Not Getting the Retirement Answers You Need? How a Real Retirement Specialist Can Help?
Imagine for a moment, you invested time and effort years ago to find yourself a reputable financial planner/adviser.
You’d been pretty comfortable but as retirement approaches at a rate of knots.
You’re left sitting there, wondering whether you’ll have enough money to pay for your lifestyle in retirement. Let alone whether you’re at risk of running out of money…
But as you reflect on the relationship, sure you’ve had many discussions about your investments and maybe talked about retirement on the surface but not much more.
However, you’ve still got no clue when you can retire or whether you’ll have enough money to see you through a 10, 20, 30 year or more retirement.
Alternatively, you’ve engaged a financial adviser walking away a little disappointed. Thinking they didn’t really understand me and seemed to be only interested in selling me a product.
Time is ticking and you want some answers fast…
Whether you’ve experienced this or you are now desperate to understand how you’re positioned for retirement. So you have the confidence to transition knowing you’re not at risk of running out of money or not forced to live frugally in retirement, then this is for you.
Source a Financial Adviser Who is a Retirement Expert
Throughout the financial planning profession, there are many types of advisers, some who are specialists in certain areas and others who are generalists. It’s no different than the medical profession, you have your GP’s and specialists like brain surgeons.
In the financial planning profession, you may come across generalists who deal with all types of people. Young people, middle age and those heading towards retirement. Each age bracket requires a specialist mindset and requires different skills.
Financial Advisers/Planners who specialise in a specific area are experts in that space. For instance you can have investment experts, Self Managed Super Fund experts, insurance specialists and retirement specialists.
It’s always good to ask if the adviser you are speaking to solely works in one area alone.
For instance, I’ve been a financial adviser for over two decades. In that time I did a bit of everything, however in the last 10 years or so I specialised in retirement planning and that’s all I do. More specifically we provide retirement planning advice for people up to seven years away from retirement.
Have a Proven Framework
You’d think this one is a given. Whoever you go and see, has a framework they use. If you go and talk to an adviser, ask them about the framework they use to resolve the very issues or concerns you have. Ask them to show you…
We use a proven framework, which quite simply is three phases we take every client through. It’s methodical and designed to answer the most important retirement questions:
- Will I be able to afford my retirement lifestyle?
- Will I run out of money?
- When can I make work optional?
The first phase is understanding your retirement vision, what’s important to you and what are your concerns or challenges around retirement. Retirement is about how can you maximise your life and experiences in retirement, not about beating some index.
You may want to watch, “The ONE thing you must get right to secure your comfortable retirement”.
The second phase is all about the numbers. Identifying all the options and laying them on the table to our clients to answer the BIG question, “Can I afford to live that lifestyle?”.
From there you’ll know the gaps and opportunities and start crafting your feasible plan.
The third phase is where the rubber hits the road. Identifying all the safety margins you need to put in place to protect yourself and your investment from life’s surprises. Identifying all the tactics and strategies to optimise your situation. A plan on how it’s all going to work.
It’s a simple step-by-step approach to plan the retirement of your dreams. This is what an adviser should be able to explain to you, the framework or process they use to help clients.
You may want to watch, “Four Financial Pillars for a Retirement Rebel Retirement Plan”.
Take the Time to Understand Your Position and What You Want
Sounds pretty simple, right?
The last thing you want is the adviser sitting there telling you everything about their business. Or they might sit there educating you on all things investments…boring…
Even worse, you pay a fee, only to walk away left more confused than ever (that’s not the way it should be). Leaving feeling the adviser was more interested in managing your money than helping you live the best life you can in retirement.
You want someone who has the ability to ask great questions. Sometimes ones that are hard to answer. Someone who will take the time to understand what you really want out of retirement, not just I want x income and travel every so often.
Some advisers are just not that good at this stuff, because it’s no longer about investments and the minute they get out of their comfort zone, they don’t know what to do. They are basically products floggers, only trying to move your super so they can charge a fee.
If you’re on the verge of retirement, you’re approaching the most important years of your life. You want to maximise as many experiences and memories as you possibly can.
If this is the case you want to make sure you use your money to achieve this and live the best life you possibly can with no regrets.
Imagine finding out you could have retired earlier, but worked longer than you needed to.
Or, you get into your later years and worked out you still had a mountain of money, but could have spent this on experiences, and never knew.
Reflecting on some of our latest client meetings, sure, money features high on the important list. But so does spending valuable time with family and friends, becoming more active and healthy and mastering new skills or time on interests top the list.
You can’t make any meaningful and confident financial or investment decision until you know what you’re planning for.
Are you On-Track or Off-Track?
Here’s the thing, most people are on one of three paths, drifting towards a frugal retirement (one full of regrets), on track towards your ideal retirement or somewhere in-between.
The problem is most people don’t know. Even some of the people who have reached out to us who use advisers, don’t know.
YOU NEED TO KNOW…
How are you truly able to make any wise financial decision without knowing whether you’re on-track or off-track and what you’re planning for?
The adviser you work with should be able to show you. Primarily through cashflow software, using prudent numbers, obviously.
But, we still find many with advisers, they have failed to show their clients how they are tracking or what’s possible.
To give you an idea of what that looks like, here in one where a client was not on track for a comfortable retirement. They had to make some hard decisions. However, this could have been prevented had they started their planning many years ago.
On the other hand there are people who are well on track or with our assistance, create a feasible plan. If you are on track and have more than enough money, you have more options. Take less investment risk, help the kids out more, retire earlier or just do more stuff…create more experiences and memories.
Do You Need a Once-off Plan or Ongoing Advice?
