Financial planning in retirement

My husband is still working, unlike most of our friends. Like the thought of death and taxes, financial planning is up there in the "hate to think of it" realm.

But it is time. 

My husband and I have had a will since our kids were little and set up a trust with an estate attorney several years ago.  I thought most of our ducks were in place.  But things change and I need to modify the trust. Fast, actually.

I also have found a financial planner, fee only, who appears competent and trustworthy.  He has set up a retirement plan for us.  We need to see him tomorrow to go over it.  I prefer to use a fee only person since clients pay for and respond to their advice, but they do not manage retirement assets which adds fees.  Also managers don't always have a fiduciary responsibility to clients - can use "suitable" investments, not "best" investments.  These folks earn commissions on what they sell.

How did I find this fee-only guy?  It was somewhat hard.  I found a woman fee only advisor by goggling but she had a waiting list and she said that, anyway, she was moving to asset management  That's where the money is for these guys.  She recommended a guy, just starting out. Although he was "just starting out' in his own business, and had the CFP designation, he was 71 years old, working on his own for less than a year and didn't have long term involvement in the financial services field.  I goggled him on social media and found he didn't have any clients!!!  Plus he was charging more hourly for advice than the guy we are going with.   Glad I looked further.

The guy we are working with has had more than 30 years managing his own firm.  He has multiple certifications, including one related to insurance.  I'm hopeful this will work out and glad at least we have a summary of assets, etc. to work with.  He literally forced us to face what we have not wanted to face.

My advice when choosing a planner.  Make sure they are working for you, preferably a fee only planner.  Look at fees and other costs.  Read, read, read about qualifications and track record of who you hire.  Interview at least three prospects. You can always run a simulation on line using a robo planner. There are many robo plans available on the internet.  They might be a good start.  However, they typically don't take into consideration every aspect of retirement or complicated financial issues.

More advice: be careful of annuities. They have the highest commission of any financial service product, something like 12 1/2 percent .  Planners will push them for that reason. It helps their bottom line, not yours.  They are simply insurance products and those planners who  push them are just salesmen. 

In the end, it is up to you to do this planning.  Don't hand it off to someone else.