Pre-Retirees and Retirees

I remember the first time I called the number on the back of my credit card (more than 2 decades ago now). I don’t remember why I initially had to dial in to their customer service line, but I do remember that I wasn’t thrilled about it.

I was expecting the experience to be brutal — probably long hold times or an outsourced/overseas customer service team. Or maybe I’d have to deal with someone that was going to be rude or judgmental about what showed up on that month’s statement (I had a lot of golf ball purchases for a young, broke guy).

What actually happened was a total flip — the person on the other end of the line was not only friendly, knowledgable, and professional, she anticipated my needs and had my problems solved before I even knew I had problems.

It was a shockingly good experience. I felt gratitude for the person on the other end of the line. I felt like I was heard. I felt 100% satisfied with the interaction (and I still use that same credit card company 20 years later!).

That’s exactly how Brenda and I want you to feel — we want you to have a shockingly good experience.

And having great customer service is great, but it’s really the icing on the retirement income planning cake.

We are in the business of helping you turn your retirement assets into a clear, reliable retirement income plan.

And we’re looking to provide real value by avoiding costly, irreversible mistakes, becoming more tax-efficient, and preserving your purchasing power over the long-term. We want to save you time, money, and/or stress along the way.

For most pre-retirees and retirees, we’re working on answering questions like:

• Am I/are we going to be ok?

• How can we protect what we’ve built?

• When can I retire/make work optional?

• How much income will I have (and from where)?

• What if something happens to me (or my spouse)?

• How do I account for inflation, taxes, and healthcare?

• What risks should I be worried about?

• Which investments are right for me?

• Do I need a will or a trust?

• What if I inherit money?

• How can I legally lower my taxes?

• Should I have a Roth conversion plan?

• When should I take Social Security?

• What are my healthcare options?

• What about Medicare and IRMAA?

These questions get answered as we help you coordinate retirement income, investments, risk management, tax planning, and estate planning into an action plan for your unique situation.

A beautiful thing usually happens as we go — you start to have peace of mind about the future and you gain clarity, confidence and control about the best path forward.

You realize you have a fiduciary in your corner — a steady, calming guide in a noisy world.

And it frees up your time and attention so you can be more intentional about other things in your life. You travel more. You go see the kids and grandkids. You live your life. You worry less.

We like to think our process helps our clients live a happier, healthier, less stressful retirement. We’d love to have an opportunity to see if we could do the same for you.

If you need help as you transition to the next chapter (or if the next chapter isn’t everything you thought it could be so far), book an intro call with us.

You can book time directly onto our calendar using the link above or the button at the bottom of the page. We’ll get together via Zoom, a phone call, or (my favorite) on the golf course.

You don’t have to prepare anything for our intro call — having a rough idea of what you own, what you owe, and your income/expenses might be helpful (if we get to it) but it’s not necessary.

Generally, we’ll wait until The Clarity Session to start looking at the specifics. That session is after the intro call and is where we’ll start entering the numbers, looking at ballpark projections, and we’ll give you a 1-Page Plan with our top line thoughts a few days later.

And that 1-Page Plan is yours to keep whether we work together long-term or not by the way.

The reason we give this one-pager away and have two sessions before deciding to move forward together is this: the stakes are high for both of us and we want good long-term clients.

We would much rather take our time in the beginning than spend time, effort, and stress getting a business divorce later. Our process ensures that neither of us rushes into a business relationship.

So, who is a good fit to work with us long term? Fantastic question! If you hit two or more of the bullet points below, we’ll have a good starting point:

• You’re a good, kind person

• You’re within 10 years of retirement (before or after)

• Your decisions are starting to become more consequential

• You’re a golfer

• You’re health conscious

• You’re a life-long learner/working on being a better human

• You’re a traveler

• You’re a dog person

I honestly don’t want to say anything about politics here, but it’s unavoidable these days. And if we don’t address it early, we may end up regretting it later.

I lean conservative (sometimes more than “lean”, depending on the issue).

I don’t follow any party/leader/philosophy blindly, so I have my own (sometimes strongly-held) thoughts about pretty much everything. The gist is: I believe in less government, less regulation, and less taxes (and neither party does this well).

It shouldn’t be surprising (but often is) that I do also have a lot of clients that lean left — and we get along great! That’s because we respect each other.

I don’t know where/how that essential skill was lost (was it with social media, the pandemic, or something else?!). But I respect our clients’ views, opinions, and goals, and they respect the work we do for them.

Again, if you hit two or more of the things on the list above, we’re probably good to go. We have and likely will again waive our $1M asset minimum for good-fit clients that we enjoy and with whom we have things in common.

But if you don’t share much on that list with us and/or you can’t have a calm, thoughtful discussion about the world, politics, and religion, we probably won’t work long-term.

I hope that helps you get to know more about us and how we help pre-retirees and retirees. We’re here if and when you’re ready to get more intentional about your retirement income plan.

Click the button below to get the conversation started.