We've all seen the statistics on the number of boomers entering retirement.  Every advisor has been told of the opportunities as new retirees shift from saving and accumulating assets to accessing those savings.

Tapping into the retirement is too important to be left to chance; you need a plan to ensure that happens.  Here are the five things necessary to make this happen.

Step One: Make the commitment

First is the commitment to specialize in the retirement market and make it the core of your business.

You can't dabble in the retirement market and expect to succeed.  You need to resolve that this will be an area of focus and specialization for the balance of your career.  The reasons are simple;only specialists will have the in depth expertise to do an outstanding job in the retirement market.  Only advisors positioned as specialists will have the competitive edge to consistently attract clients in this segment.   

Note, that in every category of professional services, specialists are the most successful practitioners. It's true of lawyers, accountants, doctors and architects, and increasingly will be true of financial advisors.  Generalists do just fine as long as they're only competing with generalists, but the moment a specialist enters the scene, generalists tend to be left behind.  

Step Two: Build your expertise

To be seen as an expert, you first have to be an expert.  You need to have an intimate understanding of the investment alternatives that provide safe, tax efficient income and also have an in depth understanding of the research on safe withdrawal rates, annuities and insurance solutions targeted to retirees.

To really be effective in this segment however, you need to go beyond financial expertise and immerse yourself in all the issues that face retirees as they age.  One way to gain this knowledge is via a designation such as Elder Planning Counselor.  Alternatively, there are lots of great resources online.

Take a look, for example at the site for BMO Retirement Institute, touching on many of the important issues around retirement planning:

 http://www.bmo.com/home/personal/banking/investments/retirement-savings/retirement-planning/bmo-retirement-institute/featured

Or, the consumer library of the association of professional geriatric caregivers:

http://www.caremanager.org/displaycommon.cfm?an=1&subarticlenbr=179

Step Three: Fine tune how your work

Making retirees the focus of your business requires a fundamental rethink of every aspect of how you work.  Some examples:

• How often, when and how long you meet with clients
• The look, feel and font size of proposals and written material
• The kinds of events you run and where and when you run them

These two recent articles speak to the kinds of issues you need to consider to serve retirees effectively.

The coming retirement revolution and what it means to you:

http://www.clientinsights.ca/article/the-coming-retirement-revolution-and-what-it-means-to-you

Making new retirees the core of your practice:

http://www.clientinsights.ca/article/making-new-retirees-the-core-of-your-practice

Step Four: Get the word out

Once you've built a foundation of expertise and have the right infrastructure in place, you need to get the word out.

There are a number of alternatives to do that:

• In this interview, an award winning advisor discusses how he sought out the opportunity to speak to employees approaching retirement in companies with money purchase plans that had to be commuted: http://clientinsights.ca/video/jim-rogers-positioning-yourself-as-a-retirement-income-specialist/type:investor
• In that same interview, this advisor talks about the advantages of being quoted as an expert in the local media
• Another strategy is to seek out opportunities to write on the issues facing retirees in the media in your community. Many local media are open to short articles with concrete, specific advice.
• Other advisors seek out speaking opportunities to seniors groups or become information hubs on retirement issues
• Another alternative is to promote public workshops on strategies to maximize income in a tax efficient fashion
• One advisor focused on snowbirds; retirees who spent the winters in Florida, Arizona, California or Mexico. In September, he hosted a Saturday morning workshop on hot button topics for these retirees, which became a focal point both of communication with existing clients and a way to attract new clients

The morning featured a lawyer discussing the tax and estate implications of owning US property and someone from the local police department, providing guidelines on how people away for long periods can secure their homes.  In addition, the advisor highlighted some insurance implications of being away and talked about different ways to handle fluctuations in currency

• Another advisor partnered with other professionals and companies serving the retirement market and hosted a Saturday morning session for retirees, culminating with lunch. Each partner invited their clients - and everyone walked away with new prospects from this process

This guide to becoming a retirement income withdrawal specialist offers some useful thinking:

http://www.securitiesamerica.com/downloads/MarketingID.pdf

Step Five: Make it happen

None of the first four steps will do you any good unless you make this happen.

Start by blocking off the time to focus on this, say Monday afternoons and Thursday mornings.

