Question 1

How do I ever know if I have saved enough?

Accepted Answer

That is a great question. The historic rule of thumb is the so called “4% Rule.” Personally, I don’t like it
because it is far too simplistic, and it doesn’t take each year in to account. But in the most basic sense, it
means that the $4 million you’ve saved will pay you $160,000 (4% of $4 million) annually for life,
increasing 3% a year, for as long as you live. That’s helpful, but there is more to compute, such as the
fact that the $160,000 you need today will actually be almost $289,000 in 20 years at 3% inflation. This
is the math we do for you. There is definitely a way to know you’ve saved enough.

Question 2

Is there a way to guarantee my income in retirement?

Accepted Answer

There definitely is. In fact, it can free up the rest of your money for other things. For example, if we
have a certain percentage of your money dedicated to providing $100,000 a year in income and it will go
up in income annually at a particular rate, we can take the rest of your money and feel a lot better about
spending some of it on vacation homes, gifting to children, grandkids, or trips with the entire family.
Creating “knowns” is what financial planning is all about.

Question 3

What about healthcare expenses later in life? How can one adequately plan for that?

Accepted Answer

Healthcare expenses are definitely increasing. It is, however, something that we can absolutely plan for
and from which we can protect ourselves. Evaluating your income plan and creating a way to afford
increased healthcare costs late in life is a must. We help people do just that, building strategies for
expenses that are sure to come up. And if you know people in your family are long-lived, we have plans
for that, too. Make your late in life care something you hire, so that your family can spend their time
enjoying parents/grandparents with much less stress.

Question 4

Should I be concerned about starting retirement with too much debt?

Accepted Answer

While starting retirement with too much debt is not wise, the goal of having zero debt at the point of
retirement isn’t always mathematically the best thing to do. That said, some people are emotionally
and psychologically opposed to debt. If that’s you, your mental health is more important, and being out
of debt may make sense. The number one question about debt for those starting to back away from
work is “should I pay off my house?” Often, the right answer is no, but every situation is different. If
you’d like to evaluate this for yourself, let us know.

Question 5

Can a financial planner help me manage my 401k?

Accepted Answer

Yes. This is one of the great values we bring to clients, helping them not only manage the retirement
plans they have at old jobs, but also managing the ones they have at current jobs. All your retirement
accounts should be thought of as being in suitcases; you can pick them up and take them wherever you
want. They are yours, and there are expensive and inexpensive ways to manage them. So don’t just go
and consolidate your accounts. Talk to us first. There are some very easy ways to save significant
expense, and many similarly easy ways to create additional growth (often without increased risk).

Question 6

What can you do for me that I can’t do for myself?

Accepted Answer

Most people carry around “the weight of the undone,” or the guilt of not having gotten to it yet, or
whatever you want to call it. It’s really not so much a question of “can you do it.” If you want to put in a
lot of time and effort and make financial planning and management your main thing, you can probably
do it. But most people don’t want to do that. Hire what you either don’t have time to do, or what
you’re not great at, or both! We create affordable options for people at any stage of the game to get
started, to organize their accounts, to create confidence in their strategy, and to design a cohesive plan.

Question 7

What is a fiduciary and why is it important?

Accepted Answer

A fiduciary is a person who has a professional obligation to put the interests of their clients before
themselves. We are CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNERS™ or CFP®’s, and, by definition, act as your
fiduciary. It is crucial that when you hire a planner to help you with your financial life, he or she be a
fiduciary. It’s really the only way to know whether they are actually doing this or not.

Question 8

**What is the difference between a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER® and an advisor?

Accepted Answer

Advisors try to create investment returns to help people have enough to stop working at some point.
Planners do the same thing, only they take into account all the variables that can potentially impact that
effort. You may have heard the saying “it’s not what you make; it’s what you keep.” A planner helps
with cash flow, risk management through all types of insurance, investment management, tax planning
strategies, retirement income and planning strategies, and estate planning. As you can see, an advisor
generally helps with only one, maybe two, of those areas. A planner – a CFP® – helps far more
comprehensively, dealing with not just returns, but all the areas that together determine successful
financial outcomes.

Question 9

What are the six areas of planning that a financial planner helps people optimize?

Accepted Answer

In priority order from basic to advanced, cash flow management, risk management (insurance
coverages, etc.), investment planning, tax planning strategies, retirement planning strategies, and estate
planning. I would add that a good planner also consults on the effective use of debt (kind of a combo of
cash flow management and risk management), how and when a guaranteed income may be an
appropriate solution (kind of a combo of risk management and retirement planning), Business transition
strategy (how to sell, transfer, and structure a business transition deal), and being strategic about other
types of investments including real estate and small business venture capital investments.

Question 10

Should I hire one person as an accountant, an attorney, and financial planner? Or should each be
separate?

Accepted Answer

Separate. Some companies are big enough to have a tax division and an investment division. There are
also some professionals who claim to be able to do everything. Generally, in almost every situation, you
should have three people, one for each role. For example, as a financial planner, I am not an accountant
and I am not an attorney, and everything I say about those two fields is not final and should be checked
against an expert in that field. That said, I often consult together with accountants and attorneys (and
often insist on it) and am very familiar with what they do, what it costs, and what structure may be best
in a given situation.

For Income Investors

Secure Your Financial Future with Customized Investment Solutions