Please Note:  Speak to your tax, legal or financial advisor for specific advice about your particular plans and situation.

I’ve been working remotely with clients for years.

A natural evolution, I found it to be both cost-effective and time-efficient but also ideal for my clients. The pandemic accelerated the trend where advisers work with clients remotely.  I believe it’s here to stay.

Uh John, what is a “remote advisor”? 

Simply put it’s an advisor that doesn’t live where you live.   Zoom didn’t invent the virtual meeting but they made it relevant, even preferred, and the pandemic only accelerated it’s adoption.

While it’s immediately obvious that remote advisors can increase convenience, there are two major reasons why working with a remote advisor will remain long after the pandemic is gone:

1. It’s more cost-effective 
2. You can work with a specialist

First, remote advisors save you money.

Let’s assume you drive to your advisor’s office….it’s likely in a nice building in a pricey location with a receptionist to greet you, take your coat and offer a beverage, and, then, lead you to a well-appointed conference room.  

What they don’t do is hand you the bill for all of it.  But they should.  Because you’re paying for it.

In the 2000’s, when I started at UBS, the firm took $.60 of every $1 a client paid for my services: Class A midtown office space, glass offices, expensive furnishings and a gaggle of “vice presidents” throughout the organization.

None of it tangibly benefited the client.  

A well managed remote advisor has lower expenses. Most will pass along those savings to their clients. I know I do.

Second, you can hire an advisor that specializes in clients like you.

With over one-hundred and fifty-thousand “financial advisors” in the United States your choice of advisors are endless. No longer limited by geography, working remotely means you can find and work with a specialist.

If you needed heart surgery, you wouldn’t seek a general practitioner, you’d want a cardiologist! 

But don’t worry, it’s easy to narrow down your choices when you have specific needs.

Are you a newly minted graduate needing help with your debt and savings strategies?

Find a specialist!

Are you a young couple with dual incomes, a new home, and young children but want to save for college and retirement? 

Find a specialist!

Are you less than 10 years from retirement and want to maximize your retirement income and minimize your retirement risk?

Find a specialist!

Don’t settle for the advisor down the street, focus on finding someone that’s right for you!

Looking for an advisor that specializes in retirement? Click here to schedule an introductory call

Please Note:  Speak to your tax, legal or financial advisor for specific advice about your particular plans and situation.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (2016 data), there are over 270,000 financial advisors in the US. That number alone can be overwhelming. As we discussed in previous posts, each has their own custom approach and set of services they provide to clients.  

Retirement is confusing enough.

Now I need to choose from 270,000 “financial advisors”?

Now if you’re reading this post… it’s clear… you want to move past the confusion and you want help with your retirement planning and investment management.

Good news.  Help is near.

Because you know, there are questions you’ll want to answer and things you’ll have to do before you confidently retire.

So yeah John, I do/may want help so help me out here… you just told me there are 270,000 advisors in the US…

How do I know what type of advisor to hire as I prepare for retirement?

Great question, that’s why I created this report on How To Choose a Retirement Advisor. 

I’ve narrowed it down to three types of advisors to help you in retirement.  

Then, I give you the 5 Key Questions you need to ask yourself about an advisor before you start working with them.

I’ve also included my critical warning signs that you shouldn’t work with a particular advisor. 

So, if you’re asking yourself questions about your retirement like…

• When can I afford to retire?
• When should I take social security?
• Should I pay off my house?
• What do I do with my 401k/IRA in retirement?

…then you should be talking to an advisor about your retirement.

This guide is your first step in choosing the right expert to help you answer those questions and let you retire with confidence.

​Download the Free How to Choose a Retirement Advisor now.

Please Note:  Speak to your tax, legal or financial advisor for specific advice about your particular plans and situation.

I’m getting calls.

“I think I might like to get on the sidelines with the upcoming election.”

Usually spoken carefully so as not to be politically charged but, either way, the theme is the same, most clients and acquaintances are preparing for a Biden/Harris presidency.  And many think the market will drop.  Here’s a look at the markets under different administrations… see the full report  here.