Next, prepare a written plan to make productive use of that time, both to ramp up your expertise and to focus on building your awareness among investors approaching and in retirement.  The commitment to focus on becoming a retirement income specialist may not pay dividends immediately, but over the long term could be the single most important decision for an emotionally and financially rewarding career.  

We've all seen the statistics on the number of boomers entering retirement.  Every advisor has been told of the opportunities as new retirees shift from saving and accumulating assets to accessing those savings.

Tapping into the retirement is too important to be left to chance; you need a plan to ensure that happens.  Here are the five things necessary to make this happen.

Step One: Make the commitment

First is the commitment to specialize in the retirement market and make it the core of your business.

You can't dabble in the retirement market and expect to succeed.  You need to resolve that this will be an area of focus and specialization for the balance of your career.  The reasons are simple;only specialists will have the in depth expertise to do an outstanding job in the retirement market.  Only advisors positioned as specialists will have the competitive edge to consistently attract clients in this segment.   

Note, that in every category of professional services, specialists are the most successful practitioners. It's true of lawyers, accountants, doctors and architects, and increasingly will be true of financial advisors.  Generalists do just fine as long as they're only competing with generalists, but the moment a specialist enters the scene, generalists tend to be left behind.  

Step Two: Build your expertise

To be seen as an expert, you first have to be an expert.  You need to have an intimate understanding of the investment alternatives that provide safe, tax efficient income and also have an in depth understanding of the research on safe withdrawal rates, annuities and insurance solutions targeted to retirees.

To really be effective in this segment however, you need to go beyond financial expertise and immerse yourself in all the issues that face retirees as they age.  One way to gain this knowledge is via a designation such as Elder Planning Counselor.  Alternatively, there are lots of great resources online.

Take a look, for example at the site for BMO Retirement Institute, touching on many of the important issues around retirement planning:

 http://www.bmo.com/home/personal/banking/investments/retirement-savings/retirement-planning/bmo-retirement-institute/featured

Or, the consumer library of the association of professional geriatric caregivers:

http://www.caremanager.org/displaycommon.cfm?an=1&subarticlenbr=179

Step Three: Fine tune how your work

Making retirees the focus of your business requires a fundamental rethink of every aspect of how you work.  Some examples:

• How often, when and how long you meet with clients
• The look, feel and font size of proposals and written material
• The kinds of events you run and where and when you run them

These two recent articles speak to the kinds of issues you need to consider to serve retirees effectively.

The coming retirement revolution and what it means to you:

http://www.clientinsights.ca/article/the-coming-retirement-revolution-and-what-it-means-to-you

Making new retirees the core of your practice:

http://www.clientinsights.ca/article/making-new-retirees-the-core-of-your-practice

Step Four: Get the word out

Once you've built a foundation of expertise and have the right infrastructure in place, you need to get the word out.

There are a number of alternatives to do that:

• In this interview, an award winning advisor discusses how he sought out the opportunity to speak to employees approaching retirement in companies with money purchase plans that had to be commuted: http://clientinsights.ca/video/jim-rogers-positioning-yourself-as-a-retirement-income-specialist/type:investor
• In that same interview, this advisor talks about the advantages of being quoted as an expert in the local media
• Another strategy is to seek out opportunities to write on the issues facing retirees in the media in your community. Many local media are open to short articles with concrete, specific advice.
• Other advisors seek out speaking opportunities to seniors groups or become information hubs on retirement issues
• Another alternative is to promote public workshops on strategies to maximize income in a tax efficient fashion
• One advisor focused on snowbirds; retirees who spent the winters in Florida, Arizona, California or Mexico. In September, he hosted a Saturday morning workshop on hot button topics for these retirees, which became a focal point both of communication with existing clients and a way to attract new clients

The morning featured a lawyer discussing the tax and estate implications of owning US property and someone from the local police department, providing guidelines on how people away for long periods can secure their homes.  In addition, the advisor highlighted some insurance implications of being away and talked about different ways to handle fluctuations in currency

• Another advisor partnered with other professionals and companies serving the retirement market and hosted a Saturday morning session for retirees, culminating with lunch. Each partner invited their clients - and everyone walked away with new prospects from this process

This guide to becoming a retirement income withdrawal specialist offers some useful thinking:

http://www.securitiesamerica.com/downloads/MarketingID.pdf

Step Five: Make it happen

None of the first four steps will do you any good unless you make this happen.

