by Mitch Anthony Independence has as many meanings as you have clients, but my assumption is that for most of them it means being able to live their lives on their own terms. As a financial life planner, your goal is to help clients achieve independence, however they define it. Unfortunately, some advisors still equate [...]
by Mitch Anthony To make the leap to a better, more satisfying conversation with your clients, you need to start seeing what you do through their eyes. This will not be possible until you begin to see the financial services industry from their point of view. Only then, can you begin to reshape the premise for your [...]
by Mitch Anthony I was once traveling with a friend in a city that we were both somewhat familiar with. As he mapped out our route, I told him that I knew of a shorter route. He said, "Oh, I don't know. If we get lost, we'll really be late. I'll just stick with what [...]
by Mitch Anthony When Marie Ens turned 66 years old, she was forced to accept mandatory retirement. Marie was not your typical worker. She was a missionary to Cambodia. Her organization had supported her efforts for over 40 years. Marie didn't want to retire, but her organization didn't give her a choice. Marie and her [...]
by Mitch Anthony Last month, we discussed how the retirement landscape has changed and what it means to your clients. This month, we'll discuss the specifics of those realities starting with some new assumptions your clients will have to face: If a client has a pension, assume that benefit erosion will continue. Assume your client [...]
by Mitch Anthony All you need to do to get in touch with modern economic realities of retirement is to take a look at the trend of the past decade away from the paternalistic pension approach toward the autonomy of defined contribution (DC) plans including 401(k) or 403(b). The percentage of people being covered by [...]
by Mitch Anthony As we enter the third stage of life, the attitude we choose will have the greatest bearing on our fate. We are entering the final stages of a retirement revolution. The difference between evolution and a revolution is that with evolution, a critical core of proactive people see the inevitable coming and [...]