Simplified 403(b) Retirement Education

Chris Janeway, a PlanMember Advisor at the Santa Barbara Financial Center, shares his success at using TRAK retirement planning software to engage and educate clients.
Chris says, “When [clients] see the TRAK software and go through it with me they become far more engaged in the actual planning process…… [TRAK] creates a level of understanding in what I’m trying to accomplish for them and engagement in that plan.”

Interview Transcript

WHAT DOES YOUR TYPICAL CLIENT LOOK LIKE?

I’d say my typical client is somebody mid-career. A lot of my business comes from employer sponsored retirement planning, so it’s mostly mid-career, mid to late career that really come to me for more in depth advice as they start to really plan for the next transition in their life.

HOW HAS TRAK IMPACTED YOUR BUSINESS?

It’s every day. It’s really the foundation of what I do as a planner. So when somebody comes to me, what I’m able to do is take a very, what I call abstract idea in retirement, where they really don’t know where to even begin and what their decisions may have as far as an effect and make that a very concrete idea. So instead of retirement off in a cloud somewhere we can say decisions today have a concrete effect, and walk through those different scenarios so they’re able to see exactly what they need to do along the way to get to their goal.

WHAT DIFFERENCE DOES TRAK MAKE FOR YOUR CLIENTS?

The biggest difference it makes is it’s an engagement within the plan. I think that when they see the TRAK software and go through it with me, they become far more engaged in the actual planning process. It builds a lot of trust with me as their advisor to be able to go back and review that and understand what we really do, rather than just maybe throw some sort of a product which, I know that’s out there. But I think it’s the biggest thing that TRAK can do for me, is it creates a level of understanding in what I am trying to accomplish for them- and engagement in that plan.

WHEN WORKING WITH CLIENTS HOW DO THEY RESPOND TO TRAK?

You know TRAK’S capabilities shouldn’t be necessarily confused with complication. So whatever the goal is, I try to plug everything, I’m not building out the questionnaire and plugging in data in front of a client. I have preloaded all that and really set it to the goal so that I can walk them through the visual of what the goal is or what the process may be. So as far as intimidation, I’ve really never seen that. If anything its “wow this is so simple I can’t believe I’ve never gone through this before”.

RetireReady Solutions Understands 403(b)/457 Market

Robert Young III, head of PRO Financial, a PlanMember Financial Center in Glendale, AZ, shares his enthusiasm for The Retirement Analysis Kit (TRAK) retirement planning software.
In his words, “TRAK’s just really embedded in our business and in our industry, they’re a big supporter of our industry, but they really understand what we’re trying to achieve in the 457, 403(b) market … The client’s love [TRAK] but they love the fact that you give them the data that they’re looking for.”

Interview Transcript

Robert Young, I own PRO Financial Investment Coaching in Glendale, Arizona, member of Plan Member Financial Center. I’ve been with Plan Member for about 8 ½ years, we opened the financial center 3 years ago, expanded already once in our office building. And we service K-12 plans, a lot of private clients as well. Probably 60-70% of our stuff comes from the K-12, or higher ed. market.

WHAT DOES YOUR AVERAGE CLIENT LOOK LIKE?

Average client is about, how specific do you want me to be? Average client is about forty, mid-forties. Average client, which is interesting, has at least a bachelor’s or master’s degree, a lot of PhDs and a lot of them have, about 50-60% of them have a pension one way or another- either the wife or the husband does. Have a number of them who both have pensions, and a lot of them are saving in IRAs, 403(b)s, 401(k)s. But basically what they’re doing, typically, the overwhelming majority of them already have an advisor that they’re working with. What’s interesting is when they come to us and we sit down and we talk to them about the first thing we need to do before we even start talking about investments or what products you’re going to buy, is we need to set up a plan. And I always say that there are two sides to our business. So there’s the retirement plan, and then there’s the investments or whatever products might need to go along with that. So I always, kind of the analogy I would make is you go to the doctor you’re not going to just buy medicine from them, you’re going to get a diagnosis made to make sure, maybe you have indigestion, you’re not having a heart attack – right? When the clients come to us, it’s fascinating to see how many of them, even with significant amounts of money, so called sophisticated investors, they’ve never had a plan done! So they don’t know if they are over saving, under saving, how their allocation should be. And that’s where a number of years back we started using TRAK software. And it really changed what we do, dramatically changed our clients. It’s kind of funny, cause I’ve had clients come in, and they’ll see the red at the end, showing there is going to be a shortfall when they’re 74 years old, and we work with them for a year or two, we talk about some things that we need to do, whether it might mean paying down their debt. It might be adding a little more each year, could be their allocation or a combination right- Social security strategies, which we can do all through the TRAK software – which is great. And we can illustrate it because so many people are visual. And they’ll come in a year later or two years, three years later and we show it to them, because we put it up on a big 50 inch screen, and they go “oh – we got rid of the red”. I mean they’re really like “hey, I want to get rid of the red”, or what if I live to 95, what if I live to 105, is there any red. So they’re actively engaged in the software. The visual is very, very impactful.

HOW VALUABLE IS CLIENT ENGAGEMENT TO YOU?

It’s invaluable, not only from the point of getting the client, so getting a prospect to become a client. But more importantly, every time when we do a review, we don’t necessarily review the investments, because we’re not going to change the investments for the most part. We have an investment advisory firm that is managing those dollars. What’s changed is their life. So what life changes happened – we’re getting closer to retirement, there was a death, an inheritance, a divorce, kids moved out, no more college, house is paid off. So it’s more about, we really focus on the software as the centerpiece of what’s going on in their lifestyle. Yes, I can show them a copy of here’s what you have, here’s what you don’t have. These days people can look at the website and see oh yeah, my account went up or it went down. But the point is, are the investments tracking to what the plan says. Not is the plan tracking to what the investments are. That’s the cart before the horse or the medicine before the diagnosis.

