Retirement is a life goal many of us spend our working days dreaming about. Ideally, retirement years are spent finally relaxing, spending time with the family, and doing exactly what we want, when we want. However, in this dream, many of us also ignore the realities of retired living and the hurdles to ensuring you are setting yourself up to live comfortably. If you don’t start financially planning well before the end of your career, the dream may not become reality.
I’ll be the first to admit that finance is not my specialty skill. In fact, it’s extremely far down the list. I know I’m doing the right things, like contributing to my 401k, building strong savings an emergency accounts, and keeping my debt low. However, beyond that, I needed professional assistance. That’s where the financial advisor experts at Personal Capital came in.
Hire A Financial Advisor
In order to smartly prepare for retirement, the number one task on your list should be hiring an expert financial advisor. Financial advisors are actively involved in the current market and work with their clients to budget, build concrete and realistic retirement plans, maximize investment potential, and regularly meet to adjust the plan based on the client’s current circumstances and future goals. Talk about instant peace of mind!
Aside from instant peace of mind, a good financial advisor provides many benefits for their clients. Here are the top benefits of hiring a financial advisor:
- Identify concrete retirement goals and build a plan to meet them.
- Analyze debt and strategize how to eliminate it.
- Determine how to maximize retirement investment accounts.
- Consider tax implications.
- Stay up to date on current and future trends of Social Security.
- Aid in providing for long-term health care expenses.
- Plan for the unexpected.
Why Personal Capital?
Personal Capital emerged in 2009 with two main goals: prioritize the client and integrate the knowledgeable, personalized financial advice of their experts with modern technology to assist in objective decision-making. Their advisors work closely with their clients to build a trustworthy relationship and a unique retirement plan based on each individual’s current lifestyle and long-term goals. Additionally, their modern tools allow for each client to regularly monitor their customized plan’s progress and provide actionable analytics. Their strategy works — as of May 2021, Personal Capital is responsible for actively managing nearly $20 billion in client assets.
Personal Capital Retirement Planning Tools
When you decide to hire a Personal Capital financial advisor as your retirement expert, you also immediately get access to their advanced and easy-to-use reporting tools and calculators. Whether curious about your current debt and paydown progress, your monthly budget and spending history, or simply how much money you should be saving annually to hit your retirement goal, they provide client tools that allow you to do so quickly.
Retirement Savings Report
The Retirement Savings Report shows the client how much money to be saving annually to have at least a 70% chance of reaching their target retirement goals. Once retired, the Savings Planner converts to the Smart Withdrawal Planner™, which helps advise the client on how to avoid major tax penalties when withdrawing funds.
Emergency Fund Calculator
The Emergency Fund Calculator dynamically updates based on the client’s budget. Emergency funds should have enough money to cover 3-6 months of expenses (including mortgage, groceries, etc.), and this tool uses the individual’s Monthly Budget to generate a target amount to save.
Debt Paydown Report
The Debt Payment Report displays all debt balances (including mortgage, loans, and credit cards) in one place and allows the client to track their progress on paying each down.
Savings Report And Recommendations
The Savings Report is an exclusive report for Personal Capital clients. This report provides savings targets by account level in order to help the client grow their savings faster. It also advises the client whether to focus on paying down debt, building up their emergency fund, or storing money in long-term savings.
To find out more about Personal Capital and their retirement planning services or try their Retirement Calculator for free, click here.