Still, Covid-19 remains the bigger economic story as the virus permeates the mid-west, yet also limits activity in the rest of the country, especially those in northern states, and around the world.  I’m not one to decipher how bad things really are vs. how bad they are professed to be, I only know our economy remains stifled on many fronts as we work through the economic uncertainty and epidemiological unknowns.

With millions out of work, the pharmaceutical industry’s success may be the most important story of all.  That said, vaccines aren’t perfect though we’ll need a good one to move forward in a confident way:

“ In a study published July 15 in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, my colleagues and I used a computer simulation of every person in the country to show how effective a vaccine would have to be and how many people would have to get vaccinated to end the pandemic. We found that a coronavirus vaccine’s effectiveness may have to be higher than 70% or even 80% before Americans can safely stop relying on social distancing.  By comparison, the measles vaccine has an efficacy of 95%-98%, and the (yearly) flu vaccine is 20%-60%.” – Bruce Y. Lee

So as you think about presidential elections and Covid-19 vaccines, it may be best to consider thinking in stages…

Thinking in Stages

Have you ever heard of stage-one and stage-two thinking? They’re terms popularized by economist Thomas Sowell in his book, “Applied Economics: Thinking Beyond Stage One.” Basically, before acting on an event’s initial (stage one) anticipated results, it’s best to engage in stage-two thinking, by first asking a very simple question:

“And then what will happen?”

By asking this question again and again, you can more objectively consider what Sowell refers to as the “long-run repercussions to decisions and policies.”

If I sell out of my investments, what do I expect to happen and when/how will I get “back in”?

Realistically, you don’t know.

Investing in Stages

In investing, we see stage-one thinking in action whenever undisciplined dollars are flooding into hot holdings (yes, some of that appears to be happening now in certain investments!) or fleeing immediately risky businesses. Stage-two thinking reminds us how often the relationship between an event and the world’s response to that event is anybody’s guess and nobody’s certain bet. 

A previous Investopedia article, “Does Rainfall in Ethiopia Impact the U.S. Market?” reminds us how market pricing works: 

“No one knows how any of these events will impact markets. No one. That includes “financial advisors” who have access to complex computer models and investment strategists in the home office with cool British accents. They don’t know, but their livelihood depends upon appearing to know. Few of them are ever held accountable for the innumerable predictions they got wrong. They simply move on to the next prediction, the next tactical move.”

Avoid trying to predict future market pricing based on current market news.

Reflections on Presidential Elections

Stage-two thinking is especially handy when considering the proliferation of predictions for anything from financial ruin to unprecedented prosperity, depending on who will next occupy the Oval Office.

Again, the problem with the vast majority of these predictions is that they represent stage-one thinking. As financial author Larry Swedroe described in a US News & World Report piece, 

“Stage one thinking occurs when something bad happens, you catastrophize and assume things will continue to get worse. … Stage two thinking can help you move beyond catastrophizing. … [so you can] consider why everything may not be as bad as it seems. Think about previous similar circumstances to disprove your catastrophic fears.”

Stage-one thinking by certain pundits makes for good headlines “Sell everything!” 

And then what will happen?

Here are some stage-two thoughts to bear in mind at the current time:

•    Regardless of the outcome of the election (or how the Covid-19 pandemic evolves), there’s no telling whether the markets will move up, down or stay the same in response. By the time they do make their move, the good/bad news will already be priced in, too late to profit from or avoid.
•    In the long run, the market has moved more upward, more often than it moves downward, and it often does so dramatically and when you least expect it.
•    Moving to cash could generate potentially enormous tax bills. Worse, it would run contrary to a sensible approach, optimized to capture the market’s unpredictable returns when they occur, while minimizing the costs and manageable risks involved.

Stage-two thinking should help you recognize the folly of trying to tie your investment hopes, dreams, fears and trading decisions to one or another candidate. Politics matter – a lot – but not when it comes to second-guessing a thoughtful, well-constructed retirement plan and portfolio.

