The Retirement Specialist
Why Retirement Requires Expertise and How to Find It
Your Advisor Got You Here.
Can They Get You Through?
You have spent decades building wealth with your financial advisor. They may have helped you save, invest, and arrive at retirement with a substantial portfolio.
But the skills required to build wealth are fundamentally different from the expertise needed to make it last 30+ years in retirement.
Most financial advisors are trained in accumulation strategies: growing portfolios during your working years. Very few have specialized training in retirement income planning, which involves managing sustainable withdrawals, optimizing taxes across multiple account types, coordinating Social Security strategies, and navigating the complex risks unique to the decumulation phase.
The Retirement Specialist by Dr. Eric T. Ludwig gives you the framework to understand this distinction and the tools to make an informed decision about the most important professional relationship of your retirement.
Years that your retirement savings may need to last, requiring specialized income distribution expertise
Financial advisors trained in the RICP® program that Dr. Ludwig directs at The American College of Financial Services
The portfolio threshold where retirement income complexity demands specialized expertise
What You’ll Discover
The Retirement Specialist is a clear, research-backed guide that equips you to evaluate, select, and work with an advisor who truly specializes in retirement income.
The Specialization Gap
Why retirement income planning is a distinct specialization, like cardiology versus general practice in medicine, and why credentials matter.
Dangerous Defaults
The accumulation-era habits and default strategies that advisors without specialized training carry into retirement, and the risks they create for your portfolio.
The Evaluation Framework
How to assess whether your current financial advisor has the retirement income expertise this phase demands, with specific questions and benchmarks.
Comprehensive Planning
What genuine retirement income planning looks like: withdrawal strategies, tax optimization, Social Security coordination, risk management, and more.
Finding Your Specialist
A step-by-step process for identifying, vetting, and engaging a qualified retirement income specialist for your unique situation.
Making the Transition
How to professionally transition from your current advisor if you determine your needs have evolved beyond their area of expertise.
Is This Book Right for You?
Pre-Retirees
You are within 10 years of retirement with $1M+ in investable assets and want to ensure your financial advisor has the specialized expertise needed for the transition from accumulation to distribution.
Recent Retirees
You have recently retired and are beginning to draw down your portfolio. You want to evaluate whether your current advisor is equipped for the unique challenges of the decumulation phase.
Retirement Savers Seeking Clarity
You are not sure what to look for in a retirement-focused financial advisor and want a research-backed framework for making one of the most important decisions of your financial life.
Financial Professionals
You are an advisor, planner, or industry professional who wants to understand the distinct competencies required for retirement income planning and how to differentiate your practice.
Retirement Is Too Important for a Generalist
Get the framework to find the specialized expertise your retirement demands.
Also available on Kindle