Have a GREAT retirement

Unfortunately, some people don’t begin planning their retirements soon enough, nor do they fully understand how to maximize their earnings to prepare for their later days. This is due in part to the lack of good retirement">financial goals counseling. It’s not that there isn’t good investment counseling out there, but you usually have to pay if you want the information customized to your needs. So, many people opt to go it alone, only to discover too late that they won’t have what they need to retire. This is why experts recommend using  financial pros to develop retirement plans. And because it’s your money, you should do some research first so you can ask informed questions of the financial advisor. Learning the financial ropes a bit in advance will also save you money if your advisor charges an hourly rate.

Here are some of topics you should know before you pay someone for financial advice:

How life insurance impacts your financial future
Not everyone needs life insurance basics because they don’t have dependents that make life insurance necessary. But those who do need it should choose wisely. Understanding the difference between universal life, term life and variable universal life (VUL) will help you choose the right option for your circumstances. And let me give you one piece of information right out of the gate: cash value policies can usually be counted on to produce a bad return on investment and will probably cause your family to have inadequate coverage. So you should bear that in mind when you speak to a financial consultant.

The difference between load and no-load mutual funds
Some financial consultants get commissions on sales instead of an hourly rate, so they only make money if they steer you toward “loaded” funds (those that have service fees). Sometimes you’re better off paying by the hour for financial consulting, so you can get objective advice. If you study the difference between load and no-load funds, you’ll see why this distinction is important.

Have an idea when you want to retire and how much money you’ll need
It’s a good idea to know approximately when you’ll retire and how much money it will take to maintain your lifestyle before you meet with a financial planner. That will help her form a plan.

Once you’ve done your homework, you’ll want to to do just a little bit more: ask the people you know if they can recommend someone before you pick a financial consultant to work with. Once you have that information, see how well that person has done with his own finances. If they haven’t been able to do it for themselves, they won’t be able to do it for you!