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In the retirement planning business, we occasionally get some unreasonable requests. We’ll do our best to accommodate everyone’s needs, but sometimes they just aren’t realistic. On this show, we’ll share some of the requests and tell you how to set proper expectations for your retirement planning.

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Show Notes

Clients come to us for help with their retirement, but every once in a while we get a request that’s just not possible to accommodate. For advisors, it’s all about setting expectations so that people know what they can and can’t expect from their financial plan.

Today we wanted to share some of the unreasonable requests that pop up within retirement planning and we’ll help explain why they’re out of reach.

“I want to get some bigger returns with little to no risk.”

That would be the perfect investment, but it doesn’t exist. In nearly every situation, having the opportunity for bigger returns means taking more risk. Every investment has a give and a take to it.

The good news is that most people don’t need both of these things. Either you’re young enough that it’s ok for you to take risk, or you’re close enough to retirement that getting huge returns shouldn’t be your priority.

If you’re close to retirement and don’t have enough saved, then yes, maximum returns with no risk would be great. But your problem isn’t one that can be fixed that simply, unfortunately.

“Can you reduce your fees for me?”

It’s an age-old saying, but you pay for what you get. You don’t want your advisor’s business to be a not-for-profit business.

It’s understandable that you’d want to get the best deal that you can possibly get, so asking this question might seem natural. But do you really want to be in a situation where you’ve negotiated fees down so low that you’re not a very profitable client for the advisor?

Want to hear about the other unreasonable requests? Check out the full podcast below.

Use the timestamps below to jump to a specific section. 

[4:21] – Bigger returns, no risk

[7:50] – Reducing fees

[12:20] – Paying taxes

[15:26] – Do it for me

[18:50] – Mailbag: Reducing risk

Thanks for checking out this episode. We’ll talk to you again soon.

“Every investment has a give and a take to it.”

-Scott Sierens