What retirement issue has hit you or your clients out of left field, and how did you resolve it?
Of course, the severe downtown in the market caused many of us to rethink traditional investment philosophies.
The emergence of alternative investment classes to the mass markets has added diversification that we heretofore, for the most part, did not have available to us. So, for the most part, retirement investment issues have not blindsided us in any way.
My firm utilizes a core and satellite investment philosophy employing tactical asset allocation for our satellite investments.
For retirement portfolios, we emphasis dividend and income equity investments probably value 'biased' combined with an small to moderate allocation to immediate and or fixed annuities.
What prospecting methods have been most successful for you in attracting retirement-planning clients?
For me, it has been workplace education and University Extension Saturday workshops. I have also advertised in the employee newsletter of some of the larger employers in Los Angeles.
I have also used www.FreeErisa.com for prospecting with 'tepid' results thus far. My firm is also in the process of building retirement planning presentations to be used on LinkedIn and Facebook.
Do you face any frequently occurring retirement-planning mistakes with prospects?
Most are on the beneficiary designation side.
Very few planners or investment advisors actually read the custodial contract for its beneficiary defaults to ensure that they understand how the contract might contradict a client's beneficiary intentions.
The other is incorrect or out of date beneficiary selection.