HOW WOULD YOU COMPARE TRAK AGAINST OTHER SOFTWARE TOOLS THAT ARE AVAILABLE TO YOU?

Well I think, number 1, the service and support that we get has always been very good. TRAK has been very responsive to 2 things, 1 it’s software, there can be glitches, they update very quickly. They are also very responsive to requests. Hey, what if you could add this, what if you could add this. So they are always responsive with, here are some ways we can enhance it. That was the biggest thing. Some other software’s that I looked at also were not as specific to our industry, or they didn’t cover as many pensions. They didn’t have as much; the graphics maybe weren’t quite as clear. But I think the biggest thing is that I feel like TRAK is really embedded in our business, in our industry, they are a big supporter of our industry, but they really understand what we are trying to achieve in the 457, 403(b) market. I think it’s very important – and 401(k), because we do have some advisors who have 401(k) assets. And we use it for that in the exact same manner as we would any other qualified plan or individual investor.

WHAT WOULD YOU TELL OTHER ADVISORS ABOUT TRAK?

Well, I would say, if their question is should I try it? My suggestion would be absolutely, and I have. Not only have I suggested it to our Broker/Dealer, I’m not saying they adopted it because of me, I suggested it to them when they were looking for planning software a number of years ago, cause they were using a system, that, quite frankly, was far inferior and I didn’t even use it, I was using the TRAK software and a number of us were. We kept saying this is something you need to look at, this is something you need to look at and when they finally incorporated it, it was life changing. Now, I would tell you that other advisors that are in our same Broker/Dealer that I talk to, have access to this, and it’s interesting because some of them weren’t utilizing it. We make it mandatory, our advisors, we have four advisors, with a fifth one in training right now, and it’s not an option. You meet with a client, a new client, they come on- I want to see, I want to see the TRAK software, I want to see the plan before you recommend the investment. Period. Cause what do you have to back yourself up to say I just thought this was a good idea at the time, or look, here’s their plan, here’s their age, here’s their life span, and here’s their assets. We’re very process, people process and procedural oriented, and this is just part of our process. Absolutely.

WHAT DO YOUR CLIENTS SAY ABOUT TRAK REPORTS?

I think the key to this thing is this, it’s one thing to teach, I’m going to back up a little…the clients love it, but they love the fact that you give them the data that they’re looking for. So TRAK can be a hundred pages worth of data that’s meaningless to the client or it’s just over their head. So one of the things we really focus on with the advisors is teaching the advisors which slides they should show the client, not because we are hiding anything, reason we try to do it is there are certain illustrations in there that they’re gonna get, it’s going to click, it’s going to say oh gosh I need to do this, I need to move you or you’re doing a good job with me so they’re going to be very effective. And then when we’re done, what we do is we change to the PDF version of it and we send a secure email to the client, and they get that. They can open it up. The nice thing about it they can open it up in their file anytime they want they want to look at it and the next time we meet we can just send them an updated one and get rid of the old one. And it’s just so much more interactive that way.

HOW HAS TRAK IMPACTED YOUR SALES?

There’s no way we’ve ever tracked it directly so I couldn’t say we added this to it- so it’s meant exactly this to the bottom line. What it’s done is I think it’s made us a legitimate retirement planning agency. And I also think the biggest difference with it– we are able to get a lot more assets, because I can’t put your information into our software and tell you if you have enough money unless I have all your accounts. I know everybody says they get all the accounts. But we generally get all the accounts, at least we get the information and we have the opportunity to say “Hey, I know you have this X account with XYZ, by the way, looking at this why don’t we look at reallocating it . So it helps us gather assets, it really does. And it helps us, a lot of clients like the fact they can come to one person and get all their answers on their finances. But if you just don’t know about the account, how are you going to do that? Well TRAK allows us to ask for all that data so we can put it in there. And I have literally had a client, when we got done and there were all red bars showing they were going to have a shortfall toward the end, and he said well what if you added in my XYZ account that they didn’t tell you about, and I said “well that will probably help” and the next thing you know, a lot of the red went away. And after that, I also got that other account, by the way. After that I started realizing we needed to develop a way to get that up front. So we developed what we call a confidential client profile that we email to the client that asks for that data, and it’s PDF fillable, and it asks for all the data that we need to input to TRAK and it makes it easier for advisors. Everybody gets that emailed to them and they send that information back or print it and bring it with them when they come in. And we are easily able to enter that data and our second appointment, we have it all loaded into the software and we are ready for them to see. It is a great visual.

Retirement Readiness Solutions for Nearly Any Scenario

Doug Massey, CLU, ChFC of OFG Financial Services shares some of his success stories from using The Retirement Analysis Kit (TRAK) retirement planning software.
In Doug’s words, “[Other advisors] need to give TRAK software a test run…it’s probably the easiest, up-to-date tool for nearly any scenario.”

Interview Transcript

TELL ME WHO YOU ARE?

Doug Massey, with OFG Financial Services. Live and work in San Angelo Texas, mostly in the western half of the state of Texas. Been in business for 31 years- primarily in the retirement planning and life insurance business.

TELL US ABOUT THE RETIREMENT PLANNING BUSINESS

My retirement planning business mostly revolves around the K-12 and Texas higher education. The optional retirement program, probably make up about 65-75% of my business, life insurance and other products probably round out that.

WHAT TOOLS DO YOU USE WITH YOUR CLIENTS?

I use a number of tools, but my favorite tool is obviously TRAK software. TRAK has become a bigger and bigger part of my process and the tools that I use with my clients. The more I use it the more I learn about it, and the more opportunities I see to get to use the software.

WHICH TRAK CALCULATORS DO YOU USE MOST?

