Page 20 - Ready Set Retire

Stephen J. Kelley

Several years ago, I was teaching workshops on financial
planning like I still do, and have been doing since getting into
this business. One attendee, call her Ethel, came in and wanted
to work with me. So, we came up with a plan for her that
addressed her concerns, which was a fear of market losses.

She was in her late 70s and had her entire retirement portfolio
in high risk growth and tech stocks. This was before 2008, but
after 2001, so she had experience with this sector and the
problems related to over-concentration in it. Yet there she was.
No wonder she worried about market losses; her portfolio was
a ticking time bomb!

I pointed this out and asked her why she hadn’t discussed this
with her planner. Her response was she was intimidated by him
and unable to challenge him on anything. He had a great deal
of what I consider undue influence over her finances. Our
approach has always been to help people understand their
options, but to leave the decisions up to them, coaching them
on what the outcome of their decisions would be. That he had
so much influence over her was the source of part of her pain
and uncertainty, and what caused her to contact us.

So, we crafted a plan for her. We discussed moving about half
her money into a plan of laddered deferred annuities that, with
a very modest anticipated rate of return, would provide her

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