Revise Your Plan Now
What a decade this has been for retirement planning! Coming out of The Great Recession and into COVID-19 has many Americans nearing retirement considering not retiring as they have planned. Sometimes revising your financial plan and way of thinking is all you need to make retiring on time a reality. Consider these portfolio revisions that may help you find resourceful ways to retire, regardless of the conditions:
Decrease the cost of your portfolio’s holdings
If your portfolio contains investments that are not producing returns to validate its expense, lower-cost investments may meet your needs. The cost of investing is decreasing; are yours reflecting this?
Move from a commission to a fee structure
In the past, advisors received compensation only through commissions. Each time an investor contributed to their investment accounts they would pay a commission. Now, advisors are choosing to receive compensation for the advice and assets they manage instead of commission.
The more assets under management and increasing performance, the greater the compensation advisors receive since they charge based on the AUM’s (assets under management) value. When the portfolio’s value decreases, so does their compensation, which saves you money if the portfolio’s value drops.
Include Advanced Retirement Savings Products
A down market can be devastating if it happens early in retirement. An asset class including annuities hinders the premature liquidation of market-sensitive assets, allowing the portfolio’s market-sensitive assets to recover before liquidating. Unless you are in the RMD phase, you can choose which assets to liquidate first, and so on, and start the annuitization process. Your advisor additionally may offer other types of investments that are not market-sensitive and appropriate for your circumstance.
Look for holistic planning partnerships
Building portfolios are part of the advisor-client relationship, but advisors can provide financial advice, tax planning, estate planning, insurance planning, and other services through their association with other professionals. These include tax and legal professionals whose services may offer a reduced rate or as part of the fees you already pay your advisor.
If you are considering not retiring due to our current public health and economic situation, now is an excellent time to evaluate your retirement portfolio. Retiring while healthy and having the financial means may be the best decision for you.
Need to revisit your retirement plan?
