We talked last time about how timing is everything when it comes to retirement and how to ensure your success over the long haul. Did you know that 10,000 people in North America will retire today while you’re watching this video, and 10,000 people every single day for the next 10 to 15 years? That’s a tsunami, and if you’re one of them, I hope you don’t get Beats before you even get a job.
Hello, my name is Dave Dooley, a 40-year veteran of financial markets who works with thousands of pre-retirees at a fiduciary firm in the local North Atlanta area. If you stay tuned here for a few minutes, I’m going to give you sound advice on taking three critical steps to set the stage for success before or in retirement. These are mistakes we see every day, and the great news is there are simple fixes. So let’s dive right in and get started with number one, get things consolidated and get your house in order. Get your finances in order. Get your finances in order. It sounds easy, but it drives me nuts to see how lazy people are not getting the first step done, having three IRAs. Money market accounts, savings CDs, checking accounts, brokerage accounts, and life insurance policies are all examples of financial instruments. It’s just too much.
For one thing, you’re trying to keep things simple in retirement and easy to understand if your spouse or children need to take over in the future. If you can’t explain what you have and where it’s all located in less than three minutes, you’re already off to a bad start. Secondarily, by not consolidating the amount of overlap between accounts and trying to maximize returns, it is almost impossible to track effectively if things are scattered all over the place. When people say to me, “Dave, my account’s up today or it’s down,” the question is, “Why is it up or why is it there? What caused it to increase or decrease? What positions moved where?” If I’ve got six different accounts, it’s too difficult to decipher, and last on consolidation is making sure a counselor is named properly with correct beneficiary information, which maximizes tax advantages and sets the stage for a smooth transition in the future.
The second crucial step is: who do I use as my advisory team? Who’s going to be my third eye? Proverbs tells us that where there are many counselors, there is much wisdom, and if you don’t trust the Bible, Vanguard has done a study that shows repeatedly that most people who use professional advisors outperform the do-it-yourselfers by over 75 percent. Now that’s a big number. Use a firm that you can drop by the sea regularly or that you can zoom in regularly as life changes occur, and believe me, things will change even in retirement. The average person today in the US is retired at age 66, whereas that number was 62 not long ago, and spending over 25 years in retirement. That’s a long time, and it’s increasing because we’re not planning. Use a firm that has all the experts in one location. money managers Insurance experts legal advice tax accountants, this is huge. There are questions we get every day, and it takes a team to effectively answer them.
When should I start my social security income? When do I pull the trigger on my IRA? Which account do I draw down first and how do I reallocate my investments to protect my principal from market losses? What Medicare coverage do I need? Should I self-insure for nursing home or home care coverage? And the list goes on. It’s exhaustive, and it requires several experts in different fields to review it and make sure we get off to a good start. If your firm doesn’t have experts in each of these areas, run. If they’re just handling your portfolio investments and nothing else, it’s time to make a change. Set a date and a time now.
Write out your questions. Make a plan now. That sounds easy enough, I know, but listen to me carefully. I don’t care if you’re 30 or 75; these first two steps will set the stage for SAS, but if you ever get started, you’re already way behind. Tell yourself today, “I’m getting this done; I’m making a plan today.” Here’s what I would say to you: Let us help you. Below you’ll see the “show more” button, and there you’ll find our website. You can Fill out the information and we will send you a free data kit. It helps you get the ball rolling and is organized to even ask the right questions. Better yet, you can pick up the phone. Call us, and one or more of our advisors will walk you through the questions you should be asking yourself. I hope this video was helpful to you. Click on the Subscribe button below or ring the bell if you want to continue to be notified when great content is posted. See you next time.
