I love a good road trip. Growing up in Nebraska, almost anywhere worth going turned into one. And every road trip had essentials: questionable snack choices, way too much caffeine, and a fountain pop… ok, soda.
But road trips also require something more important: a plan, direction, destination, etc.
At TAG, The Advisory Group, we focus on five major categories, making sure they work together instead of leaving critical decisions to chance.
- Retirement Planning = Road Trip
- Investments = Your Vehicle
- Income Planning = Your Fuel Strategy
- Insurance = Guardrails
- Tax Strategy = Route Guidance, avoiding costly detours
- Healthcare Planning = Roadside Assistance
- Estate Planning = A plan for what you don’t take with you
- Advisor = Navigator / Co-Pilot / Lookout
The Income Plan Comes First
The number one question people ask before retiring is:
“Will I have enough money to last the rest of my life?”
That question has to be answered first.
Your income plan directly impacts your investment strategy, and your investments directly impact your income plan. They should never be built separately.
Tax Planning Matters More Than Most Realize
Where you take money from, in retirement, matters.
Tax planning is directly connected to your income and investments because retirement taxation revolves around thresholds. In many cases, optimizing taxes has a greater long-term impact than market gains or losses.
This is where I see people take the costliest detours.
An advisor who doesn’t discuss tax thresholds is like airing up a tire without fixing the leak. Things may feel fine temporarily, but down the road the same problems keep coming back.
Tax issues rarely fix themselves. Planning is required.
Healthcare Planning Is More Complicated Than People Expect
Medicare can be confusing, and too many people feel “sold” instead of educated.
These are lifelong decisions that affect both your healthcare and your retirement income strategy. They must work together.
Personally, I believe commission transparency should be standard practice with Medicare. Consumers deserve to understand why one plan is being recommended over another and to whose benefit?
Healthcare is expensive and ignoring it can derail even a strong retirement income plan.
Estate Planning Is Personal to Me
I’m deeply passionate about estate planning because I’ve lived through what happens when it’s ignored and I don’t wish that on anyone.
My husband passed away without a Will, without a Trust, and without life insurance because he believed there would be more time.
There wasn’t. There is such a thing as “too late”.
Estate planning matters whether you have a little or a lot. Because if you don’t make a plan for your assets, the court system will gladly make one for you, slowly and expensively, accidentally giving the courts a participation trophy through probate.
Listen to this, recently, I reviewed a Trust for a client before updating beneficiaries on her accounts. During the review, I discovered an additional equal beneficiary had been added, someone she didn’t know, who happened to share the attorney’s last name.
The Trust also named a third-party trustee instead of her son, whom she intended to serve in that role. That trustee would have charged 2% per month until the estate settled, despite having no relationship with my client whatsoever.
That experience reinforced something I already believed:
You should never assume your documents say what you think they say.
Retirement Shouldn’t Be Left to Chance
If your retirement plan does not include:
- Income Planning
- Investment Planning
- Tax Strategy
- Healthcare Planning
- Estate Planning
then you do not have a complete retirement plan.
If your investment advisor only discusses performance and never discusses taxes with you, that could be unnecessary exposure to the greediest business partner ever, the IRS.
If your retirement income plan still depends entirely on pulling from a 401(k), that deserves a second look.
If you’ve never had a third party review your Trust, it may be time.
Your retirement road trip can become an epic success or an epic struggle.
The difference is the plan. A complete plan.
Investment advisory services offered through Brookstone Capital Management, LLC (BCM), a registered investment advisor. BCM and The Advisory Group, LLC are independent of each other. Insurance products and services are not offered through BCM but are offered and sold through individually licensed and appointed agents.
Information provided is not intended as tax or legal advice and should not be relied on as such. You are encouraged to seek tax or legal advice from an independent professional.
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