NaviPlan to help advisors serve retiring baby boomers
Recognizing the need for better methodology and better software in order to develop comprehensive retirement solutions for retiring baby boomers; EISI is doing the work to incorporate retirement distribution planning into NaviPlan Standard.
The article "A Great Challenge Facing Advisors and Their Clients" by Joel P. Bruckenstein in the June issue of Financial Advisor magazine provides insight on retirement distribution from Dr. Linda Strachan, CFP and Vice President of Product Marketing at EISI—the developer of NaviPlan financial planning software.
Sensing a huge opportunity for advisors, Dr. Strachan says: “Near-retirees lack comprehensive retirement plans. Market fluctuations, coupled with the current national debate on Social Security, have exacerbated fears of outliving one’s savings. Often, the conversion of assets at retirement creates an opportunity for advisors to establish a relationship and capture those assets.”
Although the distribution puzzle is complex, Dr. Strachan says that EISI's goal as it develops retirement distribution planning within NaviPlan Standard is to provide the functionality that advisors and their clients require without making the software too complex.
For example, a new Scenario Manager will allow advisors to compare the current plan with predefined alternative scenarios. It will identify fixed needs vs. discretionary needs and illustrate the client’s ability to meet each.
Writes Bruckenstein: "The application’s design makes it very easy for advisors to manipulate multiple scenarios. 'What-if' scenarios currently under development include: retire earlier/later, increase/decrease rate of return, increase/decrease inflation rate, increase/decrease fixed need, increase/decrease discretionary needs, annuitize to need, annuitize a percentage of assets, modify redemption order, modify life expectancy and incorporate Monte Carlo analysis."
Dr. Strachan emphasizes that this is just EISI’s first iteration of the scenario builder, with more to follow.
NaviPlan Extended, EISI's more sophisticated application, currently supports distribution planning, but the program is designed for advanced planners only.
Read the full article: A Great Challenge Facing Advisors And Their Clients.