Simplify Your Retirement With CRA
We Make Your Retirement Dollars Last Longer
For years, you have trusted us with your retirement accounts and become familiar with our processes and staff. Some participants have been told they must transfer their CRA account balances when they retire or leave their CRA Employer. YOU DON’T! In fact, you are ENCOURAGED to stay in the plan throughout your career & retirement. CRA is your Lifelong Retirement Partner.
Here are four of the most common reasons retirees choose to keep their assets with CRA throughout retirement:
1) As a Non-Profit, Multi-Employer Plan,
CRA's Costs Are Low, Especially for Retirees
CRA only charges 0.25% on retirement assets with a minimum of $28 per year. Additionally, no administrative fees are charged on assets in excess of $400,000.
This extends to any amounts rolled over from other existing retirement accounts. This feature has saved many CRA participants thousands of dollars each year whether they:
- Remained with a CRA participating employer for their entire career
- Worked for a CRA participating employer but retired from another job
- Work most of their career somewhere else but retired with a CRA participating employer
2) CRA is a Fiduciary,
We Are Obligated to Do What is in Your Best Financial Interest
You are welcome and encouraged to continue meeting with your CRA Retirement Counselor at no cost. In fact, if you’re thinking about retiring in the next few years, CLICK HERE to schedule a meeting and formalize a plan to transition your retirement savings into retirement income.
Part of being a fiduciary means that CRA focuses on offering you the most cost-effective options to provide for your retirement.
You’ve likely had about 40 years to grow your retirement assets. As a retiree, it’s time to think about how to best convert those assets to retirement income.
As you approach retirement, you will more than likely be contacted by outside Financial Advisors (FAs) claiming they can get you higher returns if you move your investments to them. We encourage you, before any decisions are made, ask the following questions. Your CRA Retirement Counselor can assist you.
- Ask the Financial Advisor about their general costs & services
- How much do they charge to manage your plan?
- Do they provide you with access to institutional funds or will you be invested in standard retail investments?
(CRA provides our participants access to Institutional Class funds with lower expense ratios) - Do they have a fee cap?
(CRA does) - Do they serve as a fiduciary to you and your investments?
- Ask the Financial Advisor if the charge any of these common fees that CRA does not charge:
- Investment Advisory Fee*
- Sales Charges and Loads
- Transaction Fees
- Transfer or Exchange Fees
- Mortality and Expense Fee (M&E)
- Contingent Deferred Sales Charge (CDSC)
- Ask yourself, “do I have the financial flexibility in retirement to transfer my life’s savings to more aggressive and riskier investments for the opportunity to increase my returns?”
- Schedule a meeting with your CRA Retirement Counselor to discuss your options and the future of your investments.
3) CRA's Custom Target Date Portfolios Provide
Automatic Fund Reallocation Throughout Retirement
If you are invested in a Target Date Portfolio (TDP), it will automatically adjust to be more stability-focused (conservative) as you get older. These fully diversified portfolios are rebalanced quarterly so you don’t need to make any changes yourself. CRA’s investment advisor, Innovest Portfolio Solutions, manages these funds and makes adjustments. Here’s an example of how these TDPs change their make-up over time.
4) CRA Makes Retirement Income Planning Easy
You can consolidate your retirement assets into your CRA account at any time to help simplify your life. Once you turn 72, this makes withdrawing annual Required Minimum Distributions (RMDs) easy. Speaking of RMDs, we can help you automate those withdrawals so that you are not penalized by the IRS.
Continuing the conversation of automatic withdrawals, we can help you schedule periodic payments, so that you receive recurring retirement income on a monthly, quarterly, semi-annual, or annual-basis. If you need to increase or decrease those payments, that’s no problem, we can help you to set that up as well. If you need a special withdrawal in addition to your regular payments, guess what. We are more than happy to help you get YOUR money.
CRA has also partnered with a with a low-cost lifetime annuity program to provide our participants with lifetime income options. You can request a quote through one of the links below:
At CRA, our goal is to treat you to YOUR best retirement. Whether you’re 28 and just beginning your career, 61 and maximizing your contributions, or approaching 80 and over a decade into enjoying retirement, we’re here for you.
CRA is your retirement partner for life.
* CRA does not charge an investment advisory fee; however, fees may apply if you choose to enroll in the optional Empower Retirement Advisory Services offered by Advised Assets Group, LLC, a registered investment adviser.
