Our 5th Annual Claris Education Event was a success, and a huge thank you to Manisha Thakor for enlightening us about how women are going to rule the world!….Well, that’s not really what she said, but she had some very powerful statistics about how women are shaping the future of the financial services industry.
There will be a massive wealth transfer to women in the next 40 years, due to them statistically living longer than men. Now is the time for women to be actively involved in their retirement planning, whether for themselves independently or with their partner.
Manisha gave us some important takeaways on the ABCs of true wealth management:
A – Understand clearly where you are
Start with cash flow and have a “Joy-Based” spending approach. This is an area we have the most control over. Manisha suggested writing down everything you spend money on in a typical month. Take a highlighter and highlight what you spend money on that does not bring you joy, besides the necessities like utilities and insurance, and start weeding out the spending that is not bringing you joy. She used an example of a gym membership. If you haven’t been going and you do not get any joy from it, cancel the membership.
By using the Monte Carlo analyzing tool, we are able to show our clients how their spending affects the success rate of having enough money in their retirement years.
B – Where do you want to be?
The next area she covered about investing was picking a portfolio that feels right for you by knowing your “style” of investing; like picking a lane—and no, I don’t mean like in the grocery store where you always seem to get behind that one person…you know what I’m talking about!
The single most important decision a person can make is what style or philosophy of investing would you choose. She used the analogy of driving in the fast lane as active investing, and the right lane as passive or index investing. With the evidence-based investing that we at Claris adhere to, think of it as not only driving in the right lane, but with GPS! It’s the most effective way of investing, by relying on evidence-based factors that we use to build our most diversified portfolios.
C – What are the steps to get you there?
Knowing your asset allocation (the mix of stocks and bonds) is how we build your investment portfolio to be the most successful. Manisha again used an analogy of a car where the stocks are the gas pedal and the bonds are the brakes.
We spend a lot of time in this area with new clients to make sure they understand how to find their risk tolerance and chose the right allocation that fits. By using three key factors: identifying your willingness, ability, and need to take risk, that is how we choose how much of the gas pedal and how much of the brake to get you to your retirement goals.
Like the title of her presentation, the power of true wealth management allows you to have the Calm, Confidence and Clarity of your financial future. We are here to assist in giving you that power. To start taking control of your financial future, contact Claris.
To find more on Manisha, her website is www.moneyzen.com.
