You have achieved success through a good education, hard work and much ambition. You had been told that retirement income would consist of social security, personal savings and perhaps a defined benefit plan. You have spent the last 15, 20 or 30 years taking care of personal savings responsibly putting money into 401(k)’s and IRA’s, investing in Mutual funds, stocks, bonds, property and stock options. You have come to believe that social security cannot be depended on for much of your retirement needs. If you do have a defined benefit plan you are anxious about the company’s ability to pay or keep paying the pensions.
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You are coming to the realization that retirement is getting closer and you are not sure if you are on track, or
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Retirement has just arrived or is imminent and you are not sure how to make the financial transition from wealth accumulation to income distribution, or
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You have already retired and you are concerned that you might not have enough money to maintain your standard of living through your entire retirement.
You have recently been hit by some very significant outside forces and you are not sure how to assess the full impact on your goals. You saw decades of savings and hard work destroyed over the last few months. You are concerned that there may not be time for you to recover from the crash. Your money was hard earned and any losses from bad investments are not easily replaced. You may be looking at less travel, scaling back your purchases, buying fewer ‘toys’. The possibility of working longer and downsizing are looking a little more likely. Some of you are caring for aging parents while also trying to figure out how to put your children through college. You don’t want your children to have to take care of you as you age. You had hopes of retirement being about pursuing passions, working for love not money, spending time with children and grandchildren and now your not sure if that will be possible or not.
You have been fending for yourself, struggling to find good financial advice. You have turned to your accountant or insurance agent for financial assistance and they end up trying to sell you whole life insurance or variable annuities. Your broker keeps suggesting expensive mutual funds that don’t seem to perform.
You are looking for a relationship with a trusted advisor. You are looking not for vague promises and flash sales pitches, but honest, experienced, safe, investment advice. You want independent, objective advice. You want to feel that your advisers are making time for you not treating you as just another account that doesn’t get reviewed between calls. You believe that an adviser should look out for your interests above his own, his bosses and his companies. You want someone to help you understand changes in the investment marketplace, sort through the product offerings, and act as a coach to make sure that you follow through on whatever actions you need to take to achieve your goals. You are looking for someone that will form a relationship with you rather than just selling you a product. You don't want packaged products. You want a tailored investment plan at a good price. You want good value. You want a sustained, personalized relationship. You want a relationship with someone that will return your phone calls promptly. You want a choice of how you do business so you can get only what you need rather than paying for superfluous options.