Biggest Challenges to Retirement, Part 2

The following is an excerpt from READY FOR PRETIREMENT: 3 Secrets for Safe Money and a Fabulous Future. Today is part two of this series. In case you missed it, here's Biggest Challenges to Retirement, Part 1. It's a VERY long post, but there's a lot of meat in it -- worth reading and thinking about.

Challenge 5: Estate Planning Decisions and How They Affect Your Family and Friends

What did Heath Ledger, Marilyn Monroe, Michael Jackson, John Wayne, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, Princess Diana, and Anna Nicole Smith have in common? They all had lousy wills. Because of this, their deaths left not just emotional turmoil for their friends and families, but also financial uncertainty, legal battles, and expensive, long term, court-ordered supervision of the estates, which drained the assets away from the people whom they wanted to benefit.

These are famous people with lots of money. But no matter your net worth, it’s important to have a basic estate plan in place. Such a plan ensures that your family’s financial goals are met after you die. This is essential if you have young children or elderly parents whom you support.

Did you know that, without a living trust, your financial legacy could end up in probate, with your estate’s assets being controlled and eventually eaten up by lawyers and court fees? On the other hand, with proper planning, you could have a document that ensures your estate passes to your heirs without delays or time- and money-consuming probate. You can name someone you trust to take care of your estate so you know everything you worked to accumulate will transfer at death according to your wishes.

You should take steps to ensure that someone you trust will be able to take care of your personal, health and financial decisions if you are unable to do so. In the absence of any formal estate planning, the court will decide who will take care of you and your financial affairs, and might appoint someone you would not have chosen.

If your financial life is simple and straightforward, you may feel comfortable creating your estate plan by yourself. If you have multiple bank and investment accounts, real estate investments, or a nontraditional family situation, you may well want to consult with a lawyer.

Before you meet with an attorney to draft a will, consider the following.

Taking inventory of your assets is a good place to start. Your assets include your bank and other investment accounts (such as money market or mutual funds), retirement savings, insurance policies, and real estate or business interests. Ask yourself three questions: (1) Whom do you want to inherit your assets? (2) Whom do you want handling your financial affairs if you're ever incapacitated? (3) Whom do you want making medical decisions for you if you become unable to make them for yourself?

Trusts aren’t just for the wealthy. Trusts are legal constructs that let you put specific conditions on how and when your assets will be distributed upon your death. They also allow you to reduce your estate and gift taxes and to distribute assets to your heirs without the cost, delay and publicity of probate court, which administers wills. Some trusts also offer greater protection of your assets from creditors and lawsuits.

Discussing your estate plans with your heirs may prevent disputes or confusion. Inheritance can be a loaded issue. By being clear about your intentions, you help dispel potential conflicts after you’re gone. It shocks me every time I see people fight over the material things in their own families, but it happens all the time. I had a client who not only sued the estate of the uncle who left him a portion of his estate, but also sued every other relative to get more from the estate. His family members were amazed. They never saw it coming until they were served papers.

A will is not enough. A will, written and signed properly, directs “who’s in charge” and “who gets what” from your assets at the date of death, but it’s of no use before you die. If you become incompetent, it doesn’t control your assets or designate who can make health care decisions for you. After you die, a will doesn’t avoid probate of your estate. In fact, a will can be a one-way ticket to the fees and delays of probate court.

Make sure you fund your trust. We advocate for the use of trusts as a useful tool to manage your assets during your life and following your death, avoiding the time and expense of the probate court. Trusts, however, only manage those assets that you actually, officially transfer into trust. Once your trust is complete, be sure to transfer your assets into it. For assets with a legal title, such as real property and automobiles, you have to change the title into the name of the trust (although in some states you can keep the car registered in your name but use a “transfer on death” title so that the car is automatically registered to the person you name on the title). For nonretirement accounts, you can simply contact your bank or the portfolio manager of your accounts and request that they change the title on your accounts from your name to the name of your living trust (some banks have accounts that are “payable on death” to a specific beneficiary). For assets with no legal title, such as household goods, you simply include them in the list of trust assets in a “schedule” at the back of the trust document.

Keep your papers in a safe place. Make sure your Successor Trustee and the person who holds your power of attorney know where you are going to keep these documents and how to get to them. You can put them in a safe deposit box, but make sure the Successor Trustee and Power of Attorney have signed the signature card and have a key. A health care power of attorney is only useful if the document can be accessed when needed, so it’s a good idea to give the Power of Attorney his or her own copy, but make sure the original signed papers are in a safe place.