My favorite part of TRAK software is the Gap Analysis. That’s something that I use almost every time I sit down with a client, unless it’s just for a specific need. Gap Analysis process lets me paint a picture and lets my clients visually see it, rather than numbers on a note pad or me telling them everything is going to be ok. I can visually show them and print out that analysis and show them if they have a shortfall or where that shortfall is. It’s also so robust that I have not yet run into a scenario that I couldn’t make work or that wasn’t already in the Gap Analysis. I believe there are somewhere around 450 different defined benefit plans that are in there, that are up to date. When you can input those it paints a picture that they can take with them and they can see. It also has, what I really like about it is I can change the assumption with just a toggle or just a change in a value as far as an inflation factor, or projected interest rate factor, I can just change that whole scenario and show them how their plan or the plan we have put together will work under different scenarios.

TELL US A SUCCESS STORY USING TRAK

One of the success stories that I certainly would like to share is I sat down with a single lady- she was probably in her mid-fifties, felt like she was going to have to work another 7-10 more years. She had accumulated good bit of rental property and some other assets that she really didn’t consider a part of her retirement plan. We put it all together, put those assets into her plan, and showed her how we could take those assets along with the qualified plans and the IRA’s and savings that she had, and showed her how that would all play out, how that could all work as the different pieces of her retirement plan. We were able to determine that she would probably be able to retirement in 3-5 years rather than 5-7 or 7-10 years. We really shortened her time – of course she was very, very thrilled about it. Another part of that story, a week to ten days later she called me and she says what if? Well I still had her profile loaded in my software and made that little assumption change and emailed it to her in just a matter of minutes. And she was just tickled. She told one of her co-workers about it and who I’ve showed the program to her, she was much younger and had many more years but she was really impressed with how it showed her a plan that she never really, she knew she was saving money and she knew she needed to put money away, but she never really realized how the plan would work and what it would mean to her in retirement.

THE REPORTS FROM TRAK, HOW DO YOU MAKE USE OF THOSE?

I do. I become more and more comfortable using TRAK in front of my clients. Typically though I have some of their information all ready, you know their birthdate, the different defined benefit plans and some of the assets, and maybe, in my book of business already loaded in there- but when I sit down with a new client we can add another asset, or they can tell me about an IRA that I didn’t know about, another account that they had maybe somewhere else. So I’ve uncovered a number of assets just sitting down and going with them and putting all those assets in their plan. It’s allowed me to also gather some of those assets.

TELL US ABOUT GETTING SUPPORT FOR TRAK

I have had on a couple of occasions, I’ve had a few questions, how do you do this, I knew it could be done, just hadn’t done it yet, and I’ve called and my question was usually answered within a matter of minutes and I was up and running again. I’ve had no technical difficulties at all. The support is usually my ignorance of what all it can do. That being said I’ve also, every time that I’ve used the software it’s seems like peeling back an onion, I learn something else or find a new module, or find somethings been updated or somethings been added to. So the more I use it the more I see other opportunities to use it.

WHAT WOULD YOU SAY TO ANOTHER ADVISOR REGARDING TRAK?

I’d tell them they need to give TRAK software a test run. They need to show it, they need to pull it out and use it and put it to work for them. Cause it’s probably the easiest up to date tool for nearly any scenario. From my favorite the Gap Analysis to Life insurance planning to Roth conversions. Just a number of things that you can use the scenarios software in.

TRAK Opens Up the 403(b) Market

Advisor Joe Craw Joe Craw, CFS®, LUTCF, FSS is a man on a mission. As a registered representative for PlanMember Securities Corporation, he works with teachers, principals, superintendents, custodians, and school bus drivers employed in the Maryland public school system. “I love working with school clientele because they are just like me: average people, married with kids, trying to do the best they can with limited salaries,” Craw says.

In 1995, while advising a 24-year-old teacher, he learned there was a big problem in the offerings for 403(b) participants. According to Craw, “There were a lot of variable annuity choices, but not many mutual funds. I thought the school system was being underserved or ill-served since most planners are looking for bigger fish.” And so his mission began.

TRAK Increases Advisor Value

Craw believes that TRAK has dramatically improved the value he provides to clients. He calls TRAK a “real shortcut.” According to Craw, “Clients have more of a reason to keep me as an advisor. I run through their report in every review.” He also believes his consistent use of TRAK has given clients a more accurate picture of their retirement plan the longer they’ve worked with him. “This software helps me answer questions. And I imply that this tool is one we’ll use for tracking their retirement for the rest of their career,” he remarks enthusiastically.

TRAK is Portable and Powerful

Given his client base, Craw often runs into clients in school hallways. “I bring TRAK with me everywhere! I tell my clients that if they see me walking down the hall with my computer bag, they can stop me and I’ll show them where they are in their retirement planning. It’s so portable.”

Before discovering TRAK, Craw used a yellow pad to demonstrate retirement planning principles. “That was very basic compared to this software’s graphical presentation, which explains key components. Red and orange bars clearly show shortfalls. TRAK also shows all the possible ways to correct the shortfall,” he explains. “And it allows me to isolate each factor, such as the effect of saving more money from each paycheck, moving the retirement date back, or making different inflation rate assumptions.”

TRAK Reassures and Helps Increase Salary Deferrals

Craw believes that TRAK’s ability to consolidate all of his clients’ retirement data is the real key to its power. “TRAK shows whether you are on track for retirement. The software calculates the state pension benefit and I can add Social Security benefits and any other investments, it will then show me a complete picture of whether we’re on track to meet our goals,” he says. “Consolidation of all this data is reassuring and that’s the key.”

Once his clients can clearly see the full picture of their retirement plan, they often increase their savings. “Clients will say to me, ‘Are you telling me that if I save an extra $40 per paycheck, I can retire at 57?’ And then, when I tell them ‘Yes’ they say ‘Let’s do that!’ They get very enthusiastic about saving!”

