As a young boy, I was an avid collector of baseball cards and I was especially excited to complete this 1978 “Play Ball” jigsaw puzzle. It looked so good that I had it framed and it now hangs on the wall in my basement. Scanning this puzzle, I can even identify some of the cards I owned many years ago.
Working with clients on their financial plans often reminds me of completing a jigsaw puzzle. Both require multiple iterations to find the best fit for all the pieces. Clients I’ve worked with have had many components to their retirement plans; including choosing the right corporate pension option, deciding when to collect Social Security, planning for health care and long-term care, analyzing investments and making recommendations, setting various retirement spending goals, and optimizing their tax strategy. Fitting all these pieces efficiently together provides a framework for clients as they begin the next stage of life. While the financial plan doesn’t typically hang on a wall, it is rewarding when the pieces of the financial puzzle come together.
