The Importance of Co-Planning

How long does it take to develop a retirement plan? One hour? Two hours? Five hours? Longer?

The depth of analysis an advisor is willing to devote when developing a plan for a client comes down to simple math: a ratio of the size of the portfolio to time spent. The process typically involves multiple meetings with the client to understand their objectives, assets and expected cash flows, and then finally recommendations. The bulk of time taken is spent in the back office running through multiple possible situations just in case the client asks about them. But more often than not, the client asks to consider something not in the static report which means going to the back office again and yet another meeting before the client is willing to pull the trigger on a suggested change.

As we saw in part 1 of our series, JourneyGuide is a new retirement planning software that is simple to use but exceptionally robust in its calculations. With JourneyGuide, the advisor is able to immediately share with the client what they can spend in retirement. But what if the client says “I forgot about this IRA over here” or “what if I take Social Security at age 65 instead of 62?” This is where JourneyGuide’s approach is different and allows the advisor to shine in front of the client.

The speed and interactive usability of JourneyGuide lets the advisor make those changes on-demand and in effect build the retirement plan right there with the client, a concept called co-planning. Adjustments to the plan are experienced in real-time, allowing the advisor to be much more efficient and removing the need for back-office changes and multiple meetings. As a result, the client is engaged with the process, taking ownership of the plan and more likely to move forward with implementing the plan. And most importantly, the transparency of participating in the process builds a stronger advisor-client relationship which may accelerate the trust factor.

Visit www.journeyguideplanning.com to request a demo or start your free trial today.

Michael L. Smith is a co–contributor to this press release.