Why Joe Craw Recommends TRAK

“TRAK software revitalized my career. It has given me hope and optimism that I can be a great representative for my clients. When I go out to see clients or prospects, I know that no one will do a better job than I will.”

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TRAK Keeps it Simple

Advisor David Cain David Cain has been working in financial services since 1987. Originally from Pittsburgh, he is the regional sales manager for Sterling National Financial Group in Dallas, Texas. Cain and his team of 46 advisors serve the 403(b) market and spend their days educating clients about their retirement planning options. He has trained his team in TRAK so that every client receives a personalized pension analysis. He credits TRAK with increasing his advisors’ success rate.

TRAK Helps Communicate Visually

Cain’s sales philosophy is to make things simple and visual for clients. He believes that most advisors struggle to communicate clear and precise information to their clients. Yet without clear communication, clients default to simply not making a decision. “It’s difficult to talk retirement planning without confusing people,” said Cain. “You can give them good information, but if they don’t understand it, they won’t make a decision.”

He leverages TRAK’s diverse visual aids in his meetings. “My clients are all educators and probably 80% of them are visual learners,” he explains. “TRAK gives us a visual tool that brings things into focus.”

TRAK Saves Time

Like other busy professionals, Cain’s clients don’t have a lot of time to spend with their advisor. So Cain uses TRAK to be more efficient in client meetings. “I only get about 30-40 minutes with each client, so I have to be precise with my information. If I can keep it simple, I can help people make decisions.”

“The interest calculator is priceless,” he says. He uses the interest calculator to illustrate compounding growth rates so that clients can see how much retirement income they will have. Using TRAK for important calculations saves him a lot of time in front of his clients. “With TRAK, there’s no need for a 10- or 15-minute pencil-and-paper show,” laughs Cain. “With TRAK, we can show calculations in just two minutes, right on the computer screen.”

Why David Cain Recommends TRAK

“TRAK is the tool that sets us apart. I recommend using TRAK, because it will help you become more efficient. It helps your clients understand the issues that affect their retirement. And it helps them make better decisions.”

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Retire Ready Education Increases Sales

Advisor Hal Harrison The Retirement Asset Management (RAM) Group is a national firm specializing in group marketplace qualified plans. Hal Harrison is Senior Vice President. Its primary sources of business are 401(k), 403(b) and 401(a) plans. The RAM Group has affinity marketing relationships with national associations and offers retirement plans to their membership.

The Approach

At Retirement Asset Management Group, our marketing is done in two separate phases: first, we attempt to get the business. We sell an employer on the idea that we can do a better job than anybody else communicating the retirement plan to the employees. Second, after acquiring the business, we sit down with the employees one-on-one using TRAK to educate each employee on their retirement plan. This is a critical step towards increasing the plan’s participation rates and employee contribution percentages. TRAK software helps us be successful in both phases.

In the first phase we will find out what their matching schedule is and create TRAK illustrations ahead of time. We personalize illustrations with a sample paycheck analysis, future value illustration and a distribution illustration. We then will illustrate the cost of waiting to invest. We present all these to the plan sponsor management as the tools we will use to communicate the value of the plan to employees. Although we usually have an hour to present, with our personalized approach using TRAK, we’ve usually made a conclusive case to the employer in fifteen minutes. TRAK’s illustrations clearly show the employer how we’ll help their employees understand the value of pre-tax savings as well as the value of the employer’s match on their behalf. This makes the decision process for the employer much easier.

We also use TRAK in phase two of the sales process, beginning with enrollment. Before we do the group meetings we pre-load all employees’ information in TRAK. That upfront work pays off because when we do the one-on-ones, we can quickly load their file–not wasting our presentation time with typing data. Instead, we use our time with the employee showing the value and opportunities in their employer’s plan. Each employee sees their paycheck illustrations are already finished. In about twenty minutes, we can complete a typical application, all due to how simple TRAK makes participant decision-making.

The Responses

We do after-enrollment evaluations and give them to the employer. A few recent comments we heard were typical examples: “This is the first time anybody ever sat down with me and really cared about what I’m going to have in retirement” and “I finally understand what the whole retirement program is really about.”

As a result, largely due to TRAK, we get eighty to ninety percent participation during enrollment. We also find that employee contributions average a little over six percent.

If you look at some of the biggest investment advisers out there—if they get forty to fifty percent participation, they’re ecstatic! But with TRAK, we get almost all of the employees signing up. Also, we typically see a significant increase in deferrals. For example, with a recent Connecticut employer, we saw a 267% increase in deferrals.

The Conclusion

TRAK differentiates us from our competitors. When we use TRAK for case development, more often than not we get the case. This puts us in front of the employees, making money.

To sum it up, I think any advisor who doesn’t use TRAK is crazy. Why go through all the work of prospecting and then fail, just because you didn’t use the best tool out there for that most important moment—when you actually make your money?

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Retire Ready Education Increases Sales

Michigan advisor uses TRAK to help clients become active participants in their retirement planning.

Advisor Chuck Rushmore From his office in Grand Rapids, Chuck Rushmore provides retirement and financial planning services throughout Western Michigan. He has been in the business since 1998 and started Senior Financial Advisors, LLC, in 2003. Mr. Rushmore is an independent advisor and his broker dealer is PlanMember Securities.

The Advisor

My target market is working with people fifty to sixty-five in the retired and pre-retired planning market. A large share of my business is working with teachers. Typically my clients have accumulated $150,000 to $800,000 in retirement assets. They want to avoid running out of money before they run out of life.

I now position my work as retirement income planning because that’s what my clients are really interested in – how much will they have to spend in retirement and how long will it last them?

The Situation

I had been in the business for seven years and over that time I had extensively used many other types of retirement illustration software. But I never used them in front of clients because they were not consistent with my biggest value proposition: my independence as an advisor.

