The Three Stages of Retirement

By Jackie Heater, Director of Client Relations

 

Retirement can be scary. For many people, their job or career has been their identity for so long that losing that identity in retirement can create uncertainty. Suddenly, you aren’t sure who you are or what you want to do with your time – and that’s in addition to the worry of whether you’ve saved enough money.

The GWA team is intentionally built with each professional having their own unique specialty, working together for our clients. That old coach motivation of There is no “I” in team may seem corny, but GWA truly believes and embodies that.

With retirement, I’ve observed three stages of clients over the years:

Client #1 – Early Pre-Retirement

The client who’s in their late 40s to early 50s, the children are grown and almost out of the house, they have advanced in their careers and are in mid to upper management, have good salaries and have contributed to their retirement plans.

They start thinking about retirement and they have a lot of plans and dreams – now they want to know if they’ve saved enough money and how much longer they need to work. With this client, we build their plan based on their current assets and their wish list. In most cases, they are pleasantly surprised that they have done a good job saving for retirement.

Client #2 – At or Near Retirement

This is the client that has worked in the same career for years, loves their job and feels that it’s their identity. They are ready to retire, but are scared that they don’t know who they are and will no longer have a purpose.

Putting their financial plan to work for them can help them realize that they don’t need to worry about income and can find a new purpose.

Client #3 – In Retirement

This is the client who is already in retirement. This client is comfortable with their cash flow, they’re traveling, spending time with grandkids and volunteering, but they are constantly adding ideas to their wish list. Maybe they can’t do everything on their wish list, but a fluid financial plan helps them set priorities by deciding what is the most important to them.

Helping All Stages of Retirement

With market volatility, rising food and gas prices, rising interest rates and taxes – now more than ever, you need a team that will not only monitor your investments, but will help you with tax planning, cash flow and estate planning. We provide added value through collaboration among our team as well as collaboration with your CPA and attorney. We’ll meet with you at least once a year – and in many cases twice a year – to make sure that life changes haven’t changed your goals or risk tolerance.

Even if you are currently working or if you are living on a fixed income, we want to be sure that the income to which you are accustomed continues in retirement. We will build a financial plan that isn’t a one-and-done document but a live, fluid plan that will change constantly as your life changes.

We have technology that will stress test your portfolio to help ensure you aren’t taking more risk than you are comfortable with.

We can review your tax return and plan for the upcoming tax years.

We can plan for Roth conversions, Required Minimum Distributions (RMDs), monthly income distributions and Qualified Charitable Distributions (QCDs), and help you through the changes that come with the death of a spouse.

Not everyone does what we do, and we do it as a team. That’s where we provide value to our clients! As a client of GWA, you can be confident that we are working for you as a team.

Your lifestyle shouldn’t have to change just because you’ve retired – retirement is not the end of the road; it’s the beginning of the open highway. No matter what stage in life you are in, we can help you find the direction your highway is going.

If you would like to learn more, or you are interested in a complimentary consultation, schedule online or give us a call or text at 816-259-5060.

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