Looking for a financial advisor? Watch this FIRST! Here's how to find a financial advisor you can trust . . . a FIDUCIARY financial advisor who will put your best interests first and foremost.

You can find the full blog and links to downloads at RetireWire.com - just type in "how to find a financial advisor you can trust" in the search box.

Finding a financial advisor is easy, learning how to find a financial advisor you can trust is not easy. In this webinar, I break down the 5 steps to finding a financial advisor you can trust.

1. Find a fiduciary financial advisor. A fiduciary standard of care is the gold standard. A suitability standard is a very low bar to cross.

2. Learn how are financial advisors paid. There are commission financial advisors and fee-only financial advisors. Fee-based financial advisors take fees AND commissions.

3. Expect the right credentials such as the CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER designation or the Personal Financial Specialist designation. Additionally, make sure you're working with a financial advisor that specializes in what you need for example college planning, or divorce planning.

4. Use resources like the National Association of Personal Financial Advisors or the Garrett Planning Network to search for qualified financial advisors.

5. Interview them! I list some financial advisor interview questions and link some great financial advisor questionnaires for you to take to the interview.

From the Wealth Summit—September 2017—an interview with Dana Anspach regarding asset-liability matching for retirement income planning.

Dana is an expert in asset-liability matching as a retirement income strategy. See more and a full transcript on www.RetireWire.com

Dana Anspach

Asset-Liability Matching for Retirement Income Planning

In an ideal world, we would all experience incredibly high investment returns while experiencing zero volatility and risk. However, the markets obviously do not operate in such a way, which is why Dana Anspach, CEO, and Founder of Sensible Money, LLC, joins the Wealth Summit to discuss an asset-liability matching strategy that can help prepare you for retirement.

Key Points

-The Perfect Investment

-Accumulation vs. Decumulation

-Asset-Liability Matching Compared to Other Retirement Income Planning Strategies

-Other Retirement Income Strategies That May Make Sense

-Time Segmentation Approach

The perfect investment would accomplish the desired level of safety, income, and growth in a portfolio simultaneously, without having to sacrifice a portion of any category. This simply is not possible.

The sooner you realize this, the better off you’ll be in retirement. However, Dana will discuss a few sufficient alternatives.

The accumulation phase of your career follows the efficient frontier, which is the basis for how portfolios are structured. This frontier measures risk versus return.

The more stocks you add to the portfolio, the more you increase your potential for both return and volatility. The typical portfolio will be structured to maximize growth while minimizing risk.

One of the most important aspects of the decumulation phase is sequence risk, which depends on the time you withdraw your money from your portfolio. Dana’s graph stresses the importance of withdrawing money during an upturn in the market as opposed to during a downturn.

How does asset-liability matching compare to other retirement strategies? The “total return” approach works well in bull markets but can be scary in down markets. This plan uses your typical 60/40 allocation model.

The “income only” strategy focuses on high-yield dividend-paying hybrid investments. You only spend the divided. This plan experiences even more volatility during recessions than the “total return” strategy.

The “guaranteed income” approach is for those who need as much income as possible and typically consists of buying annuities.

Finally, the “asset-liability matching” approach matches investments to the point in time you’re going to need to use them.

Dana describes the time segmentation of asset-liability matching as laying down a railroad track as you drive down it. Five percent should be kept in cash, while thirty-five percent is put into fixed-income bonds. This fixed income should be divided into chunks and staggered out to be paid overtime.

The final sixty percent is in equities. As your equity portion experiences growth, the overflow of the equity bucket will pour into the fixed income bucket, adding an additional year or chunk of fixed income.

“What got you here, won’t get you there.” Retirement requires a different portfolio situation. While you can’t control the outcome, you can manage the risks. The ideal time to start exploring this asset-liability matching strategy is 10 years prior to retirement.

If you’re planning for retirement right now, chances are you’ve never actually been through it. In fact, most financial advisors have never even experienced retirement. In this interview, you will learn how to prepare for retirement both mentally and financially.