Then, as now, every mutual fund company, every insurance company had a retirement illustration planner branded with their products, their mutual funds, their annuities and their advertising. Using those illustration planners did not enhance my credibility as an independent adviser. As I saw it, I was selling me and the value of my relationship with my clients.

It’s all about the client, not products. The products are easy to sell once the client sees that you are the good guy and that you will help them reach their goals and attain their dreams.

Also, if you’re advising a high net worth person, they’ll have different issues than the people I’m generally working with. My average clients are teachers, and they usually don’t have estate issues and things like that. My clients are people struggling to figure out, “Hey, can I retire? When? Am I going to have enough money to live on?”

I needed a retirement illustration system that would help me answer those questions for working people in clear, simple, straightforward ways.

The Solution

I first saw TRAK when I joined PlanMember Securities in 2005 at my first national sales conference. Right away, I saw that TRAK was much easier to use, especially as far as inputting data. The graphics and illustrations were simple yet compelling, and much easier to explain to clients.

In fact, it seemed that TRAK was designed for active use alongside a client, which fit in well with my standard two meeting approach.

The first meeting is a “get to know you” meeting, very conversational, where I find what the client wants to do, where they are now, what their dreams and goals are, what they’re concerned about and what unique situations they may have in their lives.

In meeting number one, I tell people we’re trying to find out if I can help them and to make sure they really want my help. I take a look at the assets, find out what they’re concerned about and figure out if I can help them or not.

One question I always ask people is “Do you see yourself at any point in the future becoming financially responsible for your parents or your relatives?”

And that helps me uncover whether their parents are alive, which may establish a future need for long-term care. Or whether there may be extra expenses that wouldn’t normally be there.

Between the first and second meeting I use TRAK to analyze the current investments and come up with a strategy.

At the second meeting, I’ll already have TRAK software populated with the client’s information. TRAK software automatically calculates projections on Michigan State’s pension plan for my clients who are public school employees.

I love using TRAK in front of customers. I actually bought a nineteen inch monitor and mounted it on my desk so my clients have their own screen to look a while I’m on my laptop.

I spend 90% of my time with TRAK’s Gap and the Quick Gap illustrations. These screens allow me to show my clients any retirement shortfalls. Then, with the client, we massage their retirement profile, do a printout, review their investments and make changes as necessary.

TRAK software lets me input new data very quickly and analyze it along with the client and explain any variables. I do this data input live with the client and explain all the different variables.

My clients can clearly see the need for the changes we are making so, as we go along, their commitment to the plan increases.

When we reach the point where I feel we have put together a good plan for the client, I say, “Ok, is this the one you want me to print out?” If they say yes, then I know they have really bought into the program. People really commit to it when they have had a part in creating the plan.

Many times, people fool themselves into thinking they’re going to get a phenomenal rate of return or that they’re not going to live as long as they think they might or whatever. Walking a client through a TRAK presentation screen by screen, step by step is a very good way to help the client be realistic about their expectations.

That’s one of the key things I do, I think, is help people get realistic about how much they’re going to have to spend and how long it will last them. This way I come across as a retirement income planner, not a product salesman.

I see my clients once a year. When I do, we plug in new numbers and if any assumptions have changed, like they’re going to retire later or earlier or they have an inheritance we didn’t know about a year ago we plug those things in and print it out and then compare them.

Those follow-on annual client meetings take twenty minutes to half an hour at the most. I can tell from the way my clients react that with TRAK, they are getting a presentation that they appreciate and are not accustomed to. So TRAK just streamlines my business dramatically.

The Result

I know in my heart that I have a certain closing ratio based on the type of people I am seeing, like teachers. And I have a process I’ve developed over the years that works for me – of how I meet people, how I get to know them, fact find and work through to the end. And TRAK is such a huge part of that process.

I’ve stopped calling what I do financial planning and now I call it retirement income planning because that’s what most people are interested in these days. All my advertising is focused on retirement income planning and TRAK software is an integral part of it.

I feel I am better prepared for whatever changes my practice faces as a result of these IRS changes for the 403(b) market. I never put all my eggs in one basket. I work on referrals and I focus on retirement income planning for people 50-plus. That takes me into small business owners, non-profits and so on.

Planning for people 50-plus is basically the same whether they are teachers or not and most folks out there have never seen retirement options presented in the easy-to-understand graphic simplicity that TRAK makes possible.

I am glad I use TRAK.

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TRAK helps 403(b) Advisor Transition into Fee-based Practice

TRAK’s Paycheck and Quick Gap calculators help advisors educate clients.

Advisor Rick McCallister Rick McCallister, president of the McCallister Financial Group, provides retirement, tax, and investment planning services from his Torrance, California offices. While McCallister works with people from all walks of life, including doctors, lawyers, business owners, and other professionals, he and his firm have made working with educators a specialty.

The Advisor Speaks

I started my practice in 1993. I have approximately 750 active clients now with about $50 million in assets. I have a fee-based practice and 70% of my business is in the 403(b) market.

The Situation

When I started working with teachers, the retirement illustration tools were usually provided by product manufacturers and marketing groups. These providers heavily branded them so you’d have to use several different ones to accomplish your goals when meeting with a client.

This was a problem because our clients in the education market have the same anxieties about retirement that anyone has, perhaps even more, because they may not have the overall assets that high net worth clients have.

Educators have special planning needs, and it was troubling that the industry’s lack of comprehensive illustration tools for educators made it difficult to provide them the same high-quality experience that a high net worth client, who wasn’t an educator, would receive.

I felt my clients’ occasional hesitation to take sound investment recommendations was often due to the fact that illustrating the complete investment rationale was so cumbersome.

For me and other advisors, client hesitancy sometimes made the planning process longer than it would have been if a clearer case could have been made earlier on.

