Is Your Employer's Turnkey Retirement Plan REALLY the Right One For You?

Is your employer's turnkey retirement plan REALLY the right one for you?

A couple posts ago, I laid out seven questions I believe are necessary to ask in order to ensure that you’ll end up with a retirement strategy that will deliver for you at the end of the day.  As you can see, these questions aren’t anything exotic. In fact, I daresay that there is nothing “special” about any of them.  And that, in most cases, is precisely the problem.

From my observations and continual interactions with folks, it seems that many Americans are looking for some kind of a secret sauce, so to speak. Here’s THE retirement secret sauce:

You’ve got to be realistic, factual, and thorough!

That is it, my friend. Really! A week ago, I discussed figuring out how much income you will need for retirement. Obviously, without knowing exactly where you’re supposed to be, how can you know whether you’re on the right track or headed in a completely different direction?

Once you’ve established your target, the next question becomes: Is the plan or strategy you’re pursing going to get you there? One of the worst mistakes I’ve seen people make in this regard is assuming that any savings program they can find – especially if it’s offered by their employer – will be good enough to deliver their intended retirement income. Pardon me if I repeat myself, but that’s the most terrible mistake you could ever make. And the reason for that is simple: One-size-fits-all plans don’t always fit everyone, do they? And what if you turn out to be the misfit?

No, I’m not trashing your employer’s plan. I simply don’t have enough information to do that, and that’s not my style anyway. However, I am strongly cautioning you against automatically assuming that your employer’s plan will deliver your intended retirement dreams – because in most retirees’ situations, that hasn’t been the case. 

Think about it. When you call to inquire about your plan, do you speak with a different stranger every time? If you’re using your employer’s turnkey retirement plan, the plan wasn’t designed SPECIFICALLY for you by someone who spoke with you, understands your goals, values, desires, and other critical information about you. And the plan wasn’t designed by someone you could hold accountable if the assumptions that went into its design turned out to be dubious.

Doesn’t sound like your retirement plan after all, does it?  

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Contact a professional at Laser Financial Group to set up your complimentary, no-obligation consultation and learn about your options for creating a retirement plan that's tailored to YOUR needs and goals. Call us TODAY at 877.656.9111 or visit us on the Web at LaserFG.com.

Rule of Thumb: A Good Way to Make Nonessential Estimates BUT a Terrible Way to Plan Your Retirement

Rule of Thumb: A good way to make nonessential estimates but a terrible way to plan your retirement


How much income, as compared to today would you need in retirement? I know, I know. That’s such a basic question. But if that’s the case, then why do the vast majority of Americans think they’re doing fine until they actually retire? The simple answer: most get this figure all wrong!

To understand how it happens, let’s explore how most folks answer this seemingly simple question: They follow the “rule of thumb,” which in this particular instance says something to the effect of: “You’ll probably only need about 70, 75, 80, 85, 88 or some other percentage of your pre-retirement income.”

Now, as you may or may not know, a rule of thumb is any broadly applied principle for calculating a value or making a determination that is NOT intended to be strictly accurate or reliable in every situation. For instance, the rule of thumb is that a two-year-old child will double his height as an adult. This may be fine for guessing at nonessential questions, but it’s not the surest way of planning for a huge – and inevitable – life change, is it?

That’s why if I were planning for a wonderful, peaceful, and financially stress-free retirement, I’d follow a more realistic approach – like this one:

• First, make a list of your present expenses.
• Then ask yourself this question: If you were retired today (as in right this moment) what sorts of things would you want to be doing? What kind of lifestyle do you envision?
• To keep things really simple, don’t even bother trying to figure out what the prices will be down the road – use today’s costs.
• Next, record your answers and the price tags attached to each of them.

You don’t have to be a math wizard – or even enjoy math – to see the value in this exercise. All you need is a pad and pencil to realize that if you intend to do anything other than sit in front of your TV all day, every day, the rule of thumb is just setting you up for a nasty surprise. Here’s another thing you might find insightful. Have a chat with a few retired folks about the relationship between their pre-and-post-retirement income and find out whether any rule of thumb worked for them.

This stab-in-the-dark method of retirement planning might be working quite well for some people. However, I’ve not yet been fortunate enough to meet anyone in that category over the nearly two decades I’ve been in this line of work. So do me a favor, and please let me know when you meet one.

