We believe these are the three fundamental aspects of money management. A sound retirement plan must provide a good balance of all three – safety, reliable income; liquidity, so that cash is accessible in emergencies; and growth, so that you beat inflation, grow your portfolio to replenish income needs, and leave an inheritance.

What might a good balance include? Liquid investments may include cash, savings, and money market accounts. Low-risk investments may include short-term bonds, insurance products, and bank certificates of deposit. Slightly more aggressive, but still reasonably conservative choices, include fixed income investments, such as corporate or government bonds. Growth investments could include individual stocks and real estate, for example.

Make sure that your retirement plan is well balanced. Schedule a free consulting session at www.mysecondopiniontoday.com for a cup of coffee and second opinion on your current path to retirement.

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One couple came to my office saying they wanted to retire in about five years, at age 60, and they wanted to pay for the kids’ college educations, and they wanted to pay for two daughters’ weddings. “Those are noble goals,” I told them, and I figured they must have the assets to handle them. But all they had was $50,000 in an IRA. I gave them the bad news: They would need to keep working, and they couldn’t afford those tuitions and weddings.

When people hear that, they sometimes search for somebody who tells them otherwise and will validate their opinion. And then they may enter dangerous territory. Never forget: Fearsome creatures can get you in Distribution Land. Visit www.familywealthadvisory.com for more information on how to start laying suitable plans for your future.

Your financial planner should be in the business of helping people thrive in retirement, not patting their backs as they head into peril. That’s why so much emphasis should be placed on defining goals and organizing life priorities; that’s one of the best ways for you to organize your finances.

Who Is The Client, You Or Your Money_

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What about the retired couple who get a phone call one day from their daughter—her husband has left me, she cries, and may I come home with the kids and the dog? All of a sudden they’re buying food for six instead of two, and replacing the carpet.

Or maybe it’s you who are getting the divorce; the rate among people in their 70s is higher than ever*. It doesn’t take much imagination to see what that does to a retirement plan.

Life situations, in other words, have the power to propel you prematurely into Distribution Land, or send you packing back to Accumulation Land. But most all of those situations can be anticipated. You may be able to head them off at the pass.

Retirees need specific advice on longevity planning, managing withdrawals from retirement funds, transferring wealth to heirs, and many other complex issues besides how to allocate their assets. Too often, the focus is on the money and not the humanity.

*Age Power by Ken Dychwald (2000)

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Jerry was unhappier than ever. He thought retirement was going to mean his freedom. What it meant was that he abandoned the little bit of stability he had. And he didn’t have enough money to take his boat out fishing—and that’s his main hobby. He had a pension and a decent amount of money, but he and Jean still felt strapped.

Jerry’s strategy was to spend as little as possible and let the savings grow and also delay his Social Security so that they would have more later—or rather, so that Jean would have more later. He wanted to make sure Jean would be all right without him.

This is an often-typical retirement story. Americans are retiring by the millions, and many others are coming to see that it’s crucial to carefully plan for retirement. So many people pull up their roots in retirement and leave their whole social circle. They start anew, far from home. No longer are they near friends and family. No longer do they see their acquaintances at work. If their career has ended, they may feel they have lost a sense of purpose.

In addition to a whole new lifestyle, fear holds so many people back. Some even hoard, fretting unnecessarily, while others seem oblivious about very real dangers they are facing. It goes both ways. The point is that you may need help. Visit www.distributionland.com for a free chapter of Distribution Land, and start to understand what you need to consider first as you enter retirement. You need to be able to get a grip on what your financial state truly is. A professional advisor can work with you to help you pursue a pleasant and stable retirement in an effort to avoid a situation like Jerry, unhappy and unsure of your retirement future.

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Thinking through these matters of finances, dreams, priorities and concerns is paramount, particularly as you and your spouse plan together. A good advisor should strive to understand his or her client’s and even help to uncover priorities and goals before crafting a financial plan for retirement. An advisor should help you identify how you feel about money and what you believe it should accomplish.

The right questions that you should be asked examine your past, present and future as well as at the roots of your relationship with money. What were your first experiences with it? What was it like in the household where you grew up? The advisor should ask to hear from both husband and wife. This helps to ensure both are on the same page and helps to see areas where each thinks about money differently so the advisor knows how to approach building a plan that works.

I have seen it all – couples that have had all the right discussions and know what the other wants and others who through the process learn a lot. For example, as I talked with one couple, the husband told me about his dream of cruising around the Keys in a sailboat and visiting the islands. “I’m not doing that,” his wife said. “I get seasick. No way.” Wouldn’t you think they would have already talked about that? But it’s not unusual for one spouse to look at the other and say, “I never knew you thought that.”

Start with your priorities, individual and shared. It will help you and your spouse make the right financial decisions later on and allow the advisor to structure your retirement around those shared priorities.

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