I’ve been an advisor for 16 years now and can tell you that from my experience it seems that those who finally end up in my office have been “thinking about seeing a financial advisor” for a long time before they actually meet with me.

Maybe I’ve just described you and you’ve been meaning to contact a financial planner for what seems like forever. Maybe you’ve never really given it much thought. Maybe you “sort of” have somebody that you meet with from time to time to go over an account but you’ve never done a thorough analysis.  If you’re over 45 and find yourself in one of the three camps I’ve just described I’ve written this article with you in mind.

While this isn’t intended to be a comprehensive list, here are several important areas where a skilled financial advisor can be invaluable to a family’s overall financial success.  In my humble opinion, these are the important questions I and other skilled advisors can help a family answer.

Retirement lifestyle mapping – How can you possibly know how much money you’ll need if you haven’t thoroughly defined what you want retirement to look like?

Even if you and your significant other spent all weekend trying to specifically define your desired lifestyle and how much it costs to live you’d still likely not do as thorough a job as one can in a short time with a skilled advisor.  I have retired dozens of people. I am keenly aware of the little details people seem to overlook.  How much should you budget for health care in retirement? How does one account for cost of living increasing over time? How much should you budget for vehicles throughout retirement? Travel? How often? Will it be domestic or international? How often do you prepare your own meals versus going out to lunch? Dinner? Can you afford to gift money to your kids and their families while they’re still young and need the help? 

These are conversations should be had at great detail. 

Investment Management – So, you’ve got a 401(k), how is it invested? Why is it invested that way? Does your spouse have a retirement plan as well? Have you analyzed ALL of your investments together as a household? Is there a comprehensive strategy that you’ve determined is a good fit for your risk tolerance?  If you’re like most people you probably don’t have great answers to many of these questions.  A skilled financial professional can help you match the right investments with your financial needs and goals. After your retirement lifestyle has been thoroughly envisioned an advisor can help you understand the average rate of return you’ll need to get from your investments throughout retirement.  If we understand your tolerance for risk and the rate of return you need to strive for we can truly build an investment strategy that is tailored to your specific situation.

Guidance – There seems to be a million decisions someone needs to make as they retire.  Many of which are only made once and can’t be undone. 

Examples include:

• When is the best time to take my pension? Do I need to add spousal protection?
• When is the best time to take social security?
• How do I establish income from my investments now that I’ve retired?
• Do I still need life insurance now that I’m retired?
• Should we get long term care insurance?

These tough questions usually can be answered quite well if we’ve done some planning. 

In closing – working with a skilled financial advisor can help you define what you want your retirement to look like, help you find out if you’re on track to attain it, and provide solutions to help you reach your dream retirement on purpose and not by accident.

I am taking new clients.  Please call or email my office to schedule a free initial consultation.

Securities offered through LPL Financial, Member FINRA/SIPC. Investment advice and financial planning offered through Financial Advocates Investment Management, DBA Integrity Wealth Advisors, a registered investment advisor. Financial Advocates Investment Management, DBA Integrity Wealth Advisors and LPL Financial are separate entities.