Building a Successful Practice: It is estimated that 70-80% of investors who deal with a stockbroker, financial planner or advisor will change advisors before retirement. Some will make the change while in their fifties, others will wait until their early or mid-sixties. The reason for the change is simple: Investors view their financial person as being “growth oriented,” an accumulator who is not an expert when it comes to structuring income. When the change is made, a retirement specialist is sought.

Clients Change Advisors: Over the past couple of years, the brokerage industry has begun to promote retirement income, but the campaign has been limited and met with skepticism by investors. After all, advisory account compensation is based on assets under management–distributions only erode the advisor/broker base. The retirement benefit specialist has a very different agenda: maximizing periodic distributions at an acceptable risk level.

Investors are generally loyal to their broker or advisor, but such a relationship usually ends once the investor gets serious about retirement planning. It is not that they no longer like their advisor, they simply view this person as not having the expertise to help them with the income phase of their life. Enter the retirement plan specialist.

Retirement Specialist: The vast majority of your peers and competitors promote themselves as being able to do everything for the investor. This makes it difficult for any advisor to differentiate themselves. It is always the specialist we seek out when a problem arises (e.g., car mechanics who specialize in foreign cars, the doctor who only does a certain type of eye surgery, etc.). This is a lesson brokers, planners and advisors have still not learned. For example, how often do you see an advisor who advertises as a “retirement plan specialist” or simply a “retirement specialist?”

The specialist makes the most money and has the least complicated life. A retirement benefit specialist can hone his skills by concentrating on a very narrow aspect of the financial services industry, thereby differentiating himself and minimizing concerns.

Even though it appears the retirement specialist is “leaving money on the table,” the reality is quite different. A portion of a client’s portfolio may be in CDs, government securities and fixed-rate annuities, but another part may be in growth-oriented mutual funds that include a systematic withdrawal plan. And, just because someone is in an income mode does not mean she no longer needs insurance or no longer desires to fund a grandchild’s college fund.

Competitive Edge: During a brokerage firm’s annual meeting in a big conference hall, someone from Harley Davidson rides down the aisle in a motorcycle towards the podium. He parks the bike, steps up to the podium, looks at the audience of surprised advisors and says, “What’s your sound?” Harley’s have a special sound but how many brokers do you know have their own “sound?” No one can distinguish the sound between a Honda, Suzuki, BMW or other bike–except a Harley. This is why the company has trademarked their sound.

What makes you different? Why would someone want you to manage their money instead of a neighbor, friend or golfing buddy who does the same thing? Investment products have largely become “commoditized” and offered by everyone. Ed Slott has made a fortune by becoming the IRA-go-to-guy; he is frequently quoted in publications and is considered an expert. Ed has a lucrative practice of advising brokers, and fee-based seminars and referrals. Someone else could have filled such a position, but Ed was first and will probably not be replaced. You could become the retirement plan specialist in your county or the retirement specialist that is referred by accountants and lawyers.

Understand Your Customers and Prospects: People seek out and feel comfortable with a specialist. The first step to becoming an income specialist or retirement specialist is to obtain certification marks that distinguish you from others. Being a designee shows everyone that you have the specialized training necessary to handle their income needs.

Copyright (c) 2010 Cory Bowman

Financial freedom is something that a lot of people want to achieve in their lifetime. Having to pay all debts and liabilities, enjoying all luxuries in life and enjoy life without to worry about any financial problems. More and more people are very interested in making their financial dreams come true. There are also motivation classes which main aim is not to discourage people from thinking that getting their first million dollar is possible.

As a financial planner, I am also aware that people usually do not quantify their goals. Having a goal of becoming a millionaire is something that is achievable and not impossible. I do have clients who want me to plan their millionaire journey. Having said that, a million dollar road map is easy to develop but very difficult to follow.

