Ten Retirement Tips for Clients—in Sketches
According to Vanguard’s annual State of Retirement report, only four in 10 Americans are on track to maintain their current lifestyle in retirement.
Retirement experts Bonnie Treichel, founder of Endeavor Retirement and Endeavor Law, and Jamie Hopkins, CEO of Bryn Mawr Trust Advisors, believe financial advisors can help boost that figure with two simple, retro tools: pencil and paper.
In their book, Your Retirement Sketchbook, released this week, Treichel and Hopkins offer 125 retirement planning lessons with accompanying sketches.
Treichel, who is a frequent speaker at conferences about the intricacies of retirement plan laws and regulations, believes in the power of simplicity when encouraging people to plan and execute their retirements.
“Visuals assist in making complex topics simple to understand; for example, consider descriptions related to money movement and the flow of money for various purposes,” she said. “Visuals [also] make it more fun so people want to engage; while the concept of a retirement plan match is not complex, it is more fun to see a visual of a garden that grows with water and sunlight (i.e., water and sunlight being the match) versus a garden that is barely growing without the employer match (i.e., no water and no sunlight).”
Treichel and Hopkins hope the book will help people discuss the sometimes-difficult subject of money “around the dinner table.” But they also see it as a tool for financial professionals. Hopkins, a lifelong advisor and commentator in the sector, was prompted to update his own estate plan when working on the book.
The duo shared 10 of their lessons and their sketches for Wealth Management readers.