Benjamin Brandt, Founder and President of Capital City Wealth Management, teaches people how to retire. During his time as a fee-only financial planner, he’s observed that many people are disillusioned with how they will spend their time in retirement.

In this video, Greg and Benjamin discuss the importance of having awareness about what retirement will look like and then having something to retire to.

KEY TOPICS -What is a Retirement Rehearsal? -What is a Practice Retirement? -What is your Retirement Calling?

WHY CONSIDER A RETIREMENT REHEARSAL?

There is an intangibility about what retirement might look like. Many people think retirement is trips to Disney World with the grandkids, traveling around in an RV, and rounds of golf everyday, when in reality many retirees struggle to fill the 40 hour void left by the absence of a full-time job. Statistics show 52.4 billion dollars of unused vacation time is squandered every year—a 40 year high. While a few employers gift retirees vacation pay as they leave the workforce, it typically amounts to less than a fifth of the vacation pay that was actually earned. Wouldn’t it be helpful if we took advantage of this resource and used it to help us plan for retirement ahead of time? WHAT IS A RETIREMENT REHEARSAL? The first step is to make sure you have a written financial plan. The retirement rehearsal is useless if you can’t go back to a written plan and make the necessary adjustments. The retirement rehearsal is meant to give us a little dose of reality. Typically 2-5 years before retirement, Benjamin encourages his clients to use a few weeks of that valuable yet often underused vacation time to see what life after the 9-5 grind looks like. He encourages clients to stay at home and do absolutely nothing. You’ll see how your expenses during that time coincide with the amount your written financial plan has allotted. Boredom is the number one enemy of retirement, usually inciting an unplanned vacation or unnecessarily large purchase. Such an impulse move can drastically throw off your retirement plan. As Benjamin puts it, “you’re stealing from your 70, 80, and 90-year-old self.” Consider a retirement rehearsal so that you’ll head into retirement with a disciplined, prepared mindset about what the final phase of life looks like. WHAT IS A PRACTICE RETIREMENT? Many people conduct a retirement rehearsal and realize they’re not quite ready to fully retire yet. A “Practice Retirement” is phasing yourself out of your career in increments. A combination of retirement and career, either max out your vacation days or drop down to part-time work. You’ll begin to live like you’re retired, while still making contributions to your retirement accounts and allowing your portfolio to grow. WHAT IS YOUR RETIREMENT CALLING? Benjamin encourages his clients to create a lifestyle they do not want to retire from. If you have not already, figure out what you’re truly passionate about and begin to transition from your career to your calling. Often this is an excellent way to add an additional stream of income. Even though it might be minimal, it can do wonders to the size and longevity of your portfolio. If you’re passionate about playing guitar, consider teaching guitar lessons at a local music store. If you enjoy playing golf, consider giving lessons at the country club. Even if it’s just a few thousand dollars a year, when you take the phenomena of compound interest into account, this additional stream of income from pursuing your passion can either allow you to retire a little sooner or perhaps live a more opulent lifestyle throughout the next phase of your life. Retirement is full of unknowns, so do what you can in advance to prepare. A “Retirement Rehearsal” might be a good way to get a taste of what life will be like once you no longer work full-time. Once you conduct a retirement rehearsal, consider a “Practice Retirement” to help you phase into that next chapter of life. Finally, consider using your passions to create additional streams of income that will then add even more substance to your portfolio.

This episode of the RetireWire podcast is an interview with David Armes from Dover Healthcare Planning in Southern California. David was a Medicare counselor for several years before starting his own Medicare planning firm. He shares common pitfalls and mistakes retirees make when selecting and managing their Medicare plans and healthcare costs overall in retirement.

Ever wondered what is a structured note? How do structured notes work? In this episode of the RetireWire Podcast, I cover those to topics and share structured note examples from companies like Goldman Sachs, Barclays, and JP Morgan.