A 2nd Opinion is Important When it Comes to Maximizing Your Retirement

by | Nov 11, 2020 | Retirement Planning

For decades getting a second opinion has been a staple practice when it comes to major expenses like medical procedures and major home renovations.  Heck, even getting multiple quotes for car insurance sometimes saves us considerable amounts of money.  

Retirement planning is no different and, frankly, a second opinion may even be MORE important when it comes to maximizing your retirement lifestyle and making sure you never run out of money.   From our experience most people are giving up 20%-30% of their retirement income and/or are on track to pay far more income tax than needed during their Golden Years.  

In addition to this, retirement plans are dynamic and need continual tracking and updating as our lives, investment products, and tax laws change.  Similar to driving a car, where you are constantly correcting your steering to stay on track, getting to and through retirement requires continual tweaking and adjusting.   Just ask yourself: “When was the last time I had a fresh set of eyes review my current Mortgage Plan, Estate Plan, Retirement Plan, Insurance Plan and Tax Plan to make sure that they are each up to date AND are working harmoniously together?”  What we usually hear is “Never”

For this reason, we are offering our “Financial Inspection and Second Opinion” service which, much like a home inspection, can only lead to good news.  Either every part of your current plan is perfect or we will find that you can make some improvements that will add to your quality of life…always great news.  

Here’s a small sample of the many tests and check-ups we will be using as we evaluate your current retirement plan: 

  • The MERIT Planning Test (Testing for comprehensiveness and efficiency)
    • Is there a current:
      • Mortgage Plan?
      • Estate Plan?
      • Retirement Plan?
      • Insurance Plan?
      • Tax Plan?  
    • When were these plans last reviewed and brought up to date?  
    • Are they working efficiently together or against each other? 
  • The Five Lives of Retirement Test (Testing for Risk and Thoroughness)
    • Will you and your family be ok in each of the following situations: 
      • Long Life (If you run out of money will you still have income?)
      • Short LIfe (If one of you passes away will the remaining family members still have enough the same income to maintain the same quality of life?)
      • Rough Life (Do you have a sufficient emergency fund and is it earning the highest returns possible?)
      • Sick Life (Are you prepared for the high costs of Long Term Care Expenses? Statistics show that 70% of us will need some form of care in the future)
      • The Next Life (If and when you pass away, will your assets transfer to your heirs in the best way possible?)
  • The Five Rs Asset Optimization Test (Testing for Easy Improvements)
    • Would it be helpful to: 
      • Redirect (Any monthly contributions to a more favorable investment)
      • Refinance (Can we upgrade any of your current financial tools to increase rate of return, increase income or extend how many years you are covered perhaps?)
      • Refocus (Are you saving Enough?  Does this include the cost of inflation? Will your spouse be ok if you suddenly passed away?)
      • Reallocate (How much of your net worth is in each asset class?  Are you using all available asset classes?)
      • Reduce (Can we reduce any of your expenses, reduce your fees, reduce your taxes, consolidate debt or even reduce the number of years you have to wait to retire?)
  • Stress Testing (Testing your current strategies to be prepared for future disruptions)
  •  In addition to these we will also use our Zero Percent Tax Bracket Test, Real Cost of Fees Test, 2008 Stress Test and Real Rate of Return Test to make sure that you and your family are on track to the best retirement lifestyle possible.   

You make very smart decisions when you see clearly and we have helped thousands of families see more clearly into their current situation so that they can make the best decisions possible.   

Your privacy is very important to us. We have very strict privacy policies and will not contact your existing advisor or broker without your prior written approval. 

Our comprehensive “Financial Inspection and Second Opinion” service starts at $750 unless there’s a coupon code in the top right-hand side of this for.  backside of the card or brochure. If you have a coupon code that means that one of our advisors has compensated us on your behalf and you will not be charged our normal fee.  

To discuss our services, or if you have any questions or would just like more information, please don’t hesitate to contact us …. us at   (  )   or email us by filling out the form below.

How about saying, something like we continual improvement program. Our fee will be waived in exchange for filling out a review and giving us feedback on our service.

Michael, to me it seems like this would better be covered once the lead came in.  Explain that our review is not “free” but rather subsidized by the agent who gave them the card AND that we have two rules…..breaking either one would trigger the $750 immediately:

  1. You may not take our financial plans or solutions to other financial professionals unless we are a part of that meeting and allowed to hold that other advisor accountable for what they say.  
  2. You record a very short audio or video testimony after we have completed your inspection and share whether it was helpful or not.