Not only did this take more of my time, but it wasn’t in the client’s best interest to extend the process, or sometimes not take a good recommendation because the tools I had available made it more difficult to communicate the pros and cons to the client.

The Solution

As I went on, I discovered that the key to this marketplace was to give my clients as high quality an experience as possible. The more I did that, the more completely my clients accepted my advice and the faster they made their decisions. I was looking for tools that would help me do that.

I started using TRAK in the late nineties and I still use it in almost every appointment with a new client. I like using the Quick Gap pension analysis feature, which requires that I gather information on all my clients’ assets in order to do my analysis and presentation. My assistant gathers most of that information before I see the clients.

My clients understand that there is a benefit to them in providing this information – that they will see a complete overview of the impact making changes to their assets will have on their retirement. The first time I see my clients, TRAK allows me to show them just that – a customized personal analysis of their retirement status.

Then I run different scenarios as I talk with them so they can see in real-time how different options with their assets will affect their ability to retire.

I use TRAK’s paycheck analysis feature to analyze the impact of the tax-sheltering aspect of 403(b). TRAK allows me to show my clients the exact impact of increasing the amount they are saving for retirement on their net pay in a vivid and clear way that is specific to them. This increases their comfort level in increasing their contributions if that is necessary for them to reach their goals.

TRAK also has a database that I keep all my client’s information in so that I can go back a revisit the same illustration in future sessions with my clients. I bring up their specific retirement projection each time, so they can see if they are on track or if they need to make adjustments.

The Result

TRAK has helped me make the move into a fee-based practice. Any advisor that wants to do this needs a tool like TRAK. TRAK has helped my clients see me as a coach and an educator.

I am providing them with a real, personalized service. This has also helped me keep my clients loyal to me because they know I’m providing them a very high level of service.

TRAK helps set me apart because it helps me act as a trusted advisor, and my clients see me that way, instead of as a product salesman. That makes TRAK integral to fee-based practice.

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TRAK Keeps Advisor in Schools

Advisor Marina Armbruster Marina Armbruster practically grew up the retirement industry. Upon graduation from college, she worked for a financial services company in California that specialized in financial planning for teachers. From training and management, to running a telemarketing department, she has dedicated herself to teachers and their retirement dreams.

Then in 1999, Armbruster transitioned from management to becoming an independent rep and she has never looked back. Her mission is simple— to provide independent and practical financial advice designed to take the confusion and complexities out of financial planning.

TRAK Opens Doors to Teachers

“Access to teachers is hard. Administrators don’t want reps coming in and no one wants telemarketing anymore,” explains Armbruster. TRAK’s customizable reports help create a reason for people to want to meet with her. “You need to offer people something, not just yourself. Using TRAK, I offer a free retirement analysis and people appreciate that,” she says.

TRAK Helps Uncover Hidden Accounts

With TRAK, Armbruster can quickly fulfill her promise of a free retirement analysis. “The Gap Analysis is what I use the most. It gives me the opportunity to get all the information from the clients, which makes the fact finding much easier. And they can’t hide accounts— there’s no incentive to,” she explains. TRAK’s Gap Analysis helps illustrate why her clients need to make changes in order to achieve their retirement goals.

TRAK-Online

Armbruster rarely meets people in her office, she’s mostly on the road and is always looking for ways to streamline what she brings. Recently she helped test the upcoming version of TRAK for use on tablets. “I’m excited about the online version because I’ll be able to use it on my Microsoft Surface. And I also like that I can easily make the charts larger, so people can see things more easily,” says Armbruster. Armed with her Wi-Fi spot and tablet, she is looking forward to leaving her laptop at home.

Why Marina Armbruster Recommends TRAK

“I don’t know where I would be without TRAK. I’m always in front of people, giving away free knowledge. They’ll come and sit down with me and they have no idea if they are on track to retire. With TRAK, I can tell them where they are,” beams Armbruster.

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TRAK Helps Advisors Establish Credibility

Advisor Keith Young Keith Young is a principal of Tampa Bay Financial Group. Tony Competelli, Paula Competelli and Young created the firm to serve the 457 and 403(b) markets. Young has dedicated 25 years to the life insurance and annuity industry. Today, Tampa Bay Financial Group recruits veteran agents and serves clients in 48 states.

Credibility is crucial for success, especially when providing retirement advice. Even veteran advisors need tools that quickly establish their credibility. Young requires advisors to use TRAK, since it facilitates a polished, professional presentation. “My son takes his computer to every appointment and he’s very successful,” Young says. “TRAK gives him credibility even at a young age.”

TRAK’s Gap Analysis Provides a Realistic View

Young is accustomed to providing a lot of client education. He regularly uses TRAK’s Income Gap Analysis to provide a realistic view of retirement savings. “It solves for the amount of income you want at retirement and gives people a wake-up call about savings,” he explains. “With TRAK, we always provide a range of returns (0%, 3%, 5% and 7%), since performance will vary over a 20-year period. We believe in keeping it realistic.”

TRAK Helps Educate Participants

Many of Young’s clients have been approached previously by advisors who either were inexperienced or simply wanted to make a quick buck. So he instills in his team the importance of providing advice and not asking clients how much they want to save or can afford to save. TRAK helps Young and his agents demonstrate the pros and cons of different strategies, and helps participants find the money they need to save for retirement.

Why Keith Young Recommends TRAK

“We recommend TRAK all the time, and we’ve told all our agents they have to use TRAK,” says Young.

“I like that TRAK gives us a compliant way to sell. We limit our agents to showing 3%, 5% and 7% rates of return, regardless of the market’s performance. I tell our agents, ‘You’ll be a hero by using TRAK and being conservative.’”

