Re-evaluating retirement plans in July’s Advisor’s Edge

(July 4, 2003) If your clients were nearing retirement when the markets hit the skids, the prolonged downturn could be turning the dream of early retirement into a prayer for any retirement, period. That’s the predicament tackled in “Time is Expiring,” the cover story in July’s Advisor’s Edge.

“You have people that are in their late to mid-fifties who may have hoped to retire in the next couple of years,” says Advisor’s Edge managing editor Deanne Gage, who wrote the story. “They’re not going to be able to now, or they might have to readjust their financial plans.”

During the tech bubble, it was sometimes hard to convince clients of the need to diversify. Now that their retirement nest egg is pretty much scrambled, they need your help more than ever. But how do you tell an aging snowbird that he can’t afford his days in the sun?

“Time is expiring for these people and decisions made now will greatly impact how things turn out in 10 years time for them,” Gage says.

Also featured in the July issue is a look at an emerging trend in employee compensation.

Some employers are now offering financial planning services as a group benefit. Assistant editor Sheila Avari looks at the fiduciary responsibilities of advisors offering services in the corporate benefit environment in “Catering to the Group.”

“It’s great if you want to cater to the group market as an effort to create new business,” Gage says. “But at the end of the day you do have certain responsibilities to these employers and employees and I think that this story does a great job of illustrating what those responsibilities are.”

This market can be very lucrative for the advisor who is ready to cross-market and offer a complete range of products.

“Our Edge” is a monthly feature that shares the acquired wisdom of veteran advisors in their own words. July’s column looks at the secrets of success for three conservative brokers in Montreal who together manage over $1 billion in assets.

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To enhance the action plan for clients who want to retire sooner rather than later found in the July issue of Advisor’s Edge, Advisor.ca has assembled a special online package full of expert advice and to help you help your clients review, rethink and reset their retirement plans and expectations. Read our special report entitled “Resetting retirement: Your guide to managing shifting plans and expectations” by clicking here.

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Filed by Steven Lamb, Advisor.ca slamb@rmpublishing.com