Money
Most baby boomers aren’t ready for retirement. Here’s how to fi nd a fi nancial professional to help.
How to Choose a
By Greg Brown K
ATHLEEN CASEY-KIRSCHLING MADE NEWS BACK IN 2007 FOR the most unusual of reasons: She became the fi rst baby boomer to collect Social Security, having been born one second after midnight in 1946.
It’s telling that Casey-Kirschling opted for early retire- ment benefi ts at 62. By 2030, an expected 84 million people will be drawing payments. Roughly half of the boomers are projected to claim benefi ts early. By one esti- mate, 10,000 Americans will retire every day for 19 years, starting in 2010. By no means are they ready: The personal savings rate was at 10 percent in the 1970s and ’80s, but as the stock market boomed (and possibly due to the illusion of stock wealth), the average national savings rate fell to an astound- ing -1 percent as Casey-Kirschling retired. A Boston College study reports that more than half of the boomers will have to lower their stan- dard of living upon quitting work. Those who do have assets set aside had better get hopping. A topsy- turvy market, rapidly changing tax laws, and incipi-
96 NEWSMAX MAXLIFE / SEPTEMBER 2011
Retirement Adviser
ent infl ation will play a big role in retirement lifestyles. Stocks have largely recovered, but that’s not the same as a boom. Interest rates on savings are stuck at zero or worse, once infl ation is factored. If you are in the market for professional help, here are the top three factors to consider when hiring a fi nancial adviser, according to experts polled by Newsmax.
ADVISER ALPHABET SOUP
FINANCIAL ADVICE IS everywhere you turn: books, magazines, television, and radio. When you fi nally decide to hire an adviser, it gets even trickier. That’s because just about anybody can be called a “fi nancial planner” with no career repercussions. “Look for CFP, CFA, and CPA credentials, as they signify the adviser has completed a rigorous
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