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TRAK Helps Clients Bridge that ‘Leap of Faith’

Advisor Bruce Smith Meet Bruce Smith, founder and president of CALPRO Network Financial Services in San Diego, California. Smith’s clients include school districts, corporations and nonprofits, as well as employees. He especially enjoys helping employers provide high-quality retirement plan solutions while reducing administrative burdens and improving compliance. Smith and his representatives have used TRAK for over ten years and believe that TRAK separates and elevates them as retirement experts.

TRAK Helps Answer Burning Questions

Smith’s clients often ask, “Am I going to be okay in retirement?” To help clients understand the state of their retirement accounts, he uses TRAK’s Gap Analysis. “The visual graphs in TRAK show clients whether we are on target or short of the target,” he explains, “and I can create a plan in 15-30 minutes.”

Once Smith has established the plan, he invites clients back for an annual update. This meeting often leads to new opportunities. “Updating the plan encourages my married couples to get their spouse involved,” says Smith. “Then I can tie their spouse’s plan into the program and that produces another client.”

TRAK Creates Peace of Mind

Smith often works with clients who are just getting started and are on a tight budget. It’s a big deal for these clients to not have their take-home pay radically altered. “Many clients struggle with that ‘leap of faith’ when making decisions about contributions,” he says. “They need to understand the impact on their take-home pay.”

With TRAK’s Paycheck Analysis, he is able to show how his recommended contributions will affect the client’s paycheck. “I put into the software the contributions. The state and federal taxes, including withholdings, are calculated and clients can see, on the screen, exactly what their paycheck will look like after our plan is in place,” explains Smith. “TRAK comes within pennies of what the client’s actual paycheck will look like.”

TRAK Vividly Illustrates Compounding Interest

For younger clients who need to get started, Smith uses TRAK’s Interest Calculator to illustrate the potential future value of a retirement account. “I like that TRAK lets me build a scenario of putting in $500 a month at 6% per year and then shows how much that investment could grow in 30, 40 and 50 years from now,” he explains. And for older clients who need to understand their options for distribution, TRAK illustrates how much clients can take out each month without running out of money.

Why Bruce Smith Recommends TRAK

According to Smith, “With TRAK, you become the go-to-person. It allows you to provide quality advice—and if you bring quality to the table, clients will never leave you.”

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TRAK Opens Doors to Accountant Referrals

Advisor Bill Hoffman Meet Bill Hoffman, a tax and 403(b) retirement planning advisor for Northwest Retirement Services in Oregon. For almost 35 years, Hoffman has worked with local and state employees. About one third of his 1,800 clients are beginning to take their Required Minimum Distribution (RMD), so he often relies on TRAK’s accurate calculations and reports.

TRAK’s RMD Calculator Eliminates Guesswork

Hoffman receives many calls from accountants seeking his advice on RMD. “Tax preparers are calling us to see if they’re calculating the RMD correctly,” says Hoffman. “They usually don’t want to run the RMD calculations themselves, because they have limited knowledge and don’t want to assume the fiduciary responsibility.” He uses TRAK’s RMD calculator to perform the calculations and illustrate the effects of the RMD on the account over time.

By providing accurate RMD calculations, Hoffman has solidified his relationship with accountants, and that is resulting in new client referrals. “Using TRAK’s RMD calculator with CPAs and tax preparers allowed me to capture over $12 million in IRA rollovers in 2013,” says Hoffman.

TRAK Helps Make Tax Wise Distribution Decisions

Hoffman sees his role as complementary to that of an accountant, particularly for clients who want to take distributions beyond the RMD. “Often my clients want to take a distribution, but before we do that, I recommend we run a calculation that compares the impact of different distribution amounts, say $30,000 versus $50,000,” he explains. “With TRAK, it takes only about five minutes to run the report. It’s definitely not tax advice, but it separates me from the other reps.” TRAK helps Hoffman build and maintain strong partnerships with his 403(b) clients and their accountants.

TRAK’s Pension Maximization is a “Must-Have”

Many of Hoffman’s clients have multiple IRAs to supplement their state pensions, so they often have questions about pension maximization. He uses TRAK’s Pension Maximization calculator to illustrate the benefits of using a life insurance contract in certain situations to maximize the monthly state retirement income for a married couple. “TRAK’s Pension Maximization calculator is excellent, says Hoffman. “It is one of my ‘must-have’ calculators.”

Why Bill Hoffman Recommends TRAK

“TRAK is so simple to use and it’s very efficient. This tool has really helped me serve my clients well and they, in turn, refer new clients to me,” says Hoffman.

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Strategic Social Security Calculator Helps Advisors Maximize Benefits

Advisor Andrew Jaramillo Meet Andrew J. Jaramillo, CLU®, ChFC®, CLTC, a fireball at age 74. Andrew has been a financial advisor for over fifty years. After retiring from New York Life, Jaramillo became an independent advisor with PlanMember, where he primarily works with superintendents and educators in southern California. He is also a member of Million Dollar Round Table’s Top of the Table. His goal is to help clients continue to receive at least 100% of their income throughout retirement.

Given his clients’ multiple pension incomes, Jaramillo uses TRAK’s Strategic Social Security calculator. “The Strategic Social Security Calculator has been dynamite. I use it mostly with educators,” he says. “They’re surprisingly unaware of their retirement benefits.”

TRAK’s Strategic Social Security Calculator Opens Clients’ Eyes

Jaramillo uses the Strategic Social Security calculator in his seminars to educate audiences about the variables involved when making decisions about Social Security. “I’ve done seminars with 25-50 people,” he explains. “TRAK’s Social Security calculator opens clients’ eyes to different scenarios based on different ages and whether there is a spouse.” With the Strategic Social Security calculator, advisors can easily educate clients about their options. “The Social Security calculator can present many potential scenarios,” Jaramillo explains. “The calculator breaks down the three top options: retire at age 62, retire at the full retirement age, or wait until age 70. And it’s visually easy to understand.”

