Planners See Big Potential For Retirement Income

While financial planners see a tremendous market in the years ahead for retirement income, they believe that the complexities of planning an income strategy for each client combined with compliance issues will keep that growth at a slow pace, according to a survey by the Financial Planning Association released last Monday.

Although they foresee retirement income growing only through personal, hands-on attention, they agree that it will be an important part of their practice in the years ahead.

"Extended life expectancies, a greater number of variables to manage and difficulties in communicating with older clients, make for a much more protracted and complicated planning and monitoring process for financial planners," said Bob Vickery, an executive with Diversified Services Group, which produced the survey for the Financial Planning Association.

As to what most financial planners recommend most commonly for retirement income solutions, the two most popular are systematic withdrawals and dividend-paying investments. Annuities and certificates of deposit still have not gained traction. While 60% have recommended reverse mortgages, only 6% recommend them often. The survey also showed that 75% use some type of a retirement income software program.

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