Financial Literacy

Increased Financial Knowledge Equals Increased Client Comfort

Preparing for retirement isn’t just about squirreling away enough money to pay your bills and perhaps take a vacation or two. It isn’t just about bracing your portfolio to withstand inflation’s erosion-like influence.

It isn’t just about drawing up estate plans to facilitate the transfer of wealth to the next generation.

39bbd688 032c 4939 895f 0cbd1c387793Those are all important aspects to consider in retirement, Torrey L. Greene, CRPC, CRC, ChFEBC Sm, principal of Greene & Associates Integrated Retirement Strategies headquartered in Newport, New Hampshire, said. But the common ground for each one of those is the emotions that guide the decision-making process associated with each one.

According to AARP (American Association of Retired Persons), the adjustment from working full-time to not at all or even part-time is chock full of feelings that are sometimes tough-to-process.
Societal and personal questions posed – whether welcome or brushed aside – often include how to create a new identity now that one’s former professional status that oft crafted one’s self and social image is gone. People wonder if what they did for three decades made any difference or will simply fade in to history.

Here is where a sensitive financial advisor can help put perspective on more than just dollars and cents.

“There are a lot of emotions that surround retirement,” he said. “A lot of questions including, ‘will I continue to work,’ or ‘will we move,’ but the biggest question that everyone fears is, ‘will I outlive my money or will my money outlive me,’” Greene said.

It is his daily goal to help his clients secure the answers to these questions through the process of sorting through the myriad of sensitive topics that arise when discussing retirement.

Stuff such as long-term care, pursuing that long-put off hobby or dream vacation and obligation to aging parents and boomerang children can easily derail a retirement plan unless those contingences are discussed ahead of time with an agreed-upon strategy put in place.

His planning approach is goal-oriented first with the numbers discussion coming along in a supportive sort of “means to an end,” manner.

“It is an important question to ask: ‘what is your goal and how well-positioned are toward making that happen,’” Greene said. “The answer to that for each client is always different. But it is the role of the advisor to help each client find that.”

A major first step is assisting clients in feeling comfortable with and becoming more competent in dealing with financial matters.
So many Americans don’t.

According to American Psychology Association, 2018 marks the seventh year in a row that Americans rank finances as their #1 cause of stress. Yet, only 30 percent indicated they regularly “deal” with their finances.

That won’t get them to a well-financed retirement, nor will it relieve their economic stress.

It’s why Greene places an appreciable emphasis on financial literacy from the beginning of any client relationship.

“I spend quite a bit of time up front with my clients going over what they currently have and discussing what they may need,” Greene said. “It is vital to me that they understand what they have and that they understand what they need to meet their goals. I want them to be comfortable with that information and comfortable with the process we will work together.”

Learn more about Greene & Associates Integrated Retirement Strategies online at www.greenefinancial.net

 

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