TRAK’s Gap Analysis Helps Maximize Benefits

With the Gap Analysis calculator, advisors maximize their clients’ benefits by planning for inflation, long-term care costs, survivor benefits, and the client’s desire to leave a legacy. “I recently heard a story about a teacher who lost not only her husband, but also $30,000 of income per year,” he explains. “Had she understood the pension benefits, she would have bought life insurance to replace that income.”

Why Andrew Jaramillo Recommends TRAK

“I absolutely recommend TRAK. Anyone who’s not using it isn’t an advisor, but merely a salesperson,” says Jaramillo.

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Financial Planning for Public-Sector Employees

TRAK Serves Those Who Serve

Advisor Terry O'Reilly Meet Terry O’Reilly, an investment advisor for Barlas & Chambers, LLC, in Tarpon Springs, Florida. O’Reilly retired from law enforcement and pursued a second career as a financial advisor. He serves police officers within the Florida State Retirement System.

“After I retired from the sheriff’s office, my wife said I couldn’t just play golf for the rest of my life,” says O’Reilly. “So I got into financial planning. That was five years ago.” His certifications include the Accredited Wealth Management Advisor from the College of Financial Planning.

TRAK Creates Trust

O’Reilly often faces skepticism from his law enforcement clients, but he has learned to earn their trust. “Cops are not very trusting, so you need to show them something in black and white,” he explains. “They’re impressed when I give them a TRAK report, and it allows them to make an educated decision. They can trust the recommendations because everything is on the table.” O’Reilly often uses TRAK’s Gap Analysis, which calculates various defined benefit pension plan options, and includes many cash balance options (DROP, PLOP, PLS, etc.).

TRAK Makes Planning Powerful

O’Reilly also appreciates the tax planning features of TRAK. “Our office completes about 2,000 tax returns a year, so I can walk down the hall to get my clients’ tax planning done. TRAK’s 1040 Analysis helps me show clients multiple options for investing their refunds, such as using the funds to buy universal life insurance,” he explains.

TRAK’s 1040 Analysis is part of the Paycheck Calculator and it allows an advisor to set the federal refund value.

TRAK Helps Advisors “Farm”

O’Reilly refers to himself as more of a farmer than a hunter. He focuses on cultivating each client relationship with careful attentiveness. He has been bound to the fiduciary standard from the start of his career as a financial advisor, always putting his clients’ interests above his own, and TRAK aligns with that approach. O’Reilly’s philosophy is simple: “I’ll make you a client and build value. When the time comes, you’ll continue to seek my services because I didn’t just make a sale—I built a relationship.”

Why Terry O’Reilly Recommends TRAK

“TRAK is helping me specialize in a state retirement program. With TRAK, I can easily show my clients the value of their retirement benefits, including their 457 plan, and the impact of increased contributions on their payroll. It’s the perfect tool for building trust because it puts everything in writing for prospects and clients, giving them something tangible to take with them.”

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TRAK Simplifies Fiduciary’s Work

Advisor Fred Ostermeyer Meet Fred Ostermeyer, RFC, AIF, President and CEO of Managed Resources, LLC in Post Falls, Idaho. Ostermeyer is passionate about financial education. Throughout his career he has worked to educate individuals, employers, other advisors and even legislators about financial matters. Today his clients vary in occupation and portfolio size, but they have one thing in common—their eagerness to be financially educated, which is very important to Ostermeyer.

TRAK Builds Ongoing Relationships

With expertly crafted graphics, TRAK helps Ostermeyer explain important financial principles and maintain communication with clients. “As a fiduciary, you have more responsibility to a client. You cannot go out, sell a product and walk away. A relationship is needed and that’s where TRAK plays an important role,” he explains. “TRAK is also valuable when clients have a change in their income or job because we can provide a one-page snapshot of how that change impacts their paycheck and retirement.”

TRAK Accurately Predicts Taxes

Ostermeyer first saw how amazingly accurate TRAK’s 1040 Analysis could be when he worked with a husband and wife who needed a tax projection midway through the year. “One worked for a hospital; the other was a school administrator. I gathered their paycheck information, supplemented it with some other data, and then used TRAK to project their year-end tax bill,” says Ostermeyer. “Later that year, the couple hired a tax professional to prepare their taxes. Amazingly, the couple came back and told me my projection was off by only one penny. So that validated the accuracy of TRAK for me.”

TRAK Provides Useful Comparisons

Since many of Ostermeyer’s clients are retiring and drawing funds, he uses TRAK’s 1040 analysis to compare what-if scenarios and develop efficient distribution strategies to reduce tax liability during retirement. “I can compare a client’s current situation to Option 1 or Option 2 and then flow that into the 1040, and from there I can still adjust things. It’s one of the few tools that has that ability,” he beams.

Why Fred Ostermeyer Recommends TRAK

“TRAK is a valuable time saver for advisors. It has made my life really simple,” says Ostermeyer. “TRAK has asset allocation, a social security module, a built-in questionnaire for determining risk level, and more. It’s definitely geared toward the financial planning community.”

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403(b)/457 Advisors

Success Stories

You have a passion to serve teachers, government, and non-profit employees, but struggle to get them to make time for you…not to mention all those complicated pension plans! Advisors like you are using TRAK to engage their clients by making retirement readiness fun and uncomplicated. Check out why these passionate 403(b)/457 advisors rely on TRAK.

Chris Janeway

Simplified 403(b) Retirement Education

“When [clients] see the TRAK software and go through it with me they become far more engaged in the actual planning process…… [TRAK] creates a level of understanding in what I’m trying to accomplish for them and engagement in that plan.”

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Robert Young III

RetireReady Understands the 403(b)/457 Market

“TRAK’s just really embedded in our business and in our industry, they’re a big supporter of our industry, but they really understand what we’re trying to achieve in the 457, 403(b) market … The client’s love [TRAK] but they love the fact that you give them the data that they’re looking for.”

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