Are you working with a Certified Financial Planner??

As President and founder of Lord and Richards, I’m very excited to share another aspect of how we can help you retire financially independent and worry-free. To achieve this, we must address five critical areas of financial planning.?

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1.??????? Do you have a written risk management plan that ensures your portfolio will recover from a market drop and sustain your financial independence??

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2.??????? Do you have a written income plan to access your funds that ensures you don’t run out of money before you run out of life?

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3.??????? Do you have a written health care plan that protects your financial independence if you experience a health care crisis after retirement?

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4.??????? Do you have a written tax plan to reduce or eliminate taxes for you now and your heirs later?

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5.??????? Do you have a written estate plan that includes key elements such as your will and power of attorney so those responsible for your estate won't be overwhelmed?

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At Lord and Richards, we help you focus on these critical areas and develop a comprehensive financial plan through our Financial Independence Review process. Our unique approach includes employing financial advisors with varied specialties and expertise. Our advisors are fiduciaries and legally required to act in your best interests.

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Secondly, we employ paraplanners who develop our plans under the oversight of our financial planners. Our financial planners are Certified Financial Planners. When you plan for financial independence in retirement, you want to entrust that process to proven professionals.

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We also have other advisors who guide you through our entire process. We surround you with our loving team to help you on your financial independence journey.

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I mentioned our Certified Financial Planners earlier. This designation is not a degree or a license, but a professional designation offered by an external authority. Becoming a Certified Financial Planner (CFP) requires thousands of hours of planning experience. Our CFPs have thousands of hours and many years of planning experience. In addition, we train our CFPs to offer comprehensive planning.

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I know other firms that employ CFPs, and it amazes me that they don’t give them the kind of planning experience we provide ours at Lord and Richards. We analyze and evaluate many statements for clients that have not been handled with the care you should expect from a CFP. A Certified Financial Planner is expected to subscribe to the Board’s ethical standards, which include integrity, honesty, transparency, and not concealing or misleading. A CFP must exercise due care and diligence and prevent anything from falling through the gaps. One of the things I’m so proud of at Lord and Richards is our super diligence in following up, promptly answering any questions that arise, and taking care of our clients continually throughout the year, not just on occasion.

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You also want competence. Experience is telling. Through the thousands of hours we’ve put in with our clients, we've had to be competent in addressing the myriad of existing financial challenges. In retirement, you have one shot to get it right. I’m amazed some folks believe they’ll be fine by reading a few books like Financial Planning for Dummies. That kind of "preparation" might be okay for a hobby, but not for a successful retirement and lifelong financial independence. You need professional competence, credibility, and confidentiality.

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Too often I hear advisors inappropriately discussing client situations. At Lord and Richards, we exercise the utmost care and confidentiality with our clients. You can check us out at FINRA, the SEC, or the insurance department here in Colorado. We’ve never had a complaint.

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Finally, to be designated a CFP, you must not only have the required knowledge, experience, and integrity, but you must also sit for a comprehensive exam.

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If I were about to go under the knife in the operating room, I would want to be sure that the surgeon has been certified, knows what needs to be done, and is competent to do it. It’s similar to financial planning. We want to be sure that our team members are certified, highly qualified, and diligent people of integrity.

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I mentioned earlier that there are five critical areas of financial planning. Do you have a written risk management plan, a written income plan, a written health care plan, a written tax plan, and a written estate plan? Why is writing these plans down so important? The likelihood of successfully achieving your goals increases exponentially if you write them down. At Lord and Richards, we not only help you write down those goals, our computers store and update your information in response to any changes in your life. We meet regularly to consistently update your plan under the care and oversight of our team.

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Having a plan for all those different aspects sounds like a lot of work, but most folks we meet with do very little other than sit down with us and let us work on their behalf. The whole point of hiring someone to do this is to ensure you haven’t missed anything. If you remodel your house, you may have some basic skills, but unless you’re a professional home builder, you’ll need to bring in some extra expertise. You would need a qualified electrician, a licensed plumber to ensure your toilet doesn’t back up on you, and a contractor qualified to install your roof and windows. You would need various people with skills, expertise, and experience.

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I’m thrilled to tell you that at Lord and Richards, this is exactly what we bring to the table.? We meet with people like you every day who have achieved financial independence, and we would love to do the same for you. My team and I can help you enjoy financial independence throughout your retirement. Get started with just a simple phone call.??