ROSEVILLE, Calif., Nov. 17, 2005 — Baby boomers are in real trouble financially, and most don't even realize it. With the lowest savings rate in history, lax investment habits and no guaranteed pensions, 80% of boomers lack sufficient assets to maintain their current standards of living with financial security late in life, said Jack Waymire, founder of Paladin Registry, LLC (http://www.paladinregistry.com).
Those who figured they would maximize their savings in the coming years thought wrong: A boomer could need $1 million of additional assets to produce the $50,000-per-year of distributions that are needed to maintain his or her lifestyle, explained Waymire, who authored the best-selling "Who's Watching Your Money: The 17 Paladin Principles for Selecting a Financial Advisor" (ISBN 0471476994, John Wiley & Sons, 2003). And it would take 100 years to save $1 million at the rate of $10,000 per year, not counting earnings. Even under the most optimistic projections, boomers with less than 10 years to retirement have simply run out of time.
"Baby boomers are turning 60, and the vast majority of them are facing uncertain financial futures," said Waymire. "It is well past time to start thinking about retirement."
In the face of such bleak statistics, is there any way for boomers to turn things around? Maybe. They must achieve the highest performance possible on existing assets without exceeding their tolerance for risk, advised Waymire. Boomers have passed the time for saving, although savings make assets grow faster. Instead, they now need to focus on performance – what Waymire calls the key variable to a comfortable lifestyle for the rest of their lives.
"If boomers can compound higher returns for the remainder of their working years and for the first several years of retirement," said Waymire, "they have a fair chance of achieving financial security late in life."
And to do that, it is critical that they have first-rate financial advisors – no easy task when the bad ones outnumber the good ones nine to one, said Waymire, whose Paladin Registry provides education services and lists five-star investment professionals based on strict admittance requirements.
"The need for competitive returns makes the boomers very dependent on the quality of the advisors they select to help them achieve critical performance goals," said Waymire. "Bad advisors destroy financial dreams and good advisors make those dreams come true. Boomers' financial futures depend on their learning how to avoid bad advisors and select quality professionals before it's too late."
About Paladin Registry, LLC
Founded in 2003, the Paladin Registry is a free service that educates investors about the characteristics of good and bad advisors, provides an objective process for selecting advisors, and includes a registry of five-star investment professionals. Paladin is an information services company, not a financial services company, and is 100% owned by key employees who are active in the company. For more information, visit Paladin Registry at http://www.paladinregistry.com.
Contact:
Jack Waymire
Paladin Registry, LLC
916-780-8737
Email
http://www.paladinregistry.com