Start by blocking off the time to focus on this, say Monday afternoons and Thursday mornings.

Next, prepare a written plan to make productive use of that time, both to ramp up your expertise and to focus on building your awareness among investors approaching and in retirement.  The commitment to focus on becoming a retirement income specialist may not pay dividends immediately, but over the long term could be the single most important decision for an emotionally and financially rewarding career.  

We've all seen the statistics on the number of boomers entering retirement. And every advisor has been told of the opportunities as new retirees shift from saving and accumulating assets to accessing those savings.

Tapping into the retirement is too important to be left to chance - you need a plan to ensure that happens. Here are the five things necessary to make this happen.

Step One: Make the commitment

First is the commitment to specialize in the retirement market and make it the core of your business.

You can't dabble in the retirement market and expect to succeed - you need to resolve that this will be an area of focus and specialization for the balance of your career.  The reasons are simple. Only specialists will have the in depth expertise to do an outstanding job in the retirement market. And only advisors positioned as specialists will have the competitive edge to consistently attract clients in this segment.   

Note that in every category of professional services, specialists are the most successful practitioners. It's true of lawyers, accountants, doctors and architects and increasingly will be true of financial advisors. Generalists do just fine as long as they're only competing with generalists, but the moment a specialist enters the scene, generalists tend to be left behind.  

Step Two: Build your expertise

To be seen as an expert, you first have to be an expert. You need to have an intimate understanding of the investment alternatives that provide safe, tax efficient income and also have an in depth understanding of the research on safe withdrawal rates, annuities and insurance solutions targeted to retirees.

To really be effectively in this segment, however, you need to go beyond financial expertise and immerse yourself in all the issues that face retirees as they age. One way to gain this knowledge is via a designation such as Elder Planning Counsellor. Alternatively, there are lots of great resources online.

Take a look, for example, at the site for BMO Retirement Institute, touching on many of the important issues around retirement planning. http://www.bmo.com/home/personal/banking/investments/retirement-savings/retirement-planning/bmo-retirement-institute/featured

Or the consumer library of the association of professional geriatric caregivers.

http://www.caremanager.org/displaycommon.cfm?an=1&subarticlenbr=179

Step Three: Fine tune how your work

Making retirees the focus of your business requires a fundamental rethink of every aspect of  how you work. Some examples:

• How often, when and how long you meet with clients
• The look, feel and font size of proposals and written material
• The kinds of events you run and where and when you run them.

These two recent articles speak to the kinds of issues you need to consider to serve retirees effectively.

The coming retirement revolution - and what it means to you

http://www.clientinsights.ca/article/the-coming-retirement-revolution-and-what-it-means-to-you

Making new retirees the core of your practice http://www.clientinsights.ca/article/making-new-retirees-the-core-of-your-practice

Step Four: Get the word out

Once you've built a foundation of expertise and have the right infrastructure in place, you need to get the word out.

There are a number of alternatives to do that:

• In this interview, an award winning advisor discusses how he sought out the opportunity to speak to employees approaching retirement in companies with money purchase plans that had to be commuted.http://clientinsights.ca/video/jim-rogers-positioning-yourself-as-a-retirement-income-specialist/type:investor
• In that same interview, this advisor talks about the advantages of being quoted as an expert in the local media
• Another strategy is to seek out opportunities to write on the issues facing retirees in the media in your community. Many local media are open to short articles with concrete, specific advice.
• Other advisors seek out speaking opportunities to seniors groups or become information hubs on retirement issues.
• Another alternative is to promote public workshops on strategies to maximize income in a tax efficient fashion.
• One advisor focused on snowbirds - retirees who spent the winters in Florida, Arizona, California or Mexico. In September, he hosted a Saturday morning workshop on hot button topics for these retirees, which became a focal point both of communication with existing clients and a way to attract new clients.

The morning featured a lawyer discussing the tax and estate implications of owning US property and someone from the local police department, providing guidelines on how people away for long periods can secure their homes.  In addition the advisor highlighted some insurance implications of being away and talked about different ways to handle fluctuations in currency.

• Another advisor partnered with other professionals and companies serving the retirement market and hosted a Saturday morning session for retirees, culminating with lunch. Each partner invited their clients - and everyone walked away with new prospects from this process.

