Financial Planner for Santa Barbara & Los Angeles

The precarious balance between your financial plan and investment plan requires periodic analysis and revisions. Your investment returns and current lifestyle costs are interrelated and must be reviewed to accomplish your retirement goals.  Insofar as advising clients in a fiduciary capacity on their portfolio and financial needs are central to our services, we also find ourselves serving as a helpful (& supportive) hand during periods of transitional stress, which may include divorce, passing of a spouse/parent or unexpected life events like health issues and early retirement.  

Most investment advisors are not portfolio managers. Many promote a buy-and-hold strategy but do not actively manage assets. While this approach may work during accumulation years, it becomes risky as you approach or enter retirement. At that stage, a disciplined plan for portfolio adjustments and selling decisions is essential.

Your retirement portfolio is often your primary source of income, yet many advisors project “average annual returns” over long horizons that assume uninterrupted growth. This is not active management—it’s speculation. Once withdrawals begin, you face “reverse dollar-cost averaging,” where taking income during down markets can erode your nest egg at a time when you no longer have the benefit of decades to recover.

Advisors may also present misleading statistics. For example, you may hear: “If you miss the 10 best days in the market over 30 years, your returns could turn negative.” While technically true, it ignores the other side: missing the 10 worst days can more than triple returns compared with buy-and-hold. In reality, both arguments oversimplify and mislead.

The most important risk in your portfolio is time, particularly the decay of opportunities of greater total return or recovery from losses as you move toward the golden years.

We have found that following the delivery of a financial plan* often times many of the recommendations do not get implemented for one reason or another. Sometimes recommendations do get implemented, albeit incorrectly. Financial planning can be extremely complex, and because of the severe negative consequences that can result, it is imperative that certain recommendations get implemented correctly. Many clients retain our firm after the delivery of their financial plan to ensure that our recommendations get implemented correctly and to monitor the appropriateness of their plan in light of changes in the financial markets, tax code or their personal or financial situation.

Financial planning without ongoing monitoring and adjusting is like running a marathon once and believing that you are going to be in great shape for the rest of your life.

This service maintains your financial fitness via:

• Annual updates to your financial plan*
• Close tracking of every detail of your personal financial situation
• In-depth reports and task list
• Taking you through the investment process (2-3 meetings to teach you about investing)
• Periodically checking your asset allocation to ensure that it is within the limits 
• Access to Web-based retirement planning tools
• Implementation of the recommendations within days after engagement 
• Answers to all of your financial planning-related questions
• Important articles, research and commentary about personal finance via e-mail

• Social Security — Get estimates of your retirement, disability, and survivors benefits. Additionally, you can use Social Security to get your earnings record and the estimated Social Security and Medicare taxes you’ve paid.
• Pensions — Possible inheritances.
• We’ll see if you’re saving enough with retirement scenario calculations.
• Value of real estate, personal property, antiques, art, jewelry, gold, collectibles, business interests, etc.
• Annuities (We do not sell annuities but will neutrally evaluate these products & the prospects of 10% yearly withdrawals, etc.).  
• Life insurance values, if any.
• Income from investments and retirement funds including, stocks, bonds, trusts, real estate.
  
  

Determining the timing and location of retirement is among the most significant choices we face in our lives. Alternatively, if you are already in retirement, it is essential to continually evaluate your circumstances and remain prepared to adjust to evolving conditions and your shifting goals. Numerous factors exist in which professionals are ideally suited to assist in charting the optimal path, such as helping you clarify your retirement objectives (will you still engage in part-time work?), assessing retirement income, analyzing long-term care expenses, taking stock of your assets, understanding your health insurance options, contemplating downsizing your home or moving to a retirement community, and formulating a comprehensive plan.    

The only new clients we are currently accepting are those who are interested in hiring us to provide ongoing financial advisory services.

Contact us for a complimentary consultation:  (805) 965-7955 | Email: ContactUs@McapitalMgt.Com 

*Not all clients require comprehensive financial plans as the considerations for such plans are partly determined by current financial assets, future economic standing and the degree of each individual’s existing planning of their own financial affairs. Also, some clients decide to forgo a detailed financial plan and prefer an overview of assets, income, expenses, health & insurance policies to determine their prospective financial stability and retirement timeline.

Financial Planners & Retirement Advisors serving San Luis Obispo County, Santa Barbara County, Ventura County, Los Angeles County & Orange County