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Contact a professional at Laser Financial Group to set up your complimentary, no-obligation consultation and get your questions answered so that you can start planning your surprise-free retirement TODAY! 877.656.9111 or LaserFG.com

7 Piercing Questions Successful Retirement Investors Aren't Afraid to Ask

7 Piercing Questions Successful Retirement Investors Aren't Afraid to Ask

Achieving a financially comfortable retirement requires more than simply socking money away. Here are the seven top questions (not in any particular order) that every investor must constantly ponder if they plan to ensure a surprise-free retirement:

1. What kind of lifestyle do you intend to have in retirement, as compared to today?
2. How certain are you about the potency of your present investing approach to deliver your intended lifestyle? Remember – the certainty of you retiring is 100 percent!
3. Do you have a plan that was specifically crafted for you by someone you trust and can hold accountable or do you talk with a new stranger each time you inquire about your money?
4. Do you know your advisor’s specific biases? Everyone has them!
5. Is luck playing any role in your retirement strategy?
6. Does your advisor(s) have real-life clients who are enjoying the kind of results you expect to have when the rubber finally meets the road for you?
7. Is your plan making money for you – or from you?

Food for thought!
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Contact a professional at Laser Financial Group to set up your complimentary, no-obligation consultation and get your questions answered so that you can start planning your surprise-free retirement TODAY! 877.656.9111 or LaserFG.com

Making THE CRUCIAL Distinction between Fact and Fiction

Lately, almost every potential client who sits across my desk from me has – to paraphrase their words – felt they were duped by their previous advisors into doing things that ended up hurting rather than helping their goal of a financially comfortable retirement. While their specific issues vary, the one thing common to everyone I’ve spoken with – and many others I’ve never met – is that their advisors completely failed to separate “opinions” from “facts.”

This may sound pretty obvious, but I can’t even begin to tell you how many folks unknowingly make this terrible mistake. I have written in every one of my publications that this failure to make that distinction (between facts and opinions), whether by the advisor or by the client, is the topmost reason so many Americans find themselves between a rock and a hard place, even after saving all their lives.

Now, don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying that opinions are necessarily bad. The truth is, we all have them, don’t we? Personally, I have many opinions – like this one we’re discussing right now. However, we need to separate the two for the simple reason that opinions sometimes turn out to be bogus or wrong, while fact, on the other hand, is fact.

All I’m suggesting is that if you don’t want to be left with regret somewhere down the road, take the time to clearly establish this difference at the moment your advisor (even if it’s your spouse or a close friend) gives you his/her recommendations. It might sound like you are being a little pesky – or even paranoid – but wouldn’t you rather go through a little discomfort now in one conversation than experience potential retirement disaster by neglecting to speak up?

Only a few financial professionals clearly make the distinction between opinion and fact; many would rather couch their opinions in sweet-talk as if they are factual, taking for granted your unwillingness to probe. So in the name of preventing any misunderstanding, miscommunication, and had-I-known headaches later on, you have my full permission to be a pest, as long as you’re a nice one.

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Contact a professional at Laser Financial Group today to set up your complimentary, no-obligation consultation to learn the FACTS about how best to plan successfully for your retirement. 877.656.9111 or LaserFG.com

FACT: There’s Absolutely Nothing Wrong With the Stock Market

FACT: There’s Absolutely Nothing Wrong With the Stock Market

It is an understatement to say that most retirement investors are worried – and nervous. They just don’t know if the stock market is going or coming. If this generally describes you, know that I’d feel exactly the same way too (if not worse), if I were in your shoes.

However, Let’s Face Reality

The fact of the matter is that the stock market isn’t doing anything it’s not supposed to do. Sure, you may have wanted the market to do something else, but every investor who decides to dabble in the stock market must understand that the only realistic thing about the market is that it fluctuates – up and down.

So there always are two possibilities: On the one hand, you can make a ton of money practically overnight, and on the other, you could end up losing everything, including your seed money. Being human, I would always prefer the first possibility – but no matter how much or how hard I hope, it still only amounts to hoping. As a certified instructor who’s trained hundreds of other financial practitioners, and after spending almost two decades helping clients retire successfully, the one thing I can tell you without any shade of doubt is that hope is not a strategy when it comes to retirement-income planning.

