The Power of Software and Navigating an Ever-Changing Retirement Landscape with Mary Beth Franklin

In this episode, Jack Sharry talks with Mary Beth Franklin, a columnist and contributing editor at Investment News, specializing in social security, medicare, and retirement income. 

We’re living in a time where traditional retirement rules no longer apply, in part because of COVID-19’s dramatic impact on money in motion. As a result, helping clients navigate retirement is more complex than ever before. Having spent her career covering retirement from all angles – from policies on Capitol Hill to life inside private firms – Mary Beth has a unique understanding of where we’ve been and, more importantly, what retirement now calls for.

Given her unique expertise on all things social security, Mary Beth emphasizes the importance of software in achieving increased personalization and how advisors can help clients answer the ultimate retirement question – what’s the optimal sequence for withdrawing retirement income? 

Mary Beth and Jack discuss what a changing landscape means for both client and advisor, how COVID-19 changed the financial industry for the better, and what most people miss when planning for retirement. 

“People grew up with a couple myths: that you’re going to put as much money as possible into your qualified retirement plans to lower today’s taxes and your taxes were going to go down in retirement. Well, that may not be true going forward. And advisors and software providers need to understand that this is a very fluid situation and the best thing they can do is stay on top of these changing environments and pivot where they can and help their clients make the best decision for them.” ~ Mary Beth Franklin

Main takeaways 

• When creating retirement plans for clients, advisors will benefit from software that helps fill in the gaps of thousands of complex retirement rules that no single advisor could memorize. And while many creative claim strategies have disappeared, social security is still a critical piece of the retirement puzzle. 
• The right software should be easy to use and seamlessly integrate into an advisor’s existing financial planning software. 
• Changes in money in motion are heading in all different directions. It is not one consistent trend. So advisors need software and other tools geared towards personalization. 
• Many people need advice outside of the advice that their workplace is providing. Advisors should approach clients with a transparency-first approach to gain trust. 
• The pandemic forced the financial industry to embrace software and also spotlighted holes in everyone’s retirement safety net. As a result, we’ve seen an increase in broader financial wellness – financial planning outside of just health benefits and a 401k. 

Links

• Mary Beth on LinkedIn
• Investment News
• Maximizing Your Social Security Benefits by Mary Beth Franklin
• Franklin Templeton
• Kiplinger’s Personal Finance
• North American wealth management: Money in motion, but not always to the bottom line
• Empower
• Personal Capital
• Edelman Financial Engines

Connect with our hosts

• LifeYield
• Jack Sharry on LinkedIn
• Jack Sharry on Twitter

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