Retirement Planning Questions to ask your Financial Advisor

If you are interviewing a financial advisor with the intention of hiring her or him, your questions will be different than if you are talking to a financial advisor you have already hired. For the most part, financial advisors you are interviewing are not going to give you specific financial advice. They are not going to give away what people pay to receive.

Assuming you are talking to a financial advisor you have already hired, it is important that you convey as clearly as possible what your retirement goals may be. On average, most people can have a comfortable retirement with about 75% of their salary at retirement. This a significant amount to put aside and with inflation and a falling dollar, it may not be enough.

How much money do you think you will need at retirement? What does your advisor think is reasonable given your goals and your current income and investment profile? A good advisor will be able to look at your current investment portfolio, your current salary (and estimated raises or increases), and make a judgment as to whether you are on track to meet your retirement goals.

If not, you must ask your financial advisor for ways to increase your investment return or modify your retirement goals. Many retirees and those near retirement, who assumed they were going to be nicely set up when they retired, have had a rude awakening as inflation and a falling dollar have nibbled away at their nest egg. Estimates for the amount of money needed for retirement have risen rather sharply over the last decade. Many retirees find that they have to work longer or take a part-time job after retirement in order to survive.

A good financial advisor has an accurate sense of the economy now and of economic cycles and can make a fair prediction as to how much you must accumulate prior to retirement to have the life you envision.