Designate a health care Power of Attorney. No one plans to be incapacitated, but if you are, who will make health care decisions for you? You must make sure to complete a health care power of attorney so you can be protected. In this document, you appoint a trusted individual (and an alternate) to make important medical decisions for you in the event you are unable to make them for yourself. Make sure your wishes are respected by giving a copy of your health care power of attorney to your physician.

Always designate alternates. Extend the usefulness of your estate documents by appointing more than one agent to represent your interests. In this way, if your first choice isn’t available, you’ve already provided for one or more alternates, so a choice is not made for you.

Update your estate plan. Keep current: be sure to review your estate planning documents every three years or so to ensure they are still current. Changes in personal circumstances, economic fortunes and tax laws may warrant revisions.

Ensure protection from creditors. Safeguard your assets. If you have concerns about your creditors or your children’s creditors, consider transferring your assets to a trust to limit creditor access to your assets. Trusts can be drafted with special protective provisions, providing you have not already incurred the debt.

Check your beneficiary designation forms. Wills are not the only documents that govern the disposition of your assets. Insurance policy proceeds and retirement accounts both pass in accordance with the terms of your beneficiary designation form when you die. Make sure the information on these forms is current and accurate to ensure these assets pass to the individual(s) you intend.

Protect your homestead. The best deal in asset protection today is the homestead. If you own a home as your primary residence, for a modest fee you can place protection on your home from creditors for up to $500,000 of the equity in your home. Simply contact your attorney to complete and file the necessary documents.

Ensure your bank knows the people who hold your powers of attorney. If you are incapacitated and your designated Powers of Attorney (or the Trustees for your trust) need to get access to your bank accounts or safe deposit box, the bank needs to know who those people are. The easiest way to ensure this is to have the Powers of Attorney and/or Trustees sign the signature cards in person at the bank when you add their names to the list of those who can access your safe deposit box.

These tools not only serve to preserve your assets but, if properly executed, eliminate the need for your heirs to take the expensive, time-consuming path through the courts. (As an estate planner, I identify suitability and needs, and organize each set of documents according to the client’s needs.)

Challenge 6: The Stock Market Myths that Just Won’t Die

Have you heard market experts say, “This is a good time to invest in the stock market”? Really? On average, stocks provide about 10 percent return annually, according to the experts. But, this assumption goes back to the 1800s and no longer applies in the 21st century. Today, your typical annual return from investing in the stock market is closer to 5 percent.

Is your broker being paid a commission to lose your money? How can you make money without losing money?

Here’s what the broker does. When he buys shares of stocks and mutual funds, he sends your money to Wall Street. Now the market can go in three directions: up, down or stagnant. Wall Street can’t control the market. But brokers don’t make their money by making us money, though they would like for that to happen, because it keeps us investing with them. They make their money by managing our money. They make money when the market goes down, when it’s flat or when it goes up. They always win. We only win in one of those three directions. They win in all three directions. Though we always hope for the best, we all too often end up with a cooked goose instead of the golden egg.

I’m proud to say that I have never lost one dollar for any of my clients. I’m not a genius; it’s simply because I won’t put their money where it could be lost. That isn’t hard to do, either. The hard part is getting clients a decent return. We did that by using specific strategies allowing them to benefit from any gains in the market while avoiding any market loss.

What did Babe Ruth do before the Great Depression? We learn from the Babe that he had a financial planner named Christie Walsh who got him into an annuity and he did not lose one dollar when the market crashed. But, as the great philosopher Georg Friedrich Hegel once said, “The only thing we learn from history is that we learn nothing from history.” Let’s say we had $200,000 in the market and the market went down 50 percent. Now let’s say the market comes roaring back with a 50 percent gain. Am I in good shape now? Where am I? I am at $150,000; I am still down $50,000 from the $200,000. How does that happen—minus 50 percent, plus 50 percent, and I’m still down by $50,000! How big of a return do I have to have on my $100,000 to get back to $200,000? Well, 100 percent—that’s a significant return. How long will it take the market to give me a total of 100 percent return? Forever, and that’s too long. I’m not willing to wait for forever.

So where do you park your money? Let’s find the perfect investment. What feature do you want? You don’t want to lose your money. You want safety, growth, and tax deferral. Yes, no tax! That’s good. How much liquidity do you want? Is 100 percent okay? I have been looking for 20 years and can’t find it. How close can we get?