For many people retirement planning is a complex equation which requires one part science and one part art.
There is no right or wrong way. The right way is what works for you.
You may only need a once-off plan that you can take away and implement yourself. That’s okay and if this is you, you need to know this from the adviser you are talking to.
If they are pushing you to sign up for an ongoing commitment and that’s not what you want, simply walk away.
Alternatively, you may have more complex needs. To be brutally honest, no one’s retirement is simple. There’s many inputs and outputs to consider and any one of them could change the outcome.
If you are looking for an ongoing relationship, then the adviser should clearly outline what this looks like, what you get and how much it costs.
For example, this is ours…
For the majority of our clients, we provide up to two Forward Planning Meetings per year. In these meetings we will update them on their progress, update their cashflow numbers so they know how they are positioned financially at all times, implement any changes and identify next action items.
Our clients always walk away knowing how they are positioned financially, what’s possible and what needs to happen next.
Am I the Ideal Client for Them?
It’s a question many ask. Many think retirement advice is for the wealthy and the rich. But how do you really define that anyway. One person maybe rich but doesn’t think so.
Advice is for everyday people. Those that work hard to accumulate assets over their working life, only to find themselves at the crossroads. Finding themselves lost, wondering what the next right move is for them.
The main cohort of people we work with have between $3m all the way down to $500k. Most sit between $2m-$500k in financial assets outside the family home.
So, if you are wanting to work with an adviser to help devise a plan for your retirement, ask them what the ideal client is for them. You want to working with someone who has like minded clients. They’ll understand your needs.
Will They Sell Me a Product?
This is probably the biggest fear many have when choosing to see an adviser.
Unfortunately there are still old school advisers from the product selling days floating around. You should be asking what products they are aligned to, if any and whether they have restrictions in terms of the products they are able to advise on.
More importantly, you want to avoid financial advisers that are aligned to any products. If they are there’s likely to be financial interest and to be honest, you’ll never be able to tell if the advice is really in your best interests.
Personally, I’m agonistic to the product being used. In the first instance, I don’t even know if people need a product when they come to us. But the reality is that most will require some type of super fund or investment structure depending on their financial arrangements.
When we advise clients, when it comes to financial products, we’re looking at the engine they require to facilitate their retirement. One which is flexible and will meet the needs of the client. The last thing you need is to be putting a square peg into a round hole. It just doesn’t work.
It’s likely many heading towards retirement may require a different setup. Too many people are in a one size fits all super product, built for accumulation. They rarely work well when it comes to decumulation.
Therefore, any product recommended must be chosen carefully and meet your individual needs. The adviser will need to explain why a particular product is chosen and how it is in your best interests.
Are They a Qualified Financial Adviser?
I know this one may be a simple one, but it’s important.
You want to make sure the person you are speaking to is qualified to give advice. You also want to know if they have had any complaints or proceedings against them.
You can check that on the moneysmart financial adviser register, https://moneysmart.gov.au/financial-advice/financial-advisers-register
It will tell you important information:
- How long have they been an adviser?
- Who are they licensed through?
- Previous appointments
- If there has been any disciplinary actions
- Qualifications and training
- Any issues with meeting ongoing training obligations
You’re ultimately looking for red flags. You want someone who’s been around the traps for a while.
You can check mine out by clicking here…
Gee, I’ve been around for a while, going on nearly 25 years, that’s flown by fast…
Get the Retirement Answers and Confidence You Need
As a small business, run by myself and my wife we are a personalised retirement planning advice business.
One where we work with you one-on-one to devise a feasible retirement. One which you can have confidence in.
We have capacity to take on a further 60 clients over the next few years. As we want to ensure every client gets the attention and advice they deserve, once we are full, there will be a waiting list.
Our clients are not numbers, they are part of the Jigsaw family and treated as such. Where they all have direct access to myself when they need answers to questions they have.
Each client’s retirement journey is unique, so is their retirement plan. Our aim is to make every client the hero in their retirement journey.
Don’t continue to drift into the unknown, take proactive action and book a Retirement Clarity Call today.
Book your own Retirement Clarity Call by clicking here where we’ll have a chat about your retirement challenges and provide some insights to resolve them sooner rather than later.
We’re here with one sole purpose, to help you craft a retirement plan that’s as unique as you are. So you become the Hero in Your Retirement Journey…
We’ll work with you to uncover what’s truly important to you in retirement, make it simple and layout all the options available so you choose which pathway is right for you. With one goal, so you can confidently step into the next chapter of your life.
Your retirement journey is yours to create – let’s make it extraordinary, one of no regrets.
Glenn Doherty – CFP – Financial Planner | Retirement Planning Specialist |Retirement Planning Made Simple for over 55’s within 7 years of retirement
We work with people in Adelaide and around Australia virtually via zoom!
Request a Retirement Clarity Call
An opportunity to talk through some of your challenges and questions you have around your retirement.
Achieve some clarity and maybe a roadmap on how you can achieve a comfortable retirement.
Schedule hereAdvice Disclaimer: Any reference in this publication to the provision of advice refers to advice of a generic nature, and should not be taken as product or investment recommendations. Before any action is taken based on the information provided, independent financial advice from a licensed financial adviser should be sought. Financial Freedom Project Pty Ltd ATF GA & DC Doherty Family Trust Trading as Jigsaw Private Wealth is a Corporate Authorised Representative of Spark Advisors Australia Pty Ltd. The information contained in this publication is of a factual nature only and is not intended to constitute financial product advice. Information is current as at date of publication. This is an online information blog. It does not imply an offering of securities.