Clients typically have multiple financial goals. Often the most significant goal is Pre-retirement planning. 

How will I afford to retire? Will I be able to enjoy retirement as I hope? Will I run out of money during retirement? How would unexpected medical expenses and poor health change my financial picture? How can I cover home health care, assisted living, or nursing home expenses?

Sound retirement planning is broad and inclusive. 

What cash flow will social security, pensions, and annuities provide when I retire? When should I start taking social security?  How will inflation change my standard of living after retirement? Should I convert my traditional IRA into a Roth IRA? Is my IRA beneficiary designation consistent with my estate plan? Should I have long term care insurance? How do I make arrangements to care for those who depend on me after my death? Do I need a trust? 

When you plan for retirement, there are many uncertainties and few if any guarantees. 

We provide objective and unbiased information to help make sound financial decisions. This process offers you these benefits:

  • Greater confidence about the future.
  • An understanding of the key variables that impact financial security in retirement.
  • An understanding of alternatives that may improve the likelihood of achieving financial security.
  • Peace of mind regarding personal finances.

The important first step is to envision your retirement.

Next, your personal goals and objectives must be quantified and prioritized. You may not have a clear vision of life after retirement but will benefit from starting the thought process. Sometimes this is referred to as “life planning.” At Jones Financial, we feel the process of planning for your specific objectives is more important than the label placed on the process.

Discussion of investments and investment returns is meaningless unless you first identify and prioritize your future financial objectives. 

No two investors are identical. It is important to consider your risk tolerance using four key factors. This process is both science and art and cannot be done adequately with a simple questionnaire or with a short discussion. This is even more important when advising a couple that does not share the same risk tolerance.

We will create and stress test projections to determine the likelihood that you will meet your financial objectives in retirement. It is easy to model multiple retirement scenarios to consider alternative objectives or to anticipate and adapt to surprises. In addition, the projections are updated for changes in your objectives, in your current financial situation, or in the financial markets.

We will review your current investment portfolio. This process will aggregate all assets invested for the same objective such as retirement or education funding. You may have retirement assets in several IRAs in different locations as well as one or more 401k plans. In addition, you may have a portfolio of after-tax investments not held in a retirement plan or IRA. The review considers overall asset allocation, diversification, the quality of individual investments, tax efficiency, and investment expenses.