Let’s see. What would you be willing to give up? Safety? No. Opportunity for growth? No. Do you want to pay more taxes? Preferably not. Now, if you compromise on liquidity, it means you could get the other three: safety, opportunity, and less tax liability. If you have to compromise somewhere, do it on liquidity. That makes total sense. You would have safety without paying the price for it.

How would you like to take distributions from your IRA over your life expectancy and still be guaranteed more money than you ever deposited, for any beneficiary, regardless of interest rates or market fluctuations?

Find out if your current advisor is an IRA distributions specialist. Many advisors who are not trained in the new distribution rules may unknowingly be giving the IRA owner bad advice. Poor advice can result in IRA owners and their beneficiaries losing the many advantages of the new distribution rules. Here are two examples:

1. If the beneficiaries fail to take their first distribution before December 31st of the year following the year of the owners’ death, the entire account may be subject to immediate taxation.

2. If the IRA owner fails to take a required minimum distribution, he/she will pay tax on the distribution and may be subject to a 50 percent excise tax, in addition to the income tax on the failed distribution. Beneficiaries who receive inaccurate advice may wind up with rapid distribution, causing rapid taxation and the loss of a lifetime of income from an inherited IRA.

In my work, I share solutions, not products. How would you like to take your Required Minimum Distribution (RMD) and leave your principal for your beneficiaries with the oldest insurance company in the world? Beneficiaries will receive 4 percent compounded, so you could take out 4 percent and still leave money for beneficiaries. The promise is that, no matter how large the IRA, beneficiaries can take their RMDs and, still at zero growth, have the original premium for their beneficiaries. It’s guaranteed to never lose a dime.

RMDs guarantee your principal at death. So take your RMD, pay taxes, spend the rest of it over the course of your life and still have your original investment/principal to leave your heirs. Here are the advantages:

• no caps
• no participation rates
• no hidden surrender charges
• interest on RMD not forfeited
• values tracked daily
• 4 percent guaranteed minimum death benefit rider
• 6 percent income rider
• guaranteed for the life of contract
• 100 percent downside protection, full value at death

This solution works no matter what the interest rates are in the marketplace.

Has anyone ever asked you, “Are you willing to sell your winners while they’re winning?” If I were to ask you that, you might say, “Kris, why would I want to do that? The idea is that you want to have winners in place. Why would I want to sell the winners?”

There’s no such thing as a permanently excellent company or permanently excellent industry. Everything is cyclical. You can employ the buy-and-hold strategy for a long time and if it doesn’t work out—if you haven’t captured the gains by the time you know it’s over—you’re bound to give back some or all of the gains. It’s hard to make winners win in many cases because selling the very thing responsible for the gains isn’t easy. Losing, of course, has its own problems.

If you’re holding without a way to capture gains, you could be in a winning mutual fund for ten years. For nine of those years you win, and the tenth year experience losses that force you to return the other nine years’ worth of performance. You put up the capital. You took the risk. You were patient. You were a long term investor, yet you still may not have anything to show for it. That’s difficult.

Very few individuals know where to find safety and opportunity on the same dollar at the same time. But there are ways to structure your portfolio to have safety and opportunity at the same time, on the same dollar.

You see, Americans know where to find safety. Today, they’re buying government bonds with a 30-year maturity. Some recent bonds have yielded 0 percent from our government, and yet people park their dollars there. I’m safe, but what’s the price I’ve paid? Not much of a return, I can’t recover my losses. I may not even be able to fight inflation. The same problem exists at the bank with CDs. My clients ask me, “Kris, if you could show me how to have the safety, maybe of a bank CD or a government Treasury bond, and yet have a little better opportunity than they’re offering, that would pique my interest.”

Fortunately, there are ways to do exactly this.

In the middle of this timeframe, one of the greatest economic upheavals in our country, I have not lost a single client any money. You might say, “What are you doing, earning those 3, 4, and 5 percent returns? No. We’ve been doing much better than that. I’ve actually averaged better than 7 to 8 percent in the past five years. Now 8 percent may not sound like it’s setting the world on fire, but do you know according to the “Rule of 72,” I can double your money in 9 years with just an 8 percent return, and I don’t have to take risks to do it? Let’s see how to accomplish that.

What would performance you expect from the market—maybe not right now, but normally, what would you get out of the market on an annual basis? Ten percent?

