Denton County Living Well Magazine July/August 2016 | Page 12

Your Financial Advisor is Your
Best Friend in Retirement

“I

By Mike Reed, AIF and Collin C. Grover, CFP
’ve decided to retire soon, and I need some
help.”

As financial advisors, we hear this a lot. Most
people know that retirement planning involves
considering expenses and managing income from assets,
pensions, and other sources. What they often don’t realize
is that cash flow management, while important, is only one
component of the complex series of moving parts that make
up a retirement plan.
Retiring is a process that requires
time and careful
planning—a lifetime of savings
can be derailed
by a few misguided choices
during the transition to retirement. Engaging
a financial advisor can ease this
transition. Their
knowledge and
experience can make a complex process considerably less painful and with their help, you can create a plan and timeline that
you are comfortable with.
A financial advisor is your best friend in retirement. Even
if you have multiple advisors working on different parts of
your plan, it is essential to have at least one advisor who
knows the entire story. This ensures nothing is missed.
A financial advisor should be able to provide examples
of how they have helped other clients in situations similar
to yours, and they should assist you in setting a balanced
exposure to various asset classes based on your individual
financial situation and goals. Moreover, because nobody
can predict the future, flexibility in your retirement plan
should be considered necessary, not optional.
Your financial advisor can answer your most pressing questions: Will I run out of money? Will I be able to maintain my
lifestyle? Can I buy a sports car?

They can also help account for the many aspects of a retirement plan, including:
• Maximizing your savings in the last few years of
employment and exploring investment vehicles, like
Roth IRAs, to assist in this process
• Divesting company stock options, keeping in mind
any tax or diversification consequences
• Considering healthcare costs and how to transition
to Medicare
• Pension claiming strategies and lump sum
considerations
• Understanding Social Security claiming strategies
(which were changed by a new law in April 2016)
• Looking into long-term healthcare options
• Recognizing all these factors in the context of your
assets, other sources of income, goals and needs,
and your individual situation

A committed financial advisor will stay engaged after
you transition from work to retirement, proactively reaching out about any tax or estate planning rule changes
that may affect your retirement. They’ll also stay up to
date on changes in your life and your goals. Some of the
questions we’ve heard from retired clients (and worked
with them to resolve) are:
• What’s the best way to minimize our taxes?
• How do we change our legacy plan?
• Our family situation has changed. How do we start saving
for our new grandchild’s college education?
• Living in the North is cold and no longer fun. Can I buy a
house somewhere warm?
• We want to travel more. Can we afford it?

An advisor is equipped to answer these and any other
questions you have pertaining to your retirement.
Whether retirement is still years away or rapidly approaching, it’s a good idea to consult a financial advisor to make
sure that you’re on track to achieve your financial needs
and goals. They’re able to help you assess all the viable
alternatives and provide support and discipline along the
way. When considering retirement, a committed financial
advisor should be your first call.

At Portfolio Solutions®, we design, implement, and maintain
dedicated portfolios using low-cost, passive investing methods so our
clients keep more of what the global markets offer. We would rather
see investors earn more by controlling their investment costs than by
taking unneeded, additional risk in their portfolios.
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DENTON COUNTY Living Well Magazine | JULY/AUGUST 2016