5 things your personalized retirement plan needs to address

​In today’s turnkey world, there are myriad applications and app-based options online that purport to make it convenient and easy to manage your financial matters. Likewise, there are many of what I call “snake oil salesmen” who will happily create a financial plan for you in exchange for some of your hard-earned money. The problem is that neither of these options can really help you effectively plan for retirement. Sure, the former claim to make planning something you can easily accomplish and the latter often retrofit your objectives into a one-size-fits-all “canned” plan that’s sold to every client.

If you’re serious about investing for your retirement, and about having enough money to live the life you want after you walk away from years of working, it’s crucial that you approach your financial planning sooner than later with a retirement strategy that is completely customized to your needs. You ABSOLUTELY need a PERSONALIZED plan developed collaboratively

As a longtime fee-for-service financial planner who has helped hundreds of clients plan for retirement, I can’t tell you how many frustrated people have shown me plans that look virtually alike and don’t adequately address their future needs. This is where my professional expertise, backed by decades of experience and results on my clients’ behalf, enables me to create new retirement plans for them that ensure they have the nest egg they want once retirement time rolls around.

I urge you to meet and develop a long-term relationship with a qualified financial planner who will help you develop a PERSONALIZED plan for retirement today, and also work with you to manage your plan for maximum returns in the years between today and the day you retire. Your financial plan should include 8-10 pages custom-written specifically for you, not just standard “canned” wording and charts.
 
A qualified financial planner will discuss the following items with you in order to develop a plan that addresses your special goals, objectives and needs.
 

• Your retirement objectives. Your expert will ask you lots of questions about the retirement lifestyle you want, as well as your current savings and sources of income, ongoing investment ability, and how much money you’ll need in retirement. This is your chance to design the retirement lifestyle you want in detail. Your expert should discuss every type of lifestyle expense you want, such as what travel, how much for entertainment, hobbies, cars, etc.. This is where, together, you’ll take a 10,000-foot view of your financial situation, current investments, future income, and more to determine how you can develop the next egg you’ll be drawing from years down the road.
  
  
• Your income. These are the dollars you’ll be investing, so your expert will work with you to craft a plan based on how much of each paycheck can be invested on an ongoing basis. If you work for a company that not only pays you a salary but also bonuses, stock options and other financial compensation, you’ll want to consider these as well as parts of your retirement investment. Your expert will help you determine what portion of each paycheck should be invested weekly or biweekly, and advise you on how to make those investments automatic so they’re consistent over a long period of time.
  
  
• Your comfort level with risk. Your personalized financial plan isn’t a bank account into which you place your money to gain interest. Rather, it’s a portfolio of investment tools and products that enable you to grow your money. Because there’s some degree of risk attached to any investment product, and because markets fluctuate, your retirement expert will need to know how comfortable you are with risk. As an example, younger people who still have decades of working life ahead of them will often be more comfortable with financial risk, so they’ll invest more frequently and aggressively in higher-risk opportunities because they have the time to do so and it’s less of a financial burden on them, since they have many years of paychecks and dividends ahead. On the other hand, older individuals tend by nature to be more cautious because retirement is closer and they may think they can’t afford to take risks as they might have at an earlier time. Comfort with risk is a learned skill. Your retirement expert may be able to educate you about the stock market and help you to become comfortable with a higher risk, which can make a huge difference in the long-term growth of your portfolio. You’ll need to discuss this thoroughly with your retirement expert so he or she can recommend investments that are as worry-free as possible.
  
  
• Expected medical needs. This is something many if not most people really consider until they’re looking at retirement, but it’s extremely essential. When considering your retirement lifestyle, you’ll want to think about the possibility of how and where you’ll live. If you have a large house now, let’s say, will you want to downsize and move into an apartment or perhaps live in a retirement community? Or, is there the possibility that long-term medical or nursing care might be part of the picture, and you and/or your spouse might need to live in a nursing home or long-term care facility? It’s easy to avoid thinking about such possibilities when you’re on the younger side, but they are things you and your experts will need to discuss.
  
  
• Living the dream. Many people have things they want to accomplish in retirement. Maybe it’s a long-desired vacation across Europe, living part-time in a ski chalet or owning an exotic car. Maybe it’s having the opportunity to support a favorite charity or endow a local organization. Whatever your dream is, discuss it with your retirement expert so your retirement nest egg will include the money available to fund it. You can plan now so the money is available when you’re ready to spend it.

 
Of course, there are other considerations as you plan for retirement. I often advise people to put together a list of questions so that when we meet, I can respond to them in as much detail as possible as we’re creating what for them will be a solid retirement plan that assures that they will enjoy the future they want, barring unforeseen circumstances. And it’s really wise to begin this process as early as possible because as many will tell you, with all the day-to-day things you’re doing now, retirement can have a way of sneaking up on you. Be prepared, and be confident that you’re set for the retirement you desire.