“You can start with a plan, and … it may be to put away five dollars a week,” Palisin said. “There’s no age limit—you can start when you’re 18, you can start when you’re 58—but you can’t adjust a plan until you have one. You want to sit down and put some sort of strategy together that will help you and fit your situation when you retire to … supplement your retirement living so you can maintain the lifestyle you want to maintain.”
We hear a lot about the concept of asset protection, but why do we really need it? What practical purpose does it serve? Ed Palisin had this to say: “Number one, inflation. If you took 100 dollars ten years ago, that same hundred dollars is not worth what it’s worth today. Basically, you would want to have some sort of a plan going forward that addresses the possibly detrimental effects that inflation could have on somebody’s retirement plan. If you’re younger, you do have more time to adjust that plan. As you get older in life, you have less time to adjust that plan, so inflation could be more damaging to someone who is closer to retirement than somebody who is not so close to retirement.” Darn! There goes the old money-in-the-mattress technique.
Each of us comes to retirement and elderhood with a unique set of circumstances. Ed shared that his job is to meet people exactly where they’re at to determine what approach will best suit their unique needs. “My investment approach,” he said, “is to put the round pegs in the round holes and the square pegs in the square holes for people. You want to really sit down and see what the goals of that individual person, couple, or family may be and then try to fit a strategy around something that will help them achieve that goal within the framework of what they can afford financially. Everybody is unique. There’s no two specific people, or couples, or families that are alike. So, we’re about building relationships, and that’s an essential part of going forward. In building relationships, we sit down with you at a minimum once a year to give things a review and see if the plan we put together is still on track or if should be adjusted in any direction. And again, we just keep the communications open.” The open line of communication allows Palisin to understand people’s needs and refine his recommendations to provide ongoing high-level support for his clients.
The RetireSafe Toolkit
Palisin described a variety of tools that RetireSafe Advisors has to offer, with life insurance, retirement savings plans, and long-term care insurance at the top of the list. “Life insurance is very important, Palisin said, “because there is one thing for certain: we’re all going to die at some point. I hate to say that in that way, but hopefully it’s a lot later than a lot sooner. … You can never replace a person, but as far as replacing the financial aspect of burden or responsibility that person has to the family, to the couple, to his or her loved ones, you want to be able to put that family in position where they’re not financially burdened by the loss of a bread winner. … So that’s one very, very important thing. Two, it would be a good thing to sit down and do some minimal planning—if not total planning—for some sort of retirement in the future. A couple dollars now will be worth a lot more money later.”
One of the best offerings Ed shared was a life insurance policy that included three benefits in one: “We have a type of life insurance where you get a death benefit if somebody deceases; you get a lump sum benefit to your beneficiary, presumably your loved ones or family. But, if you keep living and you don’t die, there’s an inside component of that policy called ‘cash value’ which you could also use as deferred compensation as you approach retirement, or at some point later in your life. So, you can have both a life insurance where it covers a death benefit and keeps your family in financially better straights, but inside that policy there’s something like an account building up for you called ‘cash value’ that you can use as deferred compensation, tax free, at some point in your life. And taking that one step further, you can also get a long-term care rider within that policy to cover your long-term care expenses. In that scenario, a person would get three benefits for one particular action.”
In the end, Ed said, it’s all about caring for people: “You want to put people in a better place, and you want to really make sure that they’re doing the things that are possible for them, the things that put them in a better financial position doing things they can afford. If they have a problem and you have a solution they can’t afford, then you really haven’t solved the problem. So, it has to be something they need, something they want, and something they can afford. If any one of those three things isn’t in the equation, it’s not going to work.”
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Here at HandyPro, we make your well-being our priority. Our interview series goes hand-in-hand with that effort, and we hope you find it helpful! For more information on how we can help you make your home a home for life, visit us at
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If you’d like to learn more about RetireSafe Advisors, you can find them on the web at www.RetireSafeCleveland.com, or reach them by phone at 440-221-2151. They offer free initial consultations. To listen to our full conversation, please use the player down below...
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Interview Audio Part Two :
Hi Brian! Thanks for presenting these advisors’ insights on how to be financially well today and in the future. Yes, it’s all about taking a look at each person’s unique situations and needs in order to create a plan that’s best for them. I also agree that most of us should look into getting life insurance and long-term care insurance. This is a very informative post, so we featured it in our Weekly Digest. You can read it here https://www.ltcoptions.com/weekly-digest-financial-success-and-ltc-alternatives/. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteHolly, thank you so much for your feedback and for sharing our content! I will be sure to send out the link to your weekly digest and appreciate you taking the time to include us!
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