After an extended summer hiatus, here is the next installment in a continuing series on the topic of creating a pre-retirement financial planning checklist.  You may recall my previous blogs were based upon a simple airplane landing analogy.   THE RETIREMENT TRANSITION ANALOGY: GETTING THE PLANE READY TO LAND. PREPARE FOR LANDING: A RETIREMENT READINESS ANALOGY-VISUALIZING RETIREMENT PREPARING FOR RETIREMENT CHECKLIST: DOING THE MATH!   After a relatively long and uneventful flight, the crew springs into a flurry of pre landing activities during the last 15 minutes, necessary to guarantee that the landing is safe and on time. Likewise, as we near our retirement date, there are some critical tasks necessary to be ready for a safe and well-planned transition.  In this segment, let’s examine the need to make some substantive changes to our investment portfolio to accommodate the need for retirement income. The airplane analogy works well in describing this transition.  During...

PRESS RELEASE Amherst, NY: Level Financial Advisors has hired Alyssa Bogardus as a Financial Planning Associate at the fee-only investment management and financial planning firm. She will assist in client meetings, preparing financial plans and researching strategies to help clients save money, reduce taxes, and improve their financial lives. She will also contribute to the firm’s financial planning and investment committees and work on special projects while preparing for CFP® certification in the near future. Ms. Bogardus received a bachelor of science degree in business administration from Edinboro University, graduating summa cum laude in May. Her studies included a concentration in accounting and personal financial planning. Ms. Bogardus is a native of Girard, Pennsylvania and currently resides in Amherst, NY. Level manages $548 million in assets for 617 households and is based in Amherst. The firm has been in business since 1979 and recently opened an additional office in Hamburg, NY....

PRESS RELEASE Amherst, NY: Level Financial Advisors has hired Catherine O’Brien as a Client Services Specialist at the fee-only investment management and financial planning firm. She will assist the firm’s client services department with various administrative activities including working with clients on daily requests, deepening client relationships, and assisting the company’s financial advisors with meetings and paperwork. She will also have responsibilities for greeting visitors to the Amherst office. Ms. O’Brien received an associates degree from Erie Community College in 2018 and is currently enrolled at the University of Buffalo where she is pursuing a degree in business administration. Prior to joining Level, Ms. O’Brien worked as the Membership Director for YMCA Buffalo Niagara.  She also worked in various roles with the organization beginning in 2013 until joining Level. Ms. O’Brien has served as the Membership Chair for YMCA’s Professional Network, Chapter 7 and received a certification of appreciation from the United States Marine Corps...

In the past few installments of this blog, we’ve been exploring the idea of a checklist of critical tasks to accomplish 5 to 10 years before retirement.  I’ve been using the analogy of the checklist an airline crew uses in preparing their aircraft for landing during the last few minutes of the flight.   In last month’s article, we considered the need to create an intentional and detailed vision of the unique retirement we want to experience.  So let’s assume you were successful and have your vision firmly in mind- now what? Well, this leads us to a natural and logical next step which is to determine if our vision is financially sustainable.  This is the part where we calculate the future cost of our dream retirement and make sure that it can be supported by our financial resources.    Back in the day, this type of calculation required some “spread-sheeting” wizardry given...