Here’s the Truth You Must Understand

The strategy you’re employing – not the market – is the reason your investment is losing money, and it’s also the thing that’s making you nervous about your chances for a comfy retired life. The stock market is just one of the symptoms of the problem with your strategy. Let that sink in for a moment, and we’ll see if the light bulb is beginning to flicker to life.

I know everyday folks just like you who do not lose even a penny of their nest eggs’ values when the stock market dips, but make money – up to a certain cap – when the market increases. Their strategy doesn’t hinge their incomes on the hope that the stock market will go up, stay up, and continue to rise. They make money when the stock market does what it’s supposed to do – rise and fall.

At the end of the day, it all boils down to one question: Can you afford to keep investing the way you are right now – based on hope? Your financial advisor (and the media) are probably telling you to hang in there because “everyone” is pretty much in the same boat. Are you buying into that bizarre theory?

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Contact a professional at Laser Financial Group today to set up your complimentary, no-obligation consultation so you can ensure that your retirement strategy does more than just HOPE for the best. 877.656.9111 or LaserFG.com  

Does Your Financial Advisor REALLY Give a Damn About You?

Couple weeks ago, Yahoo News ran this press release we put out about my SET FOR LIFE report aimed at teaching investors how they can easily guarantee a lasting retirement income, irrespective of how long they end up living and regardless of stock market gyrations in their 401(k)s, Roth IRAs, or even nonqualified money.

One gentleman who came across the information quickly downloaded the report from SetForLifeReport.com. After reading it, he did what most of us would do; he contacted his financial advisor to inquire about the information he'd just read. He said that, quite frankly, it sounded too good to be true, especially given that he'd recently had conversations about this very issue of running out of income mid-stream with his advisor (who works for a big, reputable firm), but nothing remotely close to this option was presented to him. "Is this report one of those scams?" he asked his advisor.

His advisor's response was something to the effect of, "You know, we're one of the largest firms in the entire world. If there's something worthwhile for you, I'll let you know. Don't worry. We've got you covered. I wouldn't take seriously some report you downloaded from the Internet."

What Would You Have Done if It Were You?

Let me tell you what this man did and why I'm sharing his story with you today. I think this guy is definitely smart - extremely smart! He figured that between his advisor and me, someone wasn't telling the truth (and, like most, was inclined to believe his big-company advisor). BUT, what if the report were correct? He'd have walked away from a situation he knew he wanted more than anything else.

So he contacted me, gave me the rundown of events, and literally requested that I prove the legitimacy of the

information in my report, to which I gladly agreed. I LOVED it, actually. Basically, I proposed a specific contract from a very reputable carrier that is approved in his state of residence and gave him all the necessary due diligence details customary in such cases. I asked him to let his advisor review it and tell him whether it was legit or not.

To tell you the truth, I knew that the company his advisor worked for wasn't approved to offer these kinds of contracts, but I wanted to see how far the advisor would go.

Long story short, the advisor essentially responded by going around in circles, playing the "You've been with us for years ... we're one of the largest firms around ... you can trust us" card, but never directly answered two very simple questions: (1) is this legitimate or a scam? And (2) can you offer something comparable? Of course, it is legitimate and of course, he could not offer the same option.

I think that most Americans need to be reminded that majority of financial advisors fail to put all the options on the table because rarely (as in just about never) will you find an advisor who can offer ALL options. I know I can't, and I'll admit that all day long. I would not try in a thousand years to discredit something my client believed might benefit him or her for ANY reason. Not only is that professionally dishonest, but it's also morally deplorable.

The question is, how many Americans are falling prey every day to situations such as this? If you were in this man's position would you have automatically taken your long-term advisor's word and dismissed an opportunity that sounded interesting, or would you have done what this brilliant man did and get to the bottom of it? Sure, we're living in an age of scams galore, but it's not rocket science, either, is it?

Does Your Retirement Plan Pass This SIMPLE Test?

Over the many years that I've spent as an eyewitness into countless retirement plans, the one thing that has become clear is that a frightening number totally flunk what I call the simple common-sense test. Watch this brief video to see what I mean...
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Contact a professional at Laser Financial Group today to set up your complimentary, no-obligation consultation to ensure that your  retirement plan TRULY reflects reality. 877.656.9111 or LaserFG.com