Retirement Planning

You probably have big plans for your retirement. Perhaps you want to travel the world or even relocate to a favorite destination. Maybe you want to pursue a favorite hobby or learn something new. Or you may simply want to enjoy your free time and relax with family and friends.

Whatever your goals, retirement can be one of the biggest financial challenges you will ever face. It’s possible that you could live in retirement for decades. In order to support your desired lifestyle, you’ll likely rely on income from Social Security, savings, investments, and possibly even a pension.

A recent study from Gallup found that more than 50 percent of Americans are concerned that they won’t have enough income to reach their retirement goals. The good news is that you can minimize your risk and strengthen your chances of reaching your goals by developing a comprehensive retirement plan.

At Portfolio Advisors, we create and implement customized, holistic retirement strategies for our clients. This planning work allows us to develop a  savings and investment strategy that anticipates any possible threats. Our clients use this planning work to enter retirement with confidence.

Have you created your retirement strategy? If not, now may be the time to do so. Below are some of the steps included in our planning process:

Fact Finding

The only way to create a custom plan is to understand your unique goals, needs, and concerns. We start our planning process with a fact-finding phase so we can better understand what is most important to you.

Much of this phase is based around conversation. We’ll discuss your vision for retirement and what possible risks and threats could undermine that vision. We’ll talk about your concerns and what issues may be causing the most anxiety for you. And we’ll discuss your current savings and investment strategy and where you feel there may be areas for improvement.

During our fact-finding period, we’ll also review your current savings and investments. This could include assets held in:

• IRAs
• 401(k), 403(b) and other employer-based plans
• Pensions
• Deferred compensation plans
• Non-qualified brokerage accounts
• Insurance and Annuities

This review will help us understand your current financial status so that we may begin the process of developing a customized over-arching strategy.

Needs Analysis

To assist us in assessing your needs, we use sophisticated software planning tools, along with healthy dialogue, to ensure that we have captured them.  After we understand your needs and goals, we start developing a strategy to help  bridge any potential gaps. We estimate your spending needs based on your expected bills and cost-of-living. We also consider needs that may not be reflected in your current budget, such as inflation, out-of-pocket healthcare costs, and the need for long-term care.

This analysis results in a projected outcome  for your retirement. We’ll estimate your spending needs and then analyze your projected retirement income to identify any possible gaps. For instance, we may estimate your Social Security benefits, pension payments, retirement account distributions, and other sources of income.   

If our analysis reveals that your projected income won’t  cover your anticipated expenses, you will have a savings gap that you’ll have to overcome. We’ll discuss ways in which you can eliminate that gap. One method may be to increase your savings rate. Another may be to adjust your investment strategy. You could also make changes to your retirement goals to reduce your spending needs. Through conversation and collaboration, we develop a series of action steps and strategies to help eliminate any potential income gap.

Investment Planning

Saving is a critical component of any successful retirement strategy. However, saving alone likely won’t be enough to help you reach your goals. You also have to grow your retirement assets.

Your goals and concerns are unique, so your investment strategy should be unique, too. At Portfolio Advisors, we create a custom strategy based on your specific goals, needs, and risk tolerance. We utilize passively-managed  mutual funds to provide broad diversification, reduce costs, and increase portfolio efficiency. We then implement the agreed-upon strategy and review it with you often, making changes as your needs or risk tolerance change.

Ongoing Review

A retirement strategy is an evolving plan. Life can change quickly. As life throws curveballs your way, your vision for the future could change too. You may decide you want to work later into life or, conversely, retire earlier. You may wish to leave a legacy for your kids and grandchildren. Maybe you want to be active in charitable causes.

Last, But Not Least

Whatever form your retirement vision takes, we at Portfolio Advisors  are here to help you adjust your plan so it aligns with your needs and goals. Retirement may be a sizable financial challenge, but there’s no reason for you to tackle  it alone. A trusted advisory team  can help you avoid threats and achieve your biggest dreams. Let’s connect soon and start the conversation.