This guide to becoming a retirement income withdrawal specialist offers some useful thinking:

http://www.securitiesamerica.com/downloads/MarketingID.pdf

Step Five: Make it happen

None of the first four steps will do you any good unless you make this happen.

Start by blocking off the time to focus on this - say Monday afternoons and Thursday mornings.

Next, prepare a written plan to make productive use of that time, both to ramp up your expertise and to focus on building your awareness among investors approaching and in retirement. The commitment to focus on becoming a retirement income specialist may not pay dividends immediately, but over the long term could be the single most important decision for an emotionally and financially rewarding career.  

We've all seen the statistics on the number of boomers entering retirement.  Every advisor has been told of the opportunities as new retirees shift from saving and accumulating assets to accessing those savings.

Tapping into the retirement is too important to be left to chance; you need a plan to ensure that happens.  Here are the five things necessary to make this happen.

Step One: Make the commitment

First is the commitment to specialize in the retirement market and make it the core of your business.

You can't dabble in the retirement market and expect to succeed; you need to resolve that this will be an area of focus and specialization for the balance of your career.  The reasons are simple.  Only specialists will have the in depth expertise to do an outstanding job in the retirement market, and only advisors positioned as specialists will have the competitive edge to consistently attract clients in this segment.   

Note that in every category of professional services, specialists are the most successful practitioners.  It's true of lawyers, accountants, doctors and architects and increasingly will be true of financial advisors. Generalists do just fine as long as they're only competing with generalists, but the moment a specialist enters the scene, generalists tend to be left behind.  

Step Two: Build your expertise

To be seen as an expert, you first have to be an expert.  It goes without saying that you need to have an intimate understanding of the investment alternatives that provide safe, tax efficient income, but to operate effectively, many advisors need to immerse themselves in all the issues that face retirees as they age.

One way to gain this knowledge is via a designation such as Elder Planning Counselor. Alternatively, there are lots of great resources online.

Take a look, for example, at the site for BMO Retirement Institute, touching on many of the important issues around retirement planning.

 http://www.bmo.com/home/personal/banking/investments/retirement-savings/retirement-planning/bmo-retirement-institute/featured

Or the consumer library of the association of professional geriatric caregivers:

http://www.caremanager.org/displaycommon.cfm?an=1&subarticlenbr=179

Step Three: Fine tune how your work

Making retirees the focus of your business requires a fundamental rethink of every aspect of how you work.  Some examples:

• How often you meet, when you meet and how long meetings last
• The look, feel and font size of written material
• The kinds of events you run and where and when you run them

These two recent articles speak to the kinds of issues you need to consider to serve retirees effectively:

The coming retirement revolution and what it means to you

http://www.clientinsights.ca/article/the-coming-retirement-revolution-and-what-it-means-to-you

Making new retirees the core of your practice

http://www.clientinsights.ca/article/making-new-retirees-the-core-of-your-practice

Step Four: Get the word out

Once you've built a foundation of expertise and have the right infrastructure in place, you need to get the word out.

There are a number of alternatives to do that:

• In this interview, an award winning advisor discusses how he sought out the opportunity to speak to employees approaching retirement in companies with money purchase plans that had to be commuted: http://clientinsights.ca/video/jim-rogers-positioning-yourself-as-a-retirement-income-specialist/type:investor
• In that same interview, this advisor talks about the advantages of being quoted as an expert in the local media
• Another strategy is to seek out opportunities to write on the issues facing retirees in the media in your community
• Other advisors seek out speaking opportunities to seniors groups or become information hubs on retirement issues
• Another alternative is to promote public workshops on strategies to maximize income in a tax efficient fashion
• One advisor partnered with other professionals and companies serving the retirement market and hosted a Saturday morning session for retirees, culminating with lunch. Each partner invited their clients and everyone walked away with new prospects from this process.

This guide to becoming a retirement income withdrawal specialist offers some useful thinking:

http://www.securitiesamerica.com/downloads/MarketingID.pdf

Step Five: Make it happen

None of the first four steps will do you any good unless you make this happen.

Start by blocking off the time to focus on this, say Monday afternoons and Thursday mornings.

Next, prepare a written plan to make productive use of that time, both to ramp up your expertise and to focus on building your awareness among investors approaching and in retirement.  The commitment to focus on becoming a retirement income specialist may not pay dividends immediately, but over the long term could be the single most important decision for an emotionally and financially rewarding career.  

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