How we work together (BTS)
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If you don't know where you are going, any road will take you there." - old proverb Larry's planning strategy, with you, is to integrate all of the above processes targeted specifically towards your goals. "It is more about process than it is about product." Overall Philosophy How is Larry’s retirement planning different for you?
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Larry’s focus is on both phases of retirement planning. He provides you with your single number that you should save towards during your accumulation years. What is unique is that Larry does retirement planning in reverse by using the same distribution methodology, to calculate pre-retiree’s numbers, that he uses for managing retiree’s actual retirement income distributions during their retirement years. Most other companies or planners calculate the retirement number under one method for accumulation years, and then switch to a different method for distribution years. |
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The Hour Glass above - represents the conversion of your Human Capital that is derived from your working years, into the Financial Capital that could support your Standard of Individual Living during your retirement years.
Retirement Accumulation versus Distribution.
Having a retirement accumulation plan is not the same as having a retirement distribution plan. These two phases of retirement are opposites and are often confused by the generic term of retirement planning. Do you have a retirement distribution strategy? Has it been coordinated with your accumulation plan if you are not yet retired? There is more to this than just investing.
Four Simultaneous and Coordinated Processes ...
How we work together.
The Better Financial Education Process shows how we may work together to help you pursue your goals. An important part of the process is self discovery about your unique situation. That’s hard to do without an experienced, caring guide who can lead you through a financial planning process1 originally developed by the CFP® Board of Standards and designed to help you determine what you want to do. Financial plans developed through a defined process add to your independence, qualify of life, and piece of mind.
The next step is Investment Planning, where you efficiently align what you have with your goals and financial plan. 
Drawing on years of research and real-life experience, we simplify the complexities of trying to prioritize multiple financial planning issues. We seek to empower you with a clear understanding of your financial choices and what they mean for all your individual goals as you build upon, and evaluate potential risks to, your wealth and goals. Your guided journey through the process is what helps to crystallize potential solutions to the issues that are on your mind today.
Concerned about making your money last throughout your lifetime? This Retirement Distribution Process illustrates how you may plan, transition, and live on your resources during retirement, where income for your living expenses will come from your accumulated wealth instead of a paycheck. This process is based on withdrawal rate research2 which goes beyond simply investing and hoping for the best. There are benchmarks that will help you identify and evaluate options and choices as your life and markets change during your retirement years.
Larry’s methodology views the retirement challenge as simply a change in direction of which way your money flows when you transition, from working and accumulation years, to retirement and distribution years. This means that your "number" for the amount you need to save for retirement is consistent between both phases. Larry's clients do not need to change their plan between theses phases as they transition since retirement is for a lifetime, rather than simply an event. What is your retirement number?
Larry's Retirement Decision Rules help you focus on preparation rather than prediction. What decision do you make; how do you know when to make it; what do you once you've made it; and when do you go through this decision process to change things back again?
The Retirement Decision Rules form a supplement to your Investment Policy Statement (IPS).
Investor behavior determines your long run results according to a 2007 DALBAR study, where the average fund investor does not achieve the returns available to them from the broader markets. Structured Investing process, provides a methodology that may help you achieve broader market results to accomplish your goals. Structured Investing is more about process than about product.
Structured Investing helps us set the sails since no one can control the wind.
Investing by itself is like being on a raft. A plan provides the rudder. Your goals provide the destination to which you set your sails.
All four of the above processes are purposefully designed to integrate together in order to form a smooth transition through the various phases of your life.
A common error people make is to measure one investment against another. Investment results will differ as a result of different asset class mixtures which perform differently at different times. This is like measuring progress on a journey by the distance traveled - but what is the destination? Where are you trying to get to so fast? Is it even in the correct direction? A more appropriate measure of one's investments is to evaluate how they, in combination, are projected to achieve your goal. Progress can be measured more appropriately when your destination has also been considered.
8 Threats to Your Portfolio - This white paper explains why investors' portfolios may underperform in both bear and bull markets and incur substantial costs in the process. It also details the impact this chronic underperformance can have on achieving long term financial goals.
"There are risks and costs to a program of action. But they are far less than the long-range risks and costs of comfortable inaction." - John F. Kennedy
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A brief word about compensation**.
Two methods are available. You can choose one or both. The first method is based on the value of money directly managed on your behalf. Fees are deducted directly from the assets themselves. We do not assume discretionary authority for your funds, so you retain complete control. The second is a consulting arrangement, billed by the project or on an hourly basis. With this method, you are free to implement suggestions anywhere you choose. We will have a thorough discussion to determine which is best for your situation.
When we first meet, you will receive a complete written disclosure, developed under the guidelines of the CFP Board of Standards, about how we may work together.
**Fees, charges and expenses are detailed and disclosed through a written fee agreement prior to your becoming a client. Additional details are found in the Form ADV II, which is given to you at our first meeting together.
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