You know, ten is the most common number I hear. But in 1990, folks told me, “Kris, if you can’t get me 20 percent, I’m not interested.” Things change, don’t they? Now we might be happy with a zero, because it means at least I didn’t lose any of my money.

Are you at the highest point you’ve ever been, or are you still working your way back there? “Well, no, we’re getting closer,” you say. So was that really a return or was that barely a recovery? See, we fool ourselves. If I had to spend 10 more years of getting 10 percent returns, it really isn’t doing me a whole lot of good if I can only make back what I lost. Then when the market turns down again, we’ve got some more losses.

It’s hard to know what to do. You say, “Well, Kris, I don’t want to sell here because I’ll have to take losses…. Well, I don’t want to sell here because I’m making money…. Well, I don’t want to sell here because my broker says it’s just a correction…. Everything goes up, comes down and corrects at some point… but then it’s too late. My losses are too great. See, I never can get out of the market. It never benefits me. I can’t sell on the way up, and I can’t sell on the way down. I’m trapped. There’s got to be a better way to make my money work for me and not feel like it holds me hostage.” By using the strategies I suggest, you will have the ability to capture gains systematically, on autopilot, on a regular basis, every year. That means you will only be on the up side if the market crashes. You won’t be following the market down.

“The past 25 years investors have captured only about one-third of the return of the market in diversified portfolios,” Warren Buffett says. “Diversification reduces our returns.”

It’s true that if you could predict which investment in your portfolio was going to be the winner, you could put all the money there in advance. Since you can’t know that in advance, you diversify. That means the losers pull down the performance of the winners and you get some return in the middle.

You know what drove the market up like that? When there are 78 million baby boomers out of only 300 million people in our country, and those 78 million boomers start declining in their spending habits because of their stage of life—that’s bound to do something to our economy.

Did you know that 70 percent of our gross domestic product is derived from consumer spending? Gross domestic product is defined as “all sales and purchases bought and sold within the borders of the U.S.” Seventy percent of those sales come from people spending to buy cars, houses, almost anything. When the boomers don’t need to buy the next whatever—because they already have one, or they’re worried about their finances, and they keep their pocketbooks closed—we can’t recover in the same way we did before.

Additionally, the free flow of access to credit, which was unprecedented leading up to October 9, 2006, helped drive the economies to bubble levels, both in real estate and the stock market. Think of the effect of removing credit for our economy! Just suppose, for example, that mortgages were illegal. How would a family just getting started, married for a few months, with college loans to pay, ever manage to find a quarter of a million dollars to buy a house? The bubble had to burst at some point or the dream of home ownership would not become a reality for many folks. So the tightening of credit can have some positive effects. But there are some major issues to resolve before we can have sustaining growth in the markets.

This isn’t just my view. These observations come from Karlen Tucker, Senior Advisory Group, who has worked closely with me to help find safe investments. There are powerful strategies available for smart investors. You can go to sleep at night without having to keep an eye open to watch Wall Street because it doesn’t matter. If the market goes up, you participate. If it goes down, you’re protected. You never lose your principal. Even during the Great Depression, no one lost one dollar using this strategy.

Now I have to ask you a question. If the main parachute fails, how much time does the skydiver have to pull his reserve? Not much! That’s about right. (Actually, it turns out that he had the rest of his life.) So when should you make a decision about protecting your profits? Right away! In survey after survey, Americans have expressed that their number one concern is outliving their life savings. Do you want a financial plan that’s absolutely safe, gives you great growth and controls your taxes? Are you willing to sacrifice a little liquidity so that you never outlive your life savings, never run out of income, and leave full value at death? Do you want a solution that works no matter what the interest rates are? And no more sending your money on the roller coaster ride! This is the benefit I give my clients—a solution that works no matter what the interest rates are, or how volatile the market.

Everyone has different financial needs, and not all investments are suitable for everyone. Don’t be afraid to ask for help. While estate planning is highly personal and emotional, it also involves a lot of legal, financial and tax considerations. All of these must be put in order so you are Ready for PREtirement.

Challenge 7: Having Funds for a Secure and Comfortable Retirement

Many people think that they will be secure in their retirement. After all, even if their investments are modest, they can count on Social Security to cover their living expenses. Unfortunately, Social Security may not ever cover their needs. You cannot assume that Medicare and Social Security will be sufficient to cover your needs.

