Free Retirement Checkup from Kiplingers

[kristinecfp]

For the fifth time, Kiplinger's Personal Finance magazine is joining with the National Association of Personal Financial Advisors (NAPFA) to sponsor Kiplinger's Jump-Start Your Retirement Plan Days.

From 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. eastern time on Tuesday, January 16, and Friday, January 26, NAPFA members across the U.S. will be standing by to take your calls and answer your questions.

Normally, these fee-only planners, who are well versed in investments, taxes, insurance, estate planning, and retirement and college saving, charge clients $100 to $250 an hour. But on Jump-Start Days, you pay nothing -- not even for the phone call. Just dial 888-919-2345.

For more information, see A Free Retirement Checkup at www.kiplinger.com

[PRICEPLUS]

Re: Free Retirement Checkup from Kiplingers

Thanks for the heads up!

[pearlieq]

Re: Free Retirement Checkup from Kiplingers

Very cool! I'm definitely going to try to get through. I wonder what kind of call volume/hold times they'll have.

[kristinecfp]

Re: Free Retirement Checkup from Kiplingers

I've volunteered for the hotline for the last 4 years (I'm a financial planner), and I don't think there is usually a long hold time. However, Kiplinger's didn't promote it very well last year. This year they've done a much better job promoting it, so there could be a hold time. If there is, just keep trying. NAPFA lets us know if there are more callers than volunteers, so more volunteers can jump on the phones if needed. Regardless, it's a great opportunity to talk to a CFP for free, so if you've got questions, be sure to call!

[aurielle]

Re: Free Retirement Checkup from Kiplingers

Sounds like a great thing, I tried to call in but I'm sure they're overwhelmed with phone calls. Tried 3 times but I couldn't stand listening to the nonstop outgoing message nattering while on hold after the third time.

[kristinecfp]

Re: Free Retirement Checkup from Kiplingers

I had trouble logging into the call center this morning to take calls. Found out that the call center was in Oklahoma, and they were having some power outage problems due to the recent ice storm. Hopefully things will be much smoother next Friday, when they host the call-in again.

[HiImSeth]

Re: Free Retirement Checkup from Kiplingers

Yeah, we've had some pretty bad snowstorms here in Oklahoma. Anyhow, thanks for the headsup.. I'll be calling in next Friday.

[pearlieq]

Re: Free Retirement Checkup from Kiplingers

Bumping for folks who might like to take advantage of this today.

I'm on hold. Wish me luck!

[pearlieq]

Re: Free Retirement Checkup from Kiplingers

OK...

Well, I was able to get through on my second try. While it's very nice for the company to offer this event, I don't think I'd seek it out again.

I do, however, think it might be better suited to someone who isn't very well versed in retirement planning or personal finance.

I was connected to a woman who introduced herself as a NAPFA planner. I asked her how this normally worked and she said that I could ask any questions I had about retirement or other financial matters.

So, I asked her a question about asset allocation in my retirement plans. But, instead of really answering me, she started saying that most people were concerned about how much they'll need, whether they're saving enough, and when (or if) they'll be able to retire. I told her I had been through several calculators and had a figure in mind, and based on the projections I had I should be able to make it based on what I was saving. She didn't have any comment on the amount I felt I needed. She then asked what percentage of our gross income we were saving for retirement and asked what we were saving outside of retirement. I gave her those figures, and then she started saying that I should use morningstar to evaluate our investment options and it was hard to say how I should allocate my retirement funds since she didn't know what we were comparing (even though I could have given her that info.)

I kind of gave up on the retirement thing after that and asked her about DH's life insurance situation (he can't get life insurance because he's diabetic). I told her we were carrying all of the insurance offered by his employer but hadn't been able to find a term policy and asked how she would recommend changing our financial plan. She replied by saying we should get as much coverage as we could from his employer and then look for a term policy.

I was about to restate/clarify that we had done that, when she kind of talked over me and said "Thanks for the call. All the best to you" and disconnected. I guess there was probably some kind of time limit so that everyone could get a chance to talk to someone. We had been talking for about 5 minutes.

I'm definitely not trying to sound ungrateful, but I really didn't get anything out of it. Maybe they were mostly expecting people who didn't know anything about retirement planning and were going to be asking simple questions like "How much should I save?" and things like that.

[kristinecfp]

Re: Free Retirement Checkup from Kiplingers

I'm sorry you didn't have a better experience. I answered calls for the hotline for about 2 hours today, and got similar questions to yours. Although it can be very challenging to answer financial questions in the span of a few minutes (we were supposed to limit our calls to 10 minutes), most of the people I talked to said the call was very helpful to them.

One problem that we experienced this year was a much higher call volume than we had volunteers for, which resulted in hold times and shorter calls than we would have liked. The free retirement checkup is offered twice a year so we hope to have more volunteers for the next one.

Thanks for your comments pearlieq.

~kristine

[kv968]

Re: Free Retirement Checkup from Kiplingers

So, I asked her a question about asset allocation in my retirement plans. But, instead of really answering me, she started saying that most people were concerned about how much they'll need, whether they're saving enough, and when (or if) they'll be able to retire. I told her I had been through several calculators and had a figure in mind, and based on the projections I had I should be able to make it based on what I was saving. She didn't have any comment on the amount I felt I needed. She then asked what percentage of our gross income we were saving for retirement and asked what we were saving outside of retirement. I gave her those figures, and then she started saying that I should use morningstar to evaluate our investment options and it was hard to say how I should allocate my retirement funds since she didn't know what we were comparing (even though I could have given her that info.)

Pearlieq, why don't you post the funds you're comparing here and let us give you some opinions on asset allocation?

[pearlieq]

Re: Free Retirement Checkup from Kiplingers

Pearlieq, why don't you post the funds you're comparing here and let us give you some opinions on asset allocation?

I was more looking for her professional ideas/opinion on the pros and cons of using targeted funds for retirements savings vs. a "couch potato" portfolio of index funds.

I'm pretty comfortable with what we have, but I was just hoping to get an opinion from someone who had a great deal of retirement investing experience and knowledge, especially since targeted funds are still new.

Unfortunately it didn't seem to be a topic she was able (or willing) to discuss. It's OK, though. I'll keep reading and researching on my own.