Retirement Planning

Hemenway Trust Company provides professional retirement planning services, including investment advice and management for your Individual Retirement Account (IRA), Roth IRA, self-employed pension plan (SEP), or 401k or other qualified retirement plan that you choose to roll into your IRA. Hemenway Trust Company can help you achieve a secure and rewarding retirement, applying to your retirement assets the same investment philosophy we apply to trust assets.

We will structure your retirement account specifically for you, both by reviewing your goals for that particular account and by looking at the role it plays within your overall investment portfolio. With no products or investment funds to sell, we have the independence to do what is best for our clients.

Additionally, we provide comprehensive reporting for all your assets so you have a full picture of your total portfolio’s performance. Our technology allows us to gather information electronically from your other investment accounts, regardless of where they are managed, and produce a single statement showing your entire universe of holdings. This comprehensive view enables us to arrange your asset allocation appropriately.

Coordinating Your Retirement and Estate Planning

We take a 360-degree view. Unlike many investment advisory firms and trust companies, we can review your estate plan and integrate your retirement accounts according to your wishes and in a tax-efficient manner. We can help you manage required minimum distributions (RMDs), strategize about naming beneficiaries and consider ways to mitigate the income tax burden after death. Working collaboratively with the attorneys at Hemenway & Barnes LLP, our affiliate law firm, we can help coordinate the necessary legal documents or we can work with your existing advisors.

Charitable Giving with Retirement Assets

Giving from IRAs is one of the most tax efficient ways to make charitable contributions. Distributions from traditional (i.e. not Roth) IRAs to beneficiaries are taxed at ordinary income rates, and once an IRA beneficiary is required to start taking RMDs, income taxes can increase quite a lot. Making so-called qualified charitable distributions (QCDs) from an IRA can reduce this income tax burden while satisfying the IRA owner’s charitable goals. In addition, satisfying bequests to charity from IRA assets can dramatically reduce both estate and income taxes otherwise due after the IRA owner has died. Together with Hemenway & Barnes LLP, our team of advisors includes tax and investment professionals, lawyers specializing in estate planning, and philanthropic advisors who can tailor solutions to meet your individual needs and vision for philanthropy.