Consider the case of one of my clients. John had it all planned out. He’d work until he was 70 and his wife, a nurse, turned 62. Then he’d retire and they would become “snowbirds” traveling around the country in an RV. Those plans were upended last year, when John, then 66, found out he’d be losing his job as an accountant for a major firm in California. He faced a difficult job search. So although the financial tradeoff was wrenching—his annual income is now half what it was when he was working—he felt he had little choice but to retire.

“At my age and in this job market, I didn’t even consider unemployment. I just went straight to Social Security,” he said.

Until now, much of the attention in this recession has been focused on the group of older workers who will toil for more years than they expected because stock market losses have put a severe dent in their retirement nest egg. However, new research suggests that a larger group of workers ages 62 to 69 could find themselves with a thornier problem: no job, no prospect for finding another, and an earlier retirement than they, or their finances, were prepared to take.

“Those people, the risk that they’re subject to is not the stock market, it’s the labor market,” said Phillip Levine, a professor of economics at Wellesley College and co-author of a recent paper looking at that phenomenon.

Already, there are signs some older workers are falling into that trap.

Mark Hinkle, a spokesman with the Social Security Administration, said applications for retirement benefits for the fiscal year ended Sept. 30, 2009, rose 22 percent over the 2008 fiscal year, to 2.57 million. That’s much higher than the 15 percent increase that had been projected because of the increase in people hitting retirement age. Hinkle said the discrepancy can be attributed to the impact of the weak economy.

By now, you may be even more discouraged. After all, I’ve pointed out the various challenges that you face as you age and try to plan for your family’s future. It’s true that the recent economic downturns make for an even gloomier outlook, particularly if you’re one of the unlucky ones who is “upside down,” having lost at least half of the equity in your home. Warren Buffett says homes will become places to live, not investments. A lot of folks have put all their money in their homes, and trying to sell in this market will not get back their investments.

Furthermore, some of the largest tax increases in history are on our doorstep. Unfortunately, many people like you who have diligently planned and saved for the future will be among those most hurt. For example, when you pass away, any money left in your IRA will be taxed at ordinary income rates. If you leave a sizable amount, in the eyes of the IRS you are “rich” in the year you die, and 40 to 50 percent of your IRA may be wiped out by taxes before your heirs ever see a dime.

These are all reasons to be proactive now. No one wants to talk about death and taxes but you need to do whatever it takes to motivate yourself to invest the time now instead of putting it off until later. Believe me, that time never comes until the unexpected happens, and then you will wish that you had planned much earlier. Remember, you can be a positive and optimistic person and still plan for the worst-case scenarios. When you do, you’ll experience the peace of knowing everything is covered. I call it having an Estate of Mind.

With so many changes in the investment landscape, along with ever-changing tax laws, I have been working tirelessly to include the newest strategies from some of the top PREtirement planners in the country. (We can locate products that will shield you from future tax liability. I always invite folks for a free consultation.) You may be stuck in your old habits and not open to considering new options. I encourage you to step out of the box or take a step in faith out of the habits of investment among your friends and families.

It’s no secret that you’ll be able to take care of yourself and your family if you plan for your financial future today. You first have to change your mindset. Then you must seek advice from qualified experts and make a plan designed to generate assets that will allow you to retire early and worry-free.

Comments

[RH]

In the middle of this timeframe, one of the greatest economic upheavals in our country, I have not lost a single client any money. You might say, “What are you doing, earning those 3, 4, and 5 percent returns? No. We’ve been doing much better than that. I’ve actually averaged better than 7 to 8 percent in the past five years. Now 8 percent may not sound like it’s setting the world on fire, but do you know according to the “Rule of 72,” I can double your money in 9 years with just an 8 percent return, and I don’t have to take risks to do it? Let’s see how to accomplish that.

So how do you accomplish it?

Telling me all the scary stats isn't telling me.

Is that a 7-8% return ON my money or a return OF my money? Or can I give you $1000 and you will give me $2000 in a decade???

Not trying to be mean, but I strongly dislike mixing insurance and investing.

[Bill]

Stop selling your blog space. Posts like this really damage your credibility as a financial blogger. Whatever they are paying you isn't worth it, FMF just lost some respect from me.

[FMF]

Bill -

1. I do not sell blog space. This is an excerpt from a book I selected to run.

2. If you don't like to read differing opinions on personal finance, you won't like FMF.

[Steve]

So in the market I can expect 5% with crazy risk but with this planner I can make 8% with absolutely no risk and no taxes by using "specific strategies allowing them to benefit from any gains in the market while avoiding any market loss". Good to hear, I'll sign right up.

