Have you ever visited a city you have never been to before?  How did you get around?  I would imagine it was with a map.  Whether it is digital or physical, maps give you all the information you need to get around and make your stay a great one.

As you prepare for and live in retirement, it’s important to have a map.  Your map will not only help get you identify where to go, but help you avoid pitfalls and trouble spots on your way.

The Ries Financial Group has helped families map out their unique retirement for nearly 25 years.  We help each client develop a clear map for their retirement destination.  We then help guide you throughout retirement – no one wants to spend their time staring at a map.  You should enjoy the journey rather than worry about the details.

Just as maps outline roads, geographic features, and key destinations, your retirement map will address four parts:  investment planning, estate planning, risk protection, and retirement planning.

Investment Planning

Your investments should be managed in such a way that helps you fund your entire retirement trip. The objective of investing, therefore, is to help you grow your assets while protecting them as much as possible. To help you accomplish this goal, we help our clients with a two-part approach. The core portion of your assets are invested in long-term focused, diversified investments.

We surround that core with “satellite” investments. These satellite investments are further broken into two parts. Tactical investments are designed to capitalize on market inefficiencies. Alternative investments are anything different from traditional stocks and bonds. These investments are meant to act as “shock-absorbers” to normal market movements.

By spreading your assets across a range of investments – with flexibility to be used in varying combinations as markets and economies change – we will help you build a portfolio that has the right balance of risk and return for you.

Estate Planning Strategies

Proper estate planning is a key part to any financial map. We like to think of it as the geographic features we rarely pay attention to but can completely derail a trip.

Estate planning issues are often overlooked because they are complicated and overwhelming. There are a lot of rules and regulations, which are constantly changing. That’s why our team works closely with talented wealth planning professionals at Stifel, as well as your trusted CPAs and estate attorneys, to help you ensure your estate plan is tailored to your unique situation.

Whether you have an existing plan or are just starting one, our team can help you evaluate what your estate plan needs to cover. Then, we can help you thoroughly map out your plan.

Risk Management Strategies

When we go on trips, we try to cover the unexpected. Our cars have insurance in case we get into an accident. When we fly, we may pay for ticket insurance to ensure if changes need to be made, we can still have a ticket. When it comes to insurance, though, everyone asks: Do I actually need this insurance? Am I fully covered? Am I paying too much? Am I using insurance to its fullest as part of my tax plan and estate plan?

We evaluate all of your insurance coverage to ensure you are using insurance to your advantage.

Retirement Planning

Once you get to your new destination, you still need a map as you explore all it has to offer. This is where our team shines.

Many feel that retirement planning is strictly about investments. Investments are important, but there is more to your financial life in retirement. It takes proper tax planning, expense versus income evaluation, and planning your desired pursuits – hobbies, second careers, charitable inclinations, vacation homes, etc.

We will work with you prior to your retirement and beyond to help guide you around the obstacles and potential pitfalls on your journey.

A Different Kind of Team

At The Ries Financial Group, we are a different kind of financial advisory team. Pursuing your financial goals is our number one priority, and we make sure you know it. When you visit our office, you receive a warm welcome and personal attention.

We never want our clients to feel in the dark about what is going on. We will periodically review your map with you to ensure that you remain on track to pursue your goals. Our comprehensive, individualized guidance is based on decades of knowledge and experience and driven by honesty and integrity.