Financial Literacy

‘Sandwiched’ investors face tough choices

Investors “sandwiched” between dependent children and elderly relatives face difficult choices as they try to navigate their financial future. A trusted advisor, however, can help a beleaguered saver identify their priorities, manage assets efficiently, and make the appropriate choices so that their money works for them.

“It’s real, I’m in it. I have grandkids, I have married children, an elderly mother, and my father recently passed away. I wake up every morning and I’m already halfway behind and that’s the reality,” said Karen A. Reimer, CFP® and president of Ad Astra Financial Group.

Ad Astra Financial Group, based in Wichita and Overland Park, Kansas, provides clients with comprehensive, tailored wealth management, investment, insurance and tax planning services. The firm requires a minimum of $500,000 to invest but makes exceptions for prospective investors with referrals from existing clients.

As lifespans continue to push upward retirees find themselves living more years in retirement than the workforce. For those without pensions – which have become increasingly rare over the past several decades – the financial pinch of an elderly relative in need of long-term care or assisted living can come as a surprise. Ad Astra Financial Group approaches retirement planning by both helping clients to prioritize financial needs – savers cannot borrow for their own retirement, for example, but children can take out school loans and have many years to pay them back, Reimer said – and begin making up for lost time.

Sandwich“If you’re 65 or younger now and you are not anticipating at least a 30-year lifespan then you are going to be in a really tight spot,” Reimer told “Advisors Magazine” during a recent interview. Reimer added that younger investors in their 30s and 40s need to take charge of their financial future now, as their chances of being “sandwiched” are high.

Many older savers lived within their means, but still did not expect to live as long as they have, creating a financial crunch as they near their 80s or 90s. Younger savers, meanwhile, face a lack of pensions, Social Security’s unstable future, the rising cost of college tuition, and a cultural “push” to live beyond their means.

“The current generation is moving towards some of the things that created the pressures on the sandwich generation. It’s going to be the current generation that will truly experience it,” Reimer said. “Start saving now, just do it. If you’re behind, let’s get caught up. Rather than an extravagant vacation, let’s double up on your house payments. Let’s explore, let’s shore up those holes in the dyke and let’s be realistic about it.”

Reimer quoteThe high interest rates that buoyed Reimer’s generation at age 30 are not likely to come back either, and so investors need an advisor who can develop a customized plan tailored to their unique financial needs and not the generic alpha-seeking portfolio of decades past.

At Ad Astra Financial Group, Reimer acts as a fiduciary for clients, meaning their best-interests come before bottom-line considerations. Investors who work with a fiduciary advisor can expect to be presented with financial tools and strategies that suit their needs, not proprietary products.

A fiduciary serves as a consultant not a salesperson,” Reimer said. “You are not peddling a product, you represent the client’s best-interests, which is a different paradigm to operate from than representing a product and finding people who fit it.”

For more information on Ad Astra Financial Group, visit: www.adastrafinancialgroup.com

Securities, Insurance and Investment Advisory Services offered through SagePoint Financial, Inc. Member FINRA/SIPC and a Registered Investment Advisor. Ad Astra Financial Group is a marketing name for securities and investment advisory services offered through SagePoint Financial, Inc.  -  820 N. Main, Suite 101, Wichita, KS 67203 316-265-8400

 

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