Before you can be a millionaire, you need to have a very good financial planning. You need to hire a financial planner to assist you as financial planners went through series of examinations and training perfecting their financial planning skills. It is impossible to be a millionaire if you do not have a financial plan.

Seminars on how to become a millionaire do not give you customized financial plan. You can be earning $ 200,000 per annum but if there is no financial planning, you will be asset rich and liquid poor. Managing your cash flow is the most basic element in financial planning.

One of my client, Mr Doctor (names are kept confidential), a doctor who has his own practice and earns $180,000 to $250,000 a year initially do not have any financial planning. He does have insurance policies and that was all. I had a hard time convincing him to meet me. He was very reluctant and told me that he already have a financial planner.

After much persuasion, I managed to meet him and assist him in his financial planning. I did a financial analysis on him and explained to him that financial planning is not just about insurance planning, financial planning also stresses on cash flow management, investment planning, child education planning, tax planning, estate planning and most importantly retirement planning.

After a year we had that meeting, he came back to me and told me that he now understand how important a financial plan is. He told me that he now can quantify his financial goals and he also told me confidently that he will be a millionaire in 5 years time.

I knew that after my appointment with him, he will identify his strength and weaknesses financially and able to quantify his goals. With my customized financial planning and financial planning tools, I am sure everyone will achieve their financial dreams.

Your personal money management is the key to your financial success; your method of reaching your goals and dreams. No one likes the term budgeting, but without it, you won’t know if you are getting the most from your income. Everyone wants to pay all their bills on time. Successful debt and asset management is a source of pride and of good credit. All of us want good credit whether we use it or not. Unless you have unlimited funds to spend however you wish, you will need a personal budget to pay off debts. Budgeting your money can be a difficult process.

In order to create a household budget, you must include all your monthly and yearly bills. You must also include your spending money, savings goals, and retirement funding. It doesn’t matter how much money you make; it’s how you spend it. A personal or household budget will help you make payments on time, provided you follow the plan.

When you don’t follow a debt management program, your debt may overtake your income and then you are forced to make late payments on bills or no payments at all because you don’t have the money. You can’t just spend money and hope you have enough for your bills. You must spend within a budget.

You can prepare a budget by using budgeting software on your computer. The program will ask you the same questions that a personal finance advisor asks during a financial planning interview. The questions concern your expenses, your spending habits, and retirement goals. They may include tips on debt consolidation and reasonable cash flow. Or you can choose a financial planner to help you with your personal finance concerns.

The best investment portfolio for 2010 and beyond will hold stocks, bonds, and money market securities. Finding the best investment in each area is not possible or necessary. Coming up with YOUR best investment mix is. Let’s review your investment options.

I’ll keep it simple. If you invest at all you have an investment portfolio, which is simply a list of the investments you own. For example, if you have a 401k plan you probably picked a few different investment options from a list. Most of your choices were likely mutual funds. Even if you knew not what you were doing, you put together your own investment mix, your own portfolio. The question is whether or not this is the best investment mix for you.

If you are like 90% of the investors I’ve known and worked with as a financial planner, you don’t really understand this stuff. That’s why you should be invested in stock funds, bond funds and money market funds vs. individual securities like stocks and bonds. When you own funds professional money managers pick the stocks and bonds etc. for you and a pool of other investors. But you need to pick the appropriate mix of funds.

So, let’s take a look at the securities or funds you might own or be considering, and see if changes might be in order. I say “might own” because most people are not sure what they really hold in their investment portfolio. Sound familiar? Let’s start with your safe investments like bank CDs and money market securities. If you have cash invested in a money market fund, you have money market securities in your portfolio. The bad news is that you are earning very little in your safe investments. The good news is that you have a high degree of safety. Don’t keep all of your money here, but don’t bail out just because interest rates are low, either.

