Understanding Holistic Wealth Management in Retirement- Beyond Just Investments

Holistic wealth management is what we do. If you listen to our podcast or read our blog, you’ve likely seen us use this term before. But what’s the difference between a holistic wealth management and an investment firm approach? 

In our latest podcast (listen to it here), we explain what holistic wealth management is and how it differs from an investment firm. 

CLICK HERE to Watch this Video

What is an Investment Advisor or Firm? 

An investment advisor or firm has its place in the investment industry and retirement. When you start in the process of accumulating wealth and saving money, you may need some guidance, and that is where one of these professionals can be beneficial. 

Some people prefer learning about the different types of investments and the financial vehicles open to them, but others prefer to have a professional handle their investments for them. 

A lot of people look for guidance and help on how to invest because they: 

• Don’t have time to do it themselves 
• Have a career 
• Prefer to trust a professional to manage their money 

For many people, during their accumulation phase of life when they’re just starting to save, adding money to a 401k or IRA and wanting to put money into a brokerage account, this is the time that they begin working with an investment advisor. 

Investment advisors can help you grow your money, and a big part of this is selecting the right assets for your individual goals and needs. Asset allocation, which means diversifying your funds into multiple areas of the market for the long term, is another major reason people work with an advisor. 

However, if you have questions about the following, an investment advisor is not ideal: 

• Tax implications 
• Saving for a child’s college 

When you’re younger, you go to a pediatrician because they specialize in working with kids. As you get older, you go to an adult primary care doctor because they specialize in helping adults. Saving for retirement and investing are very similar because the team around you will need to change with your life circumstances. 

This is where holistic wealth management comes into play. We focus on and specialize in helping clients near or in retirement, and we help outside of investments. Investing money has been an integral part of Peace of Mind Wealth Management, and it’s still a major part of our business. Now, we’ve thoughtfully take it a step further. 

Ok, so what is Holistic Wealth Management? 

Retirement planning has a lot of moving parts, and while investing can help you reach your savings milestones and mitigate risks, it’s just one element of trying to secure your retirement. 

We started focusing on holistic wealth management because clients were coming to us with questions like: 

• What do I do with my money? 
• Will my money run out? 
• How do I handle tax planning? 
• When do I take Social Security? 
• How do I navigate Medicare? 
• How do I deal with long-term care? 
• What should I do for estate planning? 

These questions have come up many times over the years. We noticed that there was a major need for a holistic wealth management firm that helps you grow your investments but goes well beyond what an investment firm offers. 

We handle the investment side of things, and when you have questions about taxes, Social Security, Medicare, and Estate Planning we can help you plan for those, too. 

Holistic management offers a focused plan that helps you get to and through retirement. 

Our holistic management process starts with a discussion. We’ll sit down together so you can get to know us, and we can learn all about you and your goals. To get started on building your retirement focused plan, we’ll need to know: 

• Where you are today in terms of finances. 
• Where you want to be and when. 

Instead of just focusing on investments, we’ll consider where income is coming in, expenses, tax planning, estate planning, healthcare, and the other nuances of life that can change when you retire. 

For example, if you’re under 65, your needs are different from someone who is older because your healthcare coverage options are a lot different. As you age, we help keep your retirement focused plan up to date, so all the pieces continue to fit together to secure your retirement. 

Working With a Wealth Manager 

A wealth manager handles retirement from multiple angles. You have the assets you need to retire, but what does retirement look like for you? We start the whole process by creating a retirement-focused financial plan. 

Let’s say that you are 60 and want to retire at 65. You need to know that your finances will last through retirement. 

We gather all the data points to know what you’ve done to save for retirement so far. We’ll look at how much you’re expected to receive from Social Security, what other concerns you may have, whether you have other sources of income and more. 

On the flip side, we’ll look at what you expect to spend in retirement. 

Many of our clients like to frontload the first ten years of their retirement to travel. Perhaps you want to travel around Europe for a few years. We need to know if this option is possible and what it means for your retirement. 

Once you begin withdrawing assets, there will be tax implications to consider. We have specialists that help you: 

• Understand tax implications 
• Strategize to save money on taxes 
• Mitigate Medicare IRMAA charges 

Once you hit age 72-and-a-half or 73, you need to begin addressing required minimum distributions (RMDs). If you have pre-tax assets that you need to take money out of to satisfy an RMD, how does that change your tax situation? As a holistic wealth management firm, we can help our clients plan and strategize for these types of situations in one place.  

People often need help reaching the finishing line, and we walk them through things like: 

• Social Security 
• RMDs 
• Healthcare options 
• Long-term care planning 
• How assets will be left behind 

For us, this is holistic wealth management. We’re in meetings all the time where people have enough for retirement, but they have questions and concerns about much more than their investment accounts. 

We received questions today from people who want to switch homes or go from one home to a continuous care community, and they need help. Of course, some clients have questions on how to leave gifts to their grandchildren or how their dream vacation will impact their retirement. 

We love it when clients share their dreams and goals for retirement and having the opportunity to help them feel secure in their plan when achieving them. 

Recently, a client wanted to buy their dream car, a 69’ Chevelle, and we ran the numbers to find out if the client could afford it. We’re happy to tell you that the client could afford it, and they’ll be picking up the car in the next few weeks.  

A bigger purchase, like a dream car, can be a big decision when you consider how it may fit into your retirement plan. A holistic approach to “running the numbers” for this client went beyond looking at investments, and considered how the purchase would impact their retirement focused plan now and in the future. 

You need to ask which option is best for you: 

• Investment advisor 
• Holistic wealth manager 

Some people prefer to do everything themselves, and for these individuals, they may find that working with an investment advisor fits them best. You may want someone by your side who can handle everything for you, such as your tax planning and financial projections, which is the starting point for how we help to secure your retirement. 

If you want to understand all this a little better, we offer a complimentary phone call that you can schedule with us on our website. If we can’t answer all your questions in just 15 minutes, we’ll guide you to the next steps to find the answers you need. 

Schedule your complimentary call with us and to learn more about holistic wealth management.