Five Steps To Guide You

We focus particular attention on the financial planning process. By following the five steps toward retirement income security, your advisor will create a retirement plan that will provide you a sense of confidence in your financial decision-making process and in the knowledge that your financial challenges have been considered and appropriately addressed.

We believe that the first priority of every retiree is to assure that their Basic Needs (food, shelter, clothing, etc.) are met for their lifetime. To do this, we compare your stable, recurring sources of income against your Basic Needs (including survivor income and medical expenses). These stable sources help alleviate the five challenges that could affect your retirement security.

If your Basic Needs are greater than your stable income sources, we allocate available assets (e.g., those not designated for a specific purpose) to financial products designed to help cover the costs.

After your Basic Needs are covered, we look at your Lifestyle Wants (regular recurring expenses in retirement that are not fundamental, such as travel, country club membership, etc.) and your Specific Goals (non-recurring expenses that have specific timing, such as college for grandchildren in five years, purchasing a vacation home in two years, etc.). We match your remaining income sources and available assets to your Lifestyle Wants and Specific Goals in order of your priority.

For retirement income, we consider these other options:

• Retire later
• Reduce spending
• Increase return potential*
• Reduce inflation risk
• Save more

For survivor income, we consider:

• Additional life insurance
• Pension options
• Reprioritization of goals
• For long-term care, we consider:
• Additional insurance
• Self-fund

*Investments that have a higher return potential also carry increased risk of loss.

In our final step, we outline various alternative strategies** and identify solutions that are appropriate for your situation, and most importantly, are consistent with your objectives. These personalized recommendations form the basis of your retirement income security plan. The benefits of this approach are quickly apparent - you enjoy a greater understanding of the impact of various options and are positioned to make informed decisions to help you towards your retirement income security goals.

**There can be no assurance that the approach and strategies offered will be successful.