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Hubby and I are going to see a retirement analyst/specialist tomorrow...
Are there any questions we should be asking him about our retirement other than can we afford to live? Any advice?
He comes highly recommended and is familiar with my husbands city job so he's familiar with the pension plan etc,
I've heard some horror stories about financial guys taking a percentage but this guy charges a flat fee for this consultation.
We don't plan on signing anything or moving any of our funds during our visit with him but we will take any suggestions he offers and check them out.
I won't be around til later to answer any questions if anyone has any but I look forward to your input.
thanks..
Good advice to yourself.
If you have not try searching for articles on retirement, safe withdrawal rates etc. The big on line brokerage and mutual fund companies have retirement sections so read those.
Estate questions might be in order if you have reasons you want to leave money to someone.
Trusts might be in order but be carefull. Most people do not need trusts to minimize probate.
Ask how your assets should be titled. Just you and or husband and then beneficiaries (no probate)
Start out by giving him a brief summary of your problems including non financial. Then listen to how well he does in digging into the details. If he does not dig then how can he help you? For example if you have a child that is a spendthrift and can not manage money try saying you have a child that has problems managing their household budget. In this case the answer might be a trust but you are trying to evaluate how good the advisor is so do not give him the whole story in your introduction.
Remember this is your first meeting and he will not want to offend you so try and make it clear he should not hold back on his questions because you realize he needs to understand your situation to give good advice.
Did he tell you to bring any documents? I think he should have. He will need to know all your assets, may want to look at your tax return. This could be for follow up meetings.
Lets say you bring a listing of your assets and he says you need a different allocation. Listen to see if he mentions how much you will have to pay in capital gains taxes if you sell and reallocate.
That's a good question Escort Rider. I'll ask him what happens if either of us die. I hate to even think of that question though.
Capital gains is another thing we'd have to ask about.
I'm making a list of questions and I plan on recording the meeting because I know once we get home hubby and I will forget half of what he says. Even though we've both read up on retirement and finances we don't understand a lot of it. I just hope this guy can explain to us and offer suggestions on how to get the most out of our money.
The financial planner already has all our financial docs and tax returns. He asked that we mail them to him so he can look them over before we meet.
I've been so concentrated on whether my husband and I can afford retirement that I never even gave any consideration to our kids. I think we could handle that part with a will though. We're comfortable but not wealthy by any means so there shouldn't be much to leave them anyway. I'll see if the planner brings that up though and what his suggestions are.
Don't forget about taxes. Also, a list of "WHAT IF health, emergency, death, market declines, etc - questions (and your own anticipated answers) will help you get the information you really need, instead of just "Where should we invest our money" questions!
I've been so concentrated on whether my husband and I can afford retirement that I never even gave any consideration to our kids.
The question is do you want to leave any money to them or maybe give them some substantial gifts to help with the purchase of a home, a divorce etc etc. If you do the planner has to know this.
Don't forget about taxes. Also, a list of "WHAT IF health, emergency, death, market declines, etc - questions (and your own anticipated answers) will help you get the information you really need, instead of just "Where should we invest our money" questions!
The question is do you want to leave any money to them or maybe give them some substantial gifts to help with the purchase of a home, a divorce etc etc. If you do the planner has to know this.
Unless a major catastrophe occurs we have no plans to give them any money at this point in time. They all pretty much have secure jobs and have their own homes anyway.
What do you want to get out of the session? I would make out a list and make sure you hit all items. There is some reason you signed up, so be clear on what that was.
To be better prepared, think about how you want to live during retirement, such as a budget. The easiest way to do that is start with your current expenses and see which will go away, and also what new ones will appear. The advisor will help match your budget to your sources of retirement income.
I can tell you that for us, half of our expenses are just 3 things: Healthcare, taxes, and setting money aside for unplanned, infrequent expenses, like a new roof, major car repair, things like that. The latter are very hard to plan for because they are unknown but they need to have money set aside for so you are not caught unexpected.
Think about your lifestyle - travel? big house or small house? One or two cars?
Think about whether you want to leave money for kids. It makes a huge difference if you are spending it all, or keeping some to pass on.
The person is going to ask you for your risk tolerance. That is really hard for people who are not used to investing. But basically it means can you stomach watching your money yo-yo up and down. The more you are able to tolerate that fluctuation, the more money you can make off investing. But if you are not used to it it can be very stressful.
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