Do It Yourself Retirement Planning Can Be Dangerous
Individuals overestimate their ability to plan their own retirement, often taking a plug and play approach. By not involving a qualified and certified professional, they can overlook the many factors needed to assemble an effective and tamper-resistant plan.
Just like the homeowner who believes that an abundance of tools, supplies and available expertise will help him paint his house – but ends up disappointed in the result – the same can be said for aspiring retirees who immerse themselves in data and dashboards, only to find that retirement planning involves more than they ever imagined.
While the homeowner often underestimates the required scraping, priming, caulking and painting, retirees can easily overlook the demands of principal, portfolio, distributions, longevity, taxes and more. Simply put, retirement is the last place anyone wants to fail, and it’s not Do-It-Yourself endeavor. Watch the interview with retirement income certified professional and investment adviser representative Tripp LeFevre as he address going it alone in retirement.
A retirement designed with the help of a Registered Investment Adviser (RIA) can not only help maximize and allocate the needed resources, but can troubleshoot common issues that can spoil the prime of one’s life. A qualified and certified retirement specialist has an all-encompassing view of the task, given their everyday involvement and years of experience. They routinely help their clients in ways that far exceed online tools that focus on principal and desired lifestyle.
Components that are second-nature to an experienced planner, but can be overlooked by amateurs, include:
• A portfolio appropriate for the individual’s or couple’s risk tolerance.
• The suitability and compatibility of asset allocations.
• A pro-active plan that factors in downturns, but allows the client peace of mind, anyway.
• A realistic consideration of longevity, now nearly the most important part of any plan.
• Annuity allocations that can produce in good times, and safeguard in down times, with a guaranteed lifetime distribution.
• Acknowledgement that Social Security cost-of-living adjustments are not a given.
• The impacts of taxes, deferrals and allocations that produce tax-free income.
• Knowledge of our all-inclusive and integrated tax system, that without proper planning, can unexpectedly land a retiree in a higher tax bracket with negative consequences.
By being honest with one’s abilities, and by involving a third-party, experienced professional who can take the emotion out of decision-making, retirees have a better chance of riding out life’s inevitable financial volatility. They can then enjoy their years as intended, with the peace of mind that results from a thoughtful plan that doesn’t require tinkering or overhaul.
Syndicated financial columnist Steve Savant interviews retirement income certified professional and investment adviser representative Tripp LeFerve on Navigating Risks in Retirement. Right on the Money is a weekly financial talk show for consumers, distributed as video press releases to 280 media outlets and social media networks nationwide.
