Do You Have a Plan?

I ran a lot as a youngster. In Junior high, In high school.

In college the only running I did was to Dominos but when I graduated, I had Boston on my mind.

Not living or working there but running the Boston Marathon.

The Boston Marathon is hallowed ground for marathon runners. A marathoner’s mecca - 26.2 miles –but the problem is that you have to qualify to get in…They don’t just let any goofball run Boston. People used to say “I don’t even want to drive 26.2 miles”

I wanted to run 26.2 miles and I wanted to do it in Boston.

I had some experience RUNNING IN MY TEENS so I thought “This shouldn’t be difficult!”

So, I started training for Chicago. I was fit, fast, strong, had the optimal heart rate and yes, as you correctly gathered, more than a little full of myself.

The day went poorly. Very poorly. By 14 miles I was looking for a taxi!

I learned very valuable lesson that day.

That I should have run a ½ marathon. No, not that lesson. A better one. That I needed to have a plan.

The problem was I had no real plan. No tangible idea of how I would run a time most considered untenable.

To this day, it’s perhaps the most impactful (and painful) lesson of my life. (I wish I hadn’t told so many people to come to the finish line…)

Today’s lesson isn’t about running, since now I get tired while still on my driveway, it’s about retirement.

I created the SECURiMENT™ CourseMap approach so you would have a plan.

The SECURiMENT™ Method is a plan for perhaps the most important race of your life. A plan to help you turn everything you have worked for (your retirement savings) into a retirement strategy that will allow you to enjoy your next chapter.

BUT it must be simple, so it’s easy for you to take action.

There’s an old adage that you’ve probably heard along the way. It’s about an elderly lady who wants to buy a new air conditioner. The air conditioner salesman is waxing on and on about BTU’s and compressors, etc. All she wants to know is – will it keep an old lady cool in the summer!

This old lady may resemble me. Yes, I know, she’s quite beautiful.

Anyway, the plan should help you…

• De-accumulate assets efficiently so your savings last longer

• Convert assets to income so you have the confidence to spend and live

• Decrease portfolio volatility (while still generating reasonable returns)

• Crash-proof your savings to NEVER experience 2007, etc. ever again)

• Reduce the drag of future taxation through (tax-reducing) strategies

• Understand your LTC options before it’s too late to get decent protection

The SECURiMENT™ process addresses these areas so you live your best life both now and in the future.

So, create your plan and get going. Pay attention to what you’re running to, and less attention to what you’re running from. As you’ve heard me say, there are many ways to run into a secure and comfortable retirement but doing nothing is not one of them.

That’s just the way it works!