By the way, the answer to "How long will it take the market to give me a total of 100 percent return?" was 3 years, not forever. (I just rode that road 2009-2012).

"For example, when you pass away, any money left in your IRA will be taxed at ordinary income rates. If you leave a sizable amount, in the eyes of the IRS you are “rich” in the year you die, and 40 to 50 percent of your IRA may be wiped out by taxes before your heirs ever see a dime. These are all reasons to be proactive now"

No, just name a benficiary to your IRA. Makes no difference if it goes to spouse. If it goes to non-spouse, it doesnt go through probate, and the heirs can take RMDs instead of lump (which are tiny, not gonna make someone rich in the eyes of the IRS). Of course, somebody loses out on the immediate business of setting up a trust for you...

I was going to continue but don't see the point...

[Sarah]

"“Kris, if you could show me how to have the safety, maybe of a bank CD or a government Treasury bond, and yet have a little better opportunity than they’re offering, that would pique my interest.”

Fortunately, there are ways to do exactly this."

I'm calling BS on this one. Even a fixed annuity has more counterparty risk than a bank CD or US Treasury, and I doubt that's what this guy is selling.

[Bill]

I'm glad to hear that this isn't a sponsored link. I've been reading FMF for a long time and I think the quality of the content is quite good. While I don't always agree with your views or those of various commentators I believe that everyone comes by their opinions honestly.

But I went back and reread the whole post again and had the exact same reaction to it. It looks like an advertisement to me. You've got a link to Amazon at the top with very vague and misleading content in the excerpt. It screams late night infomercial, I expect part 3 to be about investing in tax liens and forex trading (that's a joke).

This quote was the most telling in the post. "I can double your money in 9 years with just an 8 percent return, and I don’t have to take risks to do it? Let’s see how to accomplish that." At its worst it's factually untrue at its best it's very very misleading. The distasteful part is that she never actually explains "how to accomplish that". As a reader I'm left wondering how she works this financial miracle and I am given the strong impression I'm supposed to buy her book to find out. That's why I thought it was a paid advertisement. I'm having trouble seeing the value in the post if it wasn't.

[rick]

Why has my post calling out the facts of insurance/annuity seller commission and ongoing fees reducing return and the realiy of sponsoring entity bankruptcy risk been removed?

[FMF]

Rick -

It's not just you:

http://www.freemoneyfinance.com/2013/03/comments-wacky-on-typepad.html

[Casey]

Wow. I like Free Money Finance, but was a little surprised by the excerpt chosen. While there is some good information on estate planning from the excerpt, I would not have chosen to include the excerpt relating to the market. I laughed out loud at the quote, "I have not lost a single client any money." Anyone whoever hears that comment should completely ignore anything that person has said. Their credibility is completely gone at that point.
Poor choice of an excerpt to include.

[Rich]

Just FYI, FMF: As a long-time reader and fan... It felt like an annuity sales pitch to me. Definitely not my cup of tea.

[pn]

I'm a long time reader - and sadly dissappointed. We will have to look elsewhere for financial wisdom if we we are subject to long winded infomercials like this one.

[Erik]

Count me in on really not liking this post.

[Stephen]

The first excerpt wasn't too bad ... but this one is definitely straining credibility and has (as others points out) quite a few points that bring everything else into question.
On the other hand, this is all from a book that claims to provide "the secrets" to "Safe Money and a Fabulous Future", so I guess this should be expected ;)

[billyjobob]

I'm with the others. This guy is giving a sales pitch, not financial advice.

[Joe]

Insurance/Annuity salesman. Just google Karlan Tucker.

[JACK]

Similar reaction here. At a minimum, it needs some editing. I kept scrolling and scrolling for a point.

[Old Limey]

I don't think there's a financial advisor alive that can keep a straight face and say that he or she never lost a single client any money.

I only manage our own money and that of my 3 adult children but I can truthfully say that since I retired and started managing everything myself on 12/28/1992 I haven't had a losing year and, as most of you already know have done very well indeed.

[Deserat]

Hmmm - surprised to see this post - first, way too long for a blog post. Second, definitely a very biased approach to money management. Not everyone needs a trust. He doesn't tout other ways to to retirement, like living below your means, knowing what your lifestyle costs are and then ensuring your streams of income can cover those costs.

While I can understand you wish to show divergent points of view, I would follow this post up with a counterpoint. Frankly, your personal posts regarding your foray into rental real-estate are more enlightening, and even though I am not interested in doing that, I'm interested in your experiences.