Hello everyone. I have spent the last couple months evaluating my business and figuring out what is working and what's not. I started in this business in January 2004 with a laser focus on retirement income planning. At that time, I used complex spreadsheets to put together multiple products designed to pay income over varying periods of time to provide income for life. These plans have worked out pretty well in spite of an almost flat market over the past six years.
In the spirit of service, I have added various product lines over time such as home and auto insurance, health insurance, etc... so that my clients would not have to form multiple relationships with advisors to meet all of their insurance needs. I was becoming a one man insurance superstore (read "jack of all trades"). While this approach does have some benefits, it has become more of a distraction than anything. It became harder and harder to define what I do. In spite of knowing better, I was trying to be all things to all people.
Since I first started, new financial products have become available in the income planning arena. It is now possible to provide accurate, guaranteed income projections 10, 15, even 20 years into the future. Instead of the complex spreadsheets and layering of products I started with, I can now provide these projections using only the financial calculator app I downloaded to my smart phone. I can do all the calculations in just a few minutes and summarize them on the back of a napkin.
So, with all the uncertainty in the market and investors having already lost one decade, I'm putting everything else on the shelf and getting back to what I do best which is income planning. If retirement is on the horizon for you, I encourage you to spend 15 minutes with me to see if we're a fit.