Photo thanks to Ronda Darby on Unsplash

Please Note:  Speak to your tax, legal or financial advisor for specific advice about your particular plans and situation.

I’m shocked more advisors don’t help their clients with comprehensive retirement planning. 

Too many just “manage your money”, simply investing your assets and then talking to you about “the markets”, obscure investment strategies and economic data that the market has already considered.

The real problem with these advisors is in what they don’t do  

• They don’t inspire retirement confidence
• They don’t work with you to create a comprehensive and optimized plan
• They don’t have a process for creating reliable retirement income
• They don’t work with you to maximize your money in the context of social security and the tax code
• They don’t understand what’s truly important to you or make an effort to

A quality financial planner/advisor should give you an overwhelming sense of control about your retirement.

You want a planner/advisor that:

• Helps you create a confident retirement plan so you can worry less
• Uses planning strategies that maximize what your money/Social Security can do for you
• Avoids tax/investment mistakes so many others have made before you
• Frees up your time to enjoy what matters most to you
• Understands what’s important to you and helps you make it happen

A quality ​CFP® /CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ will help you get to where you want to go. 

Download a Free Retirement Plan Summary below so you know what to expect from a quality retirement advisor.

And when you’ve done the work together, you’ll have answers to the following questions:

• When can I afford to retire?  How much can I safely spend?
• How much/where should I save leading up to retirement?
• How do I maximize Social Security/minimize the taxes I pay?
• Should I pay off my house/rollover my 401k? 
• What tax efficiencies should I implement: Roth conversions? Withdrawal order?
• How much will retirement health care/long term care cost me?
• How do I invest my assets and create a reliable retirement income stream?

When you know the answers to the above questions, you’ll feel retirement relief, clarity and confidence you never thought possible. And…

You’ll be in control.

Want to see what control looks like?  Enter your email below to download the Free Comprehensive Retirement Plan Summary now.

Please Note:  Speak to your tax, legal or financial advisor for specific advice about your particular plans and situation.

Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash

In my previous post we discussed how politics, COVID-19 and the media has been pushing us around – taking an enormous emotional toll, making us feel out of control.

Let’s recap what we’ve discussed in the last post before we move onto steps 3 and 4 of Taking Back Control.

In Post 1 we:

1. Identified your fears

2. Determined what you can control

Today, we’ll discuss steps 3 and 4 below:

3. Do the work

4. Affirm, yes, you have control

Step Three: Do The Work

They say that “everyone without a plan ends up somewhere”.

I’ve never met someone who wanted to end up “somewhere”.

I’m not even sure it’s on the map.

Instead:

1. Determine where you stand, where you want to go and what you need to do to get there. = > Create a plan.

2. Implement your plan.

3. Update and evolve your plan yearly.

When you’ve built a plan and tested it against your fears, you’ve already prepared yourself for some potentially difficult scenarios.

And if the worst happens, you’ll be prepared, and most importantly, you’ll have determined how you will react in advance. When your friends & colleagues are surprised or even “a deer in the headlights”, you’ll know:

“If the stock markets crash 30%, I’m going to “do this” with my investments”.

“I have 5 years worth of retirement income “runway” so even if things go sideways for a while I’ll be fine”.

“If “this party” wins the election, I am prepared for that.”

“If Social Security is reduced by 20%, I know how I will adjust my retirement income plan.”

“If taxes rise, I’ll modify my withdrawal strategy to minimize taxes I pay.”

Pilots Take Control

Step Four: Affirm (and congratulate yourself) that, yes, you have control.

Yes, every plan needs updating, monitoring and optimization but, yes, if you have done the work, you have taken back control.

You have:

1. Identified your fears & concerns

2. Determined what you can control

3. Created and implemented a plan that controls what you can.

4. Affirmed you have control and have pledged to continue to do the work.

Congratulations, you have Taken Back Control.

Recommended read:  See how a Retirement Plan can help you take back control here…

Photo by Byron Sterk on Unsplash

Please Note:  Speak to your tax, legal or financial advisor for specific advice about your particular plans and situation.