As a Certified Financial Planner™(CFP ®) and Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA), I am able to bring an interdisciplinary approach to the challenges of retirement planning. Planning for retirement is one of the most important times in your life. My goal is to help you plan to create a “safe and secure” retirement.

My retirement planning process is to define your goals, create a plan, construct a portfolio, and then help you stay on course. The biggest risk that you face as you enter retirement, is maintaining your lifestyle without running out of money. As you enter this new stage in your life, it is essential that you carefully build a retirement strategy so that you do not outlive your money.  In our first meeting, I start with a personalized conversation to gain a deep understanding of your needs, wants, wishes, and concerns. I will capture all of this information and build a comprehensive retirement plan that breaks down your goals and helps to remove some uncertainty that you may face in retirement. Planning for a confident retirement starts with splitting your retirement finances into  four main areas, which can be seen in the diagram below:

pyramid

 

By addressing each of the above areas separately, it will help you visualize how you can achieve a comfortable retirement. The retirement plan is key to helping you organize your finances. Over your life you have accumulated assets, and like most pre-retirees, you have accounts scattered throughout the financial system.  Now is the time to consolidate your assets so that you can gain more control over your investments.

I can help you build a personal cash flow statement which will estimate your cash inflows (pensions, Social Security, retirement assets, and personal properties) vs. cash outflows (rent/mortgage, monthly bills/expenses, health care costs, and cost of recreation.)

Once we have organized your investments, created a comprehensive retirement plan, and estimated your budget, I will help you to determine the best way to generate a retirement paycheck. There are many investment strategies that you can make without buying high expense products such as annuities.

My Retirement Planning ProcessFinancial Planning Process

Optimization

I find ways to maximize every dollar you have invested so that your money is working for you in as many ways as possible. I do not sell annuities or other products that use gimmicks to charge you high expenses. I build a portfolio that will generate retirement income from your wealth.

Diversification

I help you spread out your risk across a variety of investment vehicles to help ensure that your assets are positioned to address unexpected market shifts.

Efficiency

My best practice-based model allows me to offer you personalized quality guidance at a reasonable, fee-only price point.

Simplicity

Financial planning can be complex – there are a variety of choices and it can be a challenge to understand what’s appropriate. I take the time to learn about you and your unique goals, and our professionals do the legwork of curating your options to find a suitable mix of investments for you. After I have created your retirement plan, I will implement the plan by selecting from my customized investment strategies. 

Customized Investment Strategies

I can help you invest your wealth through either active or passive investment management. I provide highly customized portfolio management that is tailored to your risk tolerance, goals, and values. I DO NOT invest in model portfolios that in my opinion are over-diversified, not customized to the client, and pay no attention to value.

I design customized strategic asset allocations based on each of my clients specific needs.  Your portfolio will be customized to meet your individual needs. I do not chase market returns and stocks but rather take a disciplined, long-term, and individualized approach to investing with a strong emphasis on risk management. I believe the heart of successful investment management is the preservation and steady growth of capital.

My clients have selected from either one or a combination of the following three customized investment strategies.

Low Cost Asset Allocation Strategy – Vanguard and SPDR ETFs

I will exclusively use low-cost Vanguard and SPDR exchange-traded funds in your portfolio. This service is popular for with my clients that are more goal oriented and have partnered with me to create a custom-tailored financial plan featuring low-cost Vanguard and SPDR ETFs. These clients believe in low-cost, passive investment management through Vanguard and more buy-hold investing.

Absolute Return Strategy

My objective is to seek a long-term return above the S&P 500 Index by applying a consistent, disciplined value approach to portfolio management. I pursue money-making ideas for my client portfolios that include selecting individual stocks, exchange-trade funds, preferred securities, and mutual funds. I identify new investment opportunities with the goal to maximize investment performance.

Covered Calls Strategy

This strategy’s objective is to strategically balance in a portfolio a combination of stocks, exchange traded funds, and single name call options (covered-writes). This strategy provides equity exposure with partial downside protection. Covered calls are often used when an investor wants to generate additional income beyond dividends from the underlying stock, and/or gain a limited amount of protection against a decline in the stock’s value. Generating income from covered calls does not provide protection from significant downward price movement. Downside protection is limited to the amount of premium received from the sale of the covered calls.

You’ll benefit from my 17 years of professional experience and disciplined value approach. I am a patient, long-term investor who believes that diversification and active portfolio management can help lower volatility and increase returns. I utilize an investment process which includes initial discovery, development of a customized Investment Policy, implementation, monitoring and rebalancing, and reporting and ongoing communication

If you would like to know more about how my investment strategies can support your investment goals, feel free to send an email to mitch@cgfadvisor.com or schedule a meeting.