Belt and Black Belt designations. In addition, Ms. Edwards received multiple Government Financial Officers Association (GFOA) Excellence in Government Finance Award for her efforts in leading systems conversions.

Ms. Edwards is currently a program manager with the District of Columbia Government where she provides guidance on issues relating to defined benefit and defined contribution retirement plans.

Can you afford to retire and live on 50% of your current salary? Have you mapped out an actionable plan to retire with some level of security? Are you reviewing your 401(k)-account balance regularly and more importantly, do you have an investment strategy in place to generate income after you retire? If you answered no to any of these questions, you should definitely read on.

Like the American Dream, your retirement is based on an ideal. One that gives you freedom. You can choose to retire at 35 or 85 or somewhere in between. Making the choice is easy if you are armed with the critical information you need to know in order to make good decisions. But what if you only have been given part of the big picture? Will you still be able to make good decisions about your retirement benefits?

Retire Not Expire is written from the perspective of an employee benefits professional who counsels employees rather than the perspective of a financial planner. The goal of the book is not to sell you a financial services product. The goal is to give you the information about retirement benefits so that you can ask the tough questions of yourself and your financial advisors before making the leap into retirement. We will delve into the difference between guaranteed income benefits versus tax advantageous savings accounts. We cover topics such as making the transition from an active employee to a retiree and we will demystify your benefits calculation. We will touch on the velvet handcuff known as health insurance as well as discuss the importance of asking the right questions of your retirement plan administrator, your human resources advisor and your financial manager. Most importantly, we will give you a roadmap for making the transition into your best life. Retirement is a mindset. It is not a death sentence.

I want to thank everyone who helped to bring this book to you.

Chris, thank you for all the philosophical conversations first thing in the morning. You showed me the importance of doing this work and you often reminded me just how much I love fighting for those who cannot fight for themselves. I will miss our morning chats, your southern drawl as you called me your New Yorker and the light in your eyes when you talked about your family. The strength of our relationship really does show the North and the South can be reunited to serve the greater good.

Dr. Monk, although our time together in the school system was short you left an indelible mark on me. Thank you for your gentle reminders about furthering my education and continuing to educate people on the importance of understanding their benefits. I can almost hear your gentle voice whispering in my ear, youre not finished yet. There is still more work to be done.

Over the years I have had the honor of managing incredibly gifted work teams. They are all hard-working individuals who, when brought together to achieve a goal, surpassed all expectations. Every person I have managed understood the importance of providing a value-added experience to everyone in their care by treating clients with honor and respect. Thank you for allowing me the freedom to expand and thank you for growing with me on the journey. The stories you have shared with me confirmed the need for this book.

My sons Christien and Ian Alpha and Omega thank you. Our experiences together from feast to famine and feast again were priceless. Each of you is a mirror image of me at different stages of my life. Watching you grow into men of honor has brought me great joy. Thank you Sally, John, Mary, Bill, Arnold, John Dee and Sally W. for all of the life lessons you imparted. There would be no book without you. I wish you were here to read it.

Most importantly, I want to thank all my clients from the teachers, the police officers, the firefighters to the street sweepers, janitors to the association presidents and agency directors for allowing me the honor to serve you. I write this work with each of you in mind.

Ive been in the employee benefits and retirement field for over 30 years. To this day, I am still amazed at how much employees dont know about their benefit plans and even more amazed at how little they know about their retirement. I was on my way to a funeral in a Lyft when the driver and I started talking about the future. The conversation drifted to the topic of retirement. I listened to my driver go on and on about how he was going to retire at age 65 and do nothing. This was rich coming from a guy who was barely 35. I asked a few probing questions because I was really curious why he thought he could retire at 65 and do nothing. My Lyft driver was really under the false impression that he would be able to retire at 65 and that his social security benefit would carry him for the rest of his life. When I explained to him that social security had raised the retirement age; that the average monthly benefit was only $1,400 and that by 2035 the benefit could be cut by 25%, he almost rear-ended the guy ahead of us because he was in a state of shock.