Worcester Business Journal

wbjournal.com | October 14, 2024 | Worcester Business Journal 21 Do you need to fear retirement? BY HAMILTON SORIANO Special to WBJ I f you're planning to retire in a few years, are you looking forward to it? Or are you some- what apprehensive? Are you asking yourself: "What sort of retirement can I afford?" It's a good question — because the answer can make a big difference in your ability to enjoy life as a retiree. Retirement can indeed be enjoyable, exciting and fun. Consider this from a survey by Edward Jones and Age- Wave: A majority of respondents said retirement should be looked at as a whole new chapter of life, and not just a time for rest and relaxation. In other words, people are viewing retirement as a chance for new experiences and new opportunities, rather than a time to simply wind down. But if you're going to make the most of your retirement, which could last two or even three decades, you need to be financially prepared. is preparation can involve many steps, but here are some of the key ones: Decide what your retirement lifestyle will look like. How you choose to spend your retirement years can make a big difference in the financial resources you'll need. For example, if you plan on traveling the world, you might need more income than if you were to stay close to home and pursue your hobbies. If you can envision your retirement lifestyle and estimate how much money you'll need to support it, you can help reduce some of the uncertainties you might face once you do retire. Review your income sources. During retirement, you'll likely need to draw on all your income sources, so it's a good idea to know what you'll have available, such as your IRA, 401(k) and other investment accounts. You'll also need to decide when to take Social Security. If you wait until your full retirement age (probably between 66 and 67), you'll get much larger monthly benefits than if you started taking them at 62. And here's another variable: earned income. Even if you've retired from your career, you might, if you desire, use your acquired skills in a consulting or part-time position. e more you can earn, the less you may have to withdraw from your investment accounts and the better position you'll be in to delay taking Social Security. Consider adjusting your investment portfolio. For most of your working years, you may have invested most- ly for growth, to increase your assets as much as possible. But growth-oriented investments are also, by nature, risk- ier, so when you retire, you should review your portfolio to determine whether you need to move it toward a more conservative position. Also, more conservative invest- ments may provide more current income in the form of interest payments. However, even in retirement, you may need some investments with growth potential if you want to keep ahead of inflation. Retirement is certainly a major milestone in your life, and adjusting to it can take some time. But there will be much less to fear — and much more to enjoy — if you've done what you can to prepare yourself financially. Hamilton Soriano is a Worcester-based financial advisor with Edward Jones. Central Mass. banks find way to compete & stay local I n an ultra competitive environment, smaller local banks have two main things going for them: brand recognition and community connections. eir big disadvantage, of course, is resources and scale. For many community banks with under $1 billion in assets, major players like Bank of America ($2.6 trillion in assets), TD Bank ($370 billion), and Citizens Bank ($220 billion) will invariably be able to throw more resources toward recruiting talent, upgrading technology, and marketing. To help level the playing field, a handful of Central Massachusetts financial institutions this year are finding a smarter way to stay competitive: merging holding companies with similarly-sized institutions while retaining their brand identity and geographic footprint. In June, Cornerstone Bank of Worcester agreed to create a $6-billion holding company with PeoplesBank of Holyoke, with each bank retaining its name. en on Oct. 1, Rollstone Bank & Trust in Fitchburg agreed to join a holding company that includes Newburyport Bank and Haverhill-based Pentucket Bank while keeping its name, management, board of directors, charitable foundation, and retail and lending organizations. On the credit union side of the equation, Digital Federal Credit Union of Marlborough is doing something slightly different by creating a $29-billion entity through a merger with First Tech Federal Credit Union, which is based in California's Silicon Valley. ere will clearly be no branch closings when their markets are on opposite coasts. ese holding company mergers are providing economies of scale to compete financially against larger players, while maintaining the brand and strong community connections, which are designed to stay in place. "It is the perfect balance between the two," said Todd Tallman, CEO of Cornerstone Bank. is marks the second time Tallman has led a bank through a holding company merger. In 2016, his Southbridge Savings Bank joined forces with SpencerBANK, although aer operating with separate brands for a while, the two decided to merge identities, too, and create Cornerstone Bank. at made sense because the Southbridge and Spencer banks had overlapping service areas, which isn't the case with Cornerstone's holding-company merger with PeoplesBank, nor with the other recent mergers. ese types of holding-company mergers tend to lead to job growth, Tallman said, as opposed to job losses, which is how most mergers are viewed, as they are designed in part to create corporate efficiencies. By merging holding companies, community banks have more resources to offer new financial products, upgrade technology, and fill vacant positions, which all leads to job growth. A year has passed since Fidelity Bank of Leominster created a $7-billion holding-company merger with Cape Cod 5 in Hyannis, and Tallman said he's already seeing the positive impacts of that deal. If nothing else, a holding company merger creates a stronger company better able to survive in a market with some very large competition. ese kinds of deals are not for everyone, but it's an interesting trend helping to keep several of our smaller, community-based financial institutions viable and competitive. W Hamilton Soriano W WO R D F R O M T H E W E B From WBJournal.com "e time has come for the City to fight fire with fire. e City Council should immediately vote to place parking kiosks all around the side streets around the WPI campus." – Stephen Quist, Sept. 18, on Worcester Polytechnic Institute's purchase of two hotels in the Gateway Park region of Worcester, which was opposed by business and government officials because of its impact on tax revenues "Can they go to Pensacola?" –Anonymous commenter, Sept. 22, on JetBlue Airways' plans to temporarily increase the frequency of flights from Worcester Regional Airport to Orlando and Fort Myers, Florida, during busy travel seasons The Worcester Business Journal welcomes letters to the editor and commentary submissions. Please send submissions to Brad Kane, editor, at bkane@wbjournal.com. Facebook feedback "I wish Worcester would stop building these gross luxury apartments. It's ruining the charm of the city." – Michelle Dooling, Oct. 6, about the 105-apartment development proposal slated for the former site of Fairway Beef in Worcester being delayed for the third time "Another housing construction project that wouldn't be built if not For Polar Park." – Worcester Politics 101, Oct. 8, on the start of construction of a 110-apartment development on Madison Street in Worcester WBJ

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