If you are risk adverse don’t be afraid to have 50% (or more if you are retired and older) of your investment mix safely invested. Sooner or later interest rates will go up… which brings us to the next area of investment options you might own. Bonds and bond funds (also called income funds) pay more interest, and billions of dollars flowed into bond funds in 2009 from every-day investors chasing higher interest rates. Check and see if any of your mutual funds fall into this category.

Income funds or bond funds probably treated you OK over the years, but this will change in a hurry when interest rates go up. Interest rates were at highs in the early 1980′s. They were at historical lows in 2009. When rates go up money market funds should be good investments and pay more interest in the form of dividends. Bond funds or income funds will lose money. That’s not a theory. That’s the way bonds work. If bonds or bond funds are a large part of your investment mix, or you are considering long-term bond funds, think twice. The risk is significant. Your best investment here is short-term and intermediate-term quality bond funds.

Now let’s look at the third category of investments you probably own or should own… stocks, commonly in the form of equity funds. These are the investment options that have likely caused you heartburn and acid indigestion over the past several years. There’s more risk here, but greater profit potential as well. The best investment mix for most investors: about 50% in stocks, preferably spread across a VARIETY of equity funds. Conservative folks might want to cut this to 25% or even less, but all investors should be familiar with the variety of equity funds that are available to them.

First, you need a GENERAL DIVERSIFIED domestic (U.S.) equity fund that basically tracks the U.S. stock market’s performance. Then, add a diversified international fund that invests in a broad range of foreign equities. You now have a leg up on most investors who miss opportunity by not investing abroad. You may want to add a small-cap or mid-cap fund that invests in smaller companies, because these funds can outperform in some market environments. Finally, consider non-diversified equity funds that specialize in stock sectors like real estate, natural resources, basic materials and precious metals for a smaller portion of your allocation to stocks.

The best investment portfolio going forward will contain stocks, bonds, and money market securities; but you will need to give your investment mix the attention it deserves. Hold some safe investments, avoid long-term bonds, and diversify your stock holdings. Uncertainty and risk in the investment markets is likely to remain high. When in doubt diversify across the three investment areas and within each of them.

Personal investing makes the average new investor uncomfortable. I say this because I was a financial planner for 20 years. I found that most people can relax and start investing with more confidence. If, that is, they make money in the process and learn some investment basics… like the difference between stocks and bonds.

You can work with a financial planner or start investing on your own. But when the economy turns sour and you’re losing money, you’ll feel the stress if you don’t know investment basics and have no sound investment strategy. Let’s start our personal investing lesson with investment basics, stocks and bonds.

Stocks are also called equities and they are VARIABLE growth investments. They involve higher risk, but over the long term have historically returned about 10% a year to investors who just buy and hold them. Equities fluctuate significantly in value; hence there is significant market risk here. Bonds on the other hand are FIXED income investments that have the attraction of paying relatively high rates of interest. They are safer and have returned about half as much over the long term. But they too fluctuate in value.

Traditionally speaking, financial planners generally recommend that you invest in both stocks and bonds to get balance in your investment portfolio. That’s the basic investment strategy that’s been recommended to the new investor for years. Often, when stocks are falling bonds are doing just fine and vice versa.

The basic investment strategy: invest 60% in stocks and 40% in bonds to get a moderate balance with overall moderate portfolio risk. That makes personal investing sound pretty simple doesn’t it? And actually it has worked pretty well for years. Just knowing this should boost your confidence and help you start investing with less stress. However, don’t think that this simple strategy will eliminate all stress in this day and age.

This time things could be different because interest rates are at all-time lows with only one way to go in the future… UP. Here’s the problem. Rising interest rates ALWAYS cause the value of bonds to fall. They also hurt stock values as well. With interest rates so low the new investor is tempted to look for higher returns in stocks and bonds.

You’ll need more than just a grasp of investment basics to survive another downturn in the economy. What you really need to get your personal investing ducks in a row is an ongoing plan of action; a sound and complete investment strategy. Then you can start investing with confidence. Check for articles on the